Global Developments and Analysis: Weekly Monitor, 25 January - 31 January 2021

Economic

Soaring container rates risk stifling post-COVID recovery

The surge in international container-shipping rates in recent months has left companies reliant on maritime transport facing delays and mounting costs that risk bogging down a post-coronavirus economic recovery. The spot rate for shipping from Shanghai to the U.S. West Coast jumped to $4,000 per 40-foot container, according to the Shanghai Shipping Exchange -- 2.4 times the year-earlier figure. Rates from Shanghai to Europe quadrupled to $4,400 per 20-foot container. Spot prices for shipments to Southeast Asia, South America and South Africa rose three- to sixfold to the highest levels in data going back to 2009. Shipping volumes have ballooned since last summer, which saw a surge in shipments to North America. Consumers cooped up at home snapped up products to suit their new lifestyles, with demand for big-ticket furniture and appliances in particular fed by a stock market rally and loose monetary policy. Shipments of auto parts and semiconductors picked up in the fall as well. The tight global supply of containers has contributed to the jump in shipping rates to other destinations, including Europe, where shipments of personal computer peripherals and auto parts have begun picking up again, albeit somewhat later than in the U.S Click here to read... [2]

China builds Digital Silk Road in Pakistan to Africa and Europe

China is set to lay the final stretch of a cross-border fibre optic cable in Pakistan that will create the Digital Silk Road, serving the geostrategic interests of both countries. It will connect to a submarine cable in the Arabian Sea to service countries participating in China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Europe. Observers see this as a strategic move to circumvent international telecommunication consortiums dominated by Western and Indian companies. Some BRI projects have been negatively affected by the coronavirus pandemic and debt crises in partner countries, including a $6.8 billion railway project in Pakistan. Part of Beijing's response has been to step up digital projects and development of communications infrastructure. The Hengtong Group, one of China's leading fibre optic and power cable makers, is heading a consortium of telecom companies from Africa, Pakistan and Hong Kong to install the Pakistan East Africa Connecting Europe (PEACE) cable in the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean. The Mediterranean section of the cable is already being laid from Egypt to France, and the 15,000 km long cable is expected to go into service later this year.Click here to read... [3]

The world is dangerously dependent on Taiwan for semiconductors

Taiwan, which China regards as a province, is being courted for its capacity to make leading-edge computer chips. That’s mostly down to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s largest foundry and go-to producer of chips for Apple Inc. smartphones, artificial intelligence and high-performance computing. Taiwan’s role in the world economy largely existed below the radar, until it came to recent prominence as the auto industry suffered shortfalls in chips used for everything from parking sensors to reducing emissions. With carmakers including Germany’s Volkswagen AG, Ford Motor Co. of the U.S. and Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp. forced to halt production and idle plants, Taiwan’s importance has suddenly become too big to ignore. U.S, European and Japanese automakers are lobbying their governments for help, with Taiwan and TSMC being asked to step in. The auto industry’s pleas illustrate how TSMC’s chipmaking skills have handed Taiwan political and economic leverage in a world where technology is being enlisted in the great power rivalry between the U.S. and China — a standoff unlikely to ease under the administration of Joe Biden.Click here to read... [4]

Apple CEO Tim Cook calls out Facebook amid widening rift

Tim Cook, the chief executive of Apple, took pot shots at Facebook and other social media companies on Jan 28, when he criticized their approach on disinformation and privacy on social media platforms. "At a moment of rampant disinformation and conspiracy theories juiced by algorithms, we can no longer turn a blind eye to a theory of technology that says all engagement is good engagement — the longer the better — and all with the goal of collecting as much data as possible," said Cook, a speaker at Jan 28's virtually-held Computers, Privacy and Data Protection conference. Cook's comments come at a time when Apple is planning to implement privacy settings that will make it considerably easier for users to decline to have their data tracked to enable targeted advertisements. If users refuse, then it would restrict tools that collect data to target advertisements. The feature was set to be implemented in September, but Apple said it would hold off until late March or April, to allow apps to adjust to the new feature.Facebook, meanwhile, has been questioning Apple's decision to make the change. Click here to read... [5]

Tech workers of the world, unite! Google employees from 10 countries form historic global union… but can’t actually negotiate yet

