By Brian Glyn Williams 
 
An Islamic State follower posted the hashtag “#AmericaBurning” in a discussion on the Telegram chat system in early June, and another posted a message that read “You are waking up this morning to news of the destruction of America, the dismantling of its States, and civil war.”

Another Islamic State website proclaimed “Destruction, fragmentation. America is burning,” while an Islamic State supporter posted photos in the same Telegram forum of the riots, writing “O Allah, burn them like they burned the lands of the Muslims.”

IS supporters are rejoicing at tensions from both peaceful protests and occasional violence in US&nbsp;streets in the wake of George Floyd’s May 25 death. As a scholar who tracks the Islamic State group and its affiliates, I have followed how the Islamic State has been exploiting the effects of the coronavirus on its enemies and celebrating the effects of racial tensions and the pandemic in America.

An opportunity in the pandemic

Islamic State followers are excited at the prospect of a massive Western death toll from the coronavirus, which they defined as “God’s smallest soldier.”

They also see the virus at work in US&nbsp;military pullbacks related to the coronavirus – such as the March announcement from the Pentagon that it would stop sending troops to Iraq for at least two months.

In addition, the US&nbsp;pulled some troops out of Iraq, withdrew many more from six frontline operating bases and ordered the troops remaining in the country to stay on their bases – moves that ended most joint missions with local Iraqi and Kurdish troops.

In Iraq, the Islamic State has reacted by stepping up attacks. They have targeted pro-government Shiite militia members and Iraqi and Kurdish troops, who now have less U.S. support to help defend them.

British and US airstrikes are, however, still targeting the group’s fortified cave hideouts in northern Iraq, which Iraqi ground troops are also continuing to attack, albeit with fewer troops due to coronavirus base lockdowns.

In Syria, emboldened Islamic State forces have recently attacked government troops with land mines, heavy weapons and car bombings killing hundreds.

IS also fears the virus 
 
For all the opportunities the pandemic seemingly offers the Islamic State, the group is also worried about how the virus affects them. In Syria, Kurdish forces are holding captive as many as 12,000 Islamic State fighters and 70,000 of their family members, mostly women and children, in vast, cramped, unhygienic internment camps. There is no possibility of social distancing.

The prisoners live in terror of the pandemic breaking out among them and have been rioting in efforts to escape the camps. In May, Islamic State prisoners briefly rose up and took control of a prison holding as many as 5,000 captives before they were suppressed.

Islamic State leaders have not only called for their fighters to attack the lightly guarded camps to free the prisoners, but also expressed concern about the disease spreading among their own forces.

Calls for jihad in the West 
 
A US&nbsp;Department of Homeland Security bulletin in late March warned that the Islamic State’s newsletter had called for attacks on US&nbsp;and European health care targets that are strained by the pandemic. The Islamic State has ordered its followers not to travel to Europe, where the virus outbreak is far worse than in the Middle East. But the group has suggested that its followers who are already in Europe exploit the chaos, calling for “new strikes … similar to the strikes of Paris, London, Brussels and other places” where followers have used bombs and firearms to kill dozens of people in recent years.

The Islamic State is even suggesting that killing “infidels” could be a way for followers to protect themselves from the virus, stating, “They should also remember that obedience to God – the most beloved form of which is jihad – turns away the torment and wrath of God.”

Limited activity in Europe 
 
Those calls may have had some response.

On March 11, German authorities arrested four suspected members of an Islamic State cell who were allegedly planning an attack on American military facilities with explosives. In April, a Sudanese man stabbed seven people, killing two, in southeastern France. Most recently, on June 20, a Libyan man stabbed six people in a park in Reading, England, killing three.

I do not believe these attacks in France and Britain or the disrupted plot in Germany signal a resurgence in Islamic State activity in the West. IS’s messaging has lost much of its galvanizing appeal since the group lost its transnational state, which had inspired many followers, in a five-year war in Syria and Iraq.

My research shows that calls for attacks on the FIFA World Cup soccer finals in Russia in 2018 and against Fourth of July festivities in the US&nbsp;in 2019 were never acted on. While the Islamic State group can still carry out attacks in the Middle East and through its affiliates around the world, their gloating at American coronavirus deaths and racial tensions does not necessarily translate to a real threat to the US.

(Brian Glyn Williams is Professor of Islamic History, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth) 
 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

(This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article) &nbsp;

By Brian Glyn Williams An Islamic State follower posted the hashtag “#AmericaBurning” in a discussion on the Telegram chat system in early June, and another posted a message that read “You are waking up this morning to news of the destruction of America, the dismantling of its States, and civil war.

By Brian Glyn Williams An Islamic State follower posted the hashtag “#AmericaBurning” in a discussion on the Telegram chat system in early June, and another posted a message that read “You are waking up this morning to news of the destruction of America, the dismantling of its States, and civil war.” Another Islamic State website proclaimed “Destruction, fragmentation. America is burning,” while an Islamic State supporter posted photos in the same Telegram forum of the riots, writing “O Allah, burn them like they burned the lands of the Muslims.” IS supporters are rejoicing at tensions from both peaceful protests and occasional violence in US streets in the wake of George Floyd’s May 25 death. As a scholar who tracks the Islamic State group and its affiliates, I have followed how the Islamic State has been exploiting the effects of the coronavirus on its enemies and celebrating the effects of racial tensions and the pandemic in America. An opportunity in the pandemic Islamic State followers are excited at the prospect of a massive Western death toll from the coronavirus, which they defined as “God’s smallest soldier.” They also see the virus at work in US military pullbacks related to the coronavirus – such as the March announcement from the Pentagon that it would stop sending troops to Iraq for at least two months. In addition, the US pulled some troops out of Iraq, withdrew many more from six frontline operating bases and ordered the troops remaining in the country to stay on their bases – moves that ended most joint missions with local Iraqi and Kurdish troops. In Iraq, the Islamic State has reacted by stepping up attacks. They have targeted pro-government Shiite militia members and Iraqi and Kurdish troops, who now have less U.S. support to help defend them. British and US airstrikes are, however, still targeting the group’s fortified cave hideouts in northern Iraq, which Iraqi ground troops are also continuing to attack, albeit with fewer troops due to coronavirus base lockdowns. In Syria, emboldened Islamic State forces have recently attacked government troops with land mines, heavy weapons and car bombings killing hundreds. IS also fears the virus For all the opportunities the pandemic seemingly offers the Islamic State, the group is also worried about how the virus affects them. In Syria, Kurdish forces are holding captive as many as 12,000 Islamic State fighters and 70,000 of their family members, mostly women and children, in vast, cramped, unhygienic internment camps. There is no possibility of social distancing. The prisoners live in terror of the pandemic breaking out among them and have been rioting in efforts to escape the camps. In May, Islamic State prisoners briefly rose up and took control of a prison holding as many as 5,000 captives before they were suppressed. Islamic State leaders have not only called for their fighters to attack the lightly guarded camps to free the prisoners, but also expressed concern about the disease spreading among their own forces. Calls for jihad in the West A US Department of Homeland Security bulletin in late March warned that the Islamic State’s newsletter had called for attacks on US and European health care targets that are strained by the pandemic. The Islamic State has ordered its followers not to travel to Europe, where the virus outbreak is far worse than in the Middle East. But the group has suggested that its followers who are already in Europe exploit the chaos, calling for “new strikes … similar to the strikes of Paris, London, Brussels and other places” where followers have used bombs and firearms to kill dozens of people in recent years. The Islamic State is even suggesting that killing “infidels” could be a way for followers to protect themselves from the virus, stating, “They should also remember that obedience to God – the most beloved form of which is jihad – turns away the torment and wrath of God.” Limited activity in Europe Those calls may have had some response. On March 11, German authorities arrested four suspected members of an Islamic State cell who were allegedly planning an attack on American military facilities with explosives. In April, a Sudanese man stabbed seven people, killing two, in southeastern France. Most recently, on June 20, a Libyan man stabbed six people in a park in Reading, England, killing three. I do not believe these attacks in France and Britain or the disrupted plot in Germany signal a resurgence in Islamic State activity in the West. IS’s messaging has lost much of its galvanizing appeal since the group lost its transnational state, which had inspired many followers, in a five-year war in Syria and Iraq. My research shows that calls for attacks on the FIFA World Cup soccer finals in Russia in 2018 and against Fourth of July festivities in the US in 2019 were never acted on. While the Islamic State group can still carry out attacks in the Middle East and through its affiliates around the world, their gloating at American coronavirus deaths and racial tensions does not necessarily translate to a real threat to the US. (Brian Glyn Williams is Professor of Islamic History, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL) (This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article)

Islamic State militants incite attacks, gloat at US protests and pandemic deaths

Apologies, apologies and more apologies. This is the state of tennis stars and organisers who took part in the much-talked-about Adria Tour. Four players – Novak Djokovic, Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki – who participated in the tennis exhibition event has tested positive for the coronavirus with the plan turning out to be reckless and catastrophe. The visuals of elite players including Djokovic partying topless to celebrate the success of the tour in Belgrade are enough to produce millions of facepalms, something which social media has been witnessing since the video went viral on Tuesday.

“I know there have been some criticisms as well especially coming from the West: ‘why do we have a crowd? Why not having social distancing? What is going on and why are they having this kind of event in the midst of a very hard pandemic in the West?” – This is what Djokovic had said in the Eurosports Tennis Legends Podcast published on May 18.

“But, you know, it’s hard to explain to people that the situation is really, really different maybe in America or the UK than it is in Serbia or surrounding countries, and obviously from the day one of the organization of the Adria Tour, [we have been] following the rules and the measures that have been regulated by obviously the government institution and the public health institution.”

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Prayers up to all the players that have contracted Covid - 19. Don’t @ me for anything I’ve done that has been ‘irresponsible’ or classified as ‘stupidity’ - this takes the cake. <a href="https://t.co/lVligELgID">https://t.co/lVligELgID</a>
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) <a href="https://twitter.com/NickKyrgios/status/1275408778087657473?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 23, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

Djokovic sounded confident and bullish but he must have known that coronavirus doesn’t even spare people with immense influence. The event went ahead with some of the biggest stars headlining the exhibition. Social distancing norms, to a major surprise, were tossed out of the window. Hugs, high-fives, handshakes became a routine in the Adria Tour as if the world never witnessed or is rather witnessing COVID-19 pandemic.&nbsp;

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I’m proud to officially share the news that the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AdriaTour?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AdriaTour</a> will be held across the Balkans 13 June - 5 July kicking off with a tournament in Belgrade. Very grateful and excited we could make this happen to play and support humanitarian projects across th… <a href="https://t.co/8eQsx7CkMu">https://t.co/8eQsx7CkMu</a> <a href="https://t.co/QDVXa4FbqV">pic.twitter.com/QDVXa4FbqV</a>
— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) <a href="https://twitter.com/DjokerNole/status/1263935297374560256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 22, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

The Tour has been cancelled now but has it really served the ‘philanthropic’ purpose, Djokovic and his brother were looking to achieve? What about the Kids’ day? And when most of the footballers and organisers from Bundesliga, Serie A, Premier League are focusing on maintaining social distancing norms with proper sanitization work even on the ball, Djokovic felt it was absolutely fine to hold an event with a packed crowd and no health safety measures in place. The result is in front of everyone.

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<a href="https://t.co/vR18zKhtL8">pic.twitter.com/vR18zKhtL8</a>
— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) <a href="https://twitter.com/DjokerNole/status/1275493253375238144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 23, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

And what is more laughable is that Djokovic opposed to COVID-19 vaccination earlier in April. A virus which has infected over 9million people with more than 400,000 worldwide deaths. A bit of sensibility and responsibility was needed from the Serb but he gave away a double fault there.

“Personally I am opposed to vaccination and I wouldn’t want to be forced by someone to take a vaccine in order to be able to travel,” Djokovic said in a Facebook live chat with other Serbian athletes.

Heavy backlash, expected after the catastrophe in Adria Tour, followed. From Nick Kyrgios to Andy Murray, everyone is of the view that the Adria Tour shouldn’t have taken place. Djokovic’s latest misstep has caused some to question his presidency of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals, or men's tour) Player Council, which advises the ATP board.

Not only on Djokovic’s part but other top players who showed up for the Adria Tour have been irresponsible, to say the lease. Grigor Dimitrov, instead of testing in Zadar, travelled to Monaco. His manager on Tuesday said: “They often have ailments and still try to play,” he said. “We didn’t have such worries [about coronavirus], none of us thought about it.” Should this be coming from an elite tennis player influencing millions and might now be affecting many? Monaco hadn’t registered a single coronavirus case for a full three weeks. On 21 June, there was a coronavirus positive in the Principality. 
&nbsp;

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Tell dominic (and everyone else) to self isolate. A negative test now doesn’t mean no corona at all. Have to wait for at least 14 days after coming in contact with someone who tested positive <a href="https://t.co/MP1S0euXKf">https://t.co/MP1S0euXKf</a>
— Asparagus Quarantinerer (@samstennis189) <a href="https://twitter.com/samstennis189/status/1274797660277403649?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 21, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

The Battle of the Brits exhibition in West London, where Andy Murray made a winning comeback, is being held behind closed door with strict health protocols in place. Maybe the organisers of Adria Tour should have known how sports in the coronavirus world are being played. Maybe they could have saved themselves from a PR failure and sheer embarrassment without putting many lives in danger.

While harsh criticism is something the Adria Tour disaster deserves but what is important is that Djokovic and the entire sporting world take note of how minute of mistakes could ruin the efforts made in the last three months to curb the spread of the dreaded virus. And in Djokovic’s case, it wasn’t even a minor mistake, it was a calamity.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Apologies, apologies and more apologies. This is the state of tennis stars and organisers who took part in the much-talked-about Adria Tour. Four players – Novak Djokovic, Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki – who participated in the tennis exhibition event has tested positive for the coronavirus with the plan turning out to be reckless and catastrophe.

Apologies, apologies and more apologies. This is the state of tennis stars and organisers who took part in the much-talked-about Adria Tour. Four players – Novak Djokovic, Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki – who participated in the tennis exhibition event has tested positive for the coronavirus with the plan turning out to be reckless and catastrophe. The visuals of elite players including Djokovic partying topless to celebrate the success of the tour in Belgrade are enough to produce millions of facepalms, something which social media has been witnessing since the video went viral on Tuesday. “I know there have been some criticisms as well especially coming from the West: ‘why do we have a crowd? Why not having social distancing? What is going on and why are they having this kind of event in the midst of a very hard pandemic in the West?” – This is what Djokovic had said in the Eurosports Tennis Legends Podcast published on May 18. “But, you know, it’s hard to explain to people that the situation is really, really different maybe in America or the UK than it is in Serbia or surrounding countries, and obviously from the day one of the organization of the Adria Tour, [we have been] following the rules and the measures that have been regulated by obviously the government institution and the public health institution.” Prayers up to all the players that have contracted Covid - 19. Don’t @ me for anything I’ve done that has been ‘irresponsible’ or classified as ‘stupidity’ - this takes the cake. https://t.co/lVligELgID — Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) June 23, 2020 × Djokovic sounded confident and bullish but he must have known that coronavirus doesn’t even spare people with immense influence. The event went ahead with some of the biggest stars headlining the exhibition. Social distancing norms, to a major surprise, were tossed out of the window. Hugs, high-fives, handshakes became a routine in the Adria Tour as if the world never witnessed or is rather witnessing COVID-19 pandemic. I’m proud to officially share the news that the #AdriaTour will be held across the Balkans 13 June - 5 July kicking off with a tournament in Belgrade. Very grateful and excited we could make this happen to play and support humanitarian projects across th… https://t.co/8eQsx7CkMu pic.twitter.com/QDVXa4FbqV — Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) May 22, 2020 × The Tour has been cancelled now but has it really served the ‘philanthropic’ purpose, Djokovic and his brother were looking to achieve? What about the Kids’ day? And when most of the footballers and organisers from Bundesliga, Serie A, Premier League are focusing on maintaining social distancing norms with proper sanitization work even on the ball, Djokovic felt it was absolutely fine to hold an event with a packed crowd and no health safety measures in place. The result is in front of everyone. pic.twitter.com/vR18zKhtL8 — Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) June 23, 2020 × And what is more laughable is that Djokovic opposed to COVID-19 vaccination earlier in April. A virus which has infected over 9million people with more than 400,000 worldwide deaths. A bit of sensibility and responsibility was needed from the Serb but he gave away a double fault there. “Personally I am opposed to vaccination and I wouldn’t want to be forced by someone to take a vaccine in order to be able to travel,” Djokovic said in a Facebook live chat with other Serbian athletes. Heavy backlash, expected after the catastrophe in Adria Tour, followed. From Nick Kyrgios to Andy Murray, everyone is of the view that the Adria Tour shouldn’t have taken place. Djokovic’s latest misstep has caused some to question his presidency of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals, or men's tour) Player Council, which advises the ATP board. Not only on Djokovic’s part but other top players who showed up for the Adria Tour have been irresponsible, to say the lease. Grigor Dimitrov, instead of testing in Zadar, travelled to Monaco. His manager on Tuesday said: “They often have ailments and still try to play,” he said. “We didn’t have such worries [about coronavirus], none of us thought about it.” Should this be coming from an elite tennis player influencing millions and might now be affecting many? Monaco hadn’t registered a single coronavirus case for a full three weeks. On 21 June, there was a coronavirus positive in the Principality. Tell dominic (and everyone else) to self isolate. A negative test now doesn’t mean no corona at all. Have to wait for at least 14 days after coming in contact with someone who tested positive https://t.co/MP1S0euXKf — Asparagus Quarantinerer (@samstennis189) June 21, 2020 × The Battle of the Brits exhibition in West London, where Andy Murray made a winning comeback, is being held behind closed door with strict health protocols in place. Maybe the organisers of Adria Tour should have known how sports in the coronavirus world are being played. Maybe they could have saved themselves from a PR failure and sheer embarrassment without putting many lives in danger. While harsh criticism is something the Adria Tour disaster deserves but what is important is that Djokovic and the entire sporting world take note of how minute of mistakes could ruin the efforts made in the last three months to curb the spread of the dreaded virus. And in Djokovic’s case, it wasn’t even a minor mistake, it was a calamity. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Novak Djokovic's faulty serve to the tennis world

Spain will try out a new app to contain the spread of coronavirus from Friday for two weeks.

The test run will be conducted on the Island of Gomera by injecting hundreds of false cases into the system. “The idea is that approximately 3,000 people download it and we will introduce around 300 simulators, beta testers, to mimic a pandemic among 10% of the population,” a government spokeswoman said.

It will use Bluetooth short-range radio to log contacts. During the trial period of two weeks, the government will decide whether the app could be rolled out across the country.

To guard against impinging on people’s privacy, contact records will be stored on individual devices rather than a central server, using a standard developed by Apple (AAPL.O) and Google (GOOGL.O).

Technology and defence company Indra (IDR.MC) has been contracted to manage the pilot at a cost of about $375,000.

Spain’s health ministry has reported over 28,000&nbsp;deaths. Britain and Spain are one of the worst-hit countries in terms of coronavirus outbreak. The country on Sunday ended its state of emergency that was imposed on March 14. 
 
(With inputs from Reuters) 
 
&nbsp;

Spain will try out a new app to contain the spread of coronavirus from Friday for two weeks. The test run will be conducted on the Island of Gomera by injecting hundreds of false cases into the system.

Spain will try out a new app to contain the spread of coronavirus from Friday for two weeks. The test run will be conducted on the Island of Gomera by injecting hundreds of false cases into the system. “The idea is that approximately 3,000 people download it and we will introduce around 300 simulators, beta testers, to mimic a pandemic among 10% of the population,” a government spokeswoman said. It will use Bluetooth short-range radio to log contacts. During the trial period of two weeks, the government will decide whether the app could be rolled out across the country. To guard against impinging on people’s privacy, contact records will be stored on individual devices rather than a central server, using a standard developed by Apple (AAPL.O) and Google (GOOGL.O). Technology and defence company Indra (IDR.MC) has been contracted to manage the pilot at a cost of about $375,000. Spain’s health ministry has reported over 28,000 deaths. Britain and Spain are one of the worst-hit countries in terms of coronavirus outbreak. The country on Sunday ended its state of emergency that was imposed on March 14. (With inputs from Reuters)

Spain to try new coronavirus tracing app for 2 weeks before rolling out nationwide

At a time when China is facing a threat to its exports worldwide, the country is looking at the domestic market to give a boost to its economy. The recovery in China has come earlier than many other big global economies, and hence, the best market for Chinese goods now is China itself.&nbsp;

Yiwu is the world's largest small commodity wholesale market in east China's Zhejiang province. The trade city has now rolled out various schemes to meet the demands of domestic traders as Asia's largest economy is looking inwards for economic growth.&nbsp;

The Chinese government, foreign trade companies, and e-commerce platforms have taken a series of measures to divert marketable export-oriented products to the domestic market to relieve the impact of COVID-19 on foreign trade companies.&nbsp;

"We have a huge domestic market with a population of 1.4 billion, so there is enough market room for our exports to turn to the domestic market," said Gu Xueming, President, Chinese Academy of International Trade.

Chinese authorities are giving importance both to foreign trade and domestic sales for economic growth. The businessmen are trying to increase market shares in domestic supermarkets and department stores.&nbsp;

In the Chenghai district, Shantou city of south China's Guangdong province, toy export businesses are also turning to the domestic market. The local government has organised several leading e-commerce platforms to pull factories, foreign trade companies, and domestic consumers together, with the innovation of new sales modes based on live streaming and short videos.

Experts expect the Chinese economy to come back on the growth path before rebounding in the second half of the year.

The strict lockdowns imposed in China are steadily being relaxed in recent months and demand is coming back as a result of this. But coronavirus is a threat that still has not waned away and the recent spur in coronavirus cases in Beijing has forced authorities to go for mass checking. Logistics and delivery service sectors in Beijing have ramped up testing for all staff members over the weekend to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. Beijing reported nine new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Sunday. The capital has recorded over 230 new infections since June 11.&nbsp;

But the coronavirus cases are much less as compared to many big markets globally. So the best markets for Chinese products are now being explored in China itself. &nbsp;

At a time when China is facing a threat to its exports worldwide, the country is looking at the domestic market to give a boost to its economy. The recovery in China has come earlier than many other big global economies, and hence, the best market for Chinese goods now is China itself.

At a time when China is facing a threat to its exports worldwide, the country is looking at the domestic market to give a boost to its economy. The recovery in China has come earlier than many other big global economies, and hence, the best market for Chinese goods now is China itself. Yiwu is the world's largest small commodity wholesale market in east China's Zhejiang province. The trade city has now rolled out various schemes to meet the demands of domestic traders as Asia's largest economy is looking inwards for economic growth. The Chinese government, foreign trade companies, and e-commerce platforms have taken a series of measures to divert marketable export-oriented products to the domestic market to relieve the impact of COVID-19 on foreign trade companies. "We have a huge domestic market with a population of 1.4 billion, so there is enough market room for our exports to turn to the domestic market," said Gu Xueming, President, Chinese Academy of International Trade. Chinese authorities are giving importance both to foreign trade and domestic sales for economic growth. The businessmen are trying to increase market shares in domestic supermarkets and department stores. In the Chenghai district, Shantou city of south China's Guangdong province, toy export businesses are also turning to the domestic market. The local government has organised several leading e-commerce platforms to pull factories, foreign trade companies, and domestic consumers together, with the innovation of new sales modes based on live streaming and short videos. Experts expect the Chinese economy to come back on the growth path before rebounding in the second half of the year. The strict lockdowns imposed in China are steadily being relaxed in recent months and demand is coming back as a result of this. But coronavirus is a threat that still has not waned away and the recent spur in coronavirus cases in Beijing has forced authorities to go for mass checking. Logistics and delivery service sectors in Beijing have ramped up testing for all staff members over the weekend to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. Beijing reported nine new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Sunday. The capital has recorded over 230 new infections since June 11. But the coronavirus cases are much less as compared to many big markets globally. So the best markets for Chinese products are now being explored in China itself.

China focuses on the domestic market for economic recovery

The coronavirus has sent China scrambling yet again. Beijing, the Chinese capital, is battling its second virus outbreak.

This has sent anxious residents flooding to clinics for voluntary tests, putting the healthcare system under massive strain. So far, over 350,000 people have been tested.

For two months, the Chinese capital did not report a single case, and then the city saw a surge of over 150 infections in a week. Most cases are linked to Beijing's huge Xinfadi wholesale food center.

It seems despite repeated and urgent warnings, China has failed to take care of the hygiene in wholesale food markets. 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/china-finds-heavy-coronavirus-traces-in-seafood-meat-sections-of-beijing-food-market-306858">Also Read: China finds heavy coronavirus traces in seafood, meat sections of Beijing food market</a>

The Communist Party’s top disciplinary body has swung into action as they want to avoid the global shame that followed the Wuhan outbreak. In its report, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said, " The epidemic is a mirror that not only reflects the dirty and messy aspects of wholesale markets but also their low-level management conditions."

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-how-beijing-is-turning-into-wuhan-306935/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

The first major cluster of infections was traced to the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan through which over 8.4 million people were infected.

China has realised that it must improve hygiene in its markets after a repeat of the same mistake in Beijing. Since May 30, over 200,000 people have visited the Beijing market. 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/beijings-coronavirus-outbreak-under-control-chinese-expert-says-306810">Also Read: Beijing's coronavirus outbreak under control, Chinese expert says</a>

Now, authorities are tracking down all of them. As many as 80,000 test samples were taken in and around the market alone.10 areas in Beijing are under lockdown and in many districts, buildings have been completely sealed.

Travel restrictions have been put in place and residents now require a negative result on a nucleic acid test to travel. But, these measures may have come too late.

Neighbouring provinces -Hebei, Liaoning, Sichuan, and Zhejiang have also reported new cases, all linked to travellers arriving from Beijing.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

&nbsp;

The coronavirus has sent China scrambling yet again. Beijing, the Chinese capital, is battling its second virus outbreak. This has sent anxious residents flooding to clinics for voluntary tests, putting the healthcare system under massive strain.

The coronavirus has sent China scrambling yet again. Beijing, the Chinese capital, is battling its second virus outbreak. This has sent anxious residents flooding to clinics for voluntary tests, putting the healthcare system under massive strain. So far, over 350,000 people have been tested. For two months, the Chinese capital did not report a single case, and then the city saw a surge of over 150 infections in a week. Most cases are linked to Beijing's huge Xinfadi wholesale food center. It seems despite repeated and urgent warnings, China has failed to take care of the hygiene in wholesale food markets. Also Read: China finds heavy coronavirus traces in seafood, meat sections of Beijing food market The Communist Party’s top disciplinary body has swung into action as they want to avoid the global shame that followed the Wuhan outbreak. In its report, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said, " The epidemic is a mirror that not only reflects the dirty and messy aspects of wholesale markets but also their low-level management conditions." The first major cluster of infections was traced to the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan through which over 8.4 million people were infected. China has realised that it must improve hygiene in its markets after a repeat of the same mistake in Beijing. Since May 30, over 200,000 people have visited the Beijing market. Also Read: Beijing's coronavirus outbreak under control, Chinese expert says Now, authorities are tracking down all of them. As many as 80,000 test samples were taken in and around the market alone.10 areas in Beijing are under lockdown and in many districts, buildings have been completely sealed. Travel restrictions have been put in place and residents now require a negative result on a nucleic acid test to travel. But, these measures may have come too late. Neighbouring provinces -Hebei, Liaoning, Sichuan, and Zhejiang have also reported new cases, all linked to travellers arriving from Beijing.

