The Asia-Pacific in 2021: What to Expect
3 years, 11 months ago

The Asia-Pacific in 2021: What to Expect

The Diplomat  

2020 taught us all a lesson about the dangers of prediction. The COVID-19 pandemic that emerged this time last year violently shoved nearly every forecast into the rubbish bin. But we’re trying again for 2021, with one big “known unknown” looming large for the Asia-Pacific: the continuing effects of COVID-19. Another big question mark that will impact nearly every sector and state is the ascension of the Biden administration in the United States. From elections in Kyrgyzstan, India, and South Korea to the peace process in Afghanistan; from protest movements in Pakistan and Thailand to Olympic dreams in China and Japan; we offer suggestions of key markers to watch in the new year.

 2021  washington  china  violently  covid19  change  big  nearly  watch  expect  asiapacific  pandemic  governments

History of this topic

Act on climate at home despite global ennui
1 month, 1 week ago

Act on climate at home despite global ennui

New Indian Express  

The longest shadow cast on the COP29 climate conference going on in Baku is the re-election of Donald Trump. The president-elect has already picked Vivek Ramaswamy, who has criticised big companies for basing business strategy around climate change concerns, to co-head a new department of government efficiency. That is the main agenda at COP29—to push for a new global climate …

China-EU synergy can meet global challenges
1 year, 3 months ago

China-EU synergy can meet global challenges

China Daily  

MA XUEJING/CHINA DAILY In an era marked by exceptional international challenges, the development of the global economy, fighting climate change, and rapid technological innovations have emerged as focal points of our collective future. However, China's crucial role in addressing global and regional socioeconomic problems makes it a natural partner for mitigating and adapting to climate change. In particular, the Sino-German …

Explained | Here’s how Asia fared in 2022 in terms of climate and extreme events
1 year, 4 months ago

Explained | Here’s how Asia fared in 2022 in terms of climate and extreme events

The Hindu  

The story so far: Drought, floods, and high temperatures were the critical disasters that plagued Asiain 2022, causing extensive damage to life and property. Central Asia, the Yangtze River Basin and the Huaihe River Basin in China, southwest and northwest Asia, and areas along the Arctic coast also recorded precipitation below normal. Siberia, northeast Asia, central India, India’s Western Ghats, …

Asia-Pacific needs disaster warning systems to counter rising climate change risks, report says
1 year, 4 months ago

Asia-Pacific needs disaster warning systems to counter rising climate change risks, report says

Associated Press  

BANGKOK — Countries in the Asia-Pacific region need to drastically increase their investments in disaster warning systems and other tools to counter rising risks from climate change, a United Nations report said Tuesday. She noted that countries that have put early warning systems in place, such as India and Bangladesh, which faces severe threats from devastating tropical storms, can save …

Regional approach to climate crisis preparedness in Asia and the Pacific
1 year, 6 months ago

Regional approach to climate crisis preparedness in Asia and the Pacific

Hindustan Times  

Asia and the Pacific region has several climate vulnerable communities ranging from pacific communities, which face sudden and slow-onset disasters, rainfall variations and El Niño and La Niña climate patterns to Himalayan communities, which encounter extreme weather events like flash floods, landslides and debris flows worsened by climate crisis and depleting Himalayan glaciers. As the United Nations Environment Programme’s flagship …

Asia-Pacific to grow 4.6% in 2023; India, China to contribute half of global growth: IMF
1 year, 7 months ago

Asia-Pacific to grow 4.6% in 2023; India, China to contribute half of global growth: IMF

The Hindu  

Growth in the dynamic Asia-Pacific region is projected to increase to 4.6% this year from the 3.8% recorded in 2022, according to the International Monetary Fund which stated that the growth will be largely led by India and China. In its “Regional Economic Outlook - Asia and Pacific” report released on May 2, the Washington-based fund said the region would …

Asia-Pacific to grow 4.6% in 2023: IMF
1 year, 7 months ago

Asia-Pacific to grow 4.6% in 2023: IMF

Live Mint  

In the dynamic Asia-Pacific region, growth is projected to increase to 4.6% this year from the 3.8% recorded in 2022, according to the International Monetary Fund which stated that the growth will be largely led by India and China. The Washington-based fund, in its Regional Economic Outlook – Asia and Pacific report released on Tuesday, said the region would contribute …

COVID-19 update: China faces challenge due to flawed containment policies, ineffective vaccines, says Report
1 year, 10 months ago