After making history earlier this month with a hundreds-strong North American union, employees of Google and its parent company Alphabet have taken their union organizing global, bringing together workers from 10 countries. The Alphabet Workers Union, formed by Google and Alphabet employees in the US and Canada earlier this month, has joined forces with 12 other unions of Googlers, uniting workers in 10 countries under the umbrella of Alpha Global. The new global union is affiliated with UNI Global Union, a 20-million-strong association of labour unions that includes some Amazon employees. In addition to the US and Canada, Google unions in the UK, Ireland, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Belgium have joined the project. The mega-union’s formation was announced in a press release on Jan 25. Alpha Global, like the Alphabet Workers Union, will aim to make change at Google by “building worker solidarity” rather than forcing the tech behemoth to the negotiating table – something it legally cannot do. Nevertheless, the show of transcontinental worker unity represents a historic step in the typically union-averse climate of Big Tech. Click here to read... [6]

Global financial markets may be overconfident, IMF warns

Investors may have become overly complacent about financial conditions, creating the risk of a sharp downturn in markets, the IMF said Jan 27. While policymakers must keep interest rates low to ensure economies recover from the COVID-19 crisis, they also must remain vigilant about potential problems, the IMF cautioned in the latest update to its Global Financial Stability Report. “Financial stability risks have been in check so far, but we cannot take this for granted,” said Tobias Adrian, head of the IMF’s Monetary and Capital Markets Department. With borrowing rates at record lows and new vaccines boosting hopes of a solid recovery in activity this year, prices for stocks, corporate bonds and other risky assets have risen globally, while markets have shrugged off new waves of coronavirus infections.Adrian said the concern is that values have become “stretched,” pointing to the tech sector where “we’re detecting some frothiness.” Click here to read... [7]

Chinese tech giant Xiaomi sues Pentagon & US Treasury, demanding removal from blacklist linking it to Beijing’s military

One of the largest global smartphone makers, China’s Xiaomi, has filed a legal complaint in a US court, urging the government to strike it from a blacklist of firms allegedly tied to China’s military while denying any such links. Xiaomi demanded that it be removed from the list on Jan 29, telling a Washington, DC district court that the decision to put it there was “unlawful and unconstitutional,” Reuters reported. It insisted it had no connection to the People’s Liberation Army, pointing to a “substantial number” of American citizens that have major stakes in the company, with US-based financial firms making up three of its top 10 investors. The company was added to the blacklist along with eight other firms last month in the waning days of the Donald Trump administration, which required all American investors to pull their money out of the companies by a deadline of November 11, 2021. Addressed to US President Joe Biden’s nominees to lead the Pentagon and the Treasury, Lloyd Austin and Janet Yellen, the complaint also said the investment ban would cause “immediate and irreparable harm to Xiaomi.” Click here to read... [8]

US Government ‘SWAT Team’ Is Reviewing Past Start up Deals Tied to Chinese Investors

A national-security panel on the hunt for Chinese involvement in U.S. technology companies is scrutinizing start up investments that are months or even years old.The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., or Cfius, has over the past two years built out a new enforcement arm of roughly two dozen people tasked with rooting out old investment deals that involve sensitive technologies and could pose a threat to national security, according to current and former government officials and national-security lawyers. The team has its sights on venture-capital investments, even small-dollar deals, where the money can be traced back to China, these people say. Cfius, which reviews foreign investment in U.S. companies and real estate for potential national-security risks, is positioned to become a linchpin in President Biden’s strategy to curb China’s technology ambitions. Recent hires to its enforcement team include professionals from venture-capital firms, investment banks and technology backgrounds, according to people involved in the effort.Click here to read... [9]

IEA launches global group to tackle fallout from energy transition

The International Energy Agency (IEA) is launching a global commission to address the impact on employment and society from the transition to renewable energy from fossil fuels, it said on Jan 26. The commission, chaired by Denmark, will include energy ministers from Canada, Norway, Mexico and Oman. It will also include US energy officials, as Washington shifts course under President Joe Biden, who has pledged to tackle climate change. "We believe the real success of this transition is critically hinging on whether or not citizens will benefit from the opportunities and how we navigate the disruptions of clean energy transitions," IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said. "Employment will change some sectors will gain significantly while others inevitably decline. Governments will need to proactively prepare for change and to protect those adversely affected," he told a webinar. The Paris-based energy watchdog said in January that global emissions that had dropped sharply in 2020 due to the coronavirus crisis would rebound in 2021 unless governments acted. Britain hosts a summit in Glasgow in November aimed at drawing up global goals to tackle climate change. Click here to read... [10]