Beijing's second coronavirus wave puts wet markets back in focus

As the reported cases of domestic violence against women continue to rise globally, microblogging platform Twitter has launched a dedicated search prompt that will direct people looking for domestic violence-related keywords towards relevant information and sources of help on Twitter.

According to the company statement, this feature will be available on iOS, Android, and on mobile.twitter.com in India in English and Hindi languages.&nbsp; 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/sufficient-measures-present-to-safeguard-domestic-violence-victims-during-lockdown-aap-govt-to-hc-293292">Also Read: Sufficient measures present to safeguard domestic violence victims: AAP govt to HC</a>

With this initiative, Twitter has expanded #ThereIsHelp prompt, which was started to provide credible information on critical issues.

Data shows that since the coronavirus outbreak, violence against women and girls has intensified across the globe. The lockdown may help keep women safe from the coronavirus, but it has pushed thousands of them into something equally grievous. 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/global-rise-in-domestic-violence-cases-as-covid-19-lockdown-turns-into-captivity-for-many-women-290213">Also Read: Global rise in domestic violence cases as Covid-19 lockdown turns into captivity for many women</a> 
 
According to a recent report by UN Women, 243 million women and girls aged 15-49 globally have been subjected to sexual and/or physical violence perpetrated by an intimate partner in the past 12 months.

Twitter said the National Commission for Women (NCW)&nbsp;has recorded more than two-fold rise in gender-based violence in the lockdown period in India.

 
(With inputs from PTI)

As the reported cases of domestic violence against women continue to rise globally, microblogging platform Twitter has launched a dedicated search prompt that will direct people looking for domestic violence-related keywords towards relevant information and sources of help on Twitter.

As the reported cases of domestic violence against women continue to rise globally, microblogging platform Twitter has launched a dedicated search prompt that will direct people looking for domestic violence-related keywords towards relevant information and sources of help on Twitter. According to the company statement, this feature will be available on iOS, Android, and on mobile.twitter.com in India in English and Hindi languages. Also Read: Sufficient measures present to safeguard domestic violence victims: AAP govt to HC With this initiative, Twitter has expanded #ThereIsHelp prompt, which was started to provide credible information on critical issues. Data shows that since the coronavirus outbreak, violence against women and girls has intensified across the globe. The lockdown may help keep women safe from the coronavirus, but it has pushed thousands of them into something equally grievous. Also Read: Global rise in domestic violence cases as Covid-19 lockdown turns into captivity for many women According to a recent report by UN Women, 243 million women and girls aged 15-49 globally have been subjected to sexual and/or physical violence perpetrated by an intimate partner in the past 12 months. Twitter said the National Commission for Women (NCW) has recorded more than two-fold rise in gender-based violence in the lockdown period in India. (With inputs from PTI)

As cases of domestic violence shoot up amid COVID-19 pandemic, Twitter launches dedicated tool to help people combat the menace

It is an ‘Act now!’ situation to stop Child labour by engaging and empowering Child protection Committees and increase investments on an urgent basis to improve education in rural and tribal areas&nbsp;

&nbsp;Reverse migration during the recent lockdown in India forced hundreds of children to even walk back to their villages along with adults. The most tragic was the death of 12-year-old child labour while walking over a 100 kilometres long distance from chilli farms in Telangana to her parents in Chhattisgarh. Evidently, children are the most vulnerable during disasters and poorer communities are targeted by traffickers during disasters to source cheap labourers put children at a higher risk.&nbsp;

In 2017, Ministry of Labour &amp; Employment launch a PENCIL portal for reporting child labour cases and so far has rescued more than 1.7 million children with a success of mainstreaming about 50 per cent of them into education. India has 10.13 million child labourers between 5-14 years in India as per 2011 census data and if compared between two Censuses, 2011 has witnessed 20 per cent decrease from 2001 Census data.&nbsp;

However, there has been the decrease in rural child labour data (from 11.3 million in 2001 to 8.1 million in 2011) whereas urban figures have increased from 1.3 million in 2001 to 2 million in Census 2011. The increase in urban child labour also indicates a shift from engaging children in agriculture to now being trafficked to urban areas to work in the unorganised sector or as domestic help. As per ILO 2016 data, India has 23.8 million of 152 million children working in the world between 5-17 years.&nbsp;

Particularly, during situations like Pandemic, the worst hit is the economy affecting the small and medium businesses the most. Small and informal businesses for their survival and revival are looking for cheap labourers and therefore, it is non-negotiable that laws protecting children are enforced in full strength. The outreach for child protection workforce is a major constraint in India in absence of a front line cadre. The pockets that are receiving most of the reverse migrants, therefore, must be put on the spotlight for vigilance through District Administration engaging Child Protection Committees in the villages.&nbsp;

A quick reflection basis interaction with teachers and other service providers indicates that quarantine centres in the states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh have got an increase in as much as 20 per cent children in school going age due to reverse migration during lockdown period under Covid19. A sports teacher from one of the quarantine centre who was engaged in yoga sessions with children said that those who have migrated back wished to return to cities once the situation was normal. One of the main reasons quoted for returning is also poor education infrastructure in rural areas. The schools were already under-resourced and increase in children by 20 per cent would mean schools getting more burdened. They also feared the lack of education facilities will risk children and they will be engaged in agriculture and other works. Children, even if, drop out of school for a short duration are at risk of child labour and mainstreaming them back into education is challenging.&nbsp;

India, under Sustainable Development Goal 8.7 &nbsp;is committed to end child labour in all its forms by 2025. Also, take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Driving this, operation Muskaan is one of the successful campaigns by the Government, especially in the states like Telangana where every year a large number of children are rescued and repatriated. &nbsp;The Operation in the State has rescued children as young as 8 years working in bangle workshop in a dim basement for almost 12 hours a day. The State police in 2019 had reported rescued 3914 children (3453 minor boys and 461 minor girls) from railway stations, bus stations, religious places, traffic junctions, footpaths etc. Reportedly, out of 3914 children rescued, 1648 were reunited with their parents while 2266 children were admitted in rescue homes.&nbsp;

It is disheartening to see low repatriation rates with the families and a large number being sent to rescue homes. Following up on one such rescue and repatriation exercise, it was found that some rescued children were too young to tell even their native states or had lost track of their families as traffickers shifted them from one state to another. Children who could be reunited with their families were also not seen to be a very happy situation as their families struggled to survive with meagre earning options available to them and with no hope about a better future without good education opportunities in their villages. Food insecurity and poor education infrastructure seemingly is the key factor for the parents to push their children to early and forced employment.&nbsp;

Reverse migration has brought attention to providing livelihoods under MGNREGS and it is important that this moment is not missed out on adequately budgeting school infrastructure ensuring quality education in villages. The assurance and quick investment in improving education can help many children and their families from traffickers. &nbsp;

Child rights and child protection issues are entrenched in social norms and part of the community’s day to day life making the community completely oblivious to the existence of these issues. This makes these issues very sensitive and difficult for exploration and assessment as well. Thus, assessment of the situation related to children be it child labour, child abuse etc requires tools and techniques that are sensitive to the issue but at the same time are able to assess the reality. NRMC India, in its work on children's issues, has designed and implemented projective and participatory tools and techniques to undertake situation assessment and track and evaluate the progress of the interventions related to child rights and child protection. These techniques like vignettes, H tool, drawing (instead of expressing through words) found resonance with children, their parents and larger community. Promoting such techniques not only provides an understanding of the social norms and real situation related to children effectively but also empower the participants through discussions that ensue around these.&nbsp;

(The article is co-authored by Jayesh Bhatia. He is Founder Director, NRMC India) 
 
&nbsp;(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

&nbsp;

It is an ‘Act now!’ situation to stop Child labour by engaging and empowering Child protection Committees and increase investments on an urgent basis to improve education in rural and tribal areas Reverse migration during the recent lockdown in India forced hundreds of children to even walk back to their villages along with adults.

It is an ‘Act now!’ situation to stop Child labour by engaging and empowering Child protection Committees and increase investments on an urgent basis to improve education in rural and tribal areas Reverse migration during the recent lockdown in India forced hundreds of children to even walk back to their villages along with adults. The most tragic was the death of 12-year-old child labour while walking over a 100 kilometres long distance from chilli farms in Telangana to her parents in Chhattisgarh. Evidently, children are the most vulnerable during disasters and poorer communities are targeted by traffickers during disasters to source cheap labourers put children at a higher risk. In 2017, Ministry of Labour & Employment launch a PENCIL portal for reporting child labour cases and so far has rescued more than 1.7 million children with a success of mainstreaming about 50 per cent of them into education. India has 10.13 million child labourers between 5-14 years in India as per 2011 census data and if compared between two Censuses, 2011 has witnessed 20 per cent decrease from 2001 Census data. However, there has been the decrease in rural child labour data (from 11.3 million in 2001 to 8.1 million in 2011) whereas urban figures have increased from 1.3 million in 2001 to 2 million in Census 2011. The increase in urban child labour also indicates a shift from engaging children in agriculture to now being trafficked to urban areas to work in the unorganised sector or as domestic help. As per ILO 2016 data, India has 23.8 million of 152 million children working in the world between 5-17 years. Particularly, during situations like Pandemic, the worst hit is the economy affecting the small and medium businesses the most. Small and informal businesses for their survival and revival are looking for cheap labourers and therefore, it is non-negotiable that laws protecting children are enforced in full strength. The outreach for child protection workforce is a major constraint in India in absence of a front line cadre. The pockets that are receiving most of the reverse migrants, therefore, must be put on the spotlight for vigilance through District Administration engaging Child Protection Committees in the villages. A quick reflection basis interaction with teachers and other service providers indicates that quarantine centres in the states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh have got an increase in as much as 20 per cent children in school going age due to reverse migration during lockdown period under Covid19. A sports teacher from one of the quarantine centre who was engaged in yoga sessions with children said that those who have migrated back wished to return to cities once the situation was normal. One of the main reasons quoted for returning is also poor education infrastructure in rural areas. The schools were already under-resourced and increase in children by 20 per cent would mean schools getting more burdened. They also feared the lack of education facilities will risk children and they will be engaged in agriculture and other works. Children, even if, drop out of school for a short duration are at risk of child labour and mainstreaming them back into education is challenging. India, under Sustainable Development Goal 8.7 is committed to end child labour in all its forms by 2025. Also, take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour. Driving this, operation Muskaan is one of the successful campaigns by the Government, especially in the states like Telangana where every year a large number of children are rescued and repatriated. The Operation in the State has rescued children as young as 8 years working in bangle workshop in a dim basement for almost 12 hours a day. The State police in 2019 had reported rescued 3914 children (3453 minor boys and 461 minor girls) from railway stations, bus stations, religious places, traffic junctions, footpaths etc. Reportedly, out of 3914 children rescued, 1648 were reunited with their parents while 2266 children were admitted in rescue homes. It is disheartening to see low repatriation rates with the families and a large number being sent to rescue homes. Following up on one such rescue and repatriation exercise, it was found that some rescued children were too young to tell even their native states or had lost track of their families as traffickers shifted them from one state to another. Children who could be reunited with their families were also not seen to be a very happy situation as their families struggled to survive with meagre earning options available to them and with no hope about a better future without good education opportunities in their villages. Food insecurity and poor education infrastructure seemingly is the key factor for the parents to push their children to early and forced employment. Reverse migration has brought attention to providing livelihoods under MGNREGS and it is important that this moment is not missed out on adequately budgeting school infrastructure ensuring quality education in villages. The assurance and quick investment in improving education can help many children and their families from traffickers. Child rights and child protection issues are entrenched in social norms and part of the community’s day to day life making the community completely oblivious to the existence of these issues. This makes these issues very sensitive and difficult for exploration and assessment as well. Thus, assessment of the situation related to children be it child labour, child abuse etc requires tools and techniques that are sensitive to the issue but at the same time are able to assess the reality. NRMC India, in its work on children's issues, has designed and implemented projective and participatory tools and techniques to undertake situation assessment and track and evaluate the progress of the interventions related to child rights and child protection. These techniques like vignettes, H tool, drawing (instead of expressing through words) found resonance with children, their parents and larger community. Promoting such techniques not only provides an understanding of the social norms and real situation related to children effectively but also empower the participants through discussions that ensue around these. (The article is co-authored by Jayesh Bhatia. He is Founder Director, NRMC India) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Reverse migration amid coronavirus crisis will force more children into work

A second wave of the coronavirus pandemic is raising its ugly head. It is putting Middle Eastern leaders at a crossroads as they struggle to contain the disease and tackle its economic fallout.

The question is whether they are getting the message: neither containing and controlling the virus nor economic recovery is a straight shot. Both are likely to involve a process of two steps forward, one step backwards, and no state can successfully tackle the multiples crises on its own.

The Middle East is a part of the world in which conflicts and problems are not just complex but inherently interconnected. The pandemic poses not only political, economic, and social challenges. It also calls into question regional security arrangements that reinforce fault lines rather than create an environment that allows rivals to collectively manage disputes as well as diseases whose spread is not halted by physical and other boundaries.

At stake is not just regional but also global security. Focused on their own healthcare and economic crises, Western nations ignore Middle Eastern and North African instability at their peril. They risk waking up to threats that could have been anticipated.

Suspected Russian hopes that an end to the Libyan war would allow for the creation of a Russian military base on the southern shore of the Mediterranean that would complement facilities in Syria would be one such impending threat.

“Russia wants a foothold in Libya, and that’s a fact,” said Pavel Felgenhauer, a Russian military analyst at the Jamestown Foundation. US officials warned that a permanent Russian presence would enhance Russia’s efforts to weaken the already strained trans-Atlantic alliance.

The prospect of increased Russian influence in the Mediterranean coupled with China’s expanding sway over ports in the Eastern Mediterranean raises the spectre of emboldening Turkey as it aggressively seeks to grow its control of energy-rich waters in the region in violation of international law.

“To avoid the worst outcomes for an already fraught region, there is no substitute and frankly no alternative to some form of cooperation among regional actors. . . . With the Middle East likely to emerge from the COVID-19 crisis more fragile and potentially explosive than before, a cooperative architecture that can build regional resilience is an imperative,” said strategist Steven Kenney and international relations scholar Ross Harrison in a just-released Washington-based Middle East Institute report.

The economic part of the message is already evident: Putting an end to the pandemic and economic recovery will be a painful and long-drawn-out process.

Countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Lebanon, and Israel are witnessing first signs of the pandemic’s second wave.

Increasing the likelihood of a cancellation of this year’s Muslim pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca scheduled for late July, Saudi Arabia re-imposed a lockdown in the Red Sea port of Jeddah, the haj’s major gateway, after a spike in coronavirus infections. The lockdown involves a two-week, 15-hour curfew from 15:00 PM to 06:00 PM

A dramatic surge in infections in Iran, averaging 3,000 new cases a day, has rekindled the Middle East’s largest outbreak, weeks after the country appeared to have tamed the virus.

Israel closed dozens of schools and ordered any school reporting a virus case to shut down following a surge in coronavirus cases that swept through classrooms two weeks after they were allowed to reopen.

Mass social and economic protests in Lebanon, a country on the brink of financial collapse, have heightened the risk of a second wave of the pandemic.

The surge bodes ill for economic recovery.

Based on a survey of 1,228 CEOs, the Dubai Chamber of Commerce warned that a &nbsp;staggering 70 per cent of businesses in the emirate expects to close their doors within the next six months.

The warning came as the UAE government extended a nightly curfew following a doubling of infections after it eased lockdown restrictions.

Government-backed UAE carriers Emirates and Etihad Airways have since extended reduced pay for staff until September as they try to preserve cash.

Austerity measures threaten to bring the social unrest that has swept the Middle East and North Africa for the past decade closer to the Gulf.

“If it’s temporary, one or two years, I can adapt. My concern is that more taxes will be permanent — and that will be an issue,” said Mohammed, a Saudi government worker after his $266 USD a month cost of living allowance was cancelled and sales taxes were tripled as part of painful austerity measures announced by Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan.

Mohammed’s words were echoed in a rare pushback against the government by columnist Khalid Al-Sulaiman, writing in the Okaz daily, one of the kingdom’s tightly controlled media outlets.

“I was hoping [the minister] would say [the tax hike] would be reviewed after the coronavirus crisis is gone or contained, or when oil prices improve, but he did not say that. Citizens are feeling concerned that pressure on their living standards will last longer than the current crisis,” Al-Sulaiman said.

The challenges Gulf states face of an ongoing healthcare crisis and a painful, protracted, and complex road toward economic recovery, coupled with debilitating regional conflicts that not only fester but appear to be expanding, are almost insurmountable obstacles.

Kuwaiti efforts to resolve the rift in the Gulf and pressure by US President Donald J. Trump on Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to lift their three-year-old air embargo of Qatar have raised, perhaps prematurely, the hope of an end to the conflict. Although there is no public indication that the parties are willing to seriously engage.

The proxy war in Libya, in which the UAE-backed forces of rebel commander Khalifa Haftar are on the defensive, is extending into the Eastern Mediterranean as Turkey claims rights in energy-rich territorial waters in violation of international law.

Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi-based English language newspaper The National, despite UAE efforts to reduce tension with Iran, seemed, to stop just short of inviting Israel to attack an Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps’ command and control center on the outskirts of the main airport of Damascus, the capital of Syria.

“For now, the Glass House remains unshattered,” The National said in a detailed expose of the centre dubbed The Glass House.

Middle Eastern leaders are confronting the worst pandemic of crises since independence.

Addressing those predicaments requires regional and global leadership which looks beyond immediate survival and ideological and geopolitical rivalries; a leadership which recognises that stability and solutions to shared threats must be vested in longer-term managing and cooperation in tackling common challenges rather than maintaining conflict.

The problem is that few leaders seem willing or able to step up to the plate. 
 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)&nbsp;

A second wave of the coronavirus pandemic is raising its ugly head. It is putting Middle Eastern leaders at a crossroads as they struggle to contain the disease and tackle its economic fallout.

A second wave of the coronavirus pandemic is raising its ugly head. It is putting Middle Eastern leaders at a crossroads as they struggle to contain the disease and tackle its economic fallout. The question is whether they are getting the message: neither containing and controlling the virus nor economic recovery is a straight shot. Both are likely to involve a process of two steps forward, one step backwards, and no state can successfully tackle the multiples crises on its own. The Middle East is a part of the world in which conflicts and problems are not just complex but inherently interconnected. The pandemic poses not only political, economic, and social challenges. It also calls into question regional security arrangements that reinforce fault lines rather than create an environment that allows rivals to collectively manage disputes as well as diseases whose spread is not halted by physical and other boundaries. At stake is not just regional but also global security. Focused on their own healthcare and economic crises, Western nations ignore Middle Eastern and North African instability at their peril. They risk waking up to threats that could have been anticipated. Suspected Russian hopes that an end to the Libyan war would allow for the creation of a Russian military base on the southern shore of the Mediterranean that would complement facilities in Syria would be one such impending threat. “Russia wants a foothold in Libya, and that’s a fact,” said Pavel Felgenhauer, a Russian military analyst at the Jamestown Foundation. US officials warned that a permanent Russian presence would enhance Russia’s efforts to weaken the already strained trans-Atlantic alliance. The prospect of increased Russian influence in the Mediterranean coupled with China’s expanding sway over ports in the Eastern Mediterranean raises the spectre of emboldening Turkey as it aggressively seeks to grow its control of energy-rich waters in the region in violation of international law. “To avoid the worst outcomes for an already fraught region, there is no substitute and frankly no alternative to some form of cooperation among regional actors. . . . With the Middle East likely to emerge from the COVID-19 crisis more fragile and potentially explosive than before, a cooperative architecture that can build regional resilience is an imperative,” said strategist Steven Kenney and international relations scholar Ross Harrison in a just-released Washington-based Middle East Institute report. The economic part of the message is already evident: Putting an end to the pandemic and economic recovery will be a painful and long-drawn-out process. Countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Lebanon, and Israel are witnessing first signs of the pandemic’s second wave. Increasing the likelihood of a cancellation of this year’s Muslim pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca scheduled for late July, Saudi Arabia re-imposed a lockdown in the Red Sea port of Jeddah, the haj’s major gateway, after a spike in coronavirus infections. The lockdown involves a two-week, 15-hour curfew from 15:00 PM to 06:00 PM A dramatic surge in infections in Iran, averaging 3,000 new cases a day, has rekindled the Middle East’s largest outbreak, weeks after the country appeared to have tamed the virus. Israel closed dozens of schools and ordered any school reporting a virus case to shut down following a surge in coronavirus cases that swept through classrooms two weeks after they were allowed to reopen. Mass social and economic protests in Lebanon, a country on the brink of financial collapse, have heightened the risk of a second wave of the pandemic. The surge bodes ill for economic recovery. Based on a survey of 1,228 CEOs, the Dubai Chamber of Commerce warned that a staggering 70 per cent of businesses in the emirate expects to close their doors within the next six months. The warning came as the UAE government extended a nightly curfew following a doubling of infections after it eased lockdown restrictions. Government-backed UAE carriers Emirates and Etihad Airways have since extended reduced pay for staff until September as they try to preserve cash. Austerity measures threaten to bring the social unrest that has swept the Middle East and North Africa for the past decade closer to the Gulf. “If it’s temporary, one or two years, I can adapt. My concern is that more taxes will be permanent — and that will be an issue,” said Mohammed, a Saudi government worker after his $266 USD a month cost of living allowance was cancelled and sales taxes were tripled as part of painful austerity measures announced by Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan. Mohammed’s words were echoed in a rare pushback against the government by columnist Khalid Al-Sulaiman, writing in the Okaz daily, one of the kingdom’s tightly controlled media outlets. “I was hoping [the minister] would say [the tax hike] would be reviewed after the coronavirus crisis is gone or contained, or when oil prices improve, but he did not say that. Citizens are feeling concerned that pressure on their living standards will last longer than the current crisis,” Al-Sulaiman said. The challenges Gulf states face of an ongoing healthcare crisis and a painful, protracted, and complex road toward economic recovery, coupled with debilitating regional conflicts that not only fester but appear to be expanding, are almost insurmountable obstacles. Kuwaiti efforts to resolve the rift in the Gulf and pressure by US President Donald J. Trump on Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to lift their three-year-old air embargo of Qatar have raised, perhaps prematurely, the hope of an end to the conflict. Although there is no public indication that the parties are willing to seriously engage. The proxy war in Libya, in which the UAE-backed forces of rebel commander Khalifa Haftar are on the defensive, is extending into the Eastern Mediterranean as Turkey claims rights in energy-rich territorial waters in violation of international law. Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi-based English language newspaper The National, despite UAE efforts to reduce tension with Iran, seemed, to stop just short of inviting Israel to attack an Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps’ command and control center on the outskirts of the main airport of Damascus, the capital of Syria. “For now, the Glass House remains unshattered,” The National said in a detailed expose of the centre dubbed The Glass House. Middle Eastern leaders are confronting the worst pandemic of crises since independence. Addressing those predicaments requires regional and global leadership which looks beyond immediate survival and ideological and geopolitical rivalries; a leadership which recognises that stability and solutions to shared threats must be vested in longer-term managing and cooperation in tackling common challenges rather than maintaining conflict. The problem is that few leaders seem willing or able to step up to the plate. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Middle East struggles to contain coronavirus spread and tackle its economic fallout

After India's independence, Amrit Kaur became the first woman to hold Cabinet as the Minister of Health. While floating the idea of National Capital Region in 1956, she raised the issue of traffic jams and over-crowding in Delhi and also said that there is a need for a Regional Plan- a larger Delhi. &nbsp;She said if this idea becomes successful, it will be used as a prototype for the developing cities of our country and in Asia. The idea of greater Delhi was to create new alternatives and decentralisation within Delhi, decentralization to existing or new satellite towns, or even beyond into regional locations.&nbsp;

64 years down the line, greater Delhi or NCR is far from what was originally planned and the same is more evident during this pandemic. Delhi hospitals have now been made exclusive for the residents of Delhi only. Neighbouring districts like Gautam Buddh Nagar, Ghaziabad and Gurugram had been imposing travel restriction with little coordination between them. The bleak line of inter-state jurisdiction in the NCR has become more visible to residents during the period. E-passes were issued to move around the area even during an emergency or for essential purpose. It is important to dig into history to understand why a uniform approach is required to govern the whole NCR. &nbsp;

Delhi, the salad bowl of India, has been experiencing phenomenal population growth since 1951. One of the main causes for this spurt is migration into the city not only from the adjacent states but also from other far-flung states. The growth of the population of Delhi has contributed to many problems including increasing congestion and shortages of civic amenities. As Delhi grows, its problems of land, housing, transportation and management of essential infrastructures like water supply and sewerage would become more acute. Being the capital and primed with opportunities, exodus into the city has resulted in overcrowding of the capital. Thus the idea of a greater Delhi with all-round development of the adjoining region with harmonised policies among neighbouring States was proposed. In line with the objective and in concurrence with the participating States of Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, National Capital Region Planning Board Act was passed in 1985 by the Union Parliament and NCR Planning Board was constituted.&nbsp;

National Capital Region (NCR) is a unique example of inter-state regional planning and development, covering the entire National Capital Territory of Delhi, thirteen districts of State of Haryana, eight districts of State of Uttar Pradesh and two districts of State of Rajasthan, with the Nation Capital as its core. The National Capital Region (NCR) in India was constituted with the key rationale to promote balanced and harmonized development of the Region, and to avoid any haphazard development. The idea was of a central region, regardless of different state governments involved, to focus on transport, telecommunications, power and water supply, waste and sewerage, education, health, environment and housing.&nbsp;

But during the pandemic, the state governments in NCR region have been imposing restrictions detrimental for residents of NCR. Delhi government has made its COVID-19 health care, private or public, exclusive for a bonafide resident of Delhi only. The legality of this order has been challenged in the court of law, as it prima face seems discriminatory against all citizen of the country. However, NCR residents will bear the major brunt of this decision as for all practical purpose they consider themselves residents of Delhi per se. Many residents of NCR, do business and trade in Delhi and pay commercial taxes in Delhi but they will be denied the health facilities. The salaried classes living in NCR have empanelled hospitals in Delhi, but would be denied services of the hospitals. Also under Article 19(1) (e) of the Constitution of India, every citizen has fundamental right to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India.&nbsp;

In 2018 a similar order was passed by Delhi government which was challenged in Delhi High Court, where it was held that such classification of “similarly situated” class of patients on the basis of residents and non-residents is violative of Article 14. To some relief Lt Governor of Delhi has overruled the cabinet decision of Delhi government of “resident only” health care.&nbsp;

The Supreme Court also came to rescue for the resident of NCR as it asked all the state government in the NCR to formulate coordinated and uniform approach regarding the movement of citizen in the region. The Court agreed that people are suffering due to contradictory of UP, Delhi and Haryana and one consolidated policy &nbsp;was need to govern movement across NCR. &nbsp;

Even though the government of India has issued guidelines that travel throughout country will be permitted during the pandemic; however, since the district authorities have been empowered to make the final call, the order passed by the Supreme Court has much significance. The continual experimentation by 
the authorities in NCR is not funny anymore! On days you find daily commuters part of huge traffic jams blocked either from entering or leaving Delhi as adjoining districts impose restrictions anytime without any notice.&nbsp;

To state bluntly, the ordinary citizen has little interest in a complex inter-state relationship. Hence, it is suggested efforts must be made to find out a uniform approach for whole NCR.&nbsp;

As once Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib remarked – ‘I asked my soul: What is Delhi? She replied: The world is the body and Delhi its life’. In 2020 it can be safely said that whole of the NCR is the life of Delhi.&nbsp; 
 
(The article is co-authored by Tanvi Saran Srivastava. She is Law Officer in MSTC Ltd, CPSU.)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL) 
&nbsp;

After India's independence, Amrit Kaur became the first woman to hold Cabinet as the Minister of Health. While floating the idea of National Capital Region in 1956, she raised the issue of traffic jams and over-crowding in Delhi and also said that there is a need for a Regional Plan- a larger Delhi.

