Asia-Pacific

COVID-19: The Indian State of Kerala is a Beacon to the World

By Vijay Prashad and Subin Dennis *

This article is taken from Countercurrents which published it on March 27. The article was produced by Globetrotter, a project of the Independent Media Institute.

KOLKATA (IDN) – K.K. Shailaja is the health minister in the Left Democratic Front government in Kerala, the state in the southwest of India that has a population of 35 million people. On January 25, 2020, she convened a high-level meeting to discuss the outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China. What had particularly worried her is that there were many students from Kerala studying in that province of China.

: Suresh Jaura; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 29 March 2020

Photo: ESCAP Executive Secretary Armida Salsiah Alisjahb addressing a gathering in 2019. Credit: UNESCAP.

UN Aims at Writing A Greener Story in Asia and the Pacific

Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana.

The writer is the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP.

BANGKOK (IDN) – Rising economic prosperity and poverty reduction may not tell the whole story of progress in Asia and the Pacific. Telling signs in the natural world recount a narrative that is far from complete. This year has been particularly affected by the COVID-19 global health pandemic, with devastating impacts on our health and the economy. Yet, building on its achievements, the region must continue its drive towards a sustainable conclusion.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 25 March 2020

Photo: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump at the Singapore Summit on June 12, 2018. Source: @Scavino45 of Dan Scavino Jr., the White House Director of Social Media and Assistant to the President.

Behind North Korea's New Missile Launches in the Midst of Coronavirus Pandemic

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – While the international community has been engrossed in combating the global COVID-19 pandemic, it has been constrained to respond to North Korea's first missile launches this year. The United Nations Security Council convened behind closed doors on March 5 but failed to agree on a resolution.

However, Britain, Germany, France, Estonia and Belgium said in a "joint statement" that they are "deeply concerned by the testing of ballistic missiles by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea" (DPRK) on March 1.

: Santo D. Banerjee; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 25 March 2020

Photo: Staff members unload the medical supplies from China at the airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 22, 2020. Credit: Xinhua

China Heeds Global Demand for Anti-Coronavirus Masks

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – As much of the world attempts to source much-needed face masks, Africa has been offered 5.4 million masks, more than a million testing kits and other items in a donation from Chinese billionaire Jack Ma.

Massive medical supplies donated by the Jack Ma Foundation to 54 African countries arrived on March 22 morning in Addis Ababa, capital of the East African nation of Ethiopia, through an Ethiopian Airlines cargo flight.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 24 March 2020

Photo (against the backdrop of Bandaranaike International Airport): U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Alaina B. Teplitz (right front) presenting a branded donation of Dupont Tyvek coveralls, nitrile gloves, heavy duty work gloves, boot covers, and cleaning supplies to Major General (Rtd) GA Chandrasiri (left in front), Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka on behalf of the American people. The equipment will help protect airport personnel and prevent the spread of COVID-19. The donation is part of U.S. efforts to assist Sri Lanka.

COVID-19 in Sri Lanka and South Asia: Need for a Rational Policy Response

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself" – Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States (1882-1945).

Viewpoint by Dr. Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake*

The writer is a cultural anthropologist with research expertise in international political economy, peace, and development studies in South and South East Asia.

COLOMBO (IDN) – COVID 19 is more a panic than a pandemic: It obscures from view the fact that far more people die as a result of illness related to poverty, malnutrition, and other forms of structural violence than anything else in South Asia, and indeed the rest of the world.

: Asia Editor; OPINION; 23 March 2020

Iran Should Demonstrate That Its Nuclear Program Is Peaceful

By Kelsey Davenport and Julia Masterson

This article first appeared on Arms Control Association Website. Kelsey Davenport is director for nonproliferation policy, and Julia Masterson research assistant

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN) – International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi raised concerns earlier in March about Tehran’s failure to cooperate with an agency investigation into possible storage and use of undeclared nuclear materials at three locations in Iran.

: Arms Control Association; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 19 March 2020

Photo: Medical equipment supplied by the World Food Programme (WFP) arrives in Beijing. Courtesy of Yingshi Zhang

China Shows Novel Coronavirus Can Be 'Stopped in Its Tracks’

By UN News

BEIJING (IDN) – China’s experience in containing the spread of the new coronavirus could serve as a lesson for other countries now facing the COVID-19 pandemic, a senior official with the World Health Organization (WHO) has told UN News in an in-depth interview.

While more than 153,00 cases of the respiratory illness have been recorded globally as of March 15, it is on the decline in China, demonstrating that the course of the outbreak there has been altered, according to WHO Representative in the country, Dr. Gauden Galea.

: Jamshed Baruah; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 19 March 2020

Photo: Handover ceremony at UN compound in Beijing for donation of critical medical supplies to the Chinese government. Credit: UNDP China

International Cooperation Vital to Defying the Consequences of Coronavirus

Viewpoint by Beate Trankmann*, UNDP Resident Representative in China

BEIJING (IDN) – Since its outbreak, the effects of the coronavirus have been felt in countries across the world. With around 110,000 confirmed cases of COVID19 and over 4,000 deaths as of March 10, this epidemic has put public health systems and emergency services under immense pressure. Demand for medical supplies and protective equipment has surged, and many people have been quarantined due to suspected contamination. However, while the circumstances have been severe, this crisis has also been a strong reminder of China’s resilience and the importance of international solidarity.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 18 March 2020

Photo: An Indonesian man who arrived at Seletar Airport on March 7, was the first traveller detected to be infected with the coronavirus using the new Singapore-developed Covid-19 nasal swab test kit. Source: Mothership

Singapore's Fight Against the Coronavirus on Social Media

Viewpoint by Archana Atmakuri

The writer is a Research Analyst at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) at the National University of Singapore. This opinion piece first appeared on East Asia Forum on 6 March 2020.

SINGAPORE (IDN) — Over 60 countries are now fighting confirmed and suspected cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), with the highest number of cases outside China recorded in South Korea, Italy, Iran and Japan as of today. Singapore has 117 confirmed cases but 80 patients have recovered as of 5 March.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; OPINION; 09 March 2020

Photo: The tourist sector in Perth, the Australian city closest to Asia with a travel time of between 3 to 4 hours, is also affected by the impact of coronavirus. Credit: Dietmar Rabich. CC BY-SA 4.0

Coronavirus Exposes Australia's Economic Dependence on China

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) — Australia hasn't had a recession for 29 years. Economists are now warning that the coronavirus (COVID-19) is almost certainly driving the country towards it and thus exposing Australia's heavy dependence on China for its economic prosperity.

Until the mid-1970s Australians were paranoid about a 'yellow peril' (the Chinese takeover) and practiced a 'White Australia' policy that kept Asians away from migrating to the vast continent.