Italy bans flights from Taiwan because the WHO listed Taiwan "under China"
(1 Feb) Yesterday, Italy began restricting all flights from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and China. Johnson Sen Chiang - Director-General of European Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan) - said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed discontent and concern upon receiving the notification. Discussions revealed that the World Health Organization (WHO) listed Taiwan under China, leading Italian Ministry of Health officials to restrict Taiwan flights from landing in Italy. However, this does not necessarily reflect Italy's political stance on whether Taiwan is part of China.
Jaushieh Joseph Wu, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China plans to hold an international press conference tomorrow to specify that Taiwan and China are different and address the WHO's categorisation issue.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs: WHO's miscategorisation misleads other countries
Chiang stated that more than 60 countries and regions ban Chinese but not Taiwanese flights. This showed that many countries knew the difference between Taiwan and China. Italy referred to information from the WHO, which evaluated China's risk as being the highest and made a footnote that Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan were included. The categorisation was an error that misled the Italian Ministry of Health to make the wrong decision.
At the moment the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is negotiating with Italy and making its discontent and concern known to the WHO. Chiang emphasised that it does not mean Italy believes Taiwan is part of China. The WHO's mistake is separate from Italy's political stance.
On the other hand, Vietnam's ban of Taiwanese flights this afternoon was lifted in the evening after successful negotiations. To avoid similar situations of having to explain the difference between China and Taiwan to other countries, Wu will hold an international press conference tomorrow to address the issue.
Source: Liberty Times
https://m.ltn.com.tw/news/politics/breakingnews/3054770
#Coronavirus #WHO #OneChina #Taiwan #Italy #Vietnam #Miscategorisation
(1 Feb) Yesterday, Italy began restricting all flights from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and China. Johnson Sen Chiang - Director-General of European Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan) - said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed discontent and concern upon receiving the notification. Discussions revealed that the World Health Organization (WHO) listed Taiwan under China, leading Italian Ministry of Health officials to restrict Taiwan flights from landing in Italy. However, this does not necessarily reflect Italy's political stance on whether Taiwan is part of China.
Jaushieh Joseph Wu, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China plans to hold an international press conference tomorrow to specify that Taiwan and China are different and address the WHO's categorisation issue.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs: WHO's miscategorisation misleads other countries
Chiang stated that more than 60 countries and regions ban Chinese but not Taiwanese flights. This showed that many countries knew the difference between Taiwan and China. Italy referred to information from the WHO, which evaluated China's risk as being the highest and made a footnote that Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan were included. The categorisation was an error that misled the Italian Ministry of Health to make the wrong decision.
At the moment the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is negotiating with Italy and making its discontent and concern known to the WHO. Chiang emphasised that it does not mean Italy believes Taiwan is part of China. The WHO's mistake is separate from Italy's political stance.
On the other hand, Vietnam's ban of Taiwanese flights this afternoon was lifted in the evening after successful negotiations. To avoid similar situations of having to explain the difference between China and Taiwan to other countries, Wu will hold an international press conference tomorrow to address the issue.
Source: Liberty Times
https://m.ltn.com.tw/news/politics/breakingnews/3054770
#Coronavirus #WHO #OneChina #Taiwan #Italy #Vietnam #Miscategorisation
#Newspaper
Chinese dams along upper Mekong are behind serious droughts in Southeast Asian Countries, study says
While China claimed to be suffering from equally arid conditions in response to one of the worst droughts that was happening in Southeast Asian countries, new research from American climatologists show that Beijing’s engineers appear to have directly caused the record low levels of water in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam while securing their own supplies. The report has been creating a lot of noise as the hashtag #StopMekongDam trends on twitter.
Alan Basist, one of the co-writers of the report, remarked that while countries like Cambodia and Thailand were suffering from serious droughts, there was plenty of water near the Tibetan Plateau, suggesting that a huge volume of water was being held back in China. The report also suggested that China’s dams might have held back more than 410 feet of river height based on data collected over the course of 28 years.