After India's independence, Amrit Kaur became the first woman to hold Cabinet as the Minister of Health. While floating the idea of National Capital Region in 1956, she raised the issue of traffic jams and over-crowding in Delhi and also said that there is a need for a Regional Plan- a larger Delhi. She said if this idea becomes successful, it will be used as a prototype for the developing cities of our country and in Asia. The idea of greater Delhi was to create new alternatives and decentralisation within Delhi, decentralization to existing or new satellite towns, or even beyond into regional locations. 64 years down the line, greater Delhi or NCR is far from what was originally planned and the same is more evident during this pandemic. Delhi hospitals have now been made exclusive for the residents of Delhi only. Neighbouring districts like Gautam Buddh Nagar, Ghaziabad and Gurugram had been imposing travel restriction with little coordination between them. The bleak line of inter-state jurisdiction in the NCR has become more visible to residents during the period. E-passes were issued to move around the area even during an emergency or for essential purpose. It is important to dig into history to understand why a uniform approach is required to govern the whole NCR. Delhi, the salad bowl of India, has been experiencing phenomenal population growth since 1951. One of the main causes for this spurt is migration into the city not only from the adjacent states but also from other far-flung states. The growth of the population of Delhi has contributed to many problems including increasing congestion and shortages of civic amenities. As Delhi grows, its problems of land, housing, transportation and management of essential infrastructures like water supply and sewerage would become more acute. Being the capital and primed with opportunities, exodus into the city has resulted in overcrowding of the capital. Thus the idea of a greater Delhi with all-round development of the adjoining region with harmonised policies among neighbouring States was proposed. In line with the objective and in concurrence with the participating States of Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, National Capital Region Planning Board Act was passed in 1985 by the Union Parliament and NCR Planning Board was constituted. National Capital Region (NCR) is a unique example of inter-state regional planning and development, covering the entire National Capital Territory of Delhi, thirteen districts of State of Haryana, eight districts of State of Uttar Pradesh and two districts of State of Rajasthan, with the Nation Capital as its core. The National Capital Region (NCR) in India was constituted with the key rationale to promote balanced and harmonized development of the Region, and to avoid any haphazard development. The idea was of a central region, regardless of different state governments involved, to focus on transport, telecommunications, power and water supply, waste and sewerage, education, health, environment and housing. But during the pandemic, the state governments in NCR region have been imposing restrictions detrimental for residents of NCR. Delhi government has made its COVID-19 health care, private or public, exclusive for a bonafide resident of Delhi only. The legality of this order has been challenged in the court of law, as it prima face seems discriminatory against all citizen of the country. However, NCR residents will bear the major brunt of this decision as for all practical purpose they consider themselves residents of Delhi per se. Many residents of NCR, do business and trade in Delhi and pay commercial taxes in Delhi but they will be denied the health facilities. The salaried classes living in NCR have empanelled hospitals in Delhi, but would be denied services of the hospitals. Also under Article 19(1) (e) of the Constitution of India, every citizen has fundamental right to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India. In 2018 a similar order was passed by Delhi government which was challenged in Delhi High Court, where it was held that such classification of “similarly situated” class of patients on the basis of residents and non-residents is violative of Article 14. To some relief Lt Governor of Delhi has overruled the cabinet decision of Delhi government of “resident only” health care. The Supreme Court also came to rescue for the resident of NCR as it asked all the state government in the NCR to formulate coordinated and uniform approach regarding the movement of citizen in the region. The Court agreed that people are suffering due to contradictory of UP, Delhi and Haryana and one consolidated policy was need to govern movement across NCR. Even though the government of India has issued guidelines that travel throughout country will be permitted during the pandemic; however, since the district authorities have been empowered to make the final call, the order passed by the Supreme Court has much significance. The continual experimentation by the authorities in NCR is not funny anymore! On days you find daily commuters part of huge traffic jams blocked either from entering or leaving Delhi as adjoining districts impose restrictions anytime without any notice. To state bluntly, the ordinary citizen has little interest in a complex inter-state relationship. Hence, it is suggested efforts must be made to find out a uniform approach for whole NCR. As once Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib remarked – ‘I asked my soul: What is Delhi? She replied: The world is the body and Delhi its life’. In 2020 it can be safely said that whole of the NCR is the life of Delhi. (The article is co-authored by Tanvi Saran Srivastava. She is Law Officer in MSTC Ltd, CPSU.) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Coronavirus unlock strategy: Efforts must be made to find out a uniform approach for whole NCR

Battered by decades of civil war, the global fight on terror and now the coronavirus pandemic, Afghanistan continues to face one crippling crisis after another.

To control the spread of the Wuhan virus, the Ashraf Ghani government wants Afghanistan to live under restrictions for another 3 months.

But in a country battered by decades of violence, people have no choice but to go out and earn their daily bread. The pandemic has severely impacted the livelihoods of communities across the country and thousands of people are out on the streets and not even half of them are sporting a mask.&nbsp; 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/afghanistan-taliban-struggles-to-control-coronavirus-spread-despite-earlier-boast-303204">Also Read: Afghanistan: Taliban struggles to control coronavirus spread despite earlier boast</a>

Facing economic distress, workers, migrants, small business owners and the poor say they have no choice, but to work. Afghan government now faces a tough choice - whether or not to enforce the restrictions with an iron fist.

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-afghanistans-covid-19-battle-wion-ground-report-304652/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

Afghanistan has officially reported over 21,400 cases and 384 deaths, but international observers and medics on the ground believe the real number of infections could be much higher. 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/emergency-health-measures-including-school-closures-saved-millions-in-six-coronavirus-hit-countries-study-304384">Also Read: Emergency health measures saved millions in six coronavirus-hit countries: Study</a> 
 
There are parts of the country that are under the control of the militant Taliban group where it is hard for the government to access data.

An overall shortage of testing kits, medical supplies and a dilapidated health system were compounding problems in tackling the spread.&nbsp; 
 
(With inputs from Reuters and AFP)

Battered by decades of civil war, the global fight on terror and now the coronavirus pandemic, Afghanistan continues to face one crippling crisis after another. To control the spread of the Wuhan virus, the Ashraf Ghani government wants Afghanistan to live under restrictions for another 3 months.

Battered by decades of civil war, the global fight on terror and now the coronavirus pandemic, Afghanistan continues to face one crippling crisis after another. To control the spread of the Wuhan virus, the Ashraf Ghani government wants Afghanistan to live under restrictions for another 3 months. But in a country battered by decades of violence, people have no choice but to go out and earn their daily bread. The pandemic has severely impacted the livelihoods of communities across the country and thousands of people are out on the streets and not even half of them are sporting a mask. Also Read: Afghanistan: Taliban struggles to control coronavirus spread despite earlier boast Facing economic distress, workers, migrants, small business owners and the poor say they have no choice, but to work. Afghan government now faces a tough choice - whether or not to enforce the restrictions with an iron fist. Afghanistan has officially reported over 21,400 cases and 384 deaths, but international observers and medics on the ground believe the real number of infections could be much higher. Also Read: Emergency health measures saved millions in six coronavirus-hit countries: Study There are parts of the country that are under the control of the militant Taliban group where it is hard for the government to access data. An overall shortage of testing kits, medical supplies and a dilapidated health system were compounding problems in tackling the spread. (With inputs from Reuters and AFP)

Coronavirus pandemic a grim addition to woes of people in Afghanistan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently held India’s first virtual bilateral summit with Australian counterpart Scott Morrison. To watch the well-planned format of the conference was impressive, yet, at the same time, unnerving. Each leader spoke and then reacted. But it was certainly not what the public was used to viewing. As India prepares to enter a post-COVID-19 lockdown world, the summit gave people a clear indication of what the new ‘normal’ will be. Virtual conferences, summits and increased use of digital interaction is not going anywhere in the near future. And it will most certainly impact India’s foreign relations. &nbsp;

The first PM Modi government redefined India’s foreign relations in his first term both in content and panache. By 2019, there was no doubt in anybody’s mind that India stood on the international stage as a nation that influenced international relations. To add to that, soft power features like yoga and Bollywood also elevated India’s status as in influencer versus being influenced. &nbsp;

At the beginning of his second term, PM Modi wasted absolutely no time. Literally. Immediately after taking his oath as at the swearing-in ceremony, PM Modi met world leaders to discuss the path ahead. Race ahead to the first year anniversary of the Modi 2.0 government. India made successful outreaches to India’s strategic maritime partners including Sri Lanka and the Maldives. India also strengthened extremely strategic ties with the United States in trade and defence. In the recent bilateral summit, Australian PM Morrison said that he missed the infamous ‘Modi hug.’ It just goes to show how positively PM Modi has engaged global leaders. &nbsp;

At present, there are trying circumstances for India’s foreign policy. An ongoing issue is bringing home stranded Indians via the Vande Bharat Mission. Article 370 met a lot of resistance from the Opposition. Misunderstandings about the Citizenship Amendment Bill broke into misinformed riots. The bill gives citizenship a dignified life for religiously persecuted minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Coming out of COVID-19, relations with China are already proving to be a challenge with recent skirmishes at the LAC. 
 
Terrorism from Pakistan also continues. To add to that, India’s economy will take some time to bounce back. &nbsp;&nbsp;

The COVID-19 pandemic brings the most uncertainty for foreign relations. As compared with other nations, India’s casualty rate remains low. However, the number of recent cases has shot up in the past few weeks. India may or may not see a peak in cases like the United States and Italy. What does this mean? Even as the lockdown is slowly phasing out in India, it is quite evident that coronavirus is not going away for a while. As citizens adjust to a new normal, Indian international relations also need to adjust to a new normal.&nbsp;

Just a few weeks ago, PM Modi wrote a letter on LinkedIn to citizens. He encouraged young students and working professionals to find ways of rebuilding and reforming digitally. Like citizens digitizing at a micro-scale, PM Modi must also rebuild and reform government structure digitally. Going forward, international relations, including decision-making, will be based heavily on digital platforms and technological communication. &nbsp;

The Centre should use this time to digitize individual Ministries and help individual bodies of the government technologically get up to speed. Furthermore, there are several nations that have handled the COVID-19 pandemic comparatively better than others. Examples include Germany and Uruguay. These countries’ economies will recover faster as compared to those struggling with the pandemic. This will result in their economic and international influence increasing internationally. Before India sees its spike in coronavirus cases, PM Modi should look at the practicality of implementing some of these countries’ methodologies for COVID-19.&nbsp;

Economically, PM Modi has already reached out to national leaders on ways to diversify exports. The Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan stimulus package aims to make India self-reliant. India should take one more step and ramp up domestic manufacturing capability. PM Modi should also find ways to encourage more FDI. One way to do this is to provide incentives and encourage multi-national corporations to set base in India. Japan is allegedly incentivizing home-based companies to not put up institutions in China. India should encourage such companies to set up in India. &nbsp;&nbsp;

In the status quo, the nation(s) which officially come(s) up with the vaccine for COVID-19 will enjoy substantial soft power. If President Trump stays in power, the USA will always act in India’s favour over China economically, for defence and for trade. &nbsp;

It is unclear how overall global relations will be post-COVID-19. This means that India must take time now to both build and redefine international relations. As international interactions will be via digital means for the foreseeable future, costs are lower. to enhance relationships. Normally, relations are boosted through tours and foreign visits. As small as this amount of money is, it can be used very effectively by the Centre to digitize itself completely. The Government of India should simultaneously increase domestic manufacturing capability and with that diversify exports. Dependency on China will decrease for good as well if India can achieve this. As a result, India will easily be positioned as a post-pandemic global leader. Even better, a leader with strong, positive international relations that can only be strengthened in new ‘normal’ times.&nbsp; 
 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)&nbsp;

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently held India’s first virtual bilateral summit with Australian counterpart Scott Morrison. To watch the well-planned format of the conference was impressive, yet, at the same time, unnerving.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently held India’s first virtual bilateral summit with Australian counterpart Scott Morrison. To watch the well-planned format of the conference was impressive, yet, at the same time, unnerving. Each leader spoke and then reacted. But it was certainly not what the public was used to viewing. As India prepares to enter a post-COVID-19 lockdown world, the summit gave people a clear indication of what the new ‘normal’ will be. Virtual conferences, summits and increased use of digital interaction is not going anywhere in the near future. And it will most certainly impact India’s foreign relations. The first PM Modi government redefined India’s foreign relations in his first term both in content and panache. By 2019, there was no doubt in anybody’s mind that India stood on the international stage as a nation that influenced international relations. To add to that, soft power features like yoga and Bollywood also elevated India’s status as in influencer versus being influenced. At the beginning of his second term, PM Modi wasted absolutely no time. Literally. Immediately after taking his oath as at the swearing-in ceremony, PM Modi met world leaders to discuss the path ahead. Race ahead to the first year anniversary of the Modi 2.0 government. India made successful outreaches to India’s strategic maritime partners including Sri Lanka and the Maldives. India also strengthened extremely strategic ties with the United States in trade and defence. In the recent bilateral summit, Australian PM Morrison said that he missed the infamous ‘Modi hug.’ It just goes to show how positively PM Modi has engaged global leaders. At present, there are trying circumstances for India’s foreign policy. An ongoing issue is bringing home stranded Indians via the Vande Bharat Mission. Article 370 met a lot of resistance from the Opposition. Misunderstandings about the Citizenship Amendment Bill broke into misinformed riots. The bill gives citizenship a dignified life for religiously persecuted minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Coming out of COVID-19, relations with China are already proving to be a challenge with recent skirmishes at the LAC. Terrorism from Pakistan also continues. To add to that, India’s economy will take some time to bounce back. The COVID-19 pandemic brings the most uncertainty for foreign relations. As compared with other nations, India’s casualty rate remains low. However, the number of recent cases has shot up in the past few weeks. India may or may not see a peak in cases like the United States and Italy. What does this mean? Even as the lockdown is slowly phasing out in India, it is quite evident that coronavirus is not going away for a while. As citizens adjust to a new normal, Indian international relations also need to adjust to a new normal. Just a few weeks ago, PM Modi wrote a letter on LinkedIn to citizens. He encouraged young students and working professionals to find ways of rebuilding and reforming digitally. Like citizens digitizing at a micro-scale, PM Modi must also rebuild and reform government structure digitally. Going forward, international relations, including decision-making, will be based heavily on digital platforms and technological communication. The Centre should use this time to digitize individual Ministries and help individual bodies of the government technologically get up to speed. Furthermore, there are several nations that have handled the COVID-19 pandemic comparatively better than others. Examples include Germany and Uruguay. These countries’ economies will recover faster as compared to those struggling with the pandemic. This will result in their economic and international influence increasing internationally. Before India sees its spike in coronavirus cases, PM Modi should look at the practicality of implementing some of these countries’ methodologies for COVID-19. Economically, PM Modi has already reached out to national leaders on ways to diversify exports. The Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan stimulus package aims to make India self-reliant. India should take one more step and ramp up domestic manufacturing capability. PM Modi should also find ways to encourage more FDI. One way to do this is to provide incentives and encourage multi-national corporations to set base in India. Japan is allegedly incentivizing home-based companies to not put up institutions in China. India should encourage such companies to set up in India. In the status quo, the nation(s) which officially come(s) up with the vaccine for COVID-19 will enjoy substantial soft power. If President Trump stays in power, the USA will always act in India’s favour over China economically, for defence and for trade. It is unclear how overall global relations will be post-COVID-19. This means that India must take time now to both build and redefine international relations. As international interactions will be via digital means for the foreseeable future, costs are lower. to enhance relationships. Normally, relations are boosted through tours and foreign visits. As small as this amount of money is, it can be used very effectively by the Centre to digitize itself completely. The Government of India should simultaneously increase domestic manufacturing capability and with that diversify exports. Dependency on China will decrease for good as well if India can achieve this. As a result, India will easily be positioned as a post-pandemic global leader. Even better, a leader with strong, positive international relations that can only be strengthened in new ‘normal’ times. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Steps India must take for strong foreign relations post COVID-19 

Kim Jong Un&nbsp;gathered the Politburo of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party to talk about the economy and living conditions, state media said on Monday.

Neither Kim nor any of the other officials were wearing masks, and the coronavirus pandemic was not mentioned in the state media's report about the meeting.

Kim emphasised the importance of the country's chemical industry, including the production of fertiliser. For North Korea, it is a vital commodity due to the country's struggle to grow food at farms on limited land which has been exhausted of natural nutrients.

Food scientists in Pyongyang have even attempted to make 'functional vegetables' so that people can consume less and yet stay healthy. But, even this kind of biotech driven farming needs fertiliser. 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/north-koreas-kim-jong-un-calls-for-developing-a-self-sufficient-economy-304143">Also Read:&nbsp;North Korea's Kim Jong Un calls for developing a 'self-sufficient economy'</a>

For many years, North Korea relied on imports of chemical fertiliser, but those have long dried up.

During the meeting, Kim also highlighted a part of the chemical industry which has the potential for harnessing raw materials to make fuel.&nbsp;Fertiliser has been a particular focus of North Korea's media this year. Kim's first public appearance this year was at a fertiliser factory.

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-the-balloon-propaganda-against-kim-jong-un-304371/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

The two-day politburo meeting comes at a time of economic uncertainty amid the global COVID-19 pandemic that is putting additional pressure on the North’s economy.

North Korea had already been suffering economically due to the international sanctions against the country’s nuclear programmes. And the country is currently in a spat with its neighbour, South Korea, over the matter of defectors. 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/north-korea-threatens-to-halt-military-agreement-with-the-south-over-anti-kim-leaflets-303122">Also Read:&nbsp;North Korea threatens to halt military agreement with the South over anti-Kim leaflets</a>

Nearly 500,000 leaflets have been dumped along the border. The leaflets were carried across the border through balloons over Kim's&nbsp;nuclear ambitions and dismal human rights

South Korean activists have been trying to send censored materials across the border&nbsp;to democratise North Korea and put an end to Kim's regime. North Korea considers the leaflets an attack on its government and has long demanded that South Korea ban activists from sending them.

In her statement released through state media, Kim's sister Kim Yo Jong called those defectors "human scum" and "mongrel dogs" who betrayed their homeland and said that it was "time to bring their owners to account," referring to the government in Seoul.

North Korea is threatening to pull out of the inter-Korean military agreement which was signed in 2018 as a major step towards ensuring peace along the Korean demilitarised zone.

It is planning to snap all channels of communication with South Korea and close an inter-Korean liaison office if the South does not stop defectors from sending leaflets and other material into the North.&nbsp; 
 
(With inputs from agencies)

Kim Jong Un gathered the Politburo of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party to talk about the economy and living conditions, state media said on Monday. Neither Kim nor any of the other officials were wearing masks, and the coronavirus pandemic was not mentioned in the state media's report about the meeting.

Kim Jong Un gathered the Politburo of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party to talk about the economy and living conditions, state media said on Monday. Neither Kim nor any of the other officials were wearing masks, and the coronavirus pandemic was not mentioned in the state media's report about the meeting. Kim emphasised the importance of the country's chemical industry, including the production of fertiliser. For North Korea, it is a vital commodity due to the country's struggle to grow food at farms on limited land which has been exhausted of natural nutrients. Food scientists in Pyongyang have even attempted to make 'functional vegetables' so that people can consume less and yet stay healthy. But, even this kind of biotech driven farming needs fertiliser. Also Read: North Korea's Kim Jong Un calls for developing a 'self-sufficient economy' For many years, North Korea relied on imports of chemical fertiliser, but those have long dried up. During the meeting, Kim also highlighted a part of the chemical industry which has the potential for harnessing raw materials to make fuel. Fertiliser has been a particular focus of North Korea's media this year. Kim's first public appearance this year was at a fertiliser factory. The two-day politburo meeting comes at a time of economic uncertainty amid the global COVID-19 pandemic that is putting additional pressure on the North’s economy. North Korea had already been suffering economically due to the international sanctions against the country’s nuclear programmes. And the country is currently in a spat with its neighbour, South Korea, over the matter of defectors. Also Read: North Korea threatens to halt military agreement with the South over anti-Kim leaflets Nearly 500,000 leaflets have been dumped along the border. The leaflets were carried across the border through balloons over Kim's nuclear ambitions and dismal human rights South Korean activists have been trying to send censored materials across the border to democratise North Korea and put an end to Kim's regime. North Korea considers the leaflets an attack on its government and has long demanded that South Korea ban activists from sending them. In her statement released through state media, Kim's sister Kim Yo Jong called those defectors "human scum" and "mongrel dogs" who betrayed their homeland and said that it was "time to bring their owners to account," referring to the government in Seoul. North Korea is threatening to pull out of the inter-Korean military agreement which was signed in 2018 as a major step towards ensuring peace along the Korean demilitarised zone. It is planning to snap all channels of communication with South Korea and close an inter-Korean liaison office if the South does not stop defectors from sending leaflets and other material into the North. (With inputs from agencies)

Inter-Korean relations further deteriorate

Norwegian and British vaccine scientists have published <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/DBBC0FA6E3763B0067CAAD8F3363E527/S2633289220000083a.pdf/biovacc19_a_candidate_vaccine_for_covid19_sarscov2_developed_from_analysis_of_its_general_method_of_action_for_infectivity.pdf">unequivocal evidence</a> that SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, is man-made.

The authors state two conclusions: (1) the mutations that would normally be seen in the course of animal to human transmission have not occurred in SARS-CoV-2, indicating that it was fully “pre-adapted” for human infection and (2) SARS-CoV-2 has insertions in its protein sequence that have never been detected in nature and contribute to its infectivity and pathogenicity.

That is, SARS-CoV-2 has a receptor binding domain specifically designed for the human angiotensin converting enzyme-2 receptor (ACE2) found in lungs, kidneys, intestines and blood vessels.

In addition, SARS-CoV-2 has a furin polybasic cleavage site not found in any closely-related bat coronaviruses as well as other artificially inserted charged amino acids that enhance the virus’ ability to bind to and enter human cells by forming “salt bridges” between the virus and the cell surface.

Those modifications are key to understanding the unique transmissibility and potency of SARS-CoV-2.

The authors explain that the COVID-19 pandemic is revealing neurological, haematological and immunological pathogenicity, which cannot be explained by infectivity via the ACE2 receptor alone.

There have been wide-ranging clinical observations such as a loss of taste and smell, sore throat, dry cough, headache and severe gastrointestinal pain with diarrhoea.

SARS-CoV-2 binding to the bitter/sweet receptors in the upper respiratory tract provides a perfect location for transmission by coughing.

According to the authors, oral and upper respiratory infection can lead to transmission to the lower respiratory tract, gastrointestinal effects and a cascade of inflammation-producing immunological responses.

The wide-spread systemic release of the virus, due to its co-receptor enhancement, &nbsp;could explain the multiple clinical findings on the <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamacardiology/fullarticle/2763846">cardiovascular system</a>, <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2020/05/21/coronavirus-hijacks-cells-in-unique-ways/">immunological T-cells</a>, cells associated with <a href="https://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-2020/covid-19-brain-symptoms.html">neuropathological </a>conditions and, finally, the severe hypoxia seen in advanced cases of the disease.

As the authors correctly note, the development of an effective vaccine cannot be accomplished without an objective analysis of the structure of SARS-CoV-2, its mode of action and its origin.

That effort has been hampered by China’s refusal to fully disclose the information it possesses, in conjunction with a politically-motivated scientific misinformation campaign by Beijing to avoid responsibility, by some Western scientists with a vested interest in the outcome and by an uninformed and servile media.

That includes the editorial decisions of scientific and medical journals, which seem to favour, overwhelmingly, the narrative that the COVID-19 pandemic is just another naturally-occurring outbreak, even to the extent of censoring opposing views.

Until now, the cover-up of the true origin of the COVID-19 pandemic has been successful.

No less than the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in the United States has blindly accepted the scientific “conventional wisdom” promoted by the Chinese Communist Party, issuing the following April 30, 2020 statement:

“The Intelligence Community also concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not manmade or genetically modified.”

Remarkedly, there has never been conclusive scientific evidence to support that claim, yet many appear content endorsing the naturally-occurring narrative, mostly out of ignorance or an unwillingness to accept the ugly truth.

That ugly truth is - China manufactured SARS-CoV-2 and, through a combination of hubris, incompetence and recklessness, unleashed it on the world.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

Norwegian and British vaccine scientists have published unequivocal evidence that SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, is man-made.

Norwegian and British vaccine scientists have published unequivocal evidence that SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, is man-made. The authors state two conclusions: (1) the mutations that would normally be seen in the course of animal to human transmission have not occurred in SARS-CoV-2, indicating that it was fully “pre-adapted” for human infection and (2) SARS-CoV-2 has insertions in its protein sequence that have never been detected in nature and contribute to its infectivity and pathogenicity. That is, SARS-CoV-2 has a receptor binding domain specifically designed for the human angiotensin converting enzyme-2 receptor (ACE2) found in lungs, kidneys, intestines and blood vessels. In addition, SARS-CoV-2 has a furin polybasic cleavage site not found in any closely-related bat coronaviruses as well as other artificially inserted charged amino acids that enhance the virus’ ability to bind to and enter human cells by forming “salt bridges” between the virus and the cell surface. Those modifications are key to understanding the unique transmissibility and potency of SARS-CoV-2. The authors explain that the COVID-19 pandemic is revealing neurological, haematological and immunological pathogenicity, which cannot be explained by infectivity via the ACE2 receptor alone. There have been wide-ranging clinical observations such as a loss of taste and smell, sore throat, dry cough, headache and severe gastrointestinal pain with diarrhoea. SARS-CoV-2 binding to the bitter/sweet receptors in the upper respiratory tract provides a perfect location for transmission by coughing. According to the authors, oral and upper respiratory infection can lead to transmission to the lower respiratory tract, gastrointestinal effects and a cascade of inflammation-producing immunological responses. The wide-spread systemic release of the virus, due to its co-receptor enhancement, could explain the multiple clinical findings on the cardiovascular system, immunological T-cells, cells associated with neuropathological conditions and, finally, the severe hypoxia seen in advanced cases of the disease. As the authors correctly note, the development of an effective vaccine cannot be accomplished without an objective analysis of the structure of SARS-CoV-2, its mode of action and its origin. That effort has been hampered by China’s refusal to fully disclose the information it possesses, in conjunction with a politically-motivated scientific misinformation campaign by Beijing to avoid responsibility, by some Western scientists with a vested interest in the outcome and by an uninformed and servile media. That includes the editorial decisions of scientific and medical journals, which seem to favour, overwhelmingly, the narrative that the COVID-19 pandemic is just another naturally-occurring outbreak, even to the extent of censoring opposing views. Until now, the cover-up of the true origin of the COVID-19 pandemic has been successful. No less than the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in the United States has blindly accepted the scientific “conventional wisdom” promoted by the Chinese Communist Party, issuing the following April 30, 2020 statement: “The Intelligence Community also concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not manmade or genetically modified.” Remarkedly, there has never been conclusive scientific evidence to support that claim, yet many appear content endorsing the naturally-occurring narrative, mostly out of ignorance or an unwillingness to accept the ugly truth. That ugly truth is - China manufactured SARS-CoV-2 and, through a combination of hubris, incompetence and recklessness, unleashed it on the world. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

COVID-19 virus has properties that have never been found in nature before

Sewa bhav or service remains an important and respected component of India's public life. It has always been acknowledged and reciprocated by the Indian electorate.