COVID-19 update: China faces challenge due to flawed containment policies, ineffective vaccines, says Report

India TV News  

China COVID-19 update : China is facing a significant challenge in the form of COVID-19, due to the Chinese Communist Party's "flawed and regressive containment policies and ineffective domestically produced vaccines," GeoPolitica.info reported. China's COVID-19 containment strategy has affected Chinese people and has caused major discontent among people in the country, as per the GeoPolitica.info report. Vaccines manufactured in China …

Prepare, don't panic, in the face of covid resurgence in China
2 years ago

Prepare, don't panic, in the face of covid resurgence in China

Live Mint  

As a fresh wave of covid infections sweeps across China, after the authorities abruptly changed tack from their three-year-long Zero Covid strategy, there is widespread concern that the world is heading for Pandemic Redux, making the world pay a heavy toll in terms of lives and lost economic output. A PLI-type scheme for 'atmanirbhar' vaccine industry Cement investors see Q3 …

Covid-19 outbreak AGAIN sparks meme fest on Twitter; netizens question 'New Year 2023 plans'
2 years ago

Covid-19 outbreak AGAIN sparks meme fest on Twitter; netizens question 'New Year 2023 plans'

India TV News  

The COVID-19 virus shook the world in 2019 after it was first reported in China's Wuhan. While the holiday season is in full swing and people are planning travel and vacation plans, the unexpected outbreak in China has completely derailed their plans. A few people also voiced their concern and urged the government to immediately ban all exchange with China. …

2023: What to Expect in the Asia-Pacific
2 years ago

2023: What to Expect in the Asia-Pacific

The Diplomat  

Writers from across the region highlight the trends and event to watch in the new year. In 2022, Australia, China, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nepal, the Philippines, South Korea, and Turkmenistan, all elected or appointed top leaders – some new, some re-upped incumbents. There are some additional polls in 2023, most notably in Thailand and Pakistan, but many more countries will see …

China shifts away from ‘zero-COVID’ by announcing more easing measures
2 years ago

China shifts away from ‘zero-COVID’ by announcing more easing measures

The Hindu  

China’s government on Wednesday announced sweeping new measures to ease pandemic restrictions, marking a significant shift away from three years of a stringent “zero-COVID” policy. The measures said “apart from nursing homes, medical institutions, primary and secondary schools, kindergartens and other special places, people will no longer be required to provide negative nucleic acid test results and undergo health code …

China’s Covid-19 plan isn’t good for anyone
2 years ago

China’s Covid-19 plan isn’t good for anyone

Hindustan Times  

China’s Covid-19 troubles may seem like an instance of poetic justice. But it is difficult to not sympathise with the Chinese people who, apart from coping with a new wave of the pandemic, also have to suffer the effects of a repressive regime’s irrational and unscientific zero-Covid policy. And there’s the once-in-a-lifetime drought some parts of China experienced this summer. …

Biden: ‘The pandemic is over’
2 years, 3 months ago

Biden: ‘The pandemic is over’

CNN  

CNN — President Joe Biden said he believes the Covid-19 pandemic is “over” in an appearance on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” but acknowledged the US still has a “problem” with the virus that has killed more than 1 million Americans. Biden on 2024 The President told “60 Minutes” in the interview aired Sunday he had not made a “firm decision” on …

Has COVID truly exposed the broken global order?
2 years, 5 months ago

Has COVID truly exposed the broken global order?

The Hindu  

Published : Jun 26, 2022 18:00 IST When the COVID-19 pandemic affected every one of the world’s nations, the way forward seemed obvious, even if difficult to traverse. Many governments, in both developed and developing countries, were willing to set aside large sums to accelerate further research and pre-order potential production of any promising drugs and vaccines, ignoring the risks …

COVID-19 Put the Lie to the Idea of a Unifying National Tragedy
2 years, 10 months ago

COVID-19 Put the Lie to the Idea of a Unifying National Tragedy

The Diplomat  

For the last two years, the daily lives of most people in most of the world have been impacted more significantly by COVID-19 than by any other single cause. But a new round of North Korean missile tests and Chinese incursions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone suggests that the danger of major war is not limited to Ukraine. The …

Asia Is Watching the US COVID Response
2 years, 10 months ago

Asia Is Watching the US COVID Response

The Diplomat  

When COVID-19 hit the world in early 2020, global confidence in the United States faltered as the country that supposedly led the way in international scientific research struggled to keep the pandemic at bay. Still, as the pandemic continues to rage into 2022 with the latest Omicron variant particularly virulent, confidence in the United States is beginning to take a …