While China, with growing geopolitical power, has always claimed that they value win-win relationships with other nations, a backlash is currently growing among Southeast Asian countries. In this particular case concerning water supply, while China did propose development plans that allegedly will benefit Southeast Asian countries, Beijing has control of the upstream Mekong, which provides as much as 70% of water to downstream nations in the dry season, leading to speculations that China is simply another “imperial power” that seeks to control natural resources regardless of needs of the local populace.
The Chinese section of the river is currently punctuated by 11 major dams, providing more power that is needed by the region as well as blocking a large proportion of sediment that should have flowed to the river’s mouth in Vietnam. Conservationists worry that such actions will “kill the river” while China’s participation in regional groups dedicated to the river’s health remain minimal.
Full Articles: The New York Times, Reuters, (Apr 2020)
https://nyti.ms/3dtbAOl
https://reut.rs/2LdOnnf
https://reut.rs/2WfeuAs
#StopMekongDam #ChinaThreat #drought #Thailand #Laos #Cambodia #Vietnam
Chinese dams along upper Mekong are behind serious droughts in Southeast Asian Countries, study says
While China claimed to be suffering from equally arid conditions in response to one of the worst droughts that was happening in Southeast Asian countries, new research from American climatologists show that Beijing’s engineers appear to have directly caused the record low levels of water in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam while securing their own supplies. The report has been creating a lot of noise as the hashtag #StopMekongDam trends on twitter.
Alan Basist, one of the co-writers of the report, remarked that while countries like Cambodia and Thailand were suffering from serious droughts, there was plenty of water near the Tibetan Plateau, suggesting that a huge volume of water was being held back in China. The report also suggested that China’s dams might have held back more than 410 feet of river height based on data collected over the course of 28 years.
While China, with growing geopolitical power, has always claimed that they value win-win relationships with other nations, a backlash is currently growing among Southeast Asian countries. In this particular case concerning water supply, while China did propose development plans that allegedly will benefit Southeast Asian countries, Beijing has control of the upstream Mekong, which provides as much as 70% of water to downstream nations in the dry season, leading to speculations that China is simply another “imperial power” that seeks to control natural resources regardless of needs of the local populace.
The Chinese section of the river is currently punctuated by 11 major dams, providing more power that is needed by the region as well as blocking a large proportion of sediment that should have flowed to the river’s mouth in Vietnam. Conservationists worry that such actions will “kill the river” while China’s participation in regional groups dedicated to the river’s health remain minimal.
Full Articles: The New York Times, Reuters, (Apr 2020)
https://nyti.ms/3dtbAOl
https://reut.rs/2LdOnnf
https://reut.rs/2WfeuAs
#StopMekongDam #ChinaThreat #drought #Thailand #Laos #Cambodia #Vietnam
NY Times
China Limited the Mekong’s Flow. Other Countries Suffered a Drought. (Published 2020)
New research show that Beijing’s engineers appear to have directly caused the record low levels of water in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Petition to Stop China to build dam on the upstream Mekong River
(16 Apr) According to new research from American climatologists, China, where the headwaters of the Mekong spring forth from the Tibetan Plateau, was not experiencing the same hardship at all. Instead, Beijing's engineers appeared to have directly caused the record low water levels by limiting the river's flow. This has caused droughts in Southeast Asian Countries and therefore a petition is created for this issue. Currently more than 67000 signatures are received.
#StopMekongDam #Petition #drought #Thailand #Laos #Cambodia #Vietnam #ChinaThreat
Further reading:
Chinese dams along upper Mekong are behind serious droughts in Southeast Asian Countries, study says
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/20588
Source: Petition White House
(16 Apr) According to new research from American climatologists, China, where the headwaters of the Mekong spring forth from the Tibetan Plateau, was not experiencing the same hardship at all. Instead, Beijing's engineers appeared to have directly caused the record low water levels by limiting the river's flow. This has caused droughts in Southeast Asian Countries and therefore a petition is created for this issue. Currently more than 67000 signatures are received.