Institutions or political parties which regularly uphold&nbsp;sewa&nbsp;bhav end up being more organically connected with the people at large.

It is this element of service which enables political parties to have a special relationship with civil society actors. The biggest reason behind&nbsp;BJP’s success or survival of RSS despite being banned on a number of occasions is the element of service, independent of political action.

RSS, on multiple occasions, has deployed thousands of its workers to help poor people and civil society during national crisis like floods, war, drought or dislocation of the population. Today, RSS is not limited to relief action as its organisational infrastructure includes thousands of people in various institutions involved with schools, forests, tribals, backward communities, students, trade union workers, farmers and multiple study groups.

Congress, perhaps for the first time in the last 40 years, has been able to connect with the civil society during the migrant crisis in India. Congress cadres and leaders, throughout the crisis, organised food camps and helped people to move from one part of the country to another. There was intense politicisation of the event, but the fact is that social action of the Congress was loaded with political message enabling the party to truly behave like an opposition party.

It is through this social action, Congress was able to create a debate on social media in whose absence the coverage of lockdown and pandemic would have remained one-sided and extremely pro-government. Raising the issues on social media would have been one thing, but letting cadres be on the ground to help those who suffered pulled the party out of deep slumber.&nbsp;

It will be too presumptuous to say that the act of working on the ground has revitalised the party, but it has indeed granted a diminished party the national voice.

For long, political parties in India have ignored the importance of social action in politics. Congress, during the independence struggle, was not dedicated solely to political rights. It worked on other fronts as well. The party helped workers, farmers get better benefits and attain dignity in society. Champaran is the case in point, wherein Mahatma Gandhi led the protests to organise better compensation for farmers. It was social action which consolidated the political legitimacy of both Congress and Gandhi.

During the drought in Gujarat, Sardar Pate,l on multiple occasions, organised money and help for the farmers. In post-independent India during 1984, RSS saved many Sikh lives by letting workers go out and help them.

Almost all political parties simply turned into electoral machines after independence. The sewa bhav was reduced to lip service. Help today only means a subsidy from the state.&nbsp;

Congress after decades has walked the path it had pioneered during Indian independence. Congress must continue to engage with civil society and marginal communities on the ground on real issues and in real-time, irrespective of electoral mathematics. Sewa bhav can turn the fortune of the party around as it would&nbsp;reinforce the message that the only party on the ground during the migrant crisis was Congress. 
 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Sewa bhav or service remains an important and respected component of India's public life. It has always been acknowledged and reciprocated by the Indian electorate.

Sewa bhav or service remains an important and respected component of India's public life. It has always been acknowledged and reciprocated by the Indian electorate. Institutions or political parties which regularly uphold sewa bhav end up being more organically connected with the people at large. It is this element of service which enables political parties to have a special relationship with civil society actors. The biggest reason behind BJP’s success or survival of RSS despite being banned on a number of occasions is the element of service, independent of political action. RSS, on multiple occasions, has deployed thousands of its workers to help poor people and civil society during national crisis like floods, war, drought or dislocation of the population. Today, RSS is not limited to relief action as its organisational infrastructure includes thousands of people in various institutions involved with schools, forests, tribals, backward communities, students, trade union workers, farmers and multiple study groups. Congress, perhaps for the first time in the last 40 years, has been able to connect with the civil society during the migrant crisis in India. Congress cadres and leaders, throughout the crisis, organised food camps and helped people to move from one part of the country to another. There was intense politicisation of the event, but the fact is that social action of the Congress was loaded with political message enabling the party to truly behave like an opposition party. It is through this social action, Congress was able to create a debate on social media in whose absence the coverage of lockdown and pandemic would have remained one-sided and extremely pro-government. Raising the issues on social media would have been one thing, but letting cadres be on the ground to help those who suffered pulled the party out of deep slumber. It will be too presumptuous to say that the act of working on the ground has revitalised the party, but it has indeed granted a diminished party the national voice. For long, political parties in India have ignored the importance of social action in politics. Congress, during the independence struggle, was not dedicated solely to political rights. It worked on other fronts as well. The party helped workers, farmers get better benefits and attain dignity in society. Champaran is the case in point, wherein Mahatma Gandhi led the protests to organise better compensation for farmers. It was social action which consolidated the political legitimacy of both Congress and Gandhi. During the drought in Gujarat, Sardar Pate,l on multiple occasions, organised money and help for the farmers. In post-independent India during 1984, RSS saved many Sikh lives by letting workers go out and help them. Almost all political parties simply turned into electoral machines after independence. The sewa bhav was reduced to lip service. Help today only means a subsidy from the state. Congress after decades has walked the path it had pioneered during Indian independence. Congress must continue to engage with civil society and marginal communities on the ground on real issues and in real-time, irrespective of electoral mathematics. Sewa bhav can turn the fortune of the party around as it would reinforce the message that the only party on the ground during the migrant crisis was Congress. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Congress must continue to engage with migrant workers in a time of crisis like COVID-19

Wuhan's 11-week coronavirus lockdown was finally fully lifted in April as new infections abated, reawakening the city, but live shows remain banned.

The birthplace of the novel coronavirus - Wuhan - is also regarded as China's punk capital. But, musicians in the city are struggling. Unable to perform, they gather in private for loose rehearsals, waiting to take the stage again.

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-coronavirus-impact-musicians-in-wuhan-are-struggling-302744/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

A show by Beijing-based rockers Queen Sea Big Shark, which was scheduled to be live-streamed by Vox, was cancelled after police ordered the organisers to call off the event. 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/report-reveals-collective-negligence-by-china-and-who-in-dealing-with-the-coronavirus-pandemic-302695">Also Read: Report reveals collective negligence by China and WHO in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic</a>

Ning Zhu, founder of Vox, Wuhan’s first live-music venue, said, "We’ve actually cancelled or postponed over 60 live performances. The performance here usually has to be scheduled ahead of time, basically six months ahead of time, in particular for the performance on weekends. The epidemic has great influence. We don’t have performance, which means nobody comes here and means we won’t have revenue." 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/chinas-wuhan-finds-no-new-covid-19-cases-in-city-wide-testing-302610">Also Read: China's Wuhan finds no new COVID-19 cases in city-wide testing</a> 
 
The city that gave the world COVID-19 remains fearful of new outbreaks, forbidding live shows, forcing performances online.&nbsp; 
 
The total number of coronavirus cases in China as of Tuesday was 83,022, while the death toll stood at 4,634. China does not count asymptomatic cases, meaning people who are infected with the virus but do not exhibit symptoms of the disease, as confirmed cases.&nbsp;

The coronavirus is believed to have jumped from an animal to people in a market selling wildlife in Wuhan late last year.

 
&nbsp;

Wuhan's 11-week coronavirus lockdown was finally fully lifted in April as new infections abated, reawakening the city, but live shows remain banned. The birthplace of the novel coronavirus - Wuhan - is also regarded as China's punk capital.

Wuhan's 11-week coronavirus lockdown was finally fully lifted in April as new infections abated, reawakening the city, but live shows remain banned. The birthplace of the novel coronavirus - Wuhan - is also regarded as China's punk capital. But, musicians in the city are struggling. Unable to perform, they gather in private for loose rehearsals, waiting to take the stage again. A show by Beijing-based rockers Queen Sea Big Shark, which was scheduled to be live-streamed by Vox, was cancelled after police ordered the organisers to call off the event. Also Read: Report reveals collective negligence by China and WHO in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic Ning Zhu, founder of Vox, Wuhan’s first live-music venue, said, "We’ve actually cancelled or postponed over 60 live performances. The performance here usually has to be scheduled ahead of time, basically six months ahead of time, in particular for the performance on weekends. The epidemic has great influence. We don’t have performance, which means nobody comes here and means we won’t have revenue." Also Read: China's Wuhan finds no new COVID-19 cases in city-wide testing The city that gave the world COVID-19 remains fearful of new outbreaks, forbidding live shows, forcing performances online. The total number of coronavirus cases in China as of Tuesday was 83,022, while the death toll stood at 4,634. China does not count asymptomatic cases, meaning people who are infected with the virus but do not exhibit symptoms of the disease, as confirmed cases. The coronavirus is believed to have jumped from an animal to people in a market selling wildlife in Wuhan late last year.

Coronavirus crisis: Wuhan, China's punk capital loses its voice

US-China relations have kept the global economy and all the economic agents on the edge of their seats. Even when COVID-19 has cast a dark spell on the globe, both sides are doing their best to entertain us. Geopolitics deaccelerated the global economy in 2019 and in the beginning of this year it took a pause. Then virus entered into scene and it became the theme of round two in this clash of titans. Both sides blamed each other for spreading the virus, private companies were being targeted and now Hong Kong has become the epicentre. After China approved a new security bill which will impact the autonomy of Hong Kong, the US took steps to revoke special trade privileges it gave to Hong Kong. Although Phase 1 trade deal is still intact for now. However, it brings the question&nbsp;why these nations are engaged in this trade conflict.&nbsp;

US story

Team US knows that free international trade is advantageous (positive-sum game) for both the parties as argued by Adam Smith and David Ricardo. However, the US argues that it only happens if both the parties abide by the rules of free trade and if that’s not the case then trade become zero-sum game (where one would gain at the cost of other). So players of team US states that even after China joined WTO they continued to engage in unfair trade practices and acted like a modern mercantilist. China gave export subsidies and manipulated its currency to get an unfair competitive advantage in the international market. So the US imposed all these trade barriers on China to create a level playing field. Beside this US feels that China has poached a lot of US companies to do business in China and that has impacted jobs of workers in the US. At the same time, China is accused of using various means to exploit MNCs in China. Such as forced technology transfer, IP thefts, biased treatment between foreign MNCs and domestic Chinese firms. China has also been accused of cyber-attacks. So all the trade and non-trade measures like attacking business eco-system of Huawei are taken as a response to China’s unfair actions. &nbsp;

China’s Story&nbsp;

China is considered the world’s factory and it seems to have acted like one big firm. In the 1970s, it realised that its labour is relatively cheap and efficient than neighbouring countries and it started taking advantage. China incentivised local officials to take advantage of this cheap labours. Generally, a politician’s objective is considered votes and bureaucrat’s objective is power and control. So they engage in rent-seeking behaviour like bribes, while local politicians engage in favours for its voters to maintain its vote bank. Now China here took advantage of its authoritarian regime and created a system where a local official would rose in rank if his/her area would develop rapidly. So these local officials started bringing in foreign companies and technologies to their cities, establish factories and develop their cities. Gradually China deregulated its economy, increased its expenditure in R&amp;D (from less than 0.6 per cent of GDP in 1996 to 2.14 per cent of GDP as per world bank) became a member of WTO, started manufacturing more high value-added products and used means like reverse engineering to catch up with latest technologies pretty quickly. &nbsp;

Now, China has caught up with most of the latest technologies in most of the sectors, so this means the skills of workers increased and that translated in high wages of labour. This rise in labour cost is reducing the attraction for MNCs to establish themselves in China. Current geopolitical environment and negative feelings against China after pandemic are actually pushing companies away from China. &nbsp;

Economic growth is important as it reduces the chances of social unrest. For this, China has to open up the economy and make it more competitive. However, that is difficult because China is a homogenous country and diversity brought in by globalisation makes it uncomfortable. At the same time, China still remembers a century of humiliation where different foreign powers conquered China again and again. So that also acts as hurdles in opening up. &nbsp;

US-China conflict

After World War II, the world was bipolar and two great powers the US and USSR existed. Then in 1990, USSR collapsed and America became global hegemon (Supreme Power). For many years China, on the other hand, remained low and continued developing itself without global ambitions. However, now China feels that it has developed enough and after 2008 crises it seems to be more convinced that it in the near future it would become a global superpower. &nbsp;

Organski has stated in his power transition theory that hegemon state would try to prevent any challenger from rising and threatening its hegemony. This explains all the actions that the US takes against China, whether it’s a weaponising economic tool or attacking image and intentions of China. America also has a big advantage of soft power (Influencing through appeal and attraction rather than force). The American ethos of liberal ideas, making big on your own and pop culture resonate so deeply with the whole world that it became a symbol of the way ahead. &nbsp;

This soft power is something that China is struggling with. Chinese actions in Hong Kong, the South China Sea, trapping countries by debts is portraying China as a bully. Currently, there is a higher mistrust against China in the world. So the US is taking various actions against China as that would not just harm the dragon but may also potentially increase the soft power of America. It’s because these actions will portray that the US punished China for its wrongdoings on behalf of the whole world. &nbsp;

So China is trying to compensate by improving its technology. As it believes that this would not just help in growing economically but also in influencing people across the world. Huawei is like one of the flag bearers for China in this regard. That’s why the US is attacking the company so as to delay the technological advancement of China.&nbsp;

China is also considered a system designer or some say a system re-designer. China feels that the current system is designed by the US to maintain its hegemony. So what’s the better time to redesign the system and stronghold its presence when the world is destabilised and in shock. That explains the aggressive actions of China recently. This shows that even Europe would become a battleground. After the world war, the US helped Europe by Marshall Plan which cemented their relations, but this time the US has in-fact imposed trade barriers on Europe and that is impacting relations negatively. Relations within Europe are also not on best terms. Brexit brought tensions between the UK and the European Union. Even members of the European Union are dealing with mistrust among them. So all this creates an opportunity for China to increase its influence in Europe at the expense of the US.&nbsp;

Now China has done a lot of catch up effect. So, to keep growing rapidly, innovations in new technologies are a must. For that China needs to incentivise and deregulate its Universities and private companies a lot more. But highly deregulated universities and private companies have huge potential to challenge the authoritarian regime in China. If it won’t do that then economic growth may stagnate and that in itself will lead to revolt. So it seems that way ahead is pretty tough for China even domestically and in that case, the US may continue to enjoy its hegemony. However, China growth story is pretty unique and we can’t write it off that simply. So fasten your seatbelt and enjoy the ride. &nbsp; &nbsp;

&nbsp;(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)&nbsp;

US-China relations have kept the global economy and all the economic agents on the edge of their seats. Even when COVID-19 has cast a dark spell on the globe, both sides are doing their best to entertain us.

US-China relations have kept the global economy and all the economic agents on the edge of their seats. Even when COVID-19 has cast a dark spell on the globe, both sides are doing their best to entertain us. Geopolitics deaccelerated the global economy in 2019 and in the beginning of this year it took a pause. Then virus entered into scene and it became the theme of round two in this clash of titans. Both sides blamed each other for spreading the virus, private companies were being targeted and now Hong Kong has become the epicentre. After China approved a new security bill which will impact the autonomy of Hong Kong, the US took steps to revoke special trade privileges it gave to Hong Kong. Although Phase 1 trade deal is still intact for now. However, it brings the question why these nations are engaged in this trade conflict. US story Team US knows that free international trade is advantageous (positive-sum game) for both the parties as argued by Adam Smith and David Ricardo. However, the US argues that it only happens if both the parties abide by the rules of free trade and if that’s not the case then trade become zero-sum game (where one would gain at the cost of other). So players of team US states that even after China joined WTO they continued to engage in unfair trade practices and acted like a modern mercantilist. China gave export subsidies and manipulated its currency to get an unfair competitive advantage in the international market. So the US imposed all these trade barriers on China to create a level playing field. Beside this US feels that China has poached a lot of US companies to do business in China and that has impacted jobs of workers in the US. At the same time, China is accused of using various means to exploit MNCs in China. Such as forced technology transfer, IP thefts, biased treatment between foreign MNCs and domestic Chinese firms. China has also been accused of cyber-attacks. So all the trade and non-trade measures like attacking business eco-system of Huawei are taken as a response to China’s unfair actions. China’s Story China is considered the world’s factory and it seems to have acted like one big firm. In the 1970s, it realised that its labour is relatively cheap and efficient than neighbouring countries and it started taking advantage. China incentivised local officials to take advantage of this cheap labours. Generally, a politician’s objective is considered votes and bureaucrat’s objective is power and control. So they engage in rent-seeking behaviour like bribes, while local politicians engage in favours for its voters to maintain its vote bank. Now China here took advantage of its authoritarian regime and created a system where a local official would rose in rank if his/her area would develop rapidly. So these local officials started bringing in foreign companies and technologies to their cities, establish factories and develop their cities. Gradually China deregulated its economy, increased its expenditure in R&D (from less than 0.6 per cent of GDP in 1996 to 2.14 per cent of GDP as per world bank) became a member of WTO, started manufacturing more high value-added products and used means like reverse engineering to catch up with latest technologies pretty quickly. Now, China has caught up with most of the latest technologies in most of the sectors, so this means the skills of workers increased and that translated in high wages of labour. This rise in labour cost is reducing the attraction for MNCs to establish themselves in China. Current geopolitical environment and negative feelings against China after pandemic are actually pushing companies away from China. Economic growth is important as it reduces the chances of social unrest. For this, China has to open up the economy and make it more competitive. However, that is difficult because China is a homogenous country and diversity brought in by globalisation makes it uncomfortable. At the same time, China still remembers a century of humiliation where different foreign powers conquered China again and again. So that also acts as hurdles in opening up. US-China conflict After World War II, the world was bipolar and two great powers the US and USSR existed. Then in 1990, USSR collapsed and America became global hegemon (Supreme Power). For many years China, on the other hand, remained low and continued developing itself without global ambitions. However, now China feels that it has developed enough and after 2008 crises it seems to be more convinced that it in the near future it would become a global superpower. Organski has stated in his power transition theory that hegemon state would try to prevent any challenger from rising and threatening its hegemony. This explains all the actions that the US takes against China, whether it’s a weaponising economic tool or attacking image and intentions of China. America also has a big advantage of soft power (Influencing through appeal and attraction rather than force). The American ethos of liberal ideas, making big on your own and pop culture resonate so deeply with the whole world that it became a symbol of the way ahead. This soft power is something that China is struggling with. Chinese actions in Hong Kong, the South China Sea, trapping countries by debts is portraying China as a bully. Currently, there is a higher mistrust against China in the world. So the US is taking various actions against China as that would not just harm the dragon but may also potentially increase the soft power of America. It’s because these actions will portray that the US punished China for its wrongdoings on behalf of the whole world. So China is trying to compensate by improving its technology. As it believes that this would not just help in growing economically but also in influencing people across the world. Huawei is like one of the flag bearers for China in this regard. That’s why the US is attacking the company so as to delay the technological advancement of China. China is also considered a system designer or some say a system re-designer. China feels that the current system is designed by the US to maintain its hegemony. So what’s the better time to redesign the system and stronghold its presence when the world is destabilised and in shock. That explains the aggressive actions of China recently. This shows that even Europe would become a battleground. After the world war, the US helped Europe by Marshall Plan which cemented their relations, but this time the US has in-fact imposed trade barriers on Europe and that is impacting relations negatively. Relations within Europe are also not on best terms. Brexit brought tensions between the UK and the European Union. Even members of the European Union are dealing with mistrust among them. So all this creates an opportunity for China to increase its influence in Europe at the expense of the US. Now China has done a lot of catch up effect. So, to keep growing rapidly, innovations in new technologies are a must. For that China needs to incentivise and deregulate its Universities and private companies a lot more. But highly deregulated universities and private companies have huge potential to challenge the authoritarian regime in China. If it won’t do that then economic growth may stagnate and that in itself will lead to revolt. So it seems that way ahead is pretty tough for China even domestically and in that case, the US may continue to enjoy its hegemony. However, China growth story is pretty unique and we can’t write it off that simply. So fasten your seatbelt and enjoy the ride. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Here's how geopolitical developments amid coronavirus crisis impact US and China

Who would have thought an empty Signal Iduna Park hosting the fiercest derby in German football history – Borussia Dortmund vs Bayern Munich, Der Klassiker? Who would have thought the giant yellow flags and the iconic yellow wall will get replaced by glaring empty seats? Who would have thought that miles away in countries like South Korea and Belarus, fans will get replaced by mannequins and human-shaped board cuttings? But that is what experts and authorities call the "new norm”. COVID-19 has made a lasting impact and the world of sports has been one of the unfortunate victims of the dreaded virus.

Financial ramifications and the hit sporting bodies have already taken with tournaments, events, series getting cancelled/postponed is simply scary numbers and can put the world of sports down to its knees. But following the common rule of any sport – “Never Give Up” – sports are kicking back to life but with a different taste for fans and followers of competitive action.

Empty stadiums, substitutes sitting 6-7 feet apart, support staff, camera crew wearing masks and gloves, enough to give a feel that the world is going through an unprecedented survival crisis. But football comes as a sigh of relief that there is light at the end of the tunnel, the joyous feeling that life is coming back to normalcy.

Eerie echo

Yes, the booming noise of the ball being passed, players communicating or managers barking instructions seems a bit offbeat but that is what is the new norm. With the return of Premier League, La Liga and Serie A – top European action would be back to life, although it feels like sport is inside a ventilator – fighting for its survival. 
 
<img alt="Coronavirus impact on sports" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="6a3c5bbd-a836-47af-bca2-d24600ae6df8" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Denmark%20%281%29.jpg" />

Fans would be glued to their television sets watching their favourite superstars back in action but the atmosphere created by those who flock into stadiums will be missing for the foreseeable future. It is indeed a strange feeling to see players, who are involved in a heavy contact sport like football, aren’t allowed to shake hands or give high-five after scoring a goal, and what is even more ridiculous is to see players, who will be breathing down the other players' neck in a while, are sitting feets apart wearing masks and gloves on substitute benches, despite being tested constantly. But that is what the new norm is.

Where's the saliva?

Whereas in cricket, fans of the domestic arena are accustomed to watching matches in almost empty stadiums. But the empty seats, noise of clapping and almost zero atmospheres could irk modern cricket fans. Could you imagine the ICC World Cup 2019 final between England and New Zealand behind closed doors? However, there is still hope that the stump mic could make things interesting in Test cricket. But with strict protocols like saliva ban coming into play, which could potentially disrupt the balance between the willow and ball, Test cricket could very well end up battling for its survival, again. An artificial wax, there’s no word on that. A new norm? Yes, for a while at least.

Video-conference?

Denmark’s footballing world witnessed something interesting as 10,000 fans joined in via Zoom app watch party and watched live football. Players, as usual, felt motivated by seeing their supporters watching them. This is something Indian Premier League (IPL) side Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) CEO Venky Mysore talked about during a podcast. Fans joining via video-conferencing apps with digital screens in place of stands? Surely, feels like a Hollywood movie. Imagine, watching MS Dhoni ‘finishing off in style’ through video-conferencing!

The resumption of major European football leagues has already given us a glimpse of how the future looks like. More stadiums would open, employments will resume, leagues will feed themselves with sponsorship and broadcast rights, it will work as an economical boost but can it fill the void left by fans? Well, until a vaccine is developed, this is the new norm. Fans, players, everyone would have to get used to it, no matter what. However strange it may seem, Liverpool after waiting for 30 long years for a Premier League title won’t be able to celebrate it 'together'. Even the players won’t be allowed to go overboard as they are role models to millions. A huge shame? No, as the situation demands it to be like it. New norm? Yes. 
 
<img alt="Sports" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="ccc1fb42-b76b-4bdb-98d3-f3b4af4503bf" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/sports_2.jpg" />

But then there are talks going about allowing a limited crowd into the stadiums in countries where the situation is better compared to others. Whatever the future throws into the way, fans, players and everyone associated with it will have to bring another crucial aspect of the sporting world – adaptability.

But one thing is definite, human life has always fought back whenever a crisis has struck, and it continues to do so. And sports, it has time and again taught one of the crucial aspects of life – the will to fight back from the toughest of setbacks, and it will continue to do so. &nbsp;

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)&nbsp;

Who would have thought an empty Signal Iduna Park hosting the fiercest derby in German football history – Borussia Dortmund vs Bayern Munich, Der Klassiker? Who would have thought the giant yellow flags and the iconic yellow wall will get replaced by glaring empty seats?

Who would have thought an empty Signal Iduna Park hosting the fiercest derby in German football history – Borussia Dortmund vs Bayern Munich, Der Klassiker? Who would have thought the giant yellow flags and the iconic yellow wall will get replaced by glaring empty seats? Who would have thought that miles away in countries like South Korea and Belarus, fans will get replaced by mannequins and human-shaped board cuttings? But that is what experts and authorities call the "new norm”. COVID-19 has made a lasting impact and the world of sports has been one of the unfortunate victims of the dreaded virus. Financial ramifications and the hit sporting bodies have already taken with tournaments, events, series getting cancelled/postponed is simply scary numbers and can put the world of sports down to its knees. But following the common rule of any sport – “Never Give Up” – sports are kicking back to life but with a different taste for fans and followers of competitive action. Empty stadiums, substitutes sitting 6-7 feet apart, support staff, camera crew wearing masks and gloves, enough to give a feel that the world is going through an unprecedented survival crisis. But football comes as a sigh of relief that there is light at the end of the tunnel, the joyous feeling that life is coming back to normalcy. Eerie echo Yes, the booming noise of the ball being passed, players communicating or managers barking instructions seems a bit offbeat but that is what is the new norm. With the return of Premier League, La Liga and Serie A – top European action would be back to life, although it feels like sport is inside a ventilator – fighting for its survival. Fans would be glued to their television sets watching their favourite superstars back in action but the atmosphere created by those who flock into stadiums will be missing for the foreseeable future. It is indeed a strange feeling to see players, who are involved in a heavy contact sport like football, aren’t allowed to shake hands or give high-five after scoring a goal, and what is even more ridiculous is to see players, who will be breathing down the other players' neck in a while, are sitting feets apart wearing masks and gloves on substitute benches, despite being tested constantly. But that is what the new norm is. Where's the saliva? Whereas in cricket, fans of the domestic arena are accustomed to watching matches in almost empty stadiums. But the empty seats, noise of clapping and almost zero atmospheres could irk modern cricket fans. Could you imagine the ICC World Cup 2019 final between England and New Zealand behind closed doors? However, there is still hope that the stump mic could make things interesting in Test cricket. But with strict protocols like saliva ban coming into play, which could potentially disrupt the balance between the willow and ball, Test cricket could very well end up battling for its survival, again. An artificial wax, there’s no word on that. A new norm? Yes, for a while at least. Video-conference? Denmark’s footballing world witnessed something interesting as 10,000 fans joined in via Zoom app watch party and watched live football. Players, as usual, felt motivated by seeing their supporters watching them. This is something Indian Premier League (IPL) side Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) CEO Venky Mysore talked about during a podcast. Fans joining via video-conferencing apps with digital screens in place of stands? Surely, feels like a Hollywood movie. Imagine, watching MS Dhoni ‘finishing off in style’ through video-conferencing! The resumption of major European football leagues has already given us a glimpse of how the future looks like. More stadiums would open, employments will resume, leagues will feed themselves with sponsorship and broadcast rights, it will work as an economical boost but can it fill the void left by fans? Well, until a vaccine is developed, this is the new norm. Fans, players, everyone would have to get used to it, no matter what. However strange it may seem, Liverpool after waiting for 30 long years for a Premier League title won’t be able to celebrate it 'together'. Even the players won’t be allowed to go overboard as they are role models to millions. A huge shame? No, as the situation demands it to be like it. New norm? Yes. But then there are talks going about allowing a limited crowd into the stadiums in countries where the situation is better compared to others. Whatever the future throws into the way, fans, players and everyone associated with it will have to bring another crucial aspect of the sporting world – adaptability. But one thing is definite, human life has always fought back whenever a crisis has struck, and it continues to do so. And sports, it has time and again taught one of the crucial aspects of life – the will to fight back from the toughest of setbacks, and it will continue to do so. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Coronavirus impact: Sports, fans and the 'new norm'

With boarding pass in one hand and identification proof in the other, dozens of passengers flocked to the domestic airports to board flights to go back to their hometown.

