Kamis, 06 Februari 2020
Passengers scramble to safety after Turkey plane crash - CBS This Morning
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2020-02-06 12:36:22Z
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Wuhan virus: Chinese citizen journalist reports from quarantine zone - Quartz
Chinese citizen journalist Chen Qiushi, a former rights lawyer, made headlines last August, after he traveled to Hong Kong and posted a video that challenged China’s official narrative of democracy protesters as violent separatists. “Not all [protesters] are rioters,” he said in the video, which resulted in the authorities calling him in for questioning.
Now Chen is reporting on the coronavirus outbreak from Wuhan, where he managed to arrive a day after the city was put under quarantine. In China, where the Communist Party shapes official messages through state-run media, and keeps close tabs on other news organizations, citizen journalists like Chen are rare. They can’t obtain the official certificate required for reporting news because they don’t work for a registered outlet, and face signficant risks of harassment from authorities. Nevertheless, having had his social media accounts deleted on the Chinese internet, Chen is posting regular updates about Wuhan on YouTube and Twitter. “I won’t celebrate the rich and powerful but only tell the real stories of the masses. I won’t shut up, I won’t immigrate, nor would I accept any donations,” Chen wrote on his Twitter page, where he has over 225,000 followers.
In a video blog published on YouTube on Jan. 30, a week into his reporting trip, an emotional Chen described how helpless people filled hospitals that were struggling to admit them, and showed footage of a woman next to a dead man in a wheelchair making desperate phone calls for help to move her relative’s body. The videos have drawn attention on Chinese social media, even though YouTube is blocked there and requires special software to access, as well as outside China.
“I, for the first time, really started to feel scared,” Chen said in the video. He also spoke about whether he felt pressure from the authorities over his videos, but declared, “I’m not afraid of dying, why should I be afraid of you, Communist Party ?”
Quartz spoke with Chen recently about how he became a citizen journalist, why he decided to go to Wuhan, what things are like there, and what he says to people who wonder if he’s actually a Communist Party agent. Here are edited excerpts.
How did you become a citizen journalist?
My full-time job is a lawyer, and I have some experience giving speeches on TV. I have always wanted to become a TV news commentator, for which I thought I would need more frontline reporting experience. My first time being a citizen journalist was to report on a flood disaster [in 2019] in Ganzhou, a prefecture-level city in southern province Jiangxi. I published my findings on Chinese short video app Douyin, and had 1.57 million fans. But my account got deleted by the app because of the sensitive content. Then I came to Hong Kong last August to report on the protests; after my Hong Kong trip, all my accounts in China were deleted.
When did you come to Wuhan?
I initially did not expect the virus to be so serious, because the domestic and overseas coverage were quite different on the virus. I bought train tickets on Jan. 24 to Xiaogan, one of the closest cities to Wuhan as the tickets to Wuhan already could not be bought online that day. I brought my hiking equipment, including a backpack and sleeping bag. I thought, if there were no cars that could drive me to Wuhan then I would walk to the city. Then I found I could buy the ticket to Hankou, a major town in Wuhan. I managed to arrive in Hankou on the 24th, and started doing interviews.
What is the situation like in Wuhan now?
The situation is still severe. There were lots of rumors circulating on WeChat, which I could not verify. I only report the real situation that I saw myself. I have been to four Wuhan hospitals, and even the construction site of Huoshenshan, the temporary hospital China built for admitting the patients. In the beginning, there were not many people in hospitals. But after I met more local youngsters, I heard from them that the situation is still severe. They do not have enough testing kits, beds, and doctors are extremely overwhelmed. Workers and their leaders at the construction sites for the new hospitals are exhausted too…
[On the status of people in Wuhan] it’s hard to generalize. Some continued with their normal life, despite being a bit bored or feeling depressed, but they were not panicking. But for those who were suspected to have the virus, they were very very anxious and some went online calling for help. I also saw people who did not care about the issue at all and did not wear face masks…
Prices of goods are staying stable. For myself, I bought bread and milk, and can still order food deliveries. I can use a Mobike and some friend lent me an electric motorcycle. For ordinary citizens, they can either ride electric motorcycles, or order taxis mobilized by their residential communities. But it is difficult to book taxis because of the small number of them.
Did you see any of the dead yourself?
There was a video that showed three dead bodies lying in a Wuhan hospital’s corridors circulating widely online before. I was told by some nurses in a local hospital that the video was true. The nurses also said this situation was because the local funeral homes did not have the capacity to transfer all those bodies. I have seen bodies many times during the past days, which makes me feel emotional. I saw two dead bodies at a hospital, one was lying in the corridor, and one was in an emergency room being wrapped up by nurses… I could not take a close shot of them because that would be disrespectful to the deceased. It is not unusual for bodies to be seen in hospitals, but the fact they were left there for a long time means it is an abnormal situation. The fact the bodies were lying there means even funeral homes are struggling to deal with the number of bodies waiting to be picked up.