#StopMekongDam #Petition #drought #Thailand #Laos #Cambodia #Vietnam #ChinaThreat
Further reading:
Chinese dams along upper Mekong are behind serious droughts in Southeast Asian Countries, study says
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/20588
Source: Petition White House
Telegram
📡Guardians of Hong Kong
#Newspaper
Chinese dams along upper Mekong are behind serious droughts in Southeast Asian Countries, study says
While China claimed to be suffering from equally arid conditions in response to one of the worst droughts that was happening in Southeast Asian…
Chinese dams along upper Mekong are behind serious droughts in Southeast Asian Countries, study says
While China claimed to be suffering from equally arid conditions in response to one of the worst droughts that was happening in Southeast Asian…
#CoronavirusPandemic #SelfHelp
Honesty is a key to Vietnam's coronavirus success
Vietnam has a long border with #China spanning more than 1400 km and a large population of over 95 million, yet it has only recorded some 320 cases of coronavirus and zero deaths, according to the official figures as of mid-May. The last local cases were reported more than a month ago, suggesting Vietnam is now free of community transmission.
While #Vietnam is an authoritarian, one-party state where the freedom of speech and information is limited, most healthcare experts and diplomats believe the official statistics is trustworthy. Funeral homes interviewed by Reuters has also seen no surge in deaths.
Contrary to the alleged cover-up in China in the early days of the epidemic, Vietnamese authorities proactively disseminated information via various platforms at the very beginning. These include regular text messages to all phone users and a creative song called "Ghen CĂ´ Vy" to promote personal hygiene, which has gone viral in Vietnam and beyond. Their transparent response during this crisis has helped unify the public and eventually spared Vietnamese a high death toll.
Honesty in the handling of this epidemic is all the more important to regain public trust in light of the public criticism of the Vietnamese government in recent years. The authorities have been blamed in 2016 for covering up the marine disaster caused by chemical spill. They have also faced protests due to public concerns over China's influence in the special economic zones.
The Chinese authorities, on the other hand, have not learnt from the SARS outbreak of 2003. They have chosen to put politics above human lives by cracking down on whistleblowers in December and January. Critics suggest that serious measures to contain the virus had been delayed by a few weeks because of that.
Sources:
BBC, 15 May
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-52628283
ABC, 13 May
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-13/coronavirus-vietnam-no-deaths-success-in-south-east-asia/12237314
The Guardian, 1 May
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/01/testing-vietnam-contained-coronavirus
Reuters, 29 Apr
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-vietnam-fight-insi/after-aggressive-mass-testing-vietnam-says-it-contains-coronavirus-outbreak-idUSKBN22B34H
Foreign Policy, 15 Apr
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/04/15/coronavirus-vietnam-communist-party-hanoi/
Song "Ghen CĂ´ Vy", official English version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGoodWEtV8c
#Coronavirus
Honesty is a key to Vietnam's coronavirus success
Vietnam has a long border with #China spanning more than 1400 km and a large population of over 95 million, yet it has only recorded some 320 cases of coronavirus and zero deaths, according to the official figures as of mid-May. The last local cases were reported more than a month ago, suggesting Vietnam is now free of community transmission.
While #Vietnam is an authoritarian, one-party state where the freedom of speech and information is limited, most healthcare experts and diplomats believe the official statistics is trustworthy. Funeral homes interviewed by Reuters has also seen no surge in deaths.
Contrary to the alleged cover-up in China in the early days of the epidemic, Vietnamese authorities proactively disseminated information via various platforms at the very beginning. These include regular text messages to all phone users and a creative song called "Ghen CĂ´ Vy" to promote personal hygiene, which has gone viral in Vietnam and beyond. Their transparent response during this crisis has helped unify the public and eventually spared Vietnamese a high death toll.
Honesty in the handling of this epidemic is all the more important to regain public trust in light of the public criticism of the Vietnamese government in recent years. The authorities have been blamed in 2016 for covering up the marine disaster caused by chemical spill. They have also faced protests due to public concerns over China's influence in the special economic zones.