Reaching the airport was a task in itself, as Chennai has not allowed cab services to function. Little did they know that they will reach the airport only to be told that the flight has been cancelled at the last minute.

The morning at Chennai domestic airport started with angry customers at Air India's window. Dozens of people, few who had travelled hours to reach the airport, were told to take a refund and go back home as the Civil Aviation Ministry cancelled few Air India flights at the last minute. When the angry crowd protested against it, the tickets were finally rescheduled for a later flight. 
 
<img alt="Travel" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="cc183cde-8d53-4cd5-b771-2f7cc4021a86" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Blog1.jpg" />

Absence of crowd

The Chennai domestic airport saw only 30 per cent of the usual rush, as few selected flights were allowed to take off and land. Passengers, including students and elderly, travelled from far off places.&nbsp;

Before entering, every passenger is asked to show the 'you are safe' badge on the Aarogya Setu app. The airport authority makes sure that passengers maintain the decided social distance before entering.&nbsp; 
 
<img alt="Travel" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="3dbd2aa3-ec0a-4e0a-a231-97d8fc1cbec9" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Blog2.jpg" />

To enter the airport, after checking the Aarogya Setu App, the passengers are required to show the e-boarding pass and identification proof to the personnel standing behind a glass sheet. This is the first place where the passengers are asked to remove their masks for facial recognition.&nbsp;

Then, the luggage is checked in and boarding passes are issued, all while maintaining social distance.&nbsp;

The passengers are then asked to head to the security check, where once again personnel behind a glass wall ask to show the boarding pass along with an uncovered face in the camera.&nbsp;

Thermal screening

This is the point where all passengers expect to go through the much talked about thermal screening.

As the electronic gadgets go in the tray, and one steps into the security check booth, the passengers realize that there was no specific change and no identified thermal screening happening (although few cameras installed might be helping to screen the passengers). It was one policewoman doing the regular security check, but while wearing a face shield that resembles a bee-keepers face shield. 
 
A self-declaration form was also signed by and collected from the passengers, through which the passengers declare that they are ready to cooperate with the authorities if an unfortunate situation takes place.

A long wait

Since the passengers are urged to report 3-4 hours before the departure time, they had to wait for a long time in the waiting lounge. The waiting area's shopping area is functional. However, the food services are limited to liquids (barring alcohol) and packaged goods such as chips, chocolates and cup noodles.

The executives running the shops told WION, "Before entering the airport premises, they check our fever. If they suspect anything wrong, they don't allow us to enter. It is risky for us personally, but this is my job and I have to do it."

"The sales are obviously less, but it is better than zero sales," he said while talking about the downfall in business. 
 
<img alt="Travel" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="7f6c128f-42cb-488d-80f4-f073aa469727" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/blog5.jpg" />

The waiting area is marked with social distancing marks, i.e. on a chair set of three, one middle seat had to be left unoccupied. All passengers waiting have to compulsorily wear facemasks and avoid all physical contact.&nbsp;

If this is the new normal, the Airport Authority of India (AAI) will have to face financial blunt for the next few months.

Take-off

For boarding the flight, the passengers are asked to queue in small groups, depending on seat numbers. The ground staff, equipped with face masks and gloves only, stands behind a small glass screen and checks the boarding pass from behind the wall and hands over a care package to all passengers which consists of a face mask, a face shield and five sachets of hand sanitizer. All passengers are told to discard their old face masks and only wear the ones provided by the airlines. The face shields are compulsory from this point forward.

The passengers then go through one more temperature check, and are then greeted in the aircraft by flight attendants, who are dressed in PPE suits. 
 
<img alt="Travel" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="74570f82-2758-4279-b5aa-2e63c27ea65e" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Blog_7.jpg" /> 
 
That, surprisingly, was the end of the much talked and much-hyped strict health check-ups.

On landing, passengers are allowed to deboard in small groups. With no change in baggage claim, passengers are allowed to exit the airport through a specific gate which is manned by personnel keeping an eye on a camera-monitor screen.

And that is how flying domestic feels like in the new normal. 
 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

With boarding pass in one hand and identification proof in the other, dozens of passengers flocked to the domestic airports to board flights to go back to their hometown.

With boarding pass in one hand and identification proof in the other, dozens of passengers flocked to the domestic airports to board flights to go back to their hometown. Reaching the airport was a task in itself, as Chennai has not allowed cab services to function. Little did they know that they will reach the airport only to be told that the flight has been cancelled at the last minute. The morning at Chennai domestic airport started with angry customers at Air India's window. Dozens of people, few who had travelled hours to reach the airport, were told to take a refund and go back home as the Civil Aviation Ministry cancelled few Air India flights at the last minute. When the angry crowd protested against it, the tickets were finally rescheduled for a later flight. Absence of crowd The Chennai domestic airport saw only 30 per cent of the usual rush, as few selected flights were allowed to take off and land. Passengers, including students and elderly, travelled from far off places. Before entering, every passenger is asked to show the 'you are safe' badge on the Aarogya Setu app. The airport authority makes sure that passengers maintain the decided social distance before entering. To enter the airport, after checking the Aarogya Setu App, the passengers are required to show the e-boarding pass and identification proof to the personnel standing behind a glass sheet. This is the first place where the passengers are asked to remove their masks for facial recognition. Then, the luggage is checked in and boarding passes are issued, all while maintaining social distance. The passengers are then asked to head to the security check, where once again personnel behind a glass wall ask to show the boarding pass along with an uncovered face in the camera. Thermal screening This is the point where all passengers expect to go through the much talked about thermal screening. As the electronic gadgets go in the tray, and one steps into the security check booth, the passengers realize that there was no specific change and no identified thermal screening happening (although few cameras installed might be helping to screen the passengers). It was one policewoman doing the regular security check, but while wearing a face shield that resembles a bee-keepers face shield. A self-declaration form was also signed by and collected from the passengers, through which the passengers declare that they are ready to cooperate with the authorities if an unfortunate situation takes place. A long wait Since the passengers are urged to report 3-4 hours before the departure time, they had to wait for a long time in the waiting lounge. The waiting area's shopping area is functional. However, the food services are limited to liquids (barring alcohol) and packaged goods such as chips, chocolates and cup noodles. The executives running the shops told WION, "Before entering the airport premises, they check our fever. If they suspect anything wrong, they don't allow us to enter. It is risky for us personally, but this is my job and I have to do it." "The sales are obviously less, but it is better than zero sales," he said while talking about the downfall in business. The waiting area is marked with social distancing marks, i.e. on a chair set of three, one middle seat had to be left unoccupied. All passengers waiting have to compulsorily wear facemasks and avoid all physical contact. If this is the new normal, the Airport Authority of India (AAI) will have to face financial blunt for the next few months. Take-off For boarding the flight, the passengers are asked to queue in small groups, depending on seat numbers. The ground staff, equipped with face masks and gloves only, stands behind a small glass screen and checks the boarding pass from behind the wall and hands over a care package to all passengers which consists of a face mask, a face shield and five sachets of hand sanitizer. All passengers are told to discard their old face masks and only wear the ones provided by the airlines. The face shields are compulsory from this point forward. The passengers then go through one more temperature check, and are then greeted in the aircraft by flight attendants, who are dressed in PPE suits. That, surprisingly, was the end of the much talked and much-hyped strict health check-ups. On landing, passengers are allowed to deboard in small groups. With no change in baggage claim, passengers are allowed to exit the airport through a specific gate which is manned by personnel keeping an eye on a camera-monitor screen. And that is how flying domestic feels like in the new normal. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Blog: Flying in the new normal days

While WHO is the wing of the United Nations, there is a subtle difference between the functioning style of WHO and expectations from it.

The UN is essentially a politically tinted organisation with membership for some countries being denied in the UN due to political reasons. For example, Taiwan is not a member of UN since China claims that Taiwan is part of China and it would seriously object if Taiwan would be given the membership of the UN.

Obviously, membership of the UN is being denied to some countries in view of the objections from the “powerful country”.

Several decades back, Bangladesh was part of Pakistan. After the bitter war, Bangladesh declared itself to be an independent country and was admitted as a member of the UN. Pakistan could not prevent Bangladesh from becoming a full-fledged member of the UN &nbsp;since Pakistan is a “weak country”. Later on, Pakistan itself recognised Bangladesh as a matter of inevitability.

While Taiwan has been denied membership of the UN due to objection from mainland China, almost every country in the world has trade and business relations with Taiwan including the Chinese government. Many industries from Taiwan have invested in mainland China and the Chinese government has no objection to it.

This situation shows that Taiwan has been accepted as a full-fledged country all over the world, though the UN denied membership to it.

WHO is founded with the objective of protecting the health of the world community, covering all citizens of the world. Therefore, WHO should represent the interest of every member of the world community, whether the community belongs to a country admitted in UN or not or even stateless persons.

For example, WHO is extremely concerned about the health issues of Rohingya refugees, though they are deemed to be stateless persons as of now, as they are refugees who have run out of Myanmar and staying in Bangladesh territory, without anyone knowing as to whether they would go back to Myanmar at any time or would permanently stay in Bangladesh, even without being given citizenship in Bangladesh, which means that they should be deemed as stateless persons.

When WHO expresses concern about the health issues of Myanmar refugees, is it right for WHO &nbsp;to keep its eyes closed with regard to Taiwan?

As a world organisation, it is the responsibility of WHO to monitor the health of world community, WHO cannot deny admission to any country in the world and it should not follow the practice of UN, &nbsp;which is a politically tinted organisation.

WHO should not buckle under the pressure of the Chinese government to keep Taiwan out.&nbsp;

At present, Taiwan is a well-advanced country with a strong technology background and it is very well evident from the fact that Taiwan pointed out the impending COVID 19 crisis quite early and brought it to the attention of &nbsp;WHO. If WHO had listened to Taiwan’s voice and heeded to it’s warning about the COVID 19, probably, the world could have been saved from the loss of thousands of lives and serious economic slow down that is confronting the world due to COVID 19 at present.

Whatever may be the political relationship between the Chinese government and Taiwan, there is no need for WHO to take note of it or being concerned about it.

WHO has the responsibility to protect the health interests of the entire world community and the citizens of Taiwan are part of the world community. 
&nbsp;

While WHO is the wing of the United Nations, there is a subtle difference between the functioning style of WHO and expectations from it. The UN is essentially a politically tinted organisation with membership for some countries being denied in the UN due to political reasons.

While WHO is the wing of the United Nations, there is a subtle difference between the functioning style of WHO and expectations from it. The UN is essentially a politically tinted organisation with membership for some countries being denied in the UN due to political reasons. For example, Taiwan is not a member of UN since China claims that Taiwan is part of China and it would seriously object if Taiwan would be given the membership of the UN. Obviously, membership of the UN is being denied to some countries in view of the objections from the “powerful country”. Several decades back, Bangladesh was part of Pakistan. After the bitter war, Bangladesh declared itself to be an independent country and was admitted as a member of the UN. Pakistan could not prevent Bangladesh from becoming a full-fledged member of the UN since Pakistan is a “weak country”. Later on, Pakistan itself recognised Bangladesh as a matter of inevitability. While Taiwan has been denied membership of the UN due to objection from mainland China, almost every country in the world has trade and business relations with Taiwan including the Chinese government. Many industries from Taiwan have invested in mainland China and the Chinese government has no objection to it. This situation shows that Taiwan has been accepted as a full-fledged country all over the world, though the UN denied membership to it. WHO is founded with the objective of protecting the health of the world community, covering all citizens of the world. Therefore, WHO should represent the interest of every member of the world community, whether the community belongs to a country admitted in UN or not or even stateless persons. For example, WHO is extremely concerned about the health issues of Rohingya refugees, though they are deemed to be stateless persons as of now, as they are refugees who have run out of Myanmar and staying in Bangladesh territory, without anyone knowing as to whether they would go back to Myanmar at any time or would permanently stay in Bangladesh, even without being given citizenship in Bangladesh, which means that they should be deemed as stateless persons. When WHO expresses concern about the health issues of Myanmar refugees, is it right for WHO to keep its eyes closed with regard to Taiwan? As a world organisation, it is the responsibility of WHO to monitor the health of world community, WHO cannot deny admission to any country in the world and it should not follow the practice of UN, which is a politically tinted organisation. WHO should not buckle under the pressure of the Chinese government to keep Taiwan out. At present, Taiwan is a well-advanced country with a strong technology background and it is very well evident from the fact that Taiwan pointed out the impending COVID 19 crisis quite early and brought it to the attention of WHO. If WHO had listened to Taiwan’s voice and heeded to it’s warning about the COVID 19, probably, the world could have been saved from the loss of thousands of lives and serious economic slow down that is confronting the world due to COVID 19 at present. Whatever may be the political relationship between the Chinese government and Taiwan, there is no need for WHO to take note of it or being concerned about it. WHO has the responsibility to protect the health interests of the entire world community and the citizens of Taiwan are part of the world community.

By excluding Taiwan, WHO remains a flawed organisation

By&nbsp;M Raja Chidambaram

There are no more pressing deadlines&nbsp; 
All around only deaths in the headlines&nbsp; 
No phrases like - have homes to go 
Subtle joys of home now in the know&nbsp;

Soaring sales curves not in thought 
The flattened spread is what is sought&nbsp; 
The bottom line now welcomed to give&nbsp; 
A symbol not positive but negative

Homing in, we work, eat, play and pray 
No dumps, no leaks, no smoke in the fray 
These events that emerge illuminate&nbsp; 
Acts of duplicity, we need to eliminate

Marketplace calls products that are same 
By different names, yes that is the game 
The arena brimming with false effervescence&nbsp; 
Promotions to induce cognitive dissonance

Packing the truth in many layers to beguile &nbsp; 
Making it difficult to be simple, all the while.&nbsp; 
Time to redefine economy as a means for life &nbsp; 
There is a higher purpose for us all to strive

Though now in fetters, goes on the act. 
Not difficult to be simple, the now learnt fact. 
Needs this planet as the collective soul&nbsp; 
Needs a New Economic Way, a new goal:

No more artificial demand no artificial supply 
Is the value is added when you divide to multiply?&nbsp; 
Value addition is real only with additionality&nbsp; 
Worth is not in packaging but in functionality.&nbsp;

Satisfying the real needs in simplicity 
Not satiating more wants in duplicity 
May the means of living be meaningful 
And the mission of our enterprise be purposeful

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

&nbsp;

By M Raja Chidambaram There are no more pressing deadlines All around only deaths in the headlines No phrases like - have homes to go Subtle joys of home now in the know Soaring sales curves not in thought The flattened spread is what is sought The bottom line now welcomed to give A symbol not positive but negative Homing in, we work, eat, play and pray No dumps, no leaks, no smoke in the fray These events that emerge illuminate Acts of duplicity, we need to eliminate Marketplace calls products that are same By different names, yes that is the game The arena brimming with false effervescence Promotions to induce cognitive dissonance Packing the truth in many layers to beguile Making it difficult to be simple, all the while.

By M Raja Chidambaram There are no more pressing deadlines All around only deaths in the headlines No phrases like - have homes to go Subtle joys of home now in the know Soaring sales curves not in thought The flattened spread is what is sought The bottom line now welcomed to give A symbol not positive but negative Homing in, we work, eat, play and pray No dumps, no leaks, no smoke in the fray These events that emerge illuminate Acts of duplicity, we need to eliminate Marketplace calls products that are same By different names, yes that is the game The arena brimming with false effervescence Promotions to induce cognitive dissonance Packing the truth in many layers to beguile Making it difficult to be simple, all the while. Time to redefine economy as a means for life There is a higher purpose for us all to strive Though now in fetters, goes on the act. Not difficult to be simple, the now learnt fact. Needs this planet as the collective soul Needs a New Economic Way, a new goal: No more artificial demand no artificial supply Is the value is added when you divide to multiply? Value addition is real only with additionality Worth is not in packaging but in functionality. Satisfying the real needs in simplicity Not satiating more wants in duplicity May the means of living be meaningful And the mission of our enterprise be purposeful (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Coronavirus mayhem: There is a higher purpose for us all to strive

There is ongoing censorship, even in the scientific literature, to restrict publication of information contrary to the accepted narrative that COVID-19 is naturally-occurring.

What follows is not an analysis of motivations or an indictment meant to assign blame, but a history of scientific investigation that eventually led to COVID-19.

A recent <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01449-8">news article </a>published in the scientific journal Nature noted, that while it is important to find the origin of COVID-19 to prevent reinfection, it has been difficult pinpointing the source.

“It is quite possible we won’t find it. In fact, it would be exceptionally lucky if we land on something,” said Lucy van Dorp, a geneticist from University College London.

It may indeed be impossible to identify a natural source, if COVID-19 was the product of bioengineering.

Although there are hundreds of scientific publications on coronavirus, a few relevant to the present discussion will be highlighted.

Coronavirus research did not begin with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS, SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1) epidemic of 2002-2004, but it was certainly accelerated by it.

Additional impetus for studying coronaviruses arose after the 2012 outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS or MERS-CoV).

Much of the scientific inquiry related to those two diseases has centered on a particular component of coronaviruses called the spike glycoprotein, which carries the ability for the virus to attach itself to a human cell and gain entry.

Obviously, understanding and interfering with the processes initiated by the spike glycoprotein could have prophylactic or therapeutic value.

Most of that research effort focused on the cascade of events regulated by the protein part of the spike glycoprotein, or S-protein, which has two sections, S1, primarily responsible for binding to the human cell and S2, driving fusion with the cell membrane and entry.

The S1 section contains a sequence of amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, called the receptor binding domain (RBD), which defines the coronavirus’ ability to bind to specific receptors, whether they be human or animal.

Sequence mutations occur frequently in coronaviruses, which can, gradually over time, produce a new RBD structure capable of transmission between different animals or between animals and humans.

That has been the consensus scientific opinion both for SARS and MERS, that it may have originated in bats, traveled through an intermediate animal host, civets and camels, respectively, and, along the way, acquired the ability to infect humans.

If such a contention is scientifically valid, then it is initially logical to presume that COVID-19 “jumped” from animals to humans in a similar fashion.

That notion was not lost on investigators of the initial SARS epidemic, who focused on the RBD within the S1 section of the spike glycoprotein in order to understand better the origin of the outbreak.

In 2003, the human attachment point for the SARS RBD was <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature02145">found</a> to be the receptor for angiotensin converting enzyme-2 (ACE2), present in the lungs, kidneys, intestines and blood vessels.

As stated earlier, SARS may have originated in a bat population, but it was not the direct source.

In a 2008 <a href="https://jvi.asm.org/content/82/4/1899.full">bioengineering study </a>designed to elucidate the origin of SARS, scientists “spliced” the SARS RBD onto a non-human-infecting bat coronavirus, thereby, producing a new viral entity of bat origin capable of infecting humans.

In a 2014 <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/111/34/12516.full">publication subsequent</a> to the 2012 MERS outbreak “to understand how bat coronaviruses transmit to humans,” scientists discovered that not only was S1 binding important for human infection, but a “cleavage” or slicing of the S protein at the S1/S2 junction was an important event in the S2-mediated membrane fusion and cell entry process.

That is, the cascade of receptor binding, cleavage and membrane fusion determined by the structure of S protein are important factors regulating human transmissibility and pathogenesis.

It is now known that COVID-19, like SARS, uses ACE2 as its receptor and has a cleavage site at the S1/S2 junction.

According to the present conventional wisdom, a COVID-19 precursor, while circulating in a bat population mutated, acquiring the ability to infect humans, perhaps through an intermediate host, which was then transmitted to people either visiting or working in the Wuhan Seafood Market.

That conclusion is not as scientifically solid as some would like you to believe.

It was already known by the end of January 2020, that the initial patients hospitalized between December 1-10, 2019<a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30183-5/fulltext"> had not visited </a>the market and bats were <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7079563/">not sold </a>there.

The Nature article, “The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2,” widely cited to support the theory that COVID-19 is naturally-occurring also raises some not so widely cited doubts:

“Given the similarity of SARS-CoV-2 to bat SARS-CoV-like coronaviruses, it is likely that bats serve as reservoir hosts for its progenitor. Although RaTG13, sampled from a Rhinolophus affinis bat, is about 96% identical overall to SARS-CoV-2, its spike diverges in the RBD, which suggests that it may not bind efficiently to human ACE2.”

In fact, COVID-19’s RBD is nearly identical to that of pangolins (scaly anteater), not bats, but pangolins have been <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1008421">ruled out</a> as the intermediate host for COVID-19.

One could be forgiven for concluding that COVID-19 has a bat structural “backbone,” but a pangolin-like RBD, something so far inexplicable according to the naturally-occurring theory.

Furthermore, COVID-19’s S1/S2 furin polybasic cleavage site, a distinctive feature widely known for its ability to enhance <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6832359/">pathogenicity</a> and <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12250-020-00212-7">transmissibility</a> in coronaviruses, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1097276520302641#bib38">does not appear</a> in any of 45 bat, 5 human SARS, 2 civet, 1 pangolin and 1 racoon dog coronaviruses, that have S1/S2 junction structures otherwise identical or nearly identical to COVID-19.

That same<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1097276520302641#bib38"> study </a>noting the absence of the S1/S2 cleavage site in other related coronaviruses compared to COVID-19 also clearly describes the techniques for inserting cleavage sites artificially.

The fact that no natural source of COVID-19 has been identified, that scientific evidence exists suggesting bioengineering and the clear ability to do so, all demand an expanded investigation as to its origin.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)&nbsp;

There is ongoing censorship, even in the scientific literature, to restrict publication of information contrary to the accepted narrative that COVID-19 is naturally-occurring.

There is ongoing censorship, even in the scientific literature, to restrict publication of information contrary to the accepted narrative that COVID-19 is naturally-occurring. What follows is not an analysis of motivations or an indictment meant to assign blame, but a history of scientific investigation that eventually led to COVID-19. A recent news article published in the scientific journal Nature noted, that while it is important to find the origin of COVID-19 to prevent reinfection, it has been difficult pinpointing the source. “It is quite possible we won’t find it. In fact, it would be exceptionally lucky if we land on something,” said Lucy van Dorp, a geneticist from University College London. It may indeed be impossible to identify a natural source, if COVID-19 was the product of bioengineering. Although there are hundreds of scientific publications on coronavirus, a few relevant to the present discussion will be highlighted. Coronavirus research did not begin with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS, SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1) epidemic of 2002-2004, but it was certainly accelerated by it. Additional impetus for studying coronaviruses arose after the 2012 outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS or MERS-CoV). Much of the scientific inquiry related to those two diseases has centered on a particular component of coronaviruses called the spike glycoprotein, which carries the ability for the virus to attach itself to a human cell and gain entry. Obviously, understanding and interfering with the processes initiated by the spike glycoprotein could have prophylactic or therapeutic value. Most of that research effort focused on the cascade of events regulated by the protein part of the spike glycoprotein, or S-protein, which has two sections, S1, primarily responsible for binding to the human cell and S2, driving fusion with the cell membrane and entry. The S1 section contains a sequence of amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, called the receptor binding domain (RBD), which defines the coronavirus’ ability to bind to specific receptors, whether they be human or animal. Sequence mutations occur frequently in coronaviruses, which can, gradually over time, produce a new RBD structure capable of transmission between different animals or between animals and humans. That has been the consensus scientific opinion both for SARS and MERS, that it may have originated in bats, traveled through an intermediate animal host, civets and camels, respectively, and, along the way, acquired the ability to infect humans. If such a contention is scientifically valid, then it is initially logical to presume that COVID-19 “jumped” from animals to humans in a similar fashion. That notion was not lost on investigators of the initial SARS epidemic, who focused on the RBD within the S1 section of the spike glycoprotein in order to understand better the origin of the outbreak. In 2003, the human attachment point for the SARS RBD was found to be the receptor for angiotensin converting enzyme-2 (ACE2), present in the lungs, kidneys, intestines and blood vessels. As stated earlier, SARS may have originated in a bat population, but it was not the direct source. In a 2008 bioengineering study designed to elucidate the origin of SARS, scientists “spliced” the SARS RBD onto a non-human-infecting bat coronavirus, thereby, producing a new viral entity of bat origin capable of infecting humans. In a 2014 publication subsequent to the 2012 MERS outbreak “to understand how bat coronaviruses transmit to humans,” scientists discovered that not only was S1 binding important for human infection, but a “cleavage” or slicing of the S protein at the S1/S2 junction was an important event in the S2-mediated membrane fusion and cell entry process. That is, the cascade of receptor binding, cleavage and membrane fusion determined by the structure of S protein are important factors regulating human transmissibility and pathogenesis. It is now known that COVID-19, like SARS, uses ACE2 as its receptor and has a cleavage site at the S1/S2 junction. According to the present conventional wisdom, a COVID-19 precursor, while circulating in a bat population mutated, acquiring the ability to infect humans, perhaps through an intermediate host, which was then transmitted to people either visiting or working in the Wuhan Seafood Market. That conclusion is not as scientifically solid as some would like you to believe. It was already known by the end of January 2020, that the initial patients hospitalized between December 1-10, 2019 had not visited the market and bats were not sold there. The Nature article, “The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2,” widely cited to support the theory that COVID-19 is naturally-occurring also raises some not so widely cited doubts: “Given the similarity of SARS-CoV-2 to bat SARS-CoV-like coronaviruses, it is likely that bats serve as reservoir hosts for its progenitor. Although RaTG13, sampled from a Rhinolophus affinis bat, is about 96% identical overall to SARS-CoV-2, its spike diverges in the RBD, which suggests that it may not bind efficiently to human ACE2.” In fact, COVID-19’s RBD is nearly identical to that of pangolins (scaly anteater), not bats, but pangolins have been ruled out as the intermediate host for COVID-19. One could be forgiven for concluding that COVID-19 has a bat structural “backbone,” but a pangolin-like RBD, something so far inexplicable according to the naturally-occurring theory. Furthermore, COVID-19’s S1/S2 furin polybasic cleavage site, a distinctive feature widely known for its ability to enhance pathogenicity and transmissibility in coronaviruses, does not appear in any of 45 bat, 5 human SARS, 2 civet, 1 pangolin and 1 racoon dog coronaviruses, that have S1/S2 junction structures otherwise identical or nearly identical to COVID-19. That same study noting the absence of the S1/S2 cleavage site in other related coronaviruses compared to COVID-19 also clearly describes the techniques for inserting cleavage sites artificially. The fact that no natural source of COVID-19 has been identified, that scientific evidence exists suggesting bioengineering and the clear ability to do so, all demand an expanded investigation as to its origin. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

How COVID-19 was made

Protests have flared up in the United States against the government's policies to combat the coronavirus outbreak.