Dynamic zero-infection the only choice for China to combat pandemic
2 years, 10 months ago

Dynamic zero-infection the only choice for China to combat pandemic

China Daily  

A medical worker takes a swab sample from a resident at a COVID-19 testing site in Haidian district in Beijing, Jan 24, 2022. China's dynamic zero-infection policy has been especially successful over the past two months given that the new Omicron variant is three times more transmissible, and many countries have found it impossible to control as evidenced by the …

The Asia-Pacific in 2022: What to Expect
2 years, 11 months ago

The Asia-Pacific in 2022: What to Expect

The Diplomat  

One point stands out: 2022 will be a year of political change in many countries in Asia. Numerous other countries are undertaking local or legislative elections that won’t see top leadership change, but will bring with them political implications all the same. Even China will see a shake-up of political leaders at its once-every-five-years Party Congress, although don’t expect Xi …

2022 New Year’s Resolutions for Asia’s Biggest Economies
2 years, 11 months ago

2022 New Year’s Resolutions for Asia’s Biggest Economies

The Diplomat  

Workers of a political party and others cheer in front of a huge kite to welcome 2022 on New Year’s Eve in Ahmedabad, India, Friday, Dec. 31, 2021. Politically, China’s “president for life” faces another test at the CCP’s 20th National Party Congress in the fall, at which Xi is expected to break precedent and gain a third five-year term …

China could stay shut for all of 2022: Goldman Sachs
2 years, 11 months ago

China could stay shut for all of 2022: Goldman Sachs

Al Jazeera  

China could retain its tight border restrictions for the whole of the year as it prepares to host the Winter Olympics and a series of political events in 2022, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said. Reports that vaccines made by domestic firm Sinovac Biotech Ltd. offer limited protection against the omicron variant will likely reinforce China’s resolve to stick with its …

The economic clouds on the horizon for 2022
2 years, 11 months ago

The economic clouds on the horizon for 2022

The Independent  

Hopes that 2022 would herald a happier and more prosperous 12 months after the economic volatility of 2021 were dealt an early blow by the emergence of a new Covid-19 variant, but there are plenty of other challenges for the world economy in 2022. ONE says that some 43.2 per cent of the world’s population – 3.4 billion people, predominantly …

The politics of Covid-19 in Southeast Asia
3 years ago

The politics of Covid-19 in Southeast Asia

Hindustan Times  

Covid-19 arrived in Southeast Asia much earlier than the rest of the world. Hence, it should be brought to focus that with the Covid-19 pandemic as the catalyst, the Southeast Asia region is undergoing major changes in its political sphere as well. The economic damage caused by the spread of Covid-19 has made people desperate in many countries, including Indonesia, …

2022: What to Expect in the Asia-Pacific
3 years ago

2022: What to Expect in the Asia-Pacific

The Diplomat  

Writers from across the region highlight the trends and event to watch in the new year. Numerous other countries are undertaking local or legislative elections that won’t see top leadership change, but will bring with them political implications all the same. Even China will see a shake-up of political leaders at its once-every-five-years Party Congress, although don’t expect Xi Jinping …

China’s Xi warns against Cold War-era tensions in Asia Pacific
3 years, 1 month ago

China’s Xi warns against Cold War-era tensions in Asia Pacific

Al Jazeera  

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s comments come ahead of an upcoming virtual meeting with US counterpart Joe Biden. Chinese President Xi Jinping has warned against returning to Cold War-era tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, urging global cooperation ahead of a virtual meeting with his US counterpart. Amid the friction, the two sides began talks to improve communications and in October, officials …

Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam are leaving behind zero-Covid but they aren’t ready to open up, experts warn
3 years, 3 months ago

Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam are leaving behind zero-Covid but they aren’t ready to open up, experts warn

CNN  

Hong Kong CNN — After months of lockdown, parts of Southeast Asia are leaving behind their “zero-Covid” policy and charting a path toward living with the virus – despite experts’ warnings that it may be too early to do so. “One possible scenario is that it will be an endemic disease moving forward … We are tilting toward Covid part …

Climate action cannot wait for pandemic to end, medical journals warn
3 years, 3 months ago