Taiwan’s growth outpaces China for first time in three decades

Taiwan’s economy grew faster than that of China for the first time in three decades last year as strong demand for the island nation’s technology exports boosted growth in the fourth quarter. Gross domestic product increased by 4.9 per cent in the final three months of 2020 compared with the same period a year earlier, taking Taiwan’s expansion over the course of 2020 to 3 per cent, the cabinet’s statistics agency said on Jan 29. This was a faster pace than the 2.3 per cent full-year growth reported by China. Taiwan long suffered anaemic growth due to its manufacturing industries’ exodus to China, where cheaper labour and land costs and looser regulation long gave them a cost advantage for export production. Taiwanese exporters, many of whom are contract manufacturers for US, European and Japanese vendors of electronics goods were one of the largest investors in China over the past 30 years. But increasing production costs in China, the erosion of incentives Beijing offered in the past and the Chinese government’s support for domestic companies instead have driven Taiwanese companies to divert investment back home and elsewhere recently. Click here to read... [11]

China willing to share nuclear technology for peaceful use: expert

China will further promote international cooperation on the peaceful use of nuclear energy, sharing technologies from its new third-generation reactor, which has just gone into commercial use, according to a senior expert on Jan 31. The No. 5 unit in the city of Fuqing, in east China's Fujian Province, China's first nuclear power unit using Hualong One, a domestically designed third-generation reactor, began generating electricity for sale on Jan 30. "We are willing to provide to other countries worldwide with the Hualong technology, including main components, personnel training, as well as our experiences in global cooperation," said Xing Ji, chief designer of Hualong One, in an exclusive interview with Xinhua. "We also expect wider cooperation with other countries in developing new technologies on nuclear energy," said Xing, who is also chief engineer of the China Nuclear Power Engineering Corporation. China has actively participated in international organizations in the field of nuclear energy, such as the International Atomic Energy Agency, to promote international technological exchanges. It also plays a significant role in ITER, the world's largest nuclear fusion experiment, and works with other countries to tackle challenges in this regard. Click here to read... [12]

UK to apply to join trans-Pacific free trade bloc

The United Kingdom is applying to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a trans-Pacific trading bloc of 11 countries, the government announced on Jan 30. "One year after our departure from the EU we are forging new partnerships that will bring enormous economic benefits for the people of Britain," Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement. "Applying to be the first new country to join the CPTPP demonstrates our ambition to do business on the best terms with our friends and partners all over the world and be an enthusiastic champion of global free trade," he added. By joining the Pacific free trade area, the UK stands to benefit from lower tariffs without deep political integration, as was the case with the European Union. The UK's trade with CPTPP members accounted for nearly 111 billion pounds (about $152 billion, €125 billion) in 2019, which is around six times less than the business the UK conducts with the EU. Click here to read... [13]

EU jump-starts battery development projects with more subsidies

The aim by 2025 was an EU battery industry capable of powering at least six million electric cars, EU commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic, responsible for the bloc's strategic futures planning, said on Jan 26. The European Commission's approval of €2.9 billion ($3.5 billion) in subsidies is the second such pan-European scheme, following €3.2 billion approved in 2019 across seven countries.The latest "European Battery Innovation" scheme, set to run through 2028, goes to 42 companies in 12 EU member states, spanning raw materials to recycling, start-ups, universities and other research bodies. The scheme was likely to entice an extra €9 billion in private investment, according to the Brussels-based Commission. Currently, Europe accounts for only 3% of world battery cell production. Its aim by the end of this decade is 25% of the world battery market and less reliance on Asian imports. Included in the scheme unveiled on Jan 26 in Brussels were BMW and Fiat but also the Californian-based Tesla, which is currently erecting its first European battery factory at a site near Berlin. Also included in the second scheme are the French chemicals company Arkema and the Swedish battery specialist Northvolt. Among 11 Germany-based firms will also be Elring Klinger and SGL Carbon. Click here to read... [14]