Protesters held a mock funeral procession in Washington DC on Wednesday, with 'body bags' laid out in front of the White House to denounce the government response to the coronavirus pandemic.&nbsp;

The protest was staged by the family members of those who lost their lives to coronavirus.

Furthermore, hundreds of truck drivers have been protesting outside the White House for over a week. They are protesting against the lack of transparency in their wages. A group of truck drivers even interrupted President Trump's press conference on May 15.&nbsp;

The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States has exceeded 1.5 million,&nbsp;with as many 95,000 fatalities reported in the country so far.

Meanwhile, Trump administration has awarded a contract worth up to $812 million to a new US company to manufacture drugs and drug ingredients to fight COVID-19 on American soil, aiming to end dependence on other countries.

There are currently no approved treatments or vaccines for COVID-19 being tested by pharmaceutical giants across the world, with governments, drugmakers and researchers working on around 100 programmes and experts predicting a safe and effective means of preventing the disease could take 12 to 18 months to develop. 
&nbsp;

(With inputs from Reuters)

Protests have flared up in the United States against the government's policies to combat the coronavirus outbreak. Protesters held a mock funeral procession in Washington DC on Wednesday, with 'body bags' laid out in front of the White House to denounce the government response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Protests have flared up in the United States against the government's policies to combat the coronavirus outbreak. Protesters held a mock funeral procession in Washington DC on Wednesday, with 'body bags' laid out in front of the White House to denounce the government response to the coronavirus pandemic. The protest was staged by the family members of those who lost their lives to coronavirus. Furthermore, hundreds of truck drivers have been protesting outside the White House for over a week. They are protesting against the lack of transparency in their wages. A group of truck drivers even interrupted President Trump's press conference on May 15. The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States has exceeded 1.5 million, with as many 95,000 fatalities reported in the country so far. Meanwhile, Trump administration has awarded a contract worth up to $812 million to a new US company to manufacture drugs and drug ingredients to fight COVID-19 on American soil, aiming to end dependence on other countries. There are currently no approved treatments or vaccines for COVID-19 being tested by pharmaceutical giants across the world, with governments, drugmakers and researchers working on around 100 programmes and experts predicting a safe and effective means of preventing the disease could take 12 to 18 months to develop. (With inputs from Reuters)

Protesters stage mock funeral procession outside White House

By Lai-Ha Chan and Pak K Lee

If the World Health Organization (WHO) wants to maintain its legitimacy on the world stage, it must now answer some tough questions about the extent it has kowtowed to China during the coronavirus pandemic.

It now has a chance to do so, after its members agreed to adopt a resolution for an inquiry into the global handling of the pandemic at a virtual meeting of its annual World Health Assembly on May 19. But there are still many other questions that need to be answered before it can restore its credibility.

We have studied China’s engagement with global health institutions such as the WHO, China’s compliance with global public health norms and how far it succeeds in creating and promoting its own norms around the world. Amid the global crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which has infected nearly five million people and killed more than 320,000 in just a few short months, understanding the relationship between China, where the outbreak began, and the WHO is crucial to the future of global public health.

Uncritical of China

The WHO’s leadership has come under unprecedented scrutiny during the pandemic for giving the impression that it has been swayed by, and beholden to, China. In late January, in the early days of the outbreak, the WHO’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, heaped unqualified praise on China’s COVID-19 policy measures and the leadership of Xi Jinping. He commended the “seriousness” with which China was taking the outbreak, “the commitment from top leadership, and the transparency they have demonstrated”.

But non-transparency and censorship are pervasive in all levels of China’s system of government. Tedros had been warned by his aides of the potential repercussions of his effusive praise of China, but reportedly ignored them. It appears the WHO also took the initial information and data about the epidemic transmitted to it by China at face value.

In late March, Japan’s deputy prime minister, Taro Aso, quipped that the WHO should be renamed the “Chinese Health Organization”. The US president, Donald Trump, went further – criticising the WHO of being too “China-centric” in handling the pandemic and of an “alarming lack of independence” from China.

Investigation battlefield

The WHO now needs to restore its global credibility. The call for an independent, comprehensive review of the COVID-19 pandemic quickly became a battlefield between China and Western countries, especially Australia and the US. What was eventually adopted on May 19 without objection was a compromise resolution, submitted by the European Union and endorsed by more than 100 other countries.

The resolution does not refer to China, but asks the WHO to work with the World Organisation for Animal Health and the Food and Agriculture Organization, now led by the Chinese scientist Qu Dongyu, to: “Identify the zoonotic source of the virus and the route of introduction to the human population, including the possible role of intermediate hosts.” The resolution also looks forward, pointing to potential intellectual property right issues surrounding a new vaccine.

Speaking at the World Health Assembly the day before the resolution was adopted, Xi framed China as a staunch supporter of multilateral global health governance and committed $2 billion ($1.6 billion) to the international campaign to combat COVID-19. He promised that Chinese vaccines would be “global public goods”, directly confronting fears of a rise in vaccine nationalism in the West. But China’s moves were principally aimed at improving its tarnished reputation.

Tasks for the inquiry

With the resolution adopted, the battle will now centre on who should lead the inquiry. If this inquiry is to be genuinely independent, it must address unanswered questions about who was China’s “patient zero” and when and how they were infected.

A real test would be whether the WHO-led delegation could meet, independently of Chinese authorities, some of the key figures involved in managing the initial stages of the country’s COVID-19 outbreak. It would be enlightening for them to hear at firsthand from frontline doctors in Wuhan hospitals who treated the first batch of COVID-19 patients, such as the doctor Ai Fen. Others they may want to meet are the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s Shi Zhengli, known as China’s “bat woman” and the heads of the genomics laboratories which were reportedly asked to destroy the samples after testing.

Zhang Yongzhen of Fudan University in Shanghai would also be worth speaking to. Zhang has rarely appeared in Chinese official narratives, but his team concluded that the virus was of the coronavirus family, and their results were published in the journal Nature in early February. It later emerged that his laboratory had been ordered to close in early January, with no reason given.

Besides the inquiry into the origins of the virus, another key question is whether the WHO delayed declaring an international emergency after coming under pressure from China, a claim reported by Der Spiegel and Newsweek. According to Newsweek, citing a CIA report, the delay allowed China to hoard essential medical supplies and personal protective equipment from abroad.

Like other UN organisations, the WHO cannot enforce its decisions and policies without the support of its member states. Its success relies on whether it can persuade politicians and officials to comply with its decisions. Maintaining legitimacy is crucial if the WHO is to effectively tackle the future health crises that affect all of humanity.

 
(Lai-Ha Chan is Senior Lecturer in International Relations, University of Technology Sydney; Pak K Lee is Senior Lecturer in Chinese Politics and International Relations, University of Kent)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

(This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-world-health-organization-must-answer-these-hard-questions-in-its-coronavirus-inquiry-138959"> original article</a>) &nbsp;

By Lai-Ha Chan and Pak K Lee If the World Health Organization (WHO) wants to maintain its legitimacy on the world stage, it must now answer some tough questions about the extent it has kowtowed to China during the coronavirus pandemic.

By Lai-Ha Chan and Pak K Lee If the World Health Organization (WHO) wants to maintain its legitimacy on the world stage, it must now answer some tough questions about the extent it has kowtowed to China during the coronavirus pandemic. It now has a chance to do so, after its members agreed to adopt a resolution for an inquiry into the global handling of the pandemic at a virtual meeting of its annual World Health Assembly on May 19. But there are still many other questions that need to be answered before it can restore its credibility. We have studied China’s engagement with global health institutions such as the WHO, China’s compliance with global public health norms and how far it succeeds in creating and promoting its own norms around the world. Amid the global crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which has infected nearly five million people and killed more than 320,000 in just a few short months, understanding the relationship between China, where the outbreak began, and the WHO is crucial to the future of global public health. Uncritical of China The WHO’s leadership has come under unprecedented scrutiny during the pandemic for giving the impression that it has been swayed by, and beholden to, China. In late January, in the early days of the outbreak, the WHO’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, heaped unqualified praise on China’s COVID-19 policy measures and the leadership of Xi Jinping. He commended the “seriousness” with which China was taking the outbreak, “the commitment from top leadership, and the transparency they have demonstrated”. But non-transparency and censorship are pervasive in all levels of China’s system of government. Tedros had been warned by his aides of the potential repercussions of his effusive praise of China, but reportedly ignored them. It appears the WHO also took the initial information and data about the epidemic transmitted to it by China at face value. In late March, Japan’s deputy prime minister, Taro Aso, quipped that the WHO should be renamed the “Chinese Health Organization”. The US president, Donald Trump, went further – criticising the WHO of being too “China-centric” in handling the pandemic and of an “alarming lack of independence” from China. Investigation battlefield The WHO now needs to restore its global credibility. The call for an independent, comprehensive review of the COVID-19 pandemic quickly became a battlefield between China and Western countries, especially Australia and the US. What was eventually adopted on May 19 without objection was a compromise resolution, submitted by the European Union and endorsed by more than 100 other countries. The resolution does not refer to China, but asks the WHO to work with the World Organisation for Animal Health and the Food and Agriculture Organization, now led by the Chinese scientist Qu Dongyu, to: “Identify the zoonotic source of the virus and the route of introduction to the human population, including the possible role of intermediate hosts.” The resolution also looks forward, pointing to potential intellectual property right issues surrounding a new vaccine. Speaking at the World Health Assembly the day before the resolution was adopted, Xi framed China as a staunch supporter of multilateral global health governance and committed $2 billion ($1.6 billion) to the international campaign to combat COVID-19. He promised that Chinese vaccines would be “global public goods”, directly confronting fears of a rise in vaccine nationalism in the West. But China’s moves were principally aimed at improving its tarnished reputation. Tasks for the inquiry With the resolution adopted, the battle will now centre on who should lead the inquiry. If this inquiry is to be genuinely independent, it must address unanswered questions about who was China’s “patient zero” and when and how they were infected. A real test would be whether the WHO-led delegation could meet, independently of Chinese authorities, some of the key figures involved in managing the initial stages of the country’s COVID-19 outbreak. It would be enlightening for them to hear at firsthand from frontline doctors in Wuhan hospitals who treated the first batch of COVID-19 patients, such as the doctor Ai Fen. Others they may want to meet are the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s Shi Zhengli, known as China’s “bat woman” and the heads of the genomics laboratories which were reportedly asked to destroy the samples after testing. Zhang Yongzhen of Fudan University in Shanghai would also be worth speaking to. Zhang has rarely appeared in Chinese official narratives, but his team concluded that the virus was of the coronavirus family, and their results were published in the journal Nature in early February. It later emerged that his laboratory had been ordered to close in early January, with no reason given. Besides the inquiry into the origins of the virus, another key question is whether the WHO delayed declaring an international emergency after coming under pressure from China, a claim reported by Der Spiegel and Newsweek. According to Newsweek, citing a CIA report, the delay allowed China to hoard essential medical supplies and personal protective equipment from abroad. Like other UN organisations, the WHO cannot enforce its decisions and policies without the support of its member states. Its success relies on whether it can persuade politicians and officials to comply with its decisions. Maintaining legitimacy is crucial if the WHO is to effectively tackle the future health crises that affect all of humanity. (Lai-Ha Chan is Senior Lecturer in International Relations, University of Technology Sydney; Pak K Lee is Senior Lecturer in Chinese Politics and International Relations, University of Kent) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL) (This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article)

The World Health Organisation must answer these hard questions in its coronavirus inquiry

Usually, Australian newspapers are hardly read in India. However, recently, the Australian portal The Daily Telegraph’s article, in a befitting reply to the Chinese Consul General’s letter alleging it of &nbsp;“ignorance,” “prejudice,” and “arrogance,” in its reports and opinions on China’s response to Covid-19, went viral in Indian social media circles. It unleashed debates on the post-corona world order among the Indian intellectuals generally obsessed with Pakistan and its jihadist wars in India. &nbsp;It seemed as if the article awakened the usually insular Indian masses from their civilizational slumber and got them seriously thinking about the threat posed by China to the rules-based world order.&nbsp;

The western world got its taste of the world order with the &nbsp;“Chinese Characteristics” only in the recent past as they came to know of the horrors of Xinjiang’s “vocational training centers,” muscle-flexing by Chinese Navy in the South China Sea, and China’s unfair trade practices. However, India tasted the bitter pill in 1962 only, when Mao’s China backstabbed India’s statesman-philosopher PM Nehru, hell-bent on harnessing the strengths of Indo-Chinese civilizational ties, by starting a war in Himalayan peaks that not only brought India’s growing global stature to a grinding halt, but also shattered Nehru from within, ultimately leading to his untimely demise, leaving India’s nascent democracy leaderless. &nbsp;

China and Corona have shaken our notions of stability and made us all apprehensive and fearful of the world order with the so-called “Chinese characteristics.” &nbsp;The world community’s faith in China’s intentions, institutions, innovations, inventions, and investments has shattered almost beyond redemption. World leaders have raised the pitch in favour of finding new alternatives to reduce the economic dependence on China and new alliances to protect the rules-based order against the depredations of revanchist China. However, the current state of frenzy and panic may mislead even the sanest minds and lead us to blame the “country China and its people” for all the mayhem. &nbsp;&nbsp;

However, anyone with primary exposure to Asian history will understand that not China and its people, but China’s Communist Party (CCP) is an existential threat to rules-based world order, standing firmly on the twin pillars of liberal democracy and free and fair trade. Any systematic thought about deterring China has to begin with differentiating between China and the Chinese Communist Party, the two entities primarily at ideological and foundational crossroads. Hence, &nbsp;we must all refrain from any frenzied racial outburst against China as a country, and its people as it is likely to play into the hands of CCP, giving it a powerful weapon to mobilize popular support by rousing nationalist sentiments.&nbsp;

At the most fundamental level, the CCP has devastated China’s great civilizational legacy and ethos. The great Chinese civilization derives its vibrancy and soul from the spiritual legacy of the Buddhist and &nbsp;Confucious thought, preaching peace, a quest for spiritual purity, love, and respect for contrary thoughts and belief-systems. Despite its lofty claims to restore China’s rightful place in the world, CCP’s totalitarianism and extremism, in essence, is a complete undoing of all the paramount values China’s glorious civilization stands for. Not long ago, CCP’s Mao-led party-state massacred Buddhists and decimated their monasteries in Tibet, and implemented the “great leap forward,” leading to the death of tens of millions of its people in the devastating famines that followed it. Later, insecurities emanating from the fears of a popular revolt against his authority due to the devastating famines, Mao brought “cultural revolution” to get rid of all the “bourgeoisie elements.” However, in effect, the despot wanted to silence all the dissidents and critiques, leading the purges of millions of his ideological opponents. And, with them, China’s break with its spiritual and cultural refinements of Buddhist-Confucious past was complete. Today, CCP’s mind-games with complex jargons like “whole-process democracy” &nbsp;and “benevolent rule,” which it also calls “democracy with Chinese characteristics,” are simply to counter the western challenge to its dictatorial political system by orchestrating ideological foundations to prove its political system, superior to the western one. However, such expressions are mere outer trappings to protect a corrupt political system and governance model existing under fragile foundations and a perpetual threat of popular revolt, for being inherently anti- ‘Chinese.’ &nbsp;

CCP’s world order stands for forced disappearances and displacements, politically-motivated purges, persecution of ethnic and religious minorities, fake news and disinformation campaigns, supporting despots and rogue states, and encouraging their nuclear blackmail, &nbsp;and shielding UN-designated terrorists and terror-sponsoring nations at the UN bodies, and crushing human rights. Its “economic aggression” &nbsp;strategy includes theft of trade secrets and intellectual property, unfair trade practices hindering the access of foreign companies to Chinese markets, and forced technology transfers.&nbsp;&nbsp;

At home, CCP has created the most intrusive public monitoring and &nbsp;Orwellian high-tech surveillance state. With the state-controlled media, rigid internet censorships, face recognition technology, and draconian restrictions on a free debate on religious and political issues in the Universities, the CCP silences public criticism and maintains a firm grip on the information flow in China. It has prevented the exposure of Chinese society to all outside influences by denying access to foreign intellectuals, media persons, and independent observers from the UN bodies and global NGOs. The respect for privacy is anathema for CCP. Not long ago, CCP’s repressive state machinery massacred thousands of students demanding democracy in Tiennman square. In Xinjiang province, home to around 13 million Muslims of Turkic, Uyghur and Kazakh ethnicities, CCP runs the most sophisticated and high-tech detainment camps, in the name of “vocational education centers, where the inmates are subjected to rigorous indoctrination to rid them of all Islamic influences. CCP treats Islam like a ‘mental illness.’ Those observing fundamental Islamic practices such as Namaz, Rozas, and beards find themselves in the detainment camps. &nbsp;

CCP’s hatred for democracy and human rights does not stop at its frontiers. In the last few years, CCP has brazenly extended its vision of anti-human rights and anti-democratic political and governance model beyond its borders. China’s party-state uses its economic clout to silence all those entities, including companies, countries, individuals, NGOs, and academic institutions, who criticize its human rights record. &nbsp;OIC countries, usually vocal about the Muslim causes across the globe, conveniently turned a blind eye to Xinjiang and applauded China’s counter-terrorism measures that have led to a “stronger sense of fulfilment, happiness, and security. &nbsp;Hence, what happens in &nbsp;Xinjiang, stays in Xinjiang, thanks to the overriding economic interests of OIC nations. Major BRI-recipient Pakistan’s PM Imran Khan often frets and fumes on twitter over sporadic incidents of Islamophobia in India. However, he preferred to keep silent over Xinjiang, while his diplomats lauded China for “providing care to its Muslim citizens,” thanks to China’s “no-strings” grants and diplomatic support. &nbsp;

Chinese business organizations can hardly dare to ignore the dictates of CCP. When Houston Rockets’ General Manager displeased the Chinese government by supporting Hongkong protesters on social media, all of the 11 official Chinese business partners of the National Basketball Association suspended ties with the league. Similarly, the sheer number of Chinese students and on Western campuses and large research grants are powerful enough to dissuade them from displeasing China by allowing debates and seminars on China’s human rights abuses and repression, with the participation of Chinese dissidents. &nbsp;Recently, a “powerful person” in the Harvard management stopped Teng Biao, a Chinese dissident and a visiting fellow at Harvard Universit, from holding an event on his and other dissidents’ experiences of human rights abuses in China. &nbsp;

CCP’s state is selling high-tech surveillance technology to 60 states with weak privacy protections, including dictatorships such as Zimbabwe, Philippines, and Kyrgyzstan. China also intimidates UN member countries to support its position in international bodies. At UNHRC, China has been consistent in obstructing the passage of UN resolutions and sanctions against its cohorts like Venezuela, Myanmar, and Saudi Arabia, for gross human rights violations.&nbsp; &nbsp;

In its BRI ambit, China is supporting corrupt and ruthless dictators with “no-strings-attached loans,” in complete disregard for their track-record of environmental safety and human rights abuses. Such dubious and clandestine loans also come easy in return for the recipient country’s support and silence over China’s repression and Human Rights violations. China has invested 62 billion dollars in &nbsp;CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor), a part of BRI, China’s multi-trillion dollar infrastructure project. Its terror-sponsoring ally Pakistan has displaced the local Shia Muslims in PoJK (Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan), opposing Chinese investments and encroachment of their lands. In one of the most shameless attempts at demographic engineering, they have colonized the area with Wahhabi extremists, Pak army veterans, and terrorist cadres, quite expectedly, China has been a supporting accomplice in such heinous crimes against humanity. Those who oppose are silenced through a plethora of ISI’s (Pakistan’s dreadful spy agency), covert measures including tortures and targeted killings. At the UNSC and FATF, in addition to supporting dreaded terrorists like Hafiz Saed and Masood Azhar, China has shielded Pakistan with impunity, preventing the global bodies’ action against it for financing and sponsoring terrorism in Kashmir. &nbsp;Further, Chinese loans have sent many countries into a never-ending debt trap.&nbsp;

It’s time to confront China&nbsp;

Until the last year, the strategists were concerned about the Chinese threat to the world order. However, after COVID-19 killing thousands across the globe, &nbsp;CCP has revealed itself as not merely a threat to the world order. Instead, in its new or real avatar, it comes out as an existential threat to the entire humanity. As I am writing this piece, China has already found a berth at UNHRC despite its blemished human rights record, &nbsp;aggressed in the Sikkim’s (India) Naku La, and intruded with its coastguard into the waters of Japanese-controlled Senkaku islands. &nbsp;

Further, the way CCP’s party-state has spread disinformation about the origin of the virus, manipulated WHO, influenced or maybe coerced prestigious media houses and influential think-tanks to project it as a savior in its corona-mitigation efforts, vehemently resisted an independent investigation into the origins of the virus, threatened Australia with trade sanctions for advocating an inquiry into the virus’ origins, and intimidated the EU’s external action service to drop the reference to its global disinformation campaign to improve its image, in its report, hardly leaves any doubt about CCP’s future intent to upset the world order and methods it will employ to achieve that. &nbsp;

With Xi Jinping’s eternal presidency, the CCP has gone back to the era of Mao-styled strong man rule. This time it commands robust economic strength, state-of-the-art technology in communications and defense, and a revanchist desire; hence, the tremors are spreading across the globe. Corona is just a glimpse into what lies ahead. Also, China braces the world’s fastest declining population, corona crisis and economic slowdown, which will result in job losses and a fall in the standards of living. It will result in public protest and outrage against the government, demanding more political participation. Most likely, Xi-led CCP will double down with more repression, censorships, purges, and a hyper-nationalist foreign policy. In the international arena, it may result in China firming up its ties with despots and terror-sponsoring nations by giving them nuclear technology, aggressive incursions in the South China Sea, and brazen subversion of international conventions, treaties, and institutions. &nbsp;

Hence, it is time to confront CCP. Moreover, the confrontation has to be holistic. From a principled stand against its human rights abuses and strategically thought-out efforts countering its economic and military aggression to a systematic campaign exposing CCP and its inhuman side, the world community has to deter CCP on every front. It has to be a united effort. With Americans in a self-imposed diplomatic quarantine mode, Australia, Japan and India have a lot to contribute, in saving China and the rest of the world, from a revanchist regime that refuses to respect life and play by the rules.&nbsp; 
 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

Usually, Australian newspapers are hardly read in India. However, recently, the Australian portal The Daily Telegraph’s article, in a befitting reply to the Chinese Consul General’s letter alleging it of “ignorance,” “prejudice,” and “arrogance,” in its reports and opinions on China’s response to Covid-19, went viral in Indian social media circles.