Climate action cannot wait for pandemic to end, medical journals warn

India Today  

Global warming is already affecting people's health so much that emergency action on climate change cannot be put on hold while the world deals with the Covid-19 pandemic, medical journals across the globe warned on Monday. "Health is already being harmed by global temperature increases and the destruction of the natural world," read an editorial published in more than 220 …

China, US deal on climate change fails before COP26: report
3 years, 3 months ago

China, US deal on climate change fails before COP26: report

Al Jazeera  

Beijing rebuffs US proposal to accelerate climate efforts, including public commitment to stop financing of coal-fired power plants. “China already has its own plans and road map for achieving its climate goals,” Chinese leaders told US climate envoy John Kerry, the report quoted a source as saying. Li Shuo, a senior global policy adviser for Greenpeace East Asia, told SCMP …

India to make Covid-19 vaccines for Indo-Pacific under mega Quad initiative | Big takeaways
3 years, 9 months ago

India to make Covid-19 vaccines for Indo-Pacific under mega Quad initiative | Big takeaways

India TV News  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, United States President Joe Biden, Australian PM Scott Morrison and Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga on Friday engaged for the first time in the historic QUAD summit and discussed issues like coronavirus, regional security, economic crisis, climate change, others. In their first-ever summit, leaders of the Quad countries finalised a landmark initiative under which huge investments will …

Taiwan’s COVID-19 Triumph
3 years, 10 months ago

Taiwan’s COVID-19 Triumph

The Diplomat  

Few imagined at its start that 2020 would be defined by a pandemic. Even the KMT, resentful of how Tsai’s COVID-19 response has made her a political rock star and incredibly popular in Taiwan, have neither argued against wearing masks in public nor encouraged people to question the CECC’s quarantine and social distancing programs. Maintaining Taiwan’s minimal exposure to COVID-19 …

COVID-19 pandemic increasing disparities, social fragmentation; threatening economy, geopolitical stability: WEF study
3 years, 11 months ago

COVID-19 pandemic increasing disparities, social fragmentation; threatening economy, geopolitical stability: WEF study

The Hindu  

The COVID-19 pandemic has not only claimed millions of lives, it is also increasing disparities and social fragmentation, while it will threaten the economy in the next 3-5 years and will weaken geopolitical stability over the next 5-10 years, a study showed on January 19, In its annual Global Risks Report, the World Economic Forum also termed ‘infectious diseases’ as …

South Asia is Most Vulnerable to Conflict as Covid-19 Pandemic Causes an Unstable Global Scenario
3 years, 11 months ago

South Asia is Most Vulnerable to Conflict as Covid-19 Pandemic Causes an Unstable Global Scenario

News 18  

In an interview to mark the Remembrance Day in November last year, Britain’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Sir Nick Carter, remarked, “I think we are living at a moment in time where the world is a very uncertain and anxious place…the real risk we have with quite a lot of the regional conflicts that are going on at the …

COVID-19 disrupted technology, how we work, global supply chains: Here’s what to look forward to in 2021
3 years, 11 months ago

COVID-19 disrupted technology, how we work, global supply chains: Here’s what to look forward to in 2021

Firstpost  

If there was one company that saw a significant uptake post-lockdowns, it was video conferencing service, Zoom. Boycott China didn’t make a dent With COVID cases on a significant rise in China even before March, the global supply chain was completely off-track since the start of the year. Govt is also pushing for PLI schemes for laptops, wearables is another …

Covid, pandemic and lockdown: How 2020 changed the world
3 years, 11 months ago

Covid, pandemic and lockdown: How 2020 changed the world

Live Mint  

When the world celebrated the dawn of a new decade with a blaze of firework parties and revelry on January 1, few could have imagined what 2020 had in store. "This is a pandemic experience that's unique in the lifetime of every single person on Earth," says Sten Vermund, infectious disease epidemiologist and dean of Yale School of Public Health. …

WHO warns countries in Asia-Pacific may not get vaccine until mid-to-late 2021
4 years ago

WHO warns countries in Asia-Pacific may not get vaccine until mid-to-late 2021

ABC  

The World Health Organization says countries in the Asia-Pacific region are not guaranteed to have early access to COVID-19 shots and urged them to adopt a long-term approach to the pandemic. Key points: WHO says Asia-Pacific region vaccinations could begin in mid or late 2021 WHO says Asia-Pacific region vaccinations could begin in mid or late 2021 Representatives urged that …

