Kinaforum : 13. des. 2021

mandag 13. desember 2021

EU has little appetite to join US diplomatic Games boycott

Several European Union nations have made it clear they have little appetite to join the U.S. initiative for a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Games because of concerns over China’s human rights record. EU foreign ministers were seeking a united front on how to handle the issue, following France’s position last week that a no-show of leaders and dignitaries at the opening of the Olympics would have little true impact.

“Politicizing sporting events like the Winter Olympics does not seem useful to me,” said Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told ZDF broadcaster that as little as possible should be taken away from the participants themselves. “Athletes prepare for years, sometimes half their lives, for this, and that’s why it should not be used for political issues.” China has dismissed the decision by Canada and the United Kingdom to join Washington’s diplomatic boycott as a “farce” and was not expecting the initiative to garner a worldwide following.

China plays down Lithuania rift as Belt and Road Initiative investments rise in Central, Eastern Europe

China has shrugged off the trade implications of souring diplomatic ties with Lithuania and pressure from the United States, as a senior economic official pointed to strong engagement with Central and Eastern Europe. “Although Lithuania has jumped out and sent a token of loyalty to the US, countries such as Croatia, Serbia and Hungary … they continue to proactively get closer with us without caring about [pressure from] the US,” said Ning Jizhe, deputy head of China’s National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top economic planning agency. Speaking at a forum on Saturday, Ning also argued that Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative has continued to make progress, despite alleged suppression and constraints by Washington.

China’s relations with Lithuania have dramatically cooled down this year after the Baltic state pulled out of the China-led 17+1 mechanism with Central and Eastern European (CEE) nations earlier this year.

China’s Alibaba accused of firing female employee who alleged colleague sexually assaulted her

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding has dismissed a female employee who accused a former co-worker of sexual assault earlier this year, the government-backed newspaper Dahe Daily has reported. Dahe Daily interviewed the employee, saying she had received notification of termination at the end of November, and published a copy of what she said was her termination letter. The letter said the employee had spread false information about being assaulted and about the company not handling the case. It added this “caused strong social concern and had a bad impact on the company”.

The newspaper report at the weekend quoted the employee as saying in the interview: “I have not made any mistakes and certainly will not accept this result, and in the future will use legal means to protect my rights and interests.” Alibaba did not respond to a request for comment outside working hours. A lawyer for the employee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

China was ready to approve Western mRNA vaccines months ago. Why is it still holding off?

When the highly infectious Delta variant hit China in the summer, some public health experts were hopeful that the country could soon receive an immunity boost from BioNTech's highly effective mRNA Covid-19 vaccine. In July, the shot was reported to have passed an expert review by Chinese regulators and was in the administration review stage, according to Fosun Pharma, the Chinese partner of BioNTech licensed to produce and distribute the vaccine in the Greater China region. Fosun was even planning to start domestic trial production by the end of August.

However, five months later there is still no word from Chinese officials on when -- or whether -- the vaccine will ever be approved, even as the newly emerged Omicron variant poses a fresh challenge to China's zero-Covid strategy -- and its less effective domestic vaccines.

Much remains unknown about the fast-spreading Omicron variant, which carries an unusually large amount of mutations that scientists worry could potentially make it more transmissible and less susceptible to existing vaccines.

South Korea: End to Korean War agreed to in principle

North and South Korea, the US, and China agree in principle to declare a formal end to the Korean War which ended in an armistice, says the South's President Moon Jae-in. But talks have yet to begin because of North Korea's demands, he added. The Korean War, which lasted from 1950 to 1953, split the peninsula into two.

North and South Korea have technically been at war ever since - backed by China and the US respectively - and locked in a tense relationship. Having made engagement with the North a cornerstone of his presidency, Mr Moon has long advocated for a formal declaration to the end of the conflict. But observers believe that it would be very difficult to achieve. Mr Moon, who is currently visiting Australia, was speaking at a joint press conference in Canberra along with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Nicaragua receives China vaccines after cutting ties with Taiwan

Nicaragua has received one million Covid vaccines from China, days after it cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favour of Beijing. Government representatives returned to the Central American state on Sunday with news of the donation. Local media broadcast clips showing an Air China plane landing with the first 200,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine.

Officials said they were "extremely grateful" for restored relations with Beijing. "We have come back with this great news that we have brought this donation of one million vaccinates to the Nicaraguan people," said Laureano Ortega Murillo, the son of Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega and one of his advisers. Currently, only 38% of Nicaragua's adult population is fully vaccinated but at least 67% have received one dose.

Hong Kong: Media tycoon Jimmy Lai gets 13 months jail for Tiananmen vigil

Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai has been sentenced to 13 months in jail for participating in a vigil marking the 1989 Tiananmen massacre in Beijing. The 74-year-old was found guilty last week of inciting others to take part in an unlawful assembly. He was among thousands who defied a ban to attend last year's vigil marking the killings in the Chinese capital. More than two dozen Hong Kong politicians and activists have been charged over the vigil.

Afghan women: Secret diaries of changing lives

When the Taliban swept into Kabul on 15 August the only shots they fired were in celebration. For Afghan women, the salvos represented the loss of all their rights and freedoms. Five of them have been sending the BBC daily diaries, which provide a portrait of their rapidly changing lives.

There's a scene in The Handmaid's Tale, the TV series based on Margaret Attwood's dystopian novel, where the main character, book editor June Osborne, arrives at her office one morning only to learn that the country's new leaders have banned women from the workplace. Her boss gathers all the female staff and tells them to pack up their belongings and go home.

On 15 August 2021, Maari, a former soldier in the Afghan Army, has an almost identical experience. At 07:30, she leaves for work in a government ministry, expecting a busy day of meetings and conferences. Stepping outside, she immediately notices that the streets are eerily quiet, but she continues on her way, getting out her phone to check her calendar for meetings.

Myanmar coup: The women abused and tortured in detention

Women in Myanmar have been tortured, sexually harassed and threatened with rape in custody, according to accounts obtained by the BBC. Five women who were detained for protesting against a military coup in the country earlier this year say they were abused and tortured in the detention system after their arrests. Their names have been changed in the following accounts to protect their safety. Since Myanmar's military seized power in February, protests have swept across the country - and women have played a prominent role in the resistance movement.

Human rights groups say that although the military in Myanmar (also known as Burma) used disappearances, hostage-taking and torture tactics before, the violence has become more widespread since the coup.

Omicron: India aims to avoid 'pandemic roulette'

It's a frantic time at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in the western city of Pune, India's oldest genome sequencing facility. As the country tries to contain the spread of the Omicron variant, laboratories like the NIV are working round the clock to identify people who might be infected by it.

Every day it receives about 100 throat and nasal swabs sealed in small boxes. That's roughly five times more samples than it was testing before the omicron variant - first detected in South Africa and now spreading around the world - appeared. In an airtight room the boxes are opened by researchers wearing protective suits, and the process to isolate the virus begins. The sample is labelled with a number so the scientists don't know whose swab they're checking.