Since China rescinded its Zero-COVID policy, it has been fighting a different kind of pandemic: A misinformation pandemic. From unfounded rumours about medicine to super fruits. @PriyankaSh25 tells you more.

WION Fineprint | China battles COVID Myths

An engineering vessel that was 160 nautical miles southwest of Hong Kong "suffered substantial damage and broke into two pieces" and the 30-member crew abandoned the ship leaving more than two dozen crew members unaccounted for after their ship broke into two during a typhoon in the South China Sea on Saturday, with rescuers scrambling to find them, according to the Hong Kong Government Flying Service, as reported by AFP.

Three people had been rescued as of 3:00 pm local time (0700 GMT) and were taken to hospital for treatment, authorities said. Dramatic footage provided by Hong Kong authorities showed a person being airlifted onto a helicopter while waves crashed over the deck of the semi-submerged ship below. The three survivors said other crew members may have been swept away by waves before the first helicopter arrived, according to a government statement.

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/in-pics-protest-photos-that-will-leave-you-speechless-493911#south-african-fiasco-493902">In Pics: Protest photos that will leave you speechless</a>

Typhoon Chaba earlier formed in the central part of the South China Sea and on Saturday afternoon made landfall in Guangdong province in southern China. Rescuers in Hong Kong were notified of the incident at 7:25 am local time (2325 GMT on Friday) and found the ship near Chaba's centre, where harsh weather conditions and nearby wind farms made the operation "more difficult and dangerous".

The ship's location recorded wind speeds of 144 kilometres per hour and waves that were 10 metres high, authorities said. The Government Flying Service dispatched two sorties of fixed-wing aircraft and four helicopter sorties, with mainland Chinese authorities also dispatching a rescue boat. Rescuers said they would increase the search area "due to the large number of people missing" and extend the operation into the night if conditions allowed.

(with inputs from agencies) 
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An engineering vessel that was 160 nautical miles southwest of Hong Kong "suffered substantial damage and broke into two pieces" and the 30-member crew abandoned the ship leaving more than two dozen crew members unaccounted for after their ship broke into two during a typhoon in the South China Sea on Saturday, with rescuers scrambling to find them, according to the Hong Kong Government Flying Service, as reported by AFP.

An engineering vessel that was 160 nautical miles southwest of Hong Kong "suffered substantial damage and broke into two pieces" and the 30-member crew abandoned the ship leaving more than two dozen crew members unaccounted for after their ship broke into two during a typhoon in the South China Sea on Saturday, with rescuers scrambling to find them, according to the Hong Kong Government Flying Service, as reported by AFP. Three people had been rescued as of 3:00 pm local time (0700 GMT) and were taken to hospital for treatment, authorities said. Dramatic footage provided by Hong Kong authorities showed a person being airlifted onto a helicopter while waves crashed over the deck of the semi-submerged ship below. The three survivors said other crew members may have been swept away by waves before the first helicopter arrived, according to a government statement. Also Read: In Pics: Protest photos that will leave you speechless Typhoon Chaba earlier formed in the central part of the South China Sea and on Saturday afternoon made landfall in Guangdong province in southern China. Rescuers in Hong Kong were notified of the incident at 7:25 am local time (2325 GMT on Friday) and found the ship near Chaba's centre, where harsh weather conditions and nearby wind farms made the operation "more difficult and dangerous". The ship's location recorded wind speeds of 144 kilometres per hour and waves that were 10 metres high, authorities said. The Government Flying Service dispatched two sorties of fixed-wing aircraft and four helicopter sorties, with mainland Chinese authorities also dispatching a rescue boat. Rescuers said they would increase the search area "due to the large number of people missing" and extend the operation into the night if conditions allowed. (with inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

South China Sea typhoon Chaba breaks ship in two, dozens missing

Australia has said that it has no intention of enjoying bilateral relations between China despite repeated efforts by the United States. Watch report.

WION Dispatch: Aus-US meet halfway on South China Sea, Both sides condemn China's action

China's appetite for salmon and other seafood has crashed this month, after a resurgence in coronavirus infections in Beijing was traced to chopping boards for imported salmon in a wholesale food market in the capital.

Exporters all the way to Europe are feeling the pinch as the virus scare prompts supermarkets and e-commerce players such as Taobao, JD.com and Meituan in China, the world's top consumer of frozen and fresh seafood, to slash salmon sales.

"I have cleaned out frozen fish from the refrigerator at home and won't buy more," said Ma Xuan, a government employee.