BRI cooperation will drive economic recovery post-COVID-19: experts
4 years ago

BRI cooperation will drive economic recovery post-COVID-19: experts

China Daily  

The Belt & Road Brand Expo in Shanghai, June 30, 2018. KUALA LUMPUR - The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative will play a key role in post-COVID-19 economic recovery, according to academics participating in the International Forum on New Inclusive Asia 2020 on Thursday. In his opening remarks, Ong Tee Keat, founding chairman of the Center for New Inclusive Asia, …

The moment the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic sank in
4 years ago

The moment the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic sank in

LA Times  

In the last week of February, when I was still hugging friends and sharing appetizers with them over dinner, I received an unwelcome call from my editor. I expected a reassuring message that what was happening in China — pop-up hospital wards and healthcare workers suffering from physical and mental exhaustion — would not occur in the United States. She …

Analysis: The US and Europe face rising Covid-19 case numbers as they squander lessons from Asia-Pacific
4 years, 2 months ago

Analysis: The US and Europe face rising Covid-19 case numbers as they squander lessons from Asia-Pacific

CNN  

London CNN — While the Asia-Pacific region treads water until a coronavirus vaccine is found, the West’s biggest economies are drowning as a second wave firmly establishes itself in Europe. Swedish authorities have actively discouraged the use of masks, despite the high number of Covid-19 deaths in care homes, As well as resorting to lazy cultural tropes, such as Trump’s …

'I fear the worst' if world's approach to climate change is same as Covid-19: UN chief
4 years, 3 months ago

'I fear the worst' if world's approach to climate change is same as Covid-19: UN chief

India Today  

The United States, China and Russia fought on Thursday during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the coronavirus pandemic after UN chief Antonio Guterres had warned the body that if the climate crisis was approached with the "same disunity and disarray" of Covid-19, then: "I fear the worst". Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the Chinese government's top diplomat, …

Blaming China won't solve America's problems
4 years, 3 months ago

Blaming China won't solve America's problems

China Daily  

A Way Out and Forward Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the Chinese government believes that the prevention and control of COVID-19 is a major test for China's system and capacity for governance, which has brought both experience and lessons. As the world's two largest economies, UN Security Council permanent members and major players in many multilateral institutions, the US and China …

Opinion: Covid-19 has scarred the global economy, but it’s not too late to change course
4 years, 3 months ago

Opinion: Covid-19 has scarred the global economy, but it’s not too late to change course

CNN  

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in its entirety in the International Monetary Fund’s fall 2020 issue of Finance & Development Magazine. And this means it goes disproportionately after the poor, especially in poor countries and in advanced economies like the United States where access to health care is not guaranteed. There are many reasons for these differences: the …

The climate crisis: Our children warned us, but we did not listen
4 years, 4 months ago

The climate crisis: Our children warned us, but we did not listen

Al Jazeera  

When children start suing governments for inaction on climate change, as they have in South Korea, Pakistan, India and several other countries, it is time to sit up and take notice. The global pandemic has shifted everyone’s attention and silenced much of the child- and youth-led buzz around the climate crisis that captured public attention last year. Though many young …

This is what awaits the global economy after the pandemic (opinion)
4 years, 5 months ago

This is what awaits the global economy after the pandemic (opinion)

CNN  

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in its entirety in the International Monetary Fund’s summer 2020 issue of Finance & Development Magazine. The first trend is deglobalization; the logistic difficulties brought to light by the current crisis are already pointing to a shift away from global just-in-time supply chains. Yet as economic difficulties mount, the inevitable growth of nationalism …

China’s post-COVID aggression is reshaping Asia
4 years, 5 months ago

China’s post-COVID aggression is reshaping Asia

The Hindu  

India’s deadly encounter with China in the Galwan Valley is not an outlier in Beijing’s recent behaviour in Asia. China’s coronavirus “mask diplomacy” has given way to tense geopolitical confrontations with a growing array of its neighbours, from stand-offs with Vietnam and Malaysia in the South China Sea to threatening Australia with boycotts of wine, beef, barley, and Chinese students. …

Letter From the Editors
4 years, 6 months ago

Letter From the Editors

The Diplomat  

Welcome to the June issue of The Diplomat Magazine! COVID-19 has sparked not only a global health crisis but a debt crunch in the developing world; political reshapings in Timor-Leste and Kazakhstan; and an environmental wake-up call in Pakistan. Much of the criticism has been focused on China, which often stands accused of ensnaring poorer partners in “debt traps.” But …

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