News

Dozens of officials punished in China over COVID outbreak

Published

3 years ago

August 9, 2021

China has punished around a dozen officials for failing to curb a Covid-19 outbreak

The recent cluster that’s spawned nearly 900 symptomatic infections across the country in less than a month is a resurgence that complicates Beijing’s strategy of keeping the virus out entirely.

The eastern Chinese city of Yangzhou issued warnings to five officials for mishandling mass testing that they said allowed the virus to continue spreading.

The city now has overtaken nearby Nanjing – a city where the delta-driven outbreak first started.

China is dealing with its broadest outbreak of Covid since it crushed the virus that first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019.

If any positive cases were to die it would be China’s first Covid death in more than six months.

More than 30 officials nationwide, ranging from mayors and local health directors to the heads of hospitals and airports, have been punished for negligence and mishandling local outbreaks, according to the state-backed media outlet Global Times.

A medical worker takes a swab sample from a resident to be tested for the COVID-19 coronavirus in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province on May 14, 2020. – Nervous residents of China’s pandemic epicentre of Wuhan queued up across the city to be tested for the coronavirus on May 14 after a new cluster of cases sparked a mass screening campaign. (Photo by STR / AFP) / China OUT

Wuhan tests 11 million residents

The Chinese city of Wuhan has completed mass COVID-19 testing of almost its entire population, in just a week.

Wuhan was the initial epicentre of the pandemic, and a week ago there was confirmation that virus had returned there, for the first time in over a year,

Local authorities promised to test the city’s entire population, and that has now happened.

More than 11.28 million people in the city of 11.3 million people have been tested.

Officials say the tests provide “basically full coverage” of the population except for college students on summer break and children under the age of 6 years

Nine positive cases were found as a result of the testing.

The first reported COVID-19 cases were in Wuhan in November 2019. The outbreak was quashed through a strict lockdown that lasted 76 days.

But the exact origin of the virus remains unclear.

The World Health Organisation has proposed a second phase of its investigation into the origins of COVID-19.

But Beijing has rejected the WHO’s proposal for a more rigorous probe.

News

China encircles Taiwan with military drills, sparking global concern

Published

5 hours ago

October 14, 2024

ticker NEWS

Beijing’s latest show of force sends a stern warning to Taiwan, as the US urges restraint amid escalating tensions.

China deployed planes and ships to encircle Taiwan on Monday in military drills that Beijing described as a “stern warning” to what it called “separatist” forces on the island.

The exercises, dubbed Joint Sword-2024B, mark China’s fourth large-scale war game targeting Taiwan in the past two years.

Beijing, which has not ruled out using force to bring Taiwan under its control, conducted these drills in the north, south, and east of Taiwan, focusing on sea-air combat readiness and blockading key ports.

Practicing an assault

The Chinese military’s Eastern Theater Command said the drills also included practicing an assault on maritime and ground targets, with China’s coast guard conducting “inspections” around the island.

Taiwan condemned the exercises as “irrational and provocative,” deploying its own forces in response. The Taiwanese defence ministry stated it is fully prepared to counter any threat to its sovereignty.

The United States criticised China’s actions as “unwarranted” and warned of the risk of escalation, calling on Beijing to act with restraint. Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te, who has taken a firmer stance on Taiwan’s sovereignty than his predecessor, convened a high-level security meeting to address the drills, describing them as inconsistent with international law.

Tensions between China and Taiwan continue to rise, with China ramping up its military activity around the island in recent years.

News

Europe’s crossroads: confronting electoral upheaval and rising global tensions

Published

7 hours ago

October 14, 2024

Nathan Langridge, Reuters

Experts discuss the EU’s challenges and opportunities ahead

Euro Bloch is a comprehensive program designed to highlight the breadth of topics and issues within the EU political landscape. It offers insightful analysis within the evolving framework of relations between the European Union and Australia/Asia-Pacific region.

Hosted by Ticker EU correspondent, Natanael Bloch.

In this episode, Natanael interviews Professor Bruno Mascitelli about the future of the European Union following the June elections. With Ursula von der Leyen re-elected as President of the European Commission, Mascitelli discusses the challenges she may face in her second term and the growing influence of far-right and populist parties in the EU Parliament.

As Hungary takes over the Presidency of the Council of the EU, concerns about its impact arise. The episode also considers the EU’s potential diplomatic role amid escalating tensions in the Middle East and identifies crucial policy areas where the EU must strengthen its stance to compete globally.