What are the difficulties of being a citizen journalist?
I found the cyber bullying on the international internet is really quite serious. I have suffered a lot. Maybe a professional journalist would not have these emotions: fear, anger, powerlessness, and homesickness. That is why I might look so emotional in the video I posted yesterday (Jan. 30). I have said, this is the third time I went to the scene of a news event. The previous two times, no matter it was the flood or the protest, as long as I did not approach the more extreme Hong Kong protesters, I was not worried about getting beaten up. However, in Wuhan, you don’t know which breath you take or which door handle you grab will get you infected…
I am very nervous because if I get anything wrong, or post even just one piece of fake information, it will be widely shared on the internet… I do feel embarrassed, because I don’t work for any proper media. And I post videos on YouTube, a thing most Chinese people have not heard of. Some people who use VPN know about me and offer me lots of help, even asking me to stay at theirs. So that was why I did a joint live stream with “Face Mask Brother,” who was one of the few vloggers in Wuhan recording their daily lives…
Some questioned how I could accumulate such a big following on YouTube in such a short time, saying that is the proof that I am a spy for Beijing for helping with its propaganda efforts overseas… This kind of suspicion is totally a distraction from the virus.
The police security bureau in my hometown also visited my parents’ house because they could not find me. They didn’t dare to come to Wuhan. They ‘educated’ my parents to tell me not to spread negative comments about the government… If I reveal my real location, there could be a risk of me getting arrested. I cannot think about it too much, or I will be afraid of doing anything. As one of the remaining reporters on the front line, I could help spread some information. For the political risks of doing so, I have no time to worry about that for now.
How do you protect yourself?
I have lots of face masks, and also protective glasses donated by some of my friends. I have two gloves. Luckily the drug stores are open now… I wear a long winter coat and only have two protective clothes. Every time I came back from outside I use a disinfectant water spray to spray my clothes, shoes, etc. I also put my shoes, etc, outside my door. No one would steal these things now.
I gave my overseas friends all the passwords to my social media accounts like YouTube, and if I don’t contact them for 12 hours they will change the passwords. I risked my life to post the videos. If I get arrested they could force me to delete all my videos on YouTube and Twitter, and that would be a great blow to me.
Will you continue to work as a citizen journalist after this Wuhan trip?
As long as I am a free person and have not been arrested or put under a travel ban, I would carry on this career. I decided if I could leave Wuhan alive, I would have a tattoo of the coronavirus to remind myself and the Chinese people, you need to remember the pain caused by the virus! You should not forget the disaster even after you recover.
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2020-02-06 11:26:00Z
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'A floating prison': Diamond Princess cruise passengers on two-week coronavirus quarantine - USA TODAY
YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) — David Abel’s 50th wedding anniversary luxury cruise began with him eating his fill and enjoying the sights of East Asia.
It’s ending with him quarantined in his cabin aboard the Diamond Princess for two extra weeks, eating a “lettuce sandwich with some chicken inside” and watching 20 infected people escorted off the ship, heading for hospitals for treatment of a new virus.
Abel is among hundreds of passengers on two cruise ships — in Japan and Hong Kong — caught in the drama and fear about the little-understood virus that just emerged in December. Tests are still pending on some passengers and crew who have symptoms or had contact with infected people.
“It’s not going to be a luxury cruise; it’s going to be like a floating prison,” Abel said on Facebook from the ship in the port of Yokohama, outside Tokyo.
As Japanese officials loaded the ship with supplies Thursday to make the quarantine as bearable as possible, passengers took to social media to highlight small kindnesses by the crew and to complain about dwindling medicine, the quality of the food and the inability to exercise or even leave their cabins.
Their photos and videos showed the vessel that once had 3,711 passengers and crew is now a ghost ship, deserted reception areas, swimming pools and hallways. Babies on the Hong Kong ship were reportedly running out of diapers and milk.
“I think for many passengers, it’s going to be absolute boredom,” Abel said in a separate interview. He considers himself lucky that he has a cabin with a balcony. “The people I feel really sorry for are those with inside cabins who’ve got no natural light, no fresh air. It’s going to be pretty grim for them for two weeks.”
Grim is one way to describe the virus and the fear it’s created. China counts more than 28,000 cases and it’s spread to more than 20 countries. Still, fear has spread faster than the disease. Masks and hand sanitizer are sold out in many areas of Seoul, Tokyo and Bangkok. Health workers are striking in Hong Kong and anti-Chinese discrimination has been seen across Asia. Taiwan has banned international cruise ships.