"I will wait till the origin of this new wave of virus is clear," the 40-year-old said. "Maybe I overreacted, but who knows? I don't want to risk the health of my family."

Alibaba's (BABA.N) Taobao and JD.com 9618.HK (JD.O) have cut imported salmon sales in Beijing, Reuters checks show, while food delivery giant Meituan Dianping (3690.HK) said it has pulled all salmon products from its platform nationally.

Meituan Grocery said it had stepped up examination of raw and fresh products, adding searches for Japanese cuisine and seafood on the Meituan app had plummeted across China since June 12, a day after the recent Beijing market outbreak started.

Ele.me, Alibaba's food delivery arm, has also halted sales of all imported seafood in Beijing.

JD.com and Alibaba did not respond to a request for comment.

Panic about the coronavirus has extended to other farm products like beef and mutton, forcing some grocers to pull them from shelves.

China's soybean buyers have asked exporters to guarantee their cargoes are not contaminated, while overseas meat and fruit suppliers said China's customs had asked them to sign declarations ensuring the safety of their shipments.

'HOPE IS LIKE A SOAP BUBBLE'

Sushi and hotpot restaurants in Beijing that saw business pick up after virus-related curbs were eased in April are once again struggling amid the renewed worries.

Barron Qin, owner of a fish hotpot restaurant called Yufu Yuzai, said customers had been lining up everyday but now the restaurant was half empty despite not serving salmon.

"My hope is like a soap bubble, burst by the new round of the outbreak," he said.

More than 250 people have been infected in Beijing in the past two weeks, the city's worst outbreak since the virus first emerged in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019.

"Seafood consumption in June will collapse due to public panic that seafood may be the culprit for the second wave of virus," said Dan Wang, an Economist Intelligence Unit analyst.

She expects China's seafood imports to drop 3 per cent this year.

China imported 4.44 million tonnes of seafood last year, worth 106 billion yuan ($15 billion), from suppliers including Russia, Peru and Vietnam, customs data shows.

Norway's Bravo Seafood said its exports to China initially looked promising, but the Beijing cases had changed everything despite Chinese and Norwegian authorities concluding salmon from Norway was not the source of the coronavirus.

"We have not even sent one piece of salmon to China since June 13," Bravo's Asia sales director Chen Qiao said.

"No one dares to buy salmon now no matter the origin. We expect minimal sales to China in the next one to two months." 
&nbsp;

China's appetite for salmon and other seafood has crashed this month, after a resurgence in coronavirus infections in Beijing was traced to chopping boards for imported salmon in a wholesale food market in the capital.

China's appetite for salmon and other seafood has crashed this month, after a resurgence in coronavirus infections in Beijing was traced to chopping boards for imported salmon in a wholesale food market in the capital. Exporters all the way to Europe are feeling the pinch as the virus scare prompts supermarkets and e-commerce players such as Taobao, JD.com and Meituan in China, the world's top consumer of frozen and fresh seafood, to slash salmon sales. "I have cleaned out frozen fish from the refrigerator at home and won't buy more," said Ma Xuan, a government employee. "I will wait till the origin of this new wave of virus is clear," the 40-year-old said. "Maybe I overreacted, but who knows? I don't want to risk the health of my family." Alibaba's (BABA.N) Taobao and JD.com 9618.HK (JD.O) have cut imported salmon sales in Beijing, Reuters checks show, while food delivery giant Meituan Dianping (3690.HK) said it has pulled all salmon products from its platform nationally. Meituan Grocery said it had stepped up examination of raw and fresh products, adding searches for Japanese cuisine and seafood on the Meituan app had plummeted across China since June 12, a day after the recent Beijing market outbreak started. Ele.me, Alibaba's food delivery arm, has also halted sales of all imported seafood in Beijing. JD.com and Alibaba did not respond to a request for comment. Panic about the coronavirus has extended to other farm products like beef and mutton, forcing some grocers to pull them from shelves. China's soybean buyers have asked exporters to guarantee their cargoes are not contaminated, while overseas meat and fruit suppliers said China's customs had asked them to sign declarations ensuring the safety of their shipments. 'HOPE IS LIKE A SOAP BUBBLE' Sushi and hotpot restaurants in Beijing that saw business pick up after virus-related curbs were eased in April are once again struggling amid the renewed worries. Barron Qin, owner of a fish hotpot restaurant called Yufu Yuzai, said customers had been lining up everyday but now the restaurant was half empty despite not serving salmon. "My hope is like a soap bubble, burst by the new round of the outbreak," he said. More than 250 people have been infected in Beijing in the past two weeks, the city's worst outbreak since the virus first emerged in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019. "Seafood consumption in June will collapse due to public panic that seafood may be the culprit for the second wave of virus," said Dan Wang, an Economist Intelligence Unit analyst. She expects China's seafood imports to drop 3 per cent this year. China imported 4.44 million tonnes of seafood last year, worth 106 billion yuan ($15 billion), from suppliers including Russia, Peru and Vietnam, customs data shows. Norway's Bravo Seafood said its exports to China initially looked promising, but the Beijing cases had changed everything despite Chinese and Norwegian authorities concluding salmon from Norway was not the source of the coronavirus. "We have not even sent one piece of salmon to China since June 13," Bravo's Asia sales director Chen Qiao said. "No one dares to buy salmon now no matter the origin. We expect minimal sales to China in the next one to two months."

