COVID-19 International Developments: Daily Scan, June 09, 2020

Economic

Chinese investment in Australia falls 58%

Chinese investment in Australia fell to its lowest level in a decade last year following the implementation of tougher rules on foreign investment and a sharp deterioration in diplomatic relations between the nations. Chinese companies invested A$3.4 bn in 2019, down 58 per cent from A$8.2 bn a year earlier, with just 42 deals completed during the 12 months to the end of December, according to a joint report by KPMG and the University of Sydney. A single deal, Mengniu Dairy Company’s purchase of Bellamy’s for A$1.5 bn, accounted for almost half of total investment in 2019. Click here to read.... [2]

Chinese telecom firms urge FCC not to revoke ability to operate in U.S

The U.S. units of China Telecom Corp’s and China Unicom urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) not to revoke the company’s nearly two-decade old authorization to provide international telecommunications services to and from the United States. China Telecom (America)’s filing late Monday came after the U.S. Justice Department and other federal agencies in April asked the FCC to act, citing national security concerns in a new flashpoint between Washington and Beijing. Click here to read.... [3]

Polish gas network close to fully financing Baltic Pipe to Norway

The Baltic Pipe linking Poland with Norway’s gas fields will be fully financed within a month and is on schedule despite the coronavirus pandemic, according to the chief executive of Poland’s Gaz System. The €1.6bn project, a joint enterprise between Gaz System and its Danish counterpart Energinet, will shake up the energy market in one of the most geopolitically sensitive parts of Europe, helping Warsaw cut its decades-long dependence on Russian gas and giving it a chance of becoming a central European hub for the fuel. Click here to read.... [4]

China turns to ‘street vendor economy’ to help manage unemployment crisis

New policy to encourage street vendors is backed by Premier Li Keqiang to create self-employed businesses to absorb newly unemployed. Policy is a U-turn for the government, which previously cracked down on street vendors as part of urban rejuvenation programmes. Click here to read.... [5]

Strategic

China Steps Up Moves to Influence Diaspora Communities

China is making fresh efforts to influence Chinese communities around the world to advance Beijing’s interests, requiring heightened vigilance from democratic countries, a new study says. A unit in China’s ruling Communist Party known as the United Front Work Department engages thousands of organizations to collect intelligence, encourage technology transfer, counter dissident movements and generate support for other Beijing objectives, said the report by the nonpartisan Australian Strategic Policy Institute. Click here to read.... [6]

Afghan peace talks may begin this month after US envoy visits Pakistan, meets Taliban in Qatar – reports

Talks to end the 18-year-old conflict in Afghanistan may begin this month, Reuters reported sources as saying on Monday, a day after the US special envoy visited Islamabad and met Taliban leaders in Qatar.The Taliban’s spokesman Suhail Shaheen tweeted that US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad had discussed “the commencement of intra-Afghan negotiations” with the insurgents’ political leaders in Doha on Sunday. Khalilzad had earlier met Pakistan’s army chief of staff, according to the US Embassy in Islamabad.Washington signed a troop withdrawal deal with the Taliban in February, but its attempts to start peace talks between the insurgents and the Afghan government have been mired in setbacks, and violence surged in March and April. Click here to read.... [7]

Hong Kong leader says financial hub cannot afford any more 'chaos'

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam warned on Tuesday the city could not afford further “chaos” as it marked the first anniversary of the start of rolling mass pro-democracy protests. “All of us can see the difficulty we have been through in the past year, and due to such serious situations we have more problems to deal with,” Lam said during her weekly media conference, which coincided with the anniversary. Click here to read.... [8]

North Korea says it will sever hotlines with South Korea – KCNA

North Korea said on Tuesday it will sever hotlines with South Korea as the first step toward shutting down all contact with Seoul, state news agency KCNA reported. As a first step, at noon on Tuesday, North Korea will close lines of communication at an inter-Korean liaison office, and hotlines between the two militaries and presidential offices, the report said. On Tuesday morning, North Korean officials did not answer a routine daily call to the liaison office or calls on military hotlines, a South Korean defence ministry spokeswoman told a briefing. Click here to read.... [9]

After defying 4-nation call, Japan seeks G-7 statement on Hong Kong

After declining to join four Western allies, the U.S., the U.K., Australia and Canada, in condemning China's Hong Kong security legislation last month, Japan has proposed drafting a statement by Group of Seven foreign ministers regarding Beijing's move, Nikkei has learned. The proposed joint statement would express concern worry and concern toward the legislation and urge Beijing to maintain the "one country, two systems" framework that guarantees Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy. Click here to read.... [10]

World leaders won't gather at UN for first time in 75 years

The president of the U.N. General Assembly said Monday that world leaders will not be coming to New York for their annual gathering in late September for the first time in the 75-year history of the United Nations because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But Tijjani Muhammad-Bande told a news conference that he hopes to announce in the next two weeks how the 193 heads of state and government will give their speeches on pressing local and world issues during the assembly's so-called General Debate. Click here to read.... [11]

Medical

Rethinking the Hospital for the Next Pandemic

Hospitals are rethinking how they operate in light of the Covid-19 pandemic—and preparing for a future where such crises may become a grim fact of life. With the potential for resurgences of the coronavirus, and some scientists warning about outbreaks of other infectious diseases, hospitals don’t want to be caught flat-footed again. So, more of them are turning to new protocols and new technology to overhaul standard operating procedure, from the time patients show up at an emergency room through admission, treatment and discharge. Click here to read.... [12]