China's public and private sector to standardize mainland semiconductor market to protect supply chain lines

According to a report in the South China Morning Post and carried by Russia’s Sputnik news service, experts from China’s public and private sector are joining forces to standardize the mainland semiconductor market to protect national supply chain lines in the ongoing US trade war on China. Ninety members have been established in the committee, including Huawei Technologies, Shanghai-based chipmaker SMIC, Huawei’s semiconductor wing, HiSilicon, as well as tech giants Tencent Holding, Xiaomi and Alibaba Group Holdings, among others. According to the China Electronics Standardization Institute (CESI), a lack of standards causes difficulties to keep “an orderly industrial environment” due to rising communication costs between semiconductor firms and customers, SCMP reported. The efforts come days after a top Communist Party official wrote China has vowed to adopt a “whole country” approach to decoupling from foreign technologies despite challenges from a technological gap and foreign sanctions in the trade war. Click here to read... [15]

Strategic

Myanmar’s military says it is taking control of the country for 1 year, declares state of emergency due to alleged election fraud

Myanmar’s military has seized power, saying it will be in charge for one year, while declaring a state of emergency due to what it sees as a rigged election won by the party of Aung San Suu Kyi, now reportedly under arrest. With most TV broadcasting cut off amid rumours of a military coup in the making, military-owned Myawaddy TV announced on morning of Feb 01 that the commander-in-chief of the Myanmar Armed Forces, General Min Aung Hlaing, will be taking control over the country for one year. The channel reported that the military invoked a state of emergency in accordance with the constitution, which provides it with far-reaching emergency powers. The military, known as the Tatmadaw, doubled down on its allegations of voter fraud in the November general election, citing the civilian government’s failure to investigate the allegations as one of the reasons behind the move. The Tatmadaw also aired its grievances over Suu Kyi’s ruling National League for Democracy party’s refusal to postpone the election due to the coronavirus pandemic, as demanded by the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and 24 other parties. Click here to read... [16]

US freeze on F-35s sale to Abu Dhabi won’t hurt normalization between Israel & UAE – PM Netanyahu

The suspension by US President Joe Biden on selling F-35 fighter jets to the UAE won’t derail normalization between Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi, as the process has gone too far already, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted. “It won’t affect them,” Netanyahu said, when asked about the possible impact of the announcement by Washington on relations between Israel and the UAE. The mending of ties between the two former foes has “passed the point of no return,” the prime minister insisted during a press conference broadcast on Facebook.“Everyone understood that this [normalization deal] was a historic step and that there were enormous benefits here. It’s somewhere else already. I think it’s going to move forward,” he pointed out. The $23 billion sale of 50 F-35 fighter jets to Abu Dhabi was greenlit by the Trump administration after the US-brokered agreement was signed between Israel, Bahrain, and the UAE in September.All three countries publicly insisted the sale wasn’t on the agenda during the discussion of the so-called Abraham Accords. However, US officials acknowledged that the normalization move put Abu Dhabi in a more favourable position to receive advanced American weaponry. Click here to read... [17]

Russia-US extend arms pact, Kremlin says, as Biden and Putin talk

Russia and the United States have struck a deal to extend the New START nuclear arms control treaty, the Kremlin said on Jan 26, a move that preserves the last major pact of its kind between the world's two biggest nuclear powers. The White House did not immediately confirm the Kremlin's announcement but said President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin had discussed the issue by telephone and agreed that their teams work urgently to complete the extension by Feb. 5, when the treaty expires. Signed in 2010, the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) is a cornerstone of global arms control. It limits the number of strategic nuclear warheads deployed by the United States and Russia to 1,550 each as well as the number of land- and submarine-based missiles and bombers that deliver them.The Kremlin declared the breakthrough, which was widely anticipated, in a statement announcing that Putin and Biden had spoken for the first time since Biden took office on Jan. 20. Click here to read... [18]