China loses appetite for salmon, seafood on coronavirus contamination worries

When senior defense officials from around the world, including U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, meet in Singapore this weekend, it won’t be all about the U.S.-North Korea summit scheduled to be held in the same city later in June.

The annual Shangri-La Dialogue, delegates say, will be an opportunity for Mattis and other regional officials to look beyond North Korea and address other pressing issues, especially China’s recent moves to further consolidate its extensive territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will give the meeting’s keynote speech on Friday, and is likely to lay out his country’s expanding security role in the Indo-Pacific.

India has gradually stepped up its naval activity across the Indian Ocean to balance China’s rising presence. Modi is expected to advertise India’s interest in developing port infrastructure in the region.

“It will not be a surprise if Korea emerges as the single most important topic at the Shangri-La Dialogue,” said Tim Huxley, executive director for Asia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, which organizes the conference.

“But it will not overshadow other very important crises in the region,” he said.

Among them, Huxley said, were China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea, and what part the United States would play in Asia.

“There is a big question mark about that role now in light of the America-first policy,” he said.

Mattis is likely to only make glancing references to the proposed summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on June 12, according to U.S. officials.

“Mattis will likely be vague on North Korea his focus will be on a broader U.S. strategy and regional security issues,” said a U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Mattis said last week of the summit: “The diplomats are in the lead and in charge, and we give them our best wishes to have a fruitful way forward.”

Greg Poling, director of Washington’s Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Mattis needed to show that the United States could address more than just North Korea.

The United States must demonstrate that it is “capable of focusing on other challenges, including the South China Sea and the threat of economic coercion through the Belt and Road Initiative and all of these slow-moving crises, even though North Korea is an immediate concern,” he added.

The U.S. military has put countering China and Russia at the center of a new national defense strategy that will set the Pentagon’s priorities for years to come.

Experts are looking to Mattis for more details on what exactly that means in practical terms for the U.S. military.

A trickier question is how Washington will manage seeking Beijing’s cooperation on North Korea while simultaneously reining in its behavior in the South China Sea and over self-ruled Taiwan, which China claims.

“This is a balance dynamic every administration has to deal with, but we really haven’t seen the Trump administration talk through that yet,” said Abraham Denmark, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia under President Barack Obama.

China’s presence at the dialogue will be typically low-key the country will be represented by Lieutenant General He Lei, vice president of the Academy of Military Science of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, who also represented Beijing last year.

The Trump administration had vowed a more assertive approach towards China than Obama’s over issues such as the South China Sea. But critics say that it has allowed China to continue setting the agenda, and that Pentagon actions have for the most part been largely symbolic reactions to Chinese moves.

On Sunday, two U.S. Navy warships sailed near South China Sea islands claimed by China, the latest attempt to counter what Washington sees as Beijing’s efforts to limit freedom of navigation in the strategically important waters.

It came at a sensitive time, amid trade negotiations and just days after the Pentagon withdrew an invitation to China to attend a major U.S.-hosted naval drill.

On North Korea, Mattis is expected to meet his South Korean and Japanese counterparts on the sidelines of the conference, where he is likely to reiterate that the United States is committed to its allies and ask them to continue to pressure Pyongyang.

Both countries have expressed concern that Trump may put U.S. security interests ahead of theirs in pursuing a deal with North Korea.

Speaking with reporters while flying on Tuesday to Hawaii, where he stopped before going to Singapore, Mattis said his message would be that relations in the Indo-Pacific region had to be based on international laws.