On the Diamond Princess, there were signs people were trying to make the best of a bad situation.
Yardley Wong, a passenger from Hong Kong traveling with her husband, son and her parents, said on Twitter that the crew gave her son playing cards, coloring pens and other gifts “to kill off boredom.”
Australians Paul and Coralie Williamson said their cabin was smaller than a motel room and they had heard complaints from others about not having medication, or enough information.
But, after 34 years of marriage, Coralie Williamson said: “If I’m going be stuck in a room with anyone, I would rather it be Paul than anyone else.”
“So it’s OK. We will need to go for a long walk on the beach when we get home,” she told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
More: Princess cruise to stay under quarantine after 10 more passengers test positive
People posted photos of breakfast, a bowl of fruit salad, boiled eggs, juice and a croissant. One passenger celebrating their ninth wedding anniversary got a “happy anniversary” card from the ship staff.
“We’re here for a long haul. I think it is going to get a little bit testing, obviously. But I don’t know. What do we do? We couldn’t jump out of the boat; that’s a bit cold,” Jacqui Fidrmuc from the city of Cairns told Australia’s Nine Network.
Japanese health officials told reporters that a medical team and supplies were being sent to the ship. At the port where the ship dropped off infected patients and loaded up food and supplies, a person in a hazmat bodysuit entered the ship carrying two boxes labeled “thermometers.”
On the ship quarantined in Hong Kong, its more than 3,600 passengers and crew were being screened because three passengers on a previous voyage had the virus. Hong Kong officials said they would try to track down 5,000 people who took previous voyages on the World Dream.
Hong Kong lawmaker Jeremy Tan said a woman on board called him Wednesday night to say she and some other mothers were running out of milk powder and diapers for their babies. He said he believed there were five or more babies on the ship, and that he delivered the essentials to authorities.
Life on the Diamond Princess in Yokohama, Abel said, “has changed beyond recognition to what you would call a luxury cruise.” One meal was just a glass of orange juice, a yogurt and a bit of melon. Another was a “lettuce sandwich with some chicken inside” and a dessert.
When masked crew members hand over and pick up the trays of food, he said, “it’s very brief. There’s no physical contact apart from touching the tray.”
Even though the sick people have been taken off the boat, there was still unease. “We’ve been breathing the same air as those that have been removed,” Abel said.
“How do we cope with it?” Abel asked on Facebook. “We can either be creative and thinking positive things or we can be dragging ourselves down into the gutter. I certainly won’t be doing that.”
Contributing: Eileen Ng and Rod McGuirk, the Associated Press.
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2020-02-06 11:01:53Z
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Coronavirus Live Updates: China’s Death Toll Soars as Wuhan Plans Roundup of Infected - The New York Times
Here’s what you need to know:
- Death toll in China rises to 563 as lockdown enters third week.
- Wuhan told to round up infected residents for new mass quarantine camps.
- Xi orders crackdown on people who undermine efforts to fight virus.
- In the quiet streets of Wuhan, the party tries to be heard.
- Day two of a cruise ship quarantine: permission to breathe.
- Nintendo, Qualcomm and Yum China join list of companies hit by coronavirus.
- Online rumors send Hong Kong on a hunt for toilet paper.
Death toll in China rises to 563 as lockdown enters third week.
The death toll and number of infections continued to soar in China, officials said Thursday.
It has been two weeks since the authorities in Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, declared that the city would be locked down as they tried to contain the virus’s spread. The cordon that was first imposed around the city of 11 million quickly expanded to encircle roughly 50 million people in the province of Hubei.
The lockdown is unprecedented in scale and experts have questioned its effectiveness. Wuhan and the province of Hubei have borne the brunt of the epidemic as the sudden shutdown of transportation links into and around it slowed down the transportation of vital medical supplies. The fatality rate in Wuhan is 4.1 percent and 2.8 percent in Hubei, compared to just 0.17 percent elsewhere in mainland China.
The Chinese government says the quarantine has prevented a broader outbreak in the rest of the country, but its impact on residents in Wuhan and Hubei have raised ethical concerns.
“This is almost a humanitarian disaster” for the central Chinese region, said Willy Lam, an adjunct professor at the Center for China Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who cited insufficient supplies of medical equipment, food and other necessities. “The Wuhan people seem to be left high and dry by themselves.”
Health officials said that 563 people had died from the virus, up from nearly 500 people the day before, and that 28,018 cases had been confirmed. On Monday, the number of confirmed cases was put at 20,438, meaning the number increased more than 35 percent in just a few days.
Many doctors believe that the number of deaths and infections are undercounted because hospitals and laboratories are under severe strain to test for the virus. Local officials in Hubei Province, the