China tests Biden on Taiwan, with eye on another island

On Jan 31, another 15 Chinese aircraft flew into Taiwan's air defense identification zone, or ADIZ, according to the island's Defense Ministry. What is noteworthy is that the Chinese military planes flew between the main island of Taiwan and Pratas Island southwest of it. The island, which sits in a strategic location in the South China Sea, is closer to Hong Kong than to the rest of Taiwan, though it is under Taiwan's control. China has deployed an aircraft carrier to its naval base on Hainan Island, farther to the west and facing the South China Sea. The shortest route from that base to the Pacific would take Chinese naval ships through the Bashi Channel, between Taiwan and the Philippines. On the way there, they would pass near Pratas Island. And it is at Pratas Island where a behind-the-scenes tug-of-war is being played out between the U.S. and China. One take on the military planes' latest incursions into Taiwan's ADIZ is that they were showing off China's ability to bomb the main island of Taiwan and cut off supply routes to Pratas. China may also have in mind a surprise attack and occupation of Pratas. Click here to read... [19]

New U.S. secretary of state favours cooperation with China despite genocide of Uighurs

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Jan 27, his first full day in the job, that he favoured cooperation with China on climate change and other issues of shared concern, even as he reiterated that genocide had been committed against Uighur Muslims in its Xinjiang region. The U.S.-China relationship was "arguably the most important relationship that we have in the world," he told reporters. "Increasingly, that relationship has some adversarial aspects to it. It has competitive ones. And it also still has cooperative ones," he said, adding that battling climate change was in the interest of both countries. "I think, and hope, that we'll be able to pursue that, but that fits within the larger context of, of our foreign policy, and of many issues of concern that we have with China; issues that we need to need to work through." Blinken was asked how it would be possible to cooperate with China after his predecessor, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, said last week that China had committed genocide against Muslims in Xinjiang. Blinken endorsed that determination at his confirmation hearing last week. The Biden administration has vowed a tough approach to "out-compete" China, but backers of a hard-line policy towards Beijing have raised concerns that it may be forced to compromise on this to make progress on issues such as climate and North Korea. Click here to read... [20]

Don't treat China as 'strategic rival', says China's ambassador to U.S.

In the first major speech by a Chinese official on relations between the world's two biggest economies since Biden took office, Ambassador Cui Tiankai reasserted China's long-standing position of seeking peaceful coexistence with the United States, while warning it not to cross China's red lines. "Treating China as a strategic rival and imaginary enemy would be a huge strategic misjudgement," Cui told the forum that took place late on Jan 27, U.S. time, in Beijing. "To develop any policy on the basis of that would only lead to grave strategic mistakes." Cui stressed that China wanted cooperation, not confrontation, and called for both sides to address differences through dialogue. But he also said China would not yield on matters concerning sovereignty and territorial integrity. "China will not back down. We hope the United States will respect China's core interest and refrain from crossing the red line," Cui said. Hong Kong, the western region of Xinjiang, the South China Sea and Taiwan were points of intensifying contention between China and the United States during the Trump administration. With the Biden administration expected to take a more multilateral approach to China, Cui warned that a coalition of allies against China could create "new imbalances".Click here to read... [21]

Biden and Xi may meet at Singapore’s ‘Davos’ summit in May: WEF President

United States President Joe Biden and China President Xi Jinping may meet at the World Economic Forum’s summit in Singapore in May, the organization’s president said on Jan 29. The summit has been moved from its usual home in the Swiss alpine town of Davos, from where it takes its informal name, to Singapore over concerns about the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. Click here to read... [22]

Iran rejects new talks or parties in nuclear deal

Iran’s foreign ministry has rejected any new negotiations or changes to the participants of Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers, after French President Emmanuel Macron said any new talks should include Saudi Arabia. “The nuclear accord is a multilateral international agreement ratified by UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which is non-negotiable and parties to it are clear and unchangeable,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh was quoted by state media as saying on Jan 30. Iran began breaching the deal’s limits on uranium enrichment activity after Washington withdrew from the pact in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump and reimposed economic sanctions on Tehran. President Joe Biden’s new administration has said it will rejoin the deal but only after Tehran resumes full compliance with its terms.But Iran has rejected US demands to reverse its acceleration of the nuclear programme before Washington lifts sanctions on Tehran. Saudi Arabia and its ally the United Arab Emirates have said that Gulf Arab states should be involved this time in any talks, which they say should also address Iran’s ballistic missile programme and its support for proxies around the Middle East. Click here to read... [23]