Usually, Australian newspapers are hardly read in India. However, recently, the Australian portal The Daily Telegraph’s article, in a befitting reply to the Chinese Consul General’s letter alleging it of “ignorance,” “prejudice,” and “arrogance,” in its reports and opinions on China’s response to Covid-19, went viral in Indian social media circles. It unleashed debates on the post-corona world order among the Indian intellectuals generally obsessed with Pakistan and its jihadist wars in India. It seemed as if the article awakened the usually insular Indian masses from their civilizational slumber and got them seriously thinking about the threat posed by China to the rules-based world order. The western world got its taste of the world order with the “Chinese Characteristics” only in the recent past as they came to know of the horrors of Xinjiang’s “vocational training centers,” muscle-flexing by Chinese Navy in the South China Sea, and China’s unfair trade practices. However, India tasted the bitter pill in 1962 only, when Mao’s China backstabbed India’s statesman-philosopher PM Nehru, hell-bent on harnessing the strengths of Indo-Chinese civilizational ties, by starting a war in Himalayan peaks that not only brought India’s growing global stature to a grinding halt, but also shattered Nehru from within, ultimately leading to his untimely demise, leaving India’s nascent democracy leaderless. China and Corona have shaken our notions of stability and made us all apprehensive and fearful of the world order with the so-called “Chinese characteristics.” The world community’s faith in China’s intentions, institutions, innovations, inventions, and investments has shattered almost beyond redemption. World leaders have raised the pitch in favour of finding new alternatives to reduce the economic dependence on China and new alliances to protect the rules-based order against the depredations of revanchist China. However, the current state of frenzy and panic may mislead even the sanest minds and lead us to blame the “country China and its people” for all the mayhem. However, anyone with primary exposure to Asian history will understand that not China and its people, but China’s Communist Party (CCP) is an existential threat to rules-based world order, standing firmly on the twin pillars of liberal democracy and free and fair trade. Any systematic thought about deterring China has to begin with differentiating between China and the Chinese Communist Party, the two entities primarily at ideological and foundational crossroads. Hence, we must all refrain from any frenzied racial outburst against China as a country, and its people as it is likely to play into the hands of CCP, giving it a powerful weapon to mobilize popular support by rousing nationalist sentiments. At the most fundamental level, the CCP has devastated China’s great civilizational legacy and ethos. The great Chinese civilization derives its vibrancy and soul from the spiritual legacy of the Buddhist and Confucious thought, preaching peace, a quest for spiritual purity, love, and respect for contrary thoughts and belief-systems. Despite its lofty claims to restore China’s rightful place in the world, CCP’s totalitarianism and extremism, in essence, is a complete undoing of all the paramount values China’s glorious civilization stands for. Not long ago, CCP’s Mao-led party-state massacred Buddhists and decimated their monasteries in Tibet, and implemented the “great leap forward,” leading to the death of tens of millions of its people in the devastating famines that followed it. Later, insecurities emanating from the fears of a popular revolt against his authority due to the devastating famines, Mao brought “cultural revolution” to get rid of all the “bourgeoisie elements.” However, in effect, the despot wanted to silence all the dissidents and critiques, leading the purges of millions of his ideological opponents. And, with them, China’s break with its spiritual and cultural refinements of Buddhist-Confucious past was complete. Today, CCP’s mind-games with complex jargons like “whole-process democracy” and “benevolent rule,” which it also calls “democracy with Chinese characteristics,” are simply to counter the western challenge to its dictatorial political system by orchestrating ideological foundations to prove its political system, superior to the western one. However, such expressions are mere outer trappings to protect a corrupt political system and governance model existing under fragile foundations and a perpetual threat of popular revolt, for being inherently anti- ‘Chinese.’ CCP’s world order stands for forced disappearances and displacements, politically-motivated purges, persecution of ethnic and religious minorities, fake news and disinformation campaigns, supporting despots and rogue states, and encouraging their nuclear blackmail, and shielding UN-designated terrorists and terror-sponsoring nations at the UN bodies, and crushing human rights. Its “economic aggression” strategy includes theft of trade secrets and intellectual property, unfair trade practices hindering the access of foreign companies to Chinese markets, and forced technology transfers. At home, CCP has created the most intrusive public monitoring and Orwellian high-tech surveillance state. With the state-controlled media, rigid internet censorships, face recognition technology, and draconian restrictions on a free debate on religious and political issues in the Universities, the CCP silences public criticism and maintains a firm grip on the information flow in China. It has prevented the exposure of Chinese society to all outside influences by denying access to foreign intellectuals, media persons, and independent observers from the UN bodies and global NGOs. The respect for privacy is anathema for CCP. Not long ago, CCP’s repressive state machinery massacred thousands of students demanding democracy in Tiennman square. In Xinjiang province, home to around 13 million Muslims of Turkic, Uyghur and Kazakh ethnicities, CCP runs the most sophisticated and high-tech detainment camps, in the name of “vocational education centers, where the inmates are subjected to rigorous indoctrination to rid them of all Islamic influences. CCP treats Islam like a ‘mental illness.’ Those observing fundamental Islamic practices such as Namaz, Rozas, and beards find themselves in the detainment camps. CCP’s hatred for democracy and human rights does not stop at its frontiers. In the last few years, CCP has brazenly extended its vision of anti-human rights and anti-democratic political and governance model beyond its borders. China’s party-state uses its economic clout to silence all those entities, including companies, countries, individuals, NGOs, and academic institutions, who criticize its human rights record. OIC countries, usually vocal about the Muslim causes across the globe, conveniently turned a blind eye to Xinjiang and applauded China’s counter-terrorism measures that have led to a “stronger sense of fulfilment, happiness, and security. Hence, what happens in Xinjiang, stays in Xinjiang, thanks to the overriding economic interests of OIC nations. Major BRI-recipient Pakistan’s PM Imran Khan often frets and fumes on twitter over sporadic incidents of Islamophobia in India. However, he preferred to keep silent over Xinjiang, while his diplomats lauded China for “providing care to its Muslim citizens,” thanks to China’s “no-strings” grants and diplomatic support. Chinese business organizations can hardly dare to ignore the dictates of CCP. When Houston Rockets’ General Manager displeased the Chinese government by supporting Hongkong protesters on social media, all of the 11 official Chinese business partners of the National Basketball Association suspended ties with the league. Similarly, the sheer number of Chinese students and on Western campuses and large research grants are powerful enough to dissuade them from displeasing China by allowing debates and seminars on China’s human rights abuses and repression, with the participation of Chinese dissidents. Recently, a “powerful person” in the Harvard management stopped Teng Biao, a Chinese dissident and a visiting fellow at Harvard Universit, from holding an event on his and other dissidents’ experiences of human rights abuses in China. CCP’s state is selling high-tech surveillance technology to 60 states with weak privacy protections, including dictatorships such as Zimbabwe, Philippines, and Kyrgyzstan. China also intimidates UN member countries to support its position in international bodies. At UNHRC, China has been consistent in obstructing the passage of UN resolutions and sanctions against its cohorts like Venezuela, Myanmar, and Saudi Arabia, for gross human rights violations. In its BRI ambit, China is supporting corrupt and ruthless dictators with “no-strings-attached loans,” in complete disregard for their track-record of environmental safety and human rights abuses. Such dubious and clandestine loans also come easy in return for the recipient country’s support and silence over China’s repression and Human Rights violations. China has invested 62 billion dollars in CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor), a part of BRI, China’s multi-trillion dollar infrastructure project. Its terror-sponsoring ally Pakistan has displaced the local Shia Muslims in PoJK (Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan), opposing Chinese investments and encroachment of their lands. In one of the most shameless attempts at demographic engineering, they have colonized the area with Wahhabi extremists, Pak army veterans, and terrorist cadres, quite expectedly, China has been a supporting accomplice in such heinous crimes against humanity. Those who oppose are silenced through a plethora of ISI’s (Pakistan’s dreadful spy agency), covert measures including tortures and targeted killings. At the UNSC and FATF, in addition to supporting dreaded terrorists like Hafiz Saed and Masood Azhar, China has shielded Pakistan with impunity, preventing the global bodies’ action against it for financing and sponsoring terrorism in Kashmir. Further, Chinese loans have sent many countries into a never-ending debt trap. It’s time to confront China Until the last year, the strategists were concerned about the Chinese threat to the world order. However, after COVID-19 killing thousands across the globe, CCP has revealed itself as not merely a threat to the world order. Instead, in its new or real avatar, it comes out as an existential threat to the entire humanity. As I am writing this piece, China has already found a berth at UNHRC despite its blemished human rights record, aggressed in the Sikkim’s (India) Naku La, and intruded with its coastguard into the waters of Japanese-controlled Senkaku islands. Further, the way CCP’s party-state has spread disinformation about the origin of the virus, manipulated WHO, influenced or maybe coerced prestigious media houses and influential think-tanks to project it as a savior in its corona-mitigation efforts, vehemently resisted an independent investigation into the origins of the virus, threatened Australia with trade sanctions for advocating an inquiry into the virus’ origins, and intimidated the EU’s external action service to drop the reference to its global disinformation campaign to improve its image, in its report, hardly leaves any doubt about CCP’s future intent to upset the world order and methods it will employ to achieve that. With Xi Jinping’s eternal presidency, the CCP has gone back to the era of Mao-styled strong man rule. This time it commands robust economic strength, state-of-the-art technology in communications and defense, and a revanchist desire; hence, the tremors are spreading across the globe. Corona is just a glimpse into what lies ahead. Also, China braces the world’s fastest declining population, corona crisis and economic slowdown, which will result in job losses and a fall in the standards of living. It will result in public protest and outrage against the government, demanding more political participation. Most likely, Xi-led CCP will double down with more repression, censorships, purges, and a hyper-nationalist foreign policy. In the international arena, it may result in China firming up its ties with despots and terror-sponsoring nations by giving them nuclear technology, aggressive incursions in the South China Sea, and brazen subversion of international conventions, treaties, and institutions. Hence, it is time to confront CCP. Moreover, the confrontation has to be holistic. From a principled stand against its human rights abuses and strategically thought-out efforts countering its economic and military aggression to a systematic campaign exposing CCP and its inhuman side, the world community has to deter CCP on every front. It has to be a united effort. With Americans in a self-imposed diplomatic quarantine mode, Australia, Japan and India have a lot to contribute, in saving China and the rest of the world, from a revanchist regime that refuses to respect life and play by the rules. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

China is not just a challenge to the liberal World Order, but an existential threat to humanity

Israeli inventors have developed a coronavirus mask that lets diners eat food without taking it off, a device they say could make a visit to a restaurant less risky.

This PAC Man-like mask is operated by a lever which has to be squeezed to open the slot near the mouth so that the food can pass through. There is another option as well, wherein the slot opens automatically when a spoon or fork comes near it. 
 
“The mask will be opened mechanically by hand remote or automatically when the fork is coming to the mask,” said Asaf Gitelis, vice president of Avtipus Patents and Inventions.

The mask is yet not available to the public. Once this&nbsp;product hits the market, customers will have to shell out a premium of $2.85 above the price of a normal medical mask.

Meanwhile, even though the restrictions have been eased and restaurants worldwide are reopening, eating out is not recommended by experts right now.

Israel has largely reopened its economy after a dramatic drop in cases of the novel coronavirus. Israel was one of the first countries to close its borders and impose increasingly stringent restrictions on movement to hamper the domestic outbreak.&nbsp;

The deadly coronavirus which originated from China's Wuhan city last year has claimed 325,681 lives and infected over 5 million people. 
 
(With inputs from Reuters)

Israeli inventors have developed a coronavirus mask that lets diners eat food without taking it off, a device they say could make a visit to a restaurant less risky.

Israeli inventors have developed a coronavirus mask that lets diners eat food without taking it off, a device they say could make a visit to a restaurant less risky. This PAC Man-like mask is operated by a lever which has to be squeezed to open the slot near the mouth so that the food can pass through. There is another option as well, wherein the slot opens automatically when a spoon or fork comes near it. “The mask will be opened mechanically by hand remote or automatically when the fork is coming to the mask,” said Asaf Gitelis, vice president of Avtipus Patents and Inventions. The mask is yet not available to the public. Once this product hits the market, customers will have to shell out a premium of $2.85 above the price of a normal medical mask. Meanwhile, even though the restrictions have been eased and restaurants worldwide are reopening, eating out is not recommended by experts right now. Israel has largely reopened its economy after a dramatic drop in cases of the novel coronavirus. Israel was one of the first countries to close its borders and impose increasingly stringent restrictions on movement to hamper the domestic outbreak. The deadly coronavirus which originated from China's Wuhan city last year has claimed 325,681 lives and infected over 5 million people. (With inputs from Reuters)

Israeli company invents masks diners can wear while eating out

While the rest of the world is grappling COVID-19, China is very strategically preparing itself for a post-COVID-19 world. Its economy is capitalistic and centrally directed. Additionally, military capabilities are being built and alliances are being developed so that Xi Jinping can flex muscle as a global superpower after the crisis. The truth is that China will remain significantly influential in Asia and Africa after the coronavirus pandemic. For this reason, India is the strongest candidate in the region that can stand up to China. This is because India has a viable geographical location, a strong, young workforce and large economy. And it is President Trump who can help India stand up to and get ahead of China.&nbsp;

For the past few decades, China has slowly and steadily expanded influence in South Asia. At present, China is very visibly stepping in and assisting weaker nations fight coronavirus. The intention is to control them in the future. Unlike President Trump who has been quite verbose in blaming China, PM Modi has chosen to not openly call China out for the pandemic. Instead, India has strategically changed policy and provisions. For instance, foreign direct investment (FDI) rules were changed in April. The new rules required any ‘border-sharing country’ to get the Government of India’s official approval to invest in India. China was displeased and belligerently called the rules discriminatory.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Moreover, a significant number of Indian intellectuals want Taiwan to be an active part of World Health Organization meetings. This will successfully check back China’s dominance exerted on the WHO. Since India will be leading the executive board of WHO’s next meeting, there is a strong consensus that PM Modi should agree to Taiwan acting as an observer. Furthermore, India has respected a ‘One China Policy’ for decades. Now, Indian policy experts are aggressively asserting that China should recognize a ‘One India Policy’ as well. Specifically, this will require China to give up its claims on Indian territory.&nbsp;&nbsp;

For quite some time now, America has called upon India to step up and play a more dominant role in the Indo-Pacific region. The timing could not be better. The Modi-Trump ‘bromance’ is going stronger than ever. With a preferred defence partnership and strong trade ties, US-China relations could never be better. Moreover, the American government has publicly stated that the USA needs to reduce dependence on China. One way to do this is reforming American global supply chains. This process has already begun.&nbsp;&nbsp;

American multinational corporations and companies are also moving out of China. Thanks to President Trump’s encouragement, a plethora of these firms are relocating to India. The recent Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan economic stimulus package is very strategic because it attracts FDI to India in several ways. MSME’s are getting strong, significant support. Beneficial labour market reforms are getting implemented. Manufacturing is being boosted and tax exemptions for setting up companies will result in new enterprises in labour-intensive sectors like food processing and textiles. The impact? This economic stimulus package provides greater ease of doing business, much-needed labour reforms and some serious tax incentives for Indian and foreign companies.&nbsp;&nbsp;

With the USA being one of India’s largest foreign direct investors, this economic stimulus package makes India economically attractive. With President Trump in office, there is no doubt that substantial American foreign investment will come to India. In fact, the United States of America will indubitably become India’s preferred investor. Among others, another nation that will invest in India is Japan who is reportedly at present incentivizing its firms to leave China. With this steady foreign direct investment flow, India can diversify imports and break free from Chinese dependence. Taking advantage of presently solid defence ties with the USA, India can overcome Chinese bullying for good.&nbsp;&nbsp;

For India, President Trump is indisputably the preferred candidate to win the upcoming American presidential election. Democratic candidate Joe Biden will do very little for India. His personal ties and lenient policies towards China that have come out on public record will only weaken India-USA relations over the next few years. To add, if Biden is elected, China will be able to continue its nationalistic agenda. This agenda may include bioterrorism. The world has seen the terrifying impact with the coronavirus pandemic bringing down even the strongest and most capable nations.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Over 100 countries have signed a resolution which seeks an investigation to learn the origin of the coronavirus disease. If China is to blame, there will certainly be severe consequences for Xi Jinping. India needs to take advantage of this momentum. Present circumstances and sentiment offer an invaluable opportunity for India to become the unquestionable leader of the region and exert influence over China. For this to happen, there is no better time for PM Modi to play the ‘Trump’ card.&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 
&nbsp;(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

While the rest of the world is grappling COVID-19, China is very strategically preparing itself for a post-COVID-19 world. Its economy is capitalistic and centrally directed.

While the rest of the world is grappling COVID-19, China is very strategically preparing itself for a post-COVID-19 world. Its economy is capitalistic and centrally directed. Additionally, military capabilities are being built and alliances are being developed so that Xi Jinping can flex muscle as a global superpower after the crisis. The truth is that China will remain significantly influential in Asia and Africa after the coronavirus pandemic. For this reason, India is the strongest candidate in the region that can stand up to China. This is because India has a viable geographical location, a strong, young workforce and large economy. And it is President Trump who can help India stand up to and get ahead of China. For the past few decades, China has slowly and steadily expanded influence in South Asia. At present, China is very visibly stepping in and assisting weaker nations fight coronavirus. The intention is to control them in the future. Unlike President Trump who has been quite verbose in blaming China, PM Modi has chosen to not openly call China out for the pandemic. Instead, India has strategically changed policy and provisions. For instance, foreign direct investment (FDI) rules were changed in April. The new rules required any ‘border-sharing country’ to get the Government of India’s official approval to invest in India. China was displeased and belligerently called the rules discriminatory. Moreover, a significant number of Indian intellectuals want Taiwan to be an active part of World Health Organization meetings. This will successfully check back China’s dominance exerted on the WHO. Since India will be leading the executive board of WHO’s next meeting, there is a strong consensus that PM Modi should agree to Taiwan acting as an observer. Furthermore, India has respected a ‘One China Policy’ for decades. Now, Indian policy experts are aggressively asserting that China should recognize a ‘One India Policy’ as well. Specifically, this will require China to give up its claims on Indian territory. For quite some time now, America has called upon India to step up and play a more dominant role in the Indo-Pacific region. The timing could not be better. The Modi-Trump ‘bromance’ is going stronger than ever. With a preferred defence partnership and strong trade ties, US-China relations could never be better. Moreover, the American government has publicly stated that the USA needs to reduce dependence on China. One way to do this is reforming American global supply chains. This process has already begun. American multinational corporations and companies are also moving out of China. Thanks to President Trump’s encouragement, a plethora of these firms are relocating to India. The recent Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan economic stimulus package is very strategic because it attracts FDI to India in several ways. MSME’s are getting strong, significant support. Beneficial labour market reforms are getting implemented. Manufacturing is being boosted and tax exemptions for setting up companies will result in new enterprises in labour-intensive sectors like food processing and textiles. The impact? This economic stimulus package provides greater ease of doing business, much-needed labour reforms and some serious tax incentives for Indian and foreign companies. With the USA being one of India’s largest foreign direct investors, this economic stimulus package makes India economically attractive. With President Trump in office, there is no doubt that substantial American foreign investment will come to India. In fact, the United States of America will indubitably become India’s preferred investor. Among others, another nation that will invest in India is Japan who is reportedly at present incentivizing its firms to leave China. With this steady foreign direct investment flow, India can diversify imports and break free from Chinese dependence. Taking advantage of presently solid defence ties with the USA, India can overcome Chinese bullying for good. For India, President Trump is indisputably the preferred candidate to win the upcoming American presidential election. Democratic candidate Joe Biden will do very little for India. His personal ties and lenient policies towards China that have come out on public record will only weaken India-USA relations over the next few years. To add, if Biden is elected, China will be able to continue its nationalistic agenda. This agenda may include bioterrorism. The world has seen the terrifying impact with the coronavirus pandemic bringing down even the strongest and most capable nations. Over 100 countries have signed a resolution which seeks an investigation to learn the origin of the coronavirus disease. If China is to blame, there will certainly be severe consequences for Xi Jinping. India needs to take advantage of this momentum. Present circumstances and sentiment offer an invaluable opportunity for India to become the unquestionable leader of the region and exert influence over China. For this to happen, there is no better time for PM Modi to play the ‘Trump’ card. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Now is the time for PM Narendra Modi to play the ‘Trump’ card

As a nation, India’s response to Coronavirus has remained a series of hotchpotch decisions. India, as a nation. failed to formally create a national consensus on tackling pandemic. The first response of the Narendra Modi government was unilateral, whereby a lockdown was put in place without formally taking state governments on board.

The lockdown created panic within the community of migrant workers which continues to simmer till date. By end of 40 days, state governments and opposition prevailed upon the government and now India has almost opened up as if the state has decided to live with new pandemic without a cure or vaccine in sight.

On the whole, India’s poor were badly impacted. First, it was affected by the loss of job and then by exposure to the virus because of migration back to their natal place.

Even political parties could not decide on a common response on the pandemic leading to intense politicisation of the narrative. One CM wanted them to stay so that construction work could kickstart and another wanted them back to the state.

On every issue, the principal opposition party has differed from the ruling dispensation. The lack of consensus created a stumbling effect, whereby states after states resumed normal work as if nothing has happened.

The lockdown 4.0 version coincided with rising curve and India crossing 1,00,000 mark with doubling rate reduced to 12 days. India, unlike China, does not even have a social grid in place whereby movement of people can be restricted without creating social unrest.

Today, India’s political leadership has decided to live with the virus. It is a decision which does not have poor on board. It is a decision akin to what the Centre took where without consultation it decided to impose a national lockdown without factoring issues related to migrant workers.

The Prime Minister, in the end, did give in to the state chief ministers but the decision looked more like a compulsion than choice. India politicians also did not show the coherence of thought. PM declared that it is almost like a wartime situation. World over, political parties come together when a nation goes to war. In India’s case, partisan politics reigned supreme almost mimicking the United States of America where the absence of common ground continues to create confusion in policy circles.

In India too, there has been no middle ground between mass testing and social distancing approach. It is for this reason the political leadership has only done a good job in bits and pieces. Only individual decisions worked well. A national approach remains absent. The example in case is liquor sale which was kickstarted under duress as state government were falling short of money. Even during the worst, liquor and smoke shops weren’t closed.

India’s political class instead of fighting the virus tried to politically appropriate it without understanding that virus understands no barriers and damage it can cause to social and economic infrastructure can be long term.

On the whole, India's response continues to remain tepid and piecemeal. Centre did announce a package but still does not have a coherent policy to deal with labour and has left it to the state govt to deal with under the guise of concurrent list.

Today political leaders should ask&nbsp;a question - why migrant workers did not trust the state (governments) cutting across political parties. Why didn’t they stay put, despite the assurance? Why did migrant workers choose to walk thousands of kilometres despite knowing that they could be better off where they are? The answer is simple.

India’s poor do not have faith in the state. It is the biggest truth to emerge from the pandemic. They chose to travel 100s of km back to their homes to die rather than suffer the ignominy of dying in a workplace which doesn’t care for anything except the work hours.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

As a nation, India’s response to Coronavirus has remained a series of hotchpotch decisions. India, as a nation. failed to formally create a national consensus on tackling pandemic.

As a nation, India’s response to Coronavirus has remained a series of hotchpotch decisions. India, as a nation. failed to formally create a national consensus on tackling pandemic. The first response of the Narendra Modi government was unilateral, whereby a lockdown was put in place without formally taking state governments on board. The lockdown created panic within the community of migrant workers which continues to simmer till date. By end of 40 days, state governments and opposition prevailed upon the government and now India has almost opened up as if the state has decided to live with new pandemic without a cure or vaccine in sight. On the whole, India’s poor were badly impacted. First, it was affected by the loss of job and then by exposure to the virus because of migration back to their natal place. Even political parties could not decide on a common response on the pandemic leading to intense politicisation of the narrative. One CM wanted them to stay so that construction work could kickstart and another wanted them back to the state. On every issue, the principal opposition party has differed from the ruling dispensation. The lack of consensus created a stumbling effect, whereby states after states resumed normal work as if nothing has happened. The lockdown 4.0 version coincided with rising curve and India crossing 1,00,000 mark with doubling rate reduced to 12 days. India, unlike China, does not even have a social grid in place whereby movement of people can be restricted without creating social unrest. Today, India’s political leadership has decided to live with the virus. It is a decision which does not have poor on board. It is a decision akin to what the Centre took where without consultation it decided to impose a national lockdown without factoring issues related to migrant workers. The Prime Minister, in the end, did give in to the state chief ministers but the decision looked more like a compulsion than choice. India politicians also did not show the coherence of thought. PM declared that it is almost like a wartime situation. World over, political parties come together when a nation goes to war. In India’s case, partisan politics reigned supreme almost mimicking the United States of America where the absence of common ground continues to create confusion in policy circles. In India too, there has been no middle ground between mass testing and social distancing approach. It is for this reason the political leadership has only done a good job in bits and pieces. Only individual decisions worked well. A national approach remains absent. The example in case is liquor sale which was kickstarted under duress as state government were falling short of money. Even during the worst, liquor and smoke shops weren’t closed. India’s political class instead of fighting the virus tried to politically appropriate it without understanding that virus understands no barriers and damage it can cause to social and economic infrastructure can be long term. On the whole, India's response continues to remain tepid and piecemeal. Centre did announce a package but still does not have a coherent policy to deal with labour and has left it to the state govt to deal with under the guise of concurrent list. Today political leaders should ask a question - why migrant workers did not trust the state (governments) cutting across political parties. Why didn’t they stay put, despite the assurance? Why did migrant workers choose to walk thousands of kilometres despite knowing that they could be better off where they are? The answer is simple. India’s poor do not have faith in the state. It is the biggest truth to emerge from the pandemic. They chose to travel 100s of km back to their homes to die rather than suffer the ignominy of dying in a workplace which doesn’t care for anything except the work hours. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

The biggest truth to emerge from coronavirus pandemic is that India’s poor do not trust the state

Coronaviruses mutate naturally within their animal or human hosts, many of which produce no functional change in the virus.

Significant changes in the structure of a coronavirus can result in a “gain of function,” that is, enhanced pathogenicity and/or an increase in transmissibility among animals or between animals and humans.

Such a “gain of function” has also been generated artificially through bioengineering, which has been demonstrated using a wide variety of viruses.

Two recently-published scientific studies provide evidence that COVID-19 resulted from artificial manipulation of the structure of coronaviruses.

The<a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.06199"> first study </a>showed that COVID-19 samples, taken early in the pandemic, had already achieved a very high affinity for binding to human receptors, greater than all the other tested species including bats, the postulated source of the virus.

The next highest binding affinity after humans was, not bats, but pangolins (spiny anteaters), which have previously been <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1008421">excluded</a> as the animal source for the COVID-19 pandemic.

The lead author of the study<a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/exclusive-virus-researchers-uncover-evidence-implying-covid-19-was-created-in-a-lab?fbclid=IwAR0OhZqkRBeysQCrx5rEcsDH7VWOhnjqjq4_0o5axzVQi3iPYalJSt2Q3Po"> stated</a>, “there are some highly unusual features, including optimal human adaptation, that in the absence of identification of a close to identical virus in an animal population from which COVID-19 could have arisen, would point in the direction of human intervention at some point in the evolution of COVID-19.”

That conclusion was buttressed by a <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.01.073262v1.full">second study</a>, which compared the evolutionary dynamics between the COVID-19 and SARS-CoV, the coronavirus that caused the 2002-2003 pandemic.

Those scientists wrote they were “surprised to find” that COVID-19, early on, resembled SARS-CoV in the late phase of the 2002-2003 pandemic after SARS-CoV had developed several advantageous adaptations for human transmission.

Their observations suggested that by the time COVID-19 was first detected in late 2019, it was already pre-adapted for human transmission.

When combined with data <a href="https://www.wionews.com/opinions-blogs/explained-scientific-indications-that-show-covid-19-is-man-made-298868">published</a> in other scientific studies, there is mounting evidence that COVID-19 is man-made.

The reason COVID-19 binds with high affinity to human and pangolin and not bat receptors is likely because the pangolin receptor binding domain or part of it was artificially “spliced” onto a bat coronavirus backbone and then run through cell cultures and animal models that would optimize it for binding to human receptors.

In 2015, Ralph Baric from the University of North Carolina and Zheng-Li Shi, the <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-chinas-bat-woman-hunted-down-viruses-from-sars-to-the-new-coronavirus1/">“bat woman” </a>from the Wuhan Institute of Virology jointly published a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nm.3985">scientific article</a> describing the combination of the receptor-binding spike protein from a newly isolated coronavirus (SHC014) and the “backbone” from SARS-CoV, the coronavirus responsible for the 2002-2003 pandemic.

The above experiment produced a novel virus, chimera SHC014-MA15, which showed “robust viral replication both in vitro [cell cultures] and in vivo [animals],” using models adapted to test human infectivity.

Animal models for the addition of structures important to the function of coronaviruses in animals and humans, called O-linked glycans, have been <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6135831/">used </a>by Chinese scientists at the Chongqing Military Medical University, as well as animal models developed in China to <a href="https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/aalas/cm/2007/00000057/00000005/art00003">specifically select</a> for the human angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 receptor, the entry step for COVID-19 infection.

There should now be no doubt that the origin of COVID-19 can be better explained as the product of bioengineering rather than a yet unidentified naturally-occurring recombination event. 
 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)&nbsp;

Coronaviruses mutate naturally within their animal or human hosts, many of which produce no functional change in the virus. Significant changes in the structure of a coronavirus can result in a “gain of function,” that is, enhanced pathogenicity and/or an increase in transmissibility among animals or between animals and humans.

Coronaviruses mutate naturally within their animal or human hosts, many of which produce no functional change in the virus. Significant changes in the structure of a coronavirus can result in a “gain of function,” that is, enhanced pathogenicity and/or an increase in transmissibility among animals or between animals and humans. Such a “gain of function” has also been generated artificially through bioengineering, which has been demonstrated using a wide variety of viruses. Two recently-published scientific studies provide evidence that COVID-19 resulted from artificial manipulation of the structure of coronaviruses. The first study showed that COVID-19 samples, taken early in the pandemic, had already achieved a very high affinity for binding to human receptors, greater than all the other tested species including bats, the postulated source of the virus. The next highest binding affinity after humans was, not bats, but pangolins (spiny anteaters), which have previously been excluded as the animal source for the COVID-19 pandemic. The lead author of the study stated, “there are some highly unusual features, including optimal human adaptation, that in the absence of identification of a close to identical virus in an animal population from which COVID-19 could have arisen, would point in the direction of human intervention at some point in the evolution of COVID-19.” That conclusion was buttressed by a second study, which compared the evolutionary dynamics between the COVID-19 and SARS-CoV, the coronavirus that caused the 2002-2003 pandemic. Those scientists wrote they were “surprised to find” that COVID-19, early on, resembled SARS-CoV in the late phase of the 2002-2003 pandemic after SARS-CoV had developed several advantageous adaptations for human transmission. Their observations suggested that by the time COVID-19 was first detected in late 2019, it was already pre-adapted for human transmission. When combined with data published in other scientific studies, there is mounting evidence that COVID-19 is man-made. The reason COVID-19 binds with high affinity to human and pangolin and not bat receptors is likely because the pangolin receptor binding domain or part of it was artificially “spliced” onto a bat coronavirus backbone and then run through cell cultures and animal models that would optimize it for binding to human receptors. In 2015, Ralph Baric from the University of North Carolina and Zheng-Li Shi, the “bat woman” from the Wuhan Institute of Virology jointly published a scientific article describing the combination of the receptor-binding spike protein from a newly isolated coronavirus (SHC014) and the “backbone” from SARS-CoV, the coronavirus responsible for the 2002-2003 pandemic. The above experiment produced a novel virus, chimera SHC014-MA15, which showed “robust viral replication both in vitro [cell cultures] and in vivo [animals],” using models adapted to test human infectivity. Animal models for the addition of structures important to the function of coronaviruses in animals and humans, called O-linked glycans, have been used by Chinese scientists at the Chongqing Military Medical University, as well as animal models developed in China to specifically select for the human angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 receptor, the entry step for COVID-19 infection. There should now be no doubt that the origin of COVID-19 can be better explained as the product of bioengineering rather than a yet unidentified naturally-occurring recombination event. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Evidence indicates COVID-19 was artificially adapted to infect humans

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), some Western scientists sympathetic to China and the obsequious media have expended enormous efforts to convince the public that the COVID-19 pandemic is a naturally-occurring outbreak of disease.