The Chinese authorities, on the other hand, have not learnt from the SARS outbreak of 2003. They have chosen to put politics above human lives by cracking down on whistleblowers in December and January. Critics suggest that serious measures to contain the virus had been delayed by a few weeks because of that.
Sources:
BBC, 15 May
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-52628283
ABC, 13 May
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-13/coronavirus-vietnam-no-deaths-success-in-south-east-asia/12237314
The Guardian, 1 May
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/01/testing-vietnam-contained-coronavirus
Reuters, 29 Apr
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-vietnam-fight-insi/after-aggressive-mass-testing-vietnam-says-it-contains-coronavirus-outbreak-idUSKBN22B34H
Foreign Policy, 15 Apr
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/04/15/coronavirus-vietnam-communist-party-hanoi/
Song "Ghen CĂ´ Vy", official English version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGoodWEtV8c
#Coronavirus
BBC News
Coronavirus: How 'overreaction' made Vietnam a virus success
Vietnam chose to prevent rather than fight Covid-19, a strategy which means it has had no virus deaths.
Man From China Diagnosed with COVID-19 after Clandestine Entry to Vietnam, Identified Before Causing Community Infection.
The Vietnamese government announced a confirmed case of COVID-19 from a Chinese who enter the country illegally. The local police arrested the 27-year-old man, who entered northern Vietnam with seven other compatriots on the 27th of last month and travelled to Ho Chi Minh City by car, upon arrival and sent to quarantine. He was confirmed a confirmed case on the 12th of this month after nucleic acid tests.
According to VnExpress, the Vietnamese government announced 18 new cases on July 14, including a Chinese illegal entrant who crossed the border from northern Vietnam with seven other people on July 27. They went to Ho Chi Minh City on a three-day car ride. Police found him and arrested the day after, then took him to the city's District 7 Hospital for quarantine and test, where he was finally diagnosed with COVID-19 on 12 August and is currently being treated at Cu Chi Field Hospital.
The Ho Chi Minh City Disease Control Unit said it was fortunate that the case was discovered in time; otherwise, this person would have become a source of infection and spread the virus in the community. As of Sunday (16th), Vietnam reported a total of 962 confirmed cases and 24 deaths. This illegal migrant is case #912.
The epidemic has led the Vietnamese government to close the border since March this year, but incidents of illegal entry of foreigners continue to occur. 152 illegal entrant has been arrested since May, mainly Chinese (72%), followed by Cambodians.
#COVID19 #Epidemic #Vietnam #IllegalEntry #Infection #Chinese
Source: Stand News #Aug16
The Vietnamese government announced a confirmed case of COVID-19 from a Chinese who enter the country illegally. The local police arrested the 27-year-old man, who entered northern Vietnam with seven other compatriots on the 27th of last month and travelled to Ho Chi Minh City by car, upon arrival and sent to quarantine. He was confirmed a confirmed case on the 12th of this month after nucleic acid tests.
According to VnExpress, the Vietnamese government announced 18 new cases on July 14, including a Chinese illegal entrant who crossed the border from northern Vietnam with seven other people on July 27. They went to Ho Chi Minh City on a three-day car ride. Police found him and arrested the day after, then took him to the city's District 7 Hospital for quarantine and test, where he was finally diagnosed with COVID-19 on 12 August and is currently being treated at Cu Chi Field Hospital.
The Ho Chi Minh City Disease Control Unit said it was fortunate that the case was discovered in time; otherwise, this person would have become a source of infection and spread the virus in the community. As of Sunday (16th), Vietnam reported a total of 962 confirmed cases and 24 deaths. This illegal migrant is case #912.
The epidemic has led the Vietnamese government to close the border since March this year, but incidents of illegal entry of foreigners continue to occur. 152 illegal entrant has been arrested since May, mainly Chinese (72%), followed by Cambodians.
#COVID19 #Epidemic #Vietnam #IllegalEntry #Infection #Chinese
Source: Stand News #Aug16