US-led troops to remain in Afghanistan beyond May deadline agreed with Taliban

US-led troops will remain in Afghanistan beyond the deadline laid down in a peace deal with the Taliban because the militants have failed to comply with the agreement, NATO officials said on Jan 31. The move casts doubt on the future of the agreement signed last year, under which international troops would withdraw before May in return for the insurgents fulfilling security guarantees. The Afghan government and others say the Taliban has failed to meet the deal’s conditions, with an escalation in violence and a failure to cut ties with militant groups such as Al-Qaeda. “There will be no full withdrawal by allies by the end of April,” a senior NATO official said. “Conditions have not been met. “And with the new US administration there will be tweaks in the policy, the sense of hasty withdrawal that was prevalent will be addressed, and we could see a much more calculated exit strategy.” Click here to read... [24]

Philippines says US treaty ‘untapped weapon’ as China pressure rises

Manila’s defense pact with the US is an “untapped weapon” that will help maintain balance in the Asia Pacific region, the Philippine Senate’s security committee head said on Jan 28, amid increasing claims from China in the South China Sea. Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s comment followed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s phone conversation with Filipino Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. on Jan 28, during which the US reaffirmed its commitment to defend the Philippines in the event of armed attacks in the disputed South China Sea. Blinken’s assurances came after Locsin said on Jan 27 that the Philippines had filed a protest over Beijing’s new law allowing Chinese coast guards to open fire on foreign vessels to prevent threats to China’s “national sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction” at sea. China claims almost all of the South China Sea, a major oil-rich trade route, to which several Southeast Asian nations, including the Philippines, have overlapping claims. “The US-PH Mutual Defense Treaty will help maintain the balance of power in the Asia-Pacific — including in the South China Sea,” Sen. Lacson said, as quoted in a statement released by the Philippine Senate Committee on National Defense and Security. Click here to read... [25]

Pentagon to include climate risk in war gaming, defence secretary says

The Pentagon said on Jan 27 it would include the risk of climate change in military simulations and war gaming, after President Joe Biden signed a raft of executive actions to tackle the climate issue. Biden's orders map out the direction for the Democratic president's environmental agenda and mark a reversal from policies under his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, who sought to maximize U.S. oil, gas and coal output by removing regulations and easing environmental reviews. Under Trump, the Pentagon's guiding document, known as the National Defense Strategy, did not include climate change as a priority. Over the past decade, the U.S. military and intelligence officials have developed a broad agreement about the security threats that climate change presents, in part by threatening to cause natural disasters in densely populated coastal areas, damage American military bases worldwide and open up new natural resources to global competition. "The Department will immediately take appropriate policy actions to prioritize climate change considerations in our activities and risk assessments, to mitigate this driver of insecurity," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement. Click here to read... [26]

Israel's top general says its military is refreshing operational plans against Iran

Israel's top general said on Jan 26 that its military was refreshing its operational plans against Iran and that any U.S. return to a 2015 nuclear accord with Tehran would be "wrong." The remarks are an apparent signal to U.S. President Joe Biden to tread cautiously in any diplomatic engagement with Iran. Such comments by Israel's military chief of staff on U.S. policymaking are rare and likely would have been pre-approved by the Israeli government."A return to the 2015 nuclear agreement, or even if it is a similar accord with several improvements, is bad and wrong from an operational and strategic point of view," Lieutenant-General Aviv Kohavi said in an address to Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies. Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, abandoned the nuclear agreement in 2018, a move that was welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who criticised the sanctions relief it offered and warned of the likelihood of Iranian nuclear arms development after its expiration. Click here to read... [27]

U.K. Opens Its Doors to Five Million Hong Kong Residents, Starting Jan 31

After protests and political upheaval prompted China to impose a tough new security law on Hong Kong last year, Britain has opened its doors to as many as five million residents of its former colony. As of Jan 31, holders of British National Overseas passports—which are available to Hong Kong citizens born in the territory before it was handed back to China in 1997—can move with their families to the U.K. on five-year visas. After that period, they can apply for British citizenship. Previously these passport holders could only get six-month British visas. The immigration overhaul is a response to China’s imposition of a new national security law on Hong Kong, which Britain says violates Hong Kong’s judicial independence from Beijing. The U.K. argues this was guaranteed until 2047 by an international treaty the two countries signed. Beijing has accused London of meddling in its affairs and expressed its anger toward the new immigration plan. On Jan 29, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said it would no longer recognize the BNO passport as a valid travel document and may take further measures. Click here to read... [28]