Included in that effort are <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/12/asia/china-coronavirus-research-restrictions-intl-hnk/index.html">restrictions </a>imposed by the Chinese government on academic research related to the origins of COVID-19, in what is likely part of a wider attempt to control the narrative surrounding the origin of the pandemic.

There are now rumours swirling within the global scientific community that Western professional journals are submitting to pressure from Beijing and refusing to publish data that do not conform to the naturally-occurring interpretation of the origin of COVID-19.

The narrative promoted by the CCP is that COVID-19, while circulating in a bat population mutated, acquiring the ability to infect humans, which was then transmitted to people either visiting or working in the Wuhan Seafood Market.

First of all, it was already known by the end of January 2020, that the initial patients hospitalised between December 1-10, 2019 had <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30183-5/fulltext">not visited </a>the market and bats were <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7079563/">not sold</a> there.

Despite the extraordinary propaganda campaign mounted by the Chinese government and its sycophants in the West, the origin of COVID-19 remains unknown and all of the structurally close bat coronaviruses so far identified to explain its origin have only raised more doubts.

In the February 3, 2020 Nature article, scientists from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, led by Zheng-Li Shi, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7079563/">claimed that</a> the coronavirus RaTG13, isolated from bats in Yunnan Province, China, showed a 96.2% sequence identity with COVID-19 and, therefore, “RaTG13 is the closest relative” of COVID-19 and forms a distinct lineage from other coronaviruses.

A month later on March 17, 2020, the article “The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2,” widely-cited by scientists and the media, supported the conclusion that RaTG13 is CoVid-19’s closest relative, which likely “jumped” from animals to humans in the Wuhan Seafood Market.

It was later <a href="https://ccnationalsecurity.org/chinas-narrative-about-the-origin-of-covid-19-is-starting-to-unravel/">revealed that </a>RaTG13 only existed on paper and was actually a duplicate of another bat coronavirus, BtCoV/4991, about which very little experimental data have been published.

Nevertheless, if we use the RaTG13 sequence, which has provided the basis of China’s naturally-occurring theory for the origin of COVID-19, holes begin to appear in its argument.

COVID-19’s receptor binding domain, which allows the attachment of the virus to a human cell, is structurally closer in its amino acid sequence to that of pangolins (scaly anteaters) than to bat RaTG13. 
 
COVID-19 
 
N S N N L D S K V G G N Y N Y L Y R L F R K S N L K P F E R D I S T E I Y Q A G S T P C 
N G V E G F N C Y F P L Q S Y G F Q P T N G V G Y Q P Y 
 
Pangolin

N S N N L D S K V G G N Y N Y L Y R L F R K S N L K P F E R D I S T E I Y Q A G S T P C 
N G V E G F N C Y F P L Q S Y G F H P T N G V G Y Q P Y&nbsp;

RaTG13 
 
N S K H I D A K E G G N F N Y L Y R L F R K A N L K P F E R D I S T E I Y Q A G S K P C 
N G Q T G L N C Y Y P L Y R Y G F Y P T D G V G H Q P Y &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;

As you can see, the pangolin sequence differs from COVID-19 by only one amino acid, while RaTG13 differs in seventeen positions.

Within the receptor-binding domain there are fourteen specific amino acids that were previously <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/113/11/3048">shown</a> to be critical for coronaviruses to bind to the angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 receptor that initiates the COVID-19 infection in humans.

At least two pangolin species match those critical COVID-19 amino acids in thirteen out of fourteen positions, whereas RaTG13 matches only seven out of fourteen and other bat coronaviruses do so to an even lesser extent.

Chinese scientists <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2313-x">suggest </a>that the pangolin receptor binding domain was “donated” to COVID-19, presumably through some type of recombinant event occurring between a bat coronavirus and a pangolin coronavirus inside a pangolin host.

Their naturally-occurring explanation for the presence of a pangolin-like receptor binding domain is highly speculative and no evidence exists to support such a contention.

A far more likely scenario is that the native receptor binding domain within a bat coronavirus “backbone” was artificially replaced with one from a pangolin strain.

After that, came the insertion of the furin polybasic cleavage site, found in COVID-19 and none of the close bat coronaviruses relatives yet identified and a distinctive feature is widely known for its ability to enhance <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6832359/">pathogenicity</a> and<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12250-020-00212-7"> transmissibility</a> in coronaviruses.

There is additional information now being discussed on <a href="https://nerdhaspower.weebly.com/blog/scientific-evidence-and-logic-behind-the-claim-that-the-wuhan-coronavirus-is-man-made#comments">virology blogs</a> indicating that COVID-19 is not naturally-occurring because its differential ratio of synonymous to non-synonymous substitution is vastly different compared to that which occurs in nature among bat populations as well as natural factors that would select against the presence of a furin polybasic cleavage site.

China’s ongoing propaganda campaign and its associated Western censorship will not stop honest scientific inquiry from discovering the true origin of COVID-19. 
 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), some Western scientists sympathetic to China and the obsequious media have expended enormous efforts to convince the public that the COVID-19 pandemic is a naturally-occurring outbreak of disease.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), some Western scientists sympathetic to China and the obsequious media have expended enormous efforts to convince the public that the COVID-19 pandemic is a naturally-occurring outbreak of disease. Included in that effort are restrictions imposed by the Chinese government on academic research related to the origins of COVID-19, in what is likely part of a wider attempt to control the narrative surrounding the origin of the pandemic. There are now rumours swirling within the global scientific community that Western professional journals are submitting to pressure from Beijing and refusing to publish data that do not conform to the naturally-occurring interpretation of the origin of COVID-19. The narrative promoted by the CCP is that COVID-19, while circulating in a bat population mutated, acquiring the ability to infect humans, which was then transmitted to people either visiting or working in the Wuhan Seafood Market. First of all, it was already known by the end of January 2020, that the initial patients hospitalised between December 1-10, 2019 had not visited the market and bats were not sold there. Despite the extraordinary propaganda campaign mounted by the Chinese government and its sycophants in the West, the origin of COVID-19 remains unknown and all of the structurally close bat coronaviruses so far identified to explain its origin have only raised more doubts. In the February 3, 2020 Nature article, scientists from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, led by Zheng-Li Shi, claimed that the coronavirus RaTG13, isolated from bats in Yunnan Province, China, showed a 96.2% sequence identity with COVID-19 and, therefore, “RaTG13 is the closest relative” of COVID-19 and forms a distinct lineage from other coronaviruses. A month later on March 17, 2020, the article “The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2,” widely-cited by scientists and the media, supported the conclusion that RaTG13 is CoVid-19’s closest relative, which likely “jumped” from animals to humans in the Wuhan Seafood Market. It was later revealed that RaTG13 only existed on paper and was actually a duplicate of another bat coronavirus, BtCoV/4991, about which very little experimental data have been published. Nevertheless, if we use the RaTG13 sequence, which has provided the basis of China’s naturally-occurring theory for the origin of COVID-19, holes begin to appear in its argument. COVID-19’s receptor binding domain, which allows the attachment of the virus to a human cell, is structurally closer in its amino acid sequence to that of pangolins (scaly anteaters) than to bat RaTG13. COVID-19 N S N N L D S K V G G N Y N Y L Y R L F R K S N L K P F E R D I S T E I Y Q A G S T P C N G V E G F N C Y F P L Q S Y G F Q P T N G V G Y Q P Y Pangolin N S N N L D S K V G G N Y N Y L Y R L F R K S N L K P F E R D I S T E I Y Q A G S T P C N G V E G F N C Y F P L Q S Y G F H P T N G V G Y Q P Y RaTG13 N S K H I D A K E G G N F N Y L Y R L F R K A N L K P F E R D I S T E I Y Q A G S K P C N G Q T G L N C Y Y P L Y R Y G F Y P T D G V G H Q P Y As you can see, the pangolin sequence differs from COVID-19 by only one amino acid, while RaTG13 differs in seventeen positions. Within the receptor-binding domain there are fourteen specific amino acids that were previously shown to be critical for coronaviruses to bind to the angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 receptor that initiates the COVID-19 infection in humans. At least two pangolin species match those critical COVID-19 amino acids in thirteen out of fourteen positions, whereas RaTG13 matches only seven out of fourteen and other bat coronaviruses do so to an even lesser extent. Chinese scientists suggest that the pangolin receptor binding domain was “donated” to COVID-19, presumably through some type of recombinant event occurring between a bat coronavirus and a pangolin coronavirus inside a pangolin host. Their naturally-occurring explanation for the presence of a pangolin-like receptor binding domain is highly speculative and no evidence exists to support such a contention. A far more likely scenario is that the native receptor binding domain within a bat coronavirus “backbone” was artificially replaced with one from a pangolin strain. After that, came the insertion of the furin polybasic cleavage site, found in COVID-19 and none of the close bat coronaviruses relatives yet identified and a distinctive feature is widely known for its ability to enhance pathogenicity and transmissibility in coronaviruses. There is additional information now being discussed on virology blogs indicating that COVID-19 is not naturally-occurring because its differential ratio of synonymous to non-synonymous substitution is vastly different compared to that which occurs in nature among bat populations as well as natural factors that would select against the presence of a furin polybasic cleavage site. China’s ongoing propaganda campaign and its associated Western censorship will not stop honest scientific inquiry from discovering the true origin of COVID-19. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Explained: Scientific indications that show COVID-19 is man-made

International order has been historically referenced with the event that brought about a major change in the same; be it a post-Westphalian international structure, a post-World War order or a post-Cold War era. With a pandemic of this magnitude that has brought even developed economies to their knees, the international order will certainly take a new shape post-COVID19. A key takeaway is going to be the reorientation of global supply chains along the lines of economic nationalism.&nbsp;

The fight of major Asian economies like South Korea, Japan, India, as well as, China against COVID-19 has caused immense damage to both life and livelihood, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stating that for the first time in almost 60 years, Asian economies will see “zero growth” in 2020. This was not the Asian Century that had been imagined; a realm of economic prosperity, connectivity and shifting of the global power stage to Asia with Asian powers at important tables had been the reality under which the 21st Century was to operate. At the regional level, a post-COVID-19 economic and political Asian trajectory is concurrently emerging. How likely is economic nationalism to shape the future of post-COVID-19 Asia? &nbsp;

Addressing supply chain conundrums&nbsp;

A major change in a post-COVID Asia, if not the world, is going to be a rise in and increased thrust by administrations on economic nationalism. Prolonged focus on extended and specialised global supply chains is going to be discouraged; extreme over-reliance of global supply chains on China, be it in sectors of pharmaceuticals, consumer goods, electronics or automobiles, has become alarmingly clear during the COVID-19 pandemic. &nbsp;

An extended emphasis on economic nationalism has been on the rise since the 2008 financial crisis-era; however, economic liberalism and globalisation continued to hold the larger sway, supported by Bretton Woods institutions. The coronavirus pandemic and its effect on national economies can prove to be the very thrust needed for economic nationalism to become the policy implemented by major economies. China, for its part, has been largely critical of Bretton Woods institutes like the IMF, WTO, and World Bank, earning itself the tag of a “revisionist” power by the US in its 2017 National Security Strategy and 2018 National Defence Strategy while in 2019, the US Treasury labelled China a ‘currency manipulator’. However, China’s miraculous rise to a global economic power has been a result of perks it enjoyed due to the US-led liberal economic order. Hence, while China has tried to Asianise or lead by offering an alternate platform to existing Bretton Woods institutions, as seen in the case of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) or its attempts to increase its voting power base in the IMF, it has hoped for continuation of globalisation trends that aid its economic growth. For China, a manufacturing giant and trading hub, economic nationalism imbibed by Asian nations is going to result in loss of its regional dominance and serve as a major fallback to its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).&nbsp;

A report by Dun and Bradstreet claims that globally, over 51,000 companies have direct while 5 million companies have one or two-ties suppliers in China. Examples of economic nationalism being exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis can be seen already. For instance, Japan, for whom China is its largest trading partner, has announced that USD 2.2 million from its huge coronavirus stimulus package will be dedicated to solely encourage its manufacturers to shift their businesses out of China, preferably into Japan itself or to other neighbouring countries. Economic nationalism has already taken a front seat in US President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy which has led to the withdrawal of US support from multilateral trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Further, while citing that it was responsible for “mismanaging and covering up the spread of coronavirus”, Trump recently suspended US funding from the World Health Organisation (WHO) which had come under rebuke by the US for its pro-China dealings. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to keep India out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in 2019 is also remnant of its economic nationalism interests while the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union (EU) has been interpreted as London making a strong case for national economics a priority over globalisation.&nbsp;

Economic nationalism takes a lead&nbsp;

Economic nationalism, unlike economic liberalism, will prove to be a zero-sum game. It will allow nations to benefit at the expense of other countries or groups; it threatens the positive sum-game interdependency a globalised international order has thrived on. Beijing has followed a dual policy of implementing economic nationalism in its own national initiatives (case in point, the BRI which follows a debt-trap, unilateral, state-run policy of functioning) while benefitting from the economic liberal order that trade institutions and multilateral initiatives have created (BRI does indeed fulfil, albeit at the questionable expense, the infrastructure and connectivity needs of developing nations). &nbsp;

Economic nationalism is hence not new in China; it has varied forms of management and aggressiveness under Xi Jinping’s Communist Capitalism lead. What is emerging as a disturbing trend is the emergence of economic nationalism as a core foreign policy tool among countries like Japan, India and South Korea as well. These are critical top trading partners of China and this trend is likely to severely damage its supply chain networks. &nbsp;

Implementation of economic nationalism in a pre-coronavirus world could have worked in favour of China; theoretically, the concept threatens Bretton Woods institutions and rules-based trading, as championed by the US and its alliance and close strategic partners. It ultimately promotes a national-interest oriented and non-intermediary form of trade that does not necessarily follow international norms but rather bilateral settlements. It would have ultimately supported China’s BRI objectives, as it has done in the past with Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka and BRI’s extensive Pakistan associations threatening Indian sovereignty. &nbsp;

Economic nationalism in pre-COVID era worked in Chinese favour because while Beijing followed its national interest-driven economic plans, it also actively engaged in institutions like the WTO, IMF, UN, AIIB and New Development Bank (NDB) while spearheading agreements like RCEP. This allowed it to present a global leader narrative, enunciating inclusion in the erstwhile Westernised world order, while becoming the world’s production center. China’s global might and political power stems from its economic prowess. However, in a post-COVID 19 order, economic nationalisation will strengthen ‘Make in’ self-territory initiatives and also lead to shifting from single-source supply chains. Ultimately, the pandemic is only going to strengthen trends that have been already in the play of moving away from China-centric supply sources.&nbsp;

While economic nationalism is at the core of competing foreign policy outlooks, it has been harder to implement the same due to the heavily ingrained globalization framework modern trade has been built around. However, the resurgence of economic nationalism must be studied in the context of the emergence of an environment that has become increasingly unfavourable towards economic integration. Take for example India’s decision to not join RCEP; it came in light of intense domestic pressure, with the agrarian sector and political affiliate parties of Modi’s Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) citing disapproval with the FTA. Similarly, public disapproval and pushback against the TPP as well as the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), even with their net economic benefits, lead to US withdrawal from the same. &nbsp;

Even though globalisation is here to stay and will not be completely done away with, a largely localised manner of globalisation with national interests at its core is highly likely to be implemented. This trend, which has seen a reflection in Japan’s post coronavirus manufacturing withdrawal from China, goes to show that thrust in economic nationalism and protectionism in brewing and could possibly have the potential to bring massive changes to the existing global economic and trade system.&nbsp; 
 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

International order has been historically referenced with the event that brought about a major change in the same; be it a post-Westphalian international structure, a post-World War order or a post-Cold War era.

International order has been historically referenced with the event that brought about a major change in the same; be it a post-Westphalian international structure, a post-World War order or a post-Cold War era. With a pandemic of this magnitude that has brought even developed economies to their knees, the international order will certainly take a new shape post-COVID19. A key takeaway is going to be the reorientation of global supply chains along the lines of economic nationalism. The fight of major Asian economies like South Korea, Japan, India, as well as, China against COVID-19 has caused immense damage to both life and livelihood, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stating that for the first time in almost 60 years, Asian economies will see “zero growth” in 2020. This was not the Asian Century that had been imagined; a realm of economic prosperity, connectivity and shifting of the global power stage to Asia with Asian powers at important tables had been the reality under which the 21st Century was to operate. At the regional level, a post-COVID-19 economic and political Asian trajectory is concurrently emerging. How likely is economic nationalism to shape the future of post-COVID-19 Asia? Addressing supply chain conundrums A major change in a post-COVID Asia, if not the world, is going to be a rise in and increased thrust by administrations on economic nationalism. Prolonged focus on extended and specialised global supply chains is going to be discouraged; extreme over-reliance of global supply chains on China, be it in sectors of pharmaceuticals, consumer goods, electronics or automobiles, has become alarmingly clear during the COVID-19 pandemic. An extended emphasis on economic nationalism has been on the rise since the 2008 financial crisis-era; however, economic liberalism and globalisation continued to hold the larger sway, supported by Bretton Woods institutions. The coronavirus pandemic and its effect on national economies can prove to be the very thrust needed for economic nationalism to become the policy implemented by major economies. China, for its part, has been largely critical of Bretton Woods institutes like the IMF, WTO, and World Bank, earning itself the tag of a “revisionist” power by the US in its 2017 National Security Strategy and 2018 National Defence Strategy while in 2019, the US Treasury labelled China a ‘currency manipulator’. However, China’s miraculous rise to a global economic power has been a result of perks it enjoyed due to the US-led liberal economic order. Hence, while China has tried to Asianise or lead by offering an alternate platform to existing Bretton Woods institutions, as seen in the case of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) or its attempts to increase its voting power base in the IMF, it has hoped for continuation of globalisation trends that aid its economic growth. For China, a manufacturing giant and trading hub, economic nationalism imbibed by Asian nations is going to result in loss of its regional dominance and serve as a major fallback to its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). A report by Dun and Bradstreet claims that globally, over 51,000 companies have direct while 5 million companies have one or two-ties suppliers in China. Examples of economic nationalism being exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis can be seen already. For instance, Japan, for whom China is its largest trading partner, has announced that USD 2.2 million from its huge coronavirus stimulus package will be dedicated to solely encourage its manufacturers to shift their businesses out of China, preferably into Japan itself or to other neighbouring countries. Economic nationalism has already taken a front seat in US President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy which has led to the withdrawal of US support from multilateral trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Further, while citing that it was responsible for “mismanaging and covering up the spread of coronavirus”, Trump recently suspended US funding from the World Health Organisation (WHO) which had come under rebuke by the US for its pro-China dealings. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to keep India out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in 2019 is also remnant of its economic nationalism interests while the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union (EU) has been interpreted as London making a strong case for national economics a priority over globalisation. Economic nationalism takes a lead Economic nationalism, unlike economic liberalism, will prove to be a zero-sum game. It will allow nations to benefit at the expense of other countries or groups; it threatens the positive sum-game interdependency a globalised international order has thrived on. Beijing has followed a dual policy of implementing economic nationalism in its own national initiatives (case in point, the BRI which follows a debt-trap, unilateral, state-run policy of functioning) while benefitting from the economic liberal order that trade institutions and multilateral initiatives have created (BRI does indeed fulfil, albeit at the questionable expense, the infrastructure and connectivity needs of developing nations). Economic nationalism is hence not new in China; it has varied forms of management and aggressiveness under Xi Jinping’s Communist Capitalism lead. What is emerging as a disturbing trend is the emergence of economic nationalism as a core foreign policy tool among countries like Japan, India and South Korea as well. These are critical top trading partners of China and this trend is likely to severely damage its supply chain networks. Implementation of economic nationalism in a pre-coronavirus world could have worked in favour of China; theoretically, the concept threatens Bretton Woods institutions and rules-based trading, as championed by the US and its alliance and close strategic partners. It ultimately promotes a national-interest oriented and non-intermediary form of trade that does not necessarily follow international norms but rather bilateral settlements. It would have ultimately supported China’s BRI objectives, as it has done in the past with Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka and BRI’s extensive Pakistan associations threatening Indian sovereignty. Economic nationalism in pre-COVID era worked in Chinese favour because while Beijing followed its national interest-driven economic plans, it also actively engaged in institutions like the WTO, IMF, UN, AIIB and New Development Bank (NDB) while spearheading agreements like RCEP. This allowed it to present a global leader narrative, enunciating inclusion in the erstwhile Westernised world order, while becoming the world’s production center. China’s global might and political power stems from its economic prowess. However, in a post-COVID 19 order, economic nationalisation will strengthen ‘Make in’ self-territory initiatives and also lead to shifting from single-source supply chains. Ultimately, the pandemic is only going to strengthen trends that have been already in the play of moving away from China-centric supply sources. While economic nationalism is at the core of competing foreign policy outlooks, it has been harder to implement the same due to the heavily ingrained globalization framework modern trade has been built around. However, the resurgence of economic nationalism must be studied in the context of the emergence of an environment that has become increasingly unfavourable towards economic integration. Take for example India’s decision to not join RCEP; it came in light of intense domestic pressure, with the agrarian sector and political affiliate parties of Modi’s Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) citing disapproval with the FTA. Similarly, public disapproval and pushback against the TPP as well as the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), even with their net economic benefits, lead to US withdrawal from the same. Even though globalisation is here to stay and will not be completely done away with, a largely localised manner of globalisation with national interests at its core is highly likely to be implemented. This trend, which has seen a reflection in Japan’s post coronavirus manufacturing withdrawal from China, goes to show that thrust in economic nationalism and protectionism in brewing and could possibly have the potential to bring massive changes to the existing global economic and trade system. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Economic nationalism takes a lead in post-COVID-19 Asia

The travel industry has borne the brunt of the damage wrought by lockdowns to contain the novel coronavirus as nations have sealed borders and planes have been grounded.

While some expect the COVID-19 shock to last around year, the lasting <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/sri-lanka-to-target-high-spending-tourists-to-revive-tourism-297463">impact on travel</a> is unclear.

The UN forecasts&nbsp;that the world economy will shrink by 3.2 per cent this year, the sharpest contraction since the 1930s Great Depression.

However, as the realisation dawns that the world will have to learn to live with the virus, governments are keen on <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/global-governments-banking-on-tourism-for-economic-revival-298732">kickstarting tourism </a>for economic revival.

European Union&nbsp;is planning to salvage the summer tourist season and is asking member nations to throw open their borders. It has called for&nbsp;unrestricted movement across member states,&nbsp;albeit with safety measures, such as face masks on aeroplanes and social distancing. 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/opinions-blogs/explained-coronavirus-impact-on-the-tourism-industry-277803">Also read:&nbsp;Explained - Coronavirus impact on the tourism industry</a>

The tourism sector accounts for about 10 per cent of the BLOC's economy.&nbsp;Europe’s museums, beaches and plazas have been virtually empty since mid-March under a near-blanket travel halt that has destroyed jobs, pulverised the airline and hospitality sectors and undermined Europe’s cherished principle of free movement in a bid to contain the virus.

Austria and Germany are planning&nbsp;to fully reopen their border on June 15. That will particularly help Austria’s tourism industry, which relies heavily on German visitors. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that the aim is to eliminate border controls from June 15 across the Schengen region.

Furthermore, governments are working on individual plans too. The Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have opened their borders to one another, creating a coronavirus "travel bubble".&nbsp;This is the first "travel bubble" in Europe since nations began shutting their borders earlier this year in response to the coronavirus pandemic. 
 
India too is keen to restart tourism. Prime Minister Narendra Modi while referring to tourism said that he saw the potential for domestic tourism "but we need to think of the contours of the same".

He&nbsp;said, "We can now focus our strategy in this battle against coronavirus, as should be the case. We have a twofold challenge –- to reduce the transmission rate of the disease, and to increase public activity gradually, while adhering to all the guidelines. We will have to work towards achieving both these objectives."

Social-distance travel

Under the European Commission’s proposals, airlines and airports would insist passengers wear masks and reorganise check-ins, dropoffs and luggage pickups to avoid crowds. 
 
The Brussels-based Commission also wants vouchers for cancelled flights or holidays to be valid for at least a year, with protection against bankruptcies, so people would accept them instead of demanding refunds from cash-strapped airlines and travel firms.

It said people should be able to stay in hotels, eat in restaurants or go to beaches - though it stressed the situation would have to be monitored to prevent a new surge in infections. 
 
(With inputs from Reuters)

The travel industry has borne the brunt of the damage wrought by lockdowns to contain the novel coronavirus as nations have sealed borders and planes have been grounded.

The travel industry has borne the brunt of the damage wrought by lockdowns to contain the novel coronavirus as nations have sealed borders and planes have been grounded. While some expect the COVID-19 shock to last around year, the lasting impact on travel is unclear. The UN forecasts that the world economy will shrink by 3.2 per cent this year, the sharpest contraction since the 1930s Great Depression. However, as the realisation dawns that the world will have to learn to live with the virus, governments are keen on kickstarting tourism for economic revival. European Union is planning to salvage the summer tourist season and is asking member nations to throw open their borders. It has called for unrestricted movement across member states, albeit with safety measures, such as face masks on aeroplanes and social distancing. Also read: Explained - Coronavirus impact on the tourism industry The tourism sector accounts for about 10 per cent of the BLOC's economy. Europe’s museums, beaches and plazas have been virtually empty since mid-March under a near-blanket travel halt that has destroyed jobs, pulverised the airline and hospitality sectors and undermined Europe’s cherished principle of free movement in a bid to contain the virus. Austria and Germany are planning to fully reopen their border on June 15. That will particularly help Austria’s tourism industry, which relies heavily on German visitors. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that the aim is to eliminate border controls from June 15 across the Schengen region. Furthermore, governments are working on individual plans too. The Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have opened their borders to one another, creating a coronavirus "travel bubble". This is the first "travel bubble" in Europe since nations began shutting their borders earlier this year in response to the coronavirus pandemic. India too is keen to restart tourism. Prime Minister Narendra Modi while referring to tourism said that he saw the potential for domestic tourism "but we need to think of the contours of the same". He said, "We can now focus our strategy in this battle against coronavirus, as should be the case. We have a twofold challenge –- to reduce the transmission rate of the disease, and to increase public activity gradually, while adhering to all the guidelines. We will have to work towards achieving both these objectives." Social-distance travel Under the European Commission’s proposals, airlines and airports would insist passengers wear masks and reorganise check-ins, dropoffs and luggage pickups to avoid crowds. The Brussels-based Commission also wants vouchers for cancelled flights or holidays to be valid for at least a year, with protection against bankruptcies, so people would accept them instead of demanding refunds from cash-strapped airlines and travel firms. It said people should be able to stay in hotels, eat in restaurants or go to beaches - though it stressed the situation would have to be monitored to prevent a new surge in infections. (With inputs from Reuters)

What's the importance of tourism to the world's economy?