“Those shared principles include respect for sovereignty and independence... peaceful resolution of disputes without any coercion, free and fair trade and investment without practicing predatory economics against poorer countries trying to develop,” Mattis said.

The annual Shangri-La Dialogue, delegates say, will be an opportunity for Mattis and other regional officials to look beyond North Korea and address other pressing issues, especially China’s recent moves to further consolidate its extensive territorial claims in the South China Sea

When senior defense officials from around the world, including U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, meet in Singapore this weekend, it won’t be all about the U.S.-North Korea summit scheduled to be held in the same city later in June. The annual Shangri-La Dialogue, delegates say, will be an opportunity for Mattis and other regional officials to look beyond North Korea and address other pressing issues, especially China’s recent moves to further consolidate its extensive territorial claims in the South China Sea. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will give the meeting’s keynote speech on Friday, and is likely to lay out his country’s expanding security role in the Indo-Pacific. India has gradually stepped up its naval activity across the Indian Ocean to balance China’s rising presence. Modi is expected to advertise India’s interest in developing port infrastructure in the region. “It will not be a surprise if Korea emerges as the single most important topic at the Shangri-La Dialogue,” said Tim Huxley, executive director for Asia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, which organizes the conference. “But it will not overshadow other very important crises in the region,” he said. Among them, Huxley said, were China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea, and what part the United States would play in Asia. “There is a big question mark about that role now in light of the America-first policy,” he said. Mattis is likely to only make glancing references to the proposed summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on June 12, according to U.S. officials. “Mattis will likely be vague on North Korea his focus will be on a broader U.S. strategy and regional security issues,” said a U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Mattis said last week of the summit: “The diplomats are in the lead and in charge, and we give them our best wishes to have a fruitful way forward.” Greg Poling, director of Washington’s Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Mattis needed to show that the United States could address more than just North Korea. The United States must demonstrate that it is “capable of focusing on other challenges, including the South China Sea and the threat of economic coercion through the Belt and Road Initiative and all of these slow-moving crises, even though North Korea is an immediate concern,” he added. The U.S. military has put countering China and Russia at the center of a new national defense strategy that will set the Pentagon’s priorities for years to come. Experts are looking to Mattis for more details on what exactly that means in practical terms for the U.S. military. A trickier question is how Washington will manage seeking Beijing’s cooperation on North Korea while simultaneously reining in its behavior in the South China Sea and over self-ruled Taiwan, which China claims. “This is a balance dynamic every administration has to deal with, but we really haven’t seen the Trump administration talk through that yet,” said Abraham Denmark, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia under President Barack Obama. China’s presence at the dialogue will be typically low-key the country will be represented by Lieutenant General He Lei, vice president of the Academy of Military Science of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, who also represented Beijing last year. The Trump administration had vowed a more assertive approach towards China than Obama’s over issues such as the South China Sea. But critics say that it has allowed China to continue setting the agenda, and that Pentagon actions have for the most part been largely symbolic reactions to Chinese moves. On Sunday, two U.S. Navy warships sailed near South China Sea islands claimed by China, the latest attempt to counter what Washington sees as Beijing’s efforts to limit freedom of navigation in the strategically important waters. It came at a sensitive time, amid trade negotiations and just days after the Pentagon withdrew an invitation to China to attend a major U.S.-hosted naval drill. On North Korea, Mattis is expected to meet his South Korean and Japanese counterparts on the sidelines of the conference, where he is likely to reiterate that the United States is committed to its allies and ask them to continue to pressure Pyongyang. Both countries have expressed concern that Trump may put U.S. security interests ahead of theirs in pursuing a deal with North Korea. Speaking with reporters while flying on Tuesday to Hawaii, where he stopped before going to Singapore, Mattis said his message would be that relations in the Indo-Pacific region had to be based on international laws. “Those shared principles include respect for sovereignty and independence... peaceful resolution of disputes without any coercion, free and fair trade and investment without practicing predatory economics against poorer countries trying to develop,” Mattis said.

At Singapore regional defense dialogue, it won't be all North Korea

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WION Fineprint | China battles COVID Myths

South China Sea typhoon Chaba breaks ship in two, dozens missing

WION Dispatch: Aus-US meet halfway on South China Sea, Both sides condemn China's action

China loses appetite for salmon, seafood on coronavirus contamination worries

At Singapore regional defense dialogue, it won't be all North Korea