Vietnam top communist Trong's 3rd term heralds next leader race

Vietnam's Communist Party congress closed on Monday with the announcement that President Nguyen Phu Trong was given an unprecedented third five-year term as general secretary. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, 66, will be elevated to president. Pham Minh Chinh is to succeed Phuc as prime minister and Vuong Dinh Hue will serve as chair of the National Assembly. The three positions will be officially decided when the next National Assembly is convened after the congress, rounding out the "four pillars" of Vietnam's party leadership. In closing remarks to the congress, Trong and incoming Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expressed support for continuing doimoi economic reforms in order to achieve Vietnam's goal of upper middle-income status by 2030. Party rules limit general secretaries to serving two five-year terms, but an exception was made this week for Trong, who will be the first general secretary to serve a third term since Vietnam was reunified in 1976. Vuong, Trong's protégé, did not amass enough support from the party's factions to ascend to the general secretary post, which would have threatened internal party stability. Click here to read... [29]

Medical

WHO issues new guidance on oxygen levels to better monitor Covid-19 patients

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued new advice on how to prevent Covid-19 patients who are recovering at home from deteriorating, including measuring oxygen levels and using anticoagulants to prevent blood clots. The new medical guidance was announced at a UN briefing in Geneva on Jan 26, where WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris laid out evidence-based advice to prevent the condition of Covid patients worsening by providing them with a higher level of care and reducing hospital admissions, alleviating the heavy demand on healthcare systems around the world. One of the key suggestions is using pulse oximetry, the non-invasive monitoring of oxygen levels in a person’s bloodstream, as well as putting patients in the prone position - meaning, lying on their front - to improve their oxygen flow. Doctors also advocated for the use of low-dose anticoagulants to help prevent potential blood clots forming within susceptible patients. The new guidance comes at a time where the vaccine rollout, particularly in the EU, is at risk of being hampered due to supply issues with pharmaceutical companies Astra Zeneca and Pfizer/BioNTech. Click here to read... [30]

WHO team visits Wuhan market where first COVID infections detected

A World Health Organization-led team of experts investigating the origins of COVID-19 visited Huanan market on Jan 31, the now-shuttered wholesale seafood centre in the Chinese city of Wuhan where the new coronavirus was initially detected. Since being released from a two-week quarantine on Jan 28, the team has visited hospitals and markets, as well as an exhibition commemorating Wuhan's battle with the virus, which included a 76-day lockdown of the city of 11 million. "Very important site visits today - a wholesale market first & Huanan Seafood Market just now. Very informative & critical for our joint teams to understand the epidemiology of COVID as it started to spread at the end of 2019," team member Peter Daszak said on Twitter. The WHO, which has sought to manage expectations for the mission, said on Jan 29 that team members would be limited to visits organised by their Chinese hosts and would not have any contact with community members, due to health restrictions. No full itinerary for the team's two weeks of field work has been announced, and journalists covering the tightly controlled visit have been kept at a distance from team members. Click here to read... [31]

Hungary becomes first EU country to approve Chinese Covid jab, as Brussels vaccine plan stutters amid row with pharma giants

Hungary has become the first nation in the EU to register a Chinese-made Covid-19 vaccine. The country is looking to accelerate its inoculation schedule amid very public supply challenges in the EU’s vaccine procurement program.“Today, the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine also received a license from OGYÉI (the National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition),” Surgeon General Cecilía Müller told a briefing on Jan 29. Müller said that adding a new vaccine to Hungary’s arsenal would allow the nation to significantly accelerate its inoculation program, with the Pfizer, Moderna, and Sinopharm jab all being available for use. On Jan 28, the government said it would grant emergency use approval to any shot already administered to more than a million people anywhere in the world. The surgeon-general added that, although the Russian Sputnik V vaccine had been approved, health authorities were still conducting tests that she hoped would be concluded next week. Click here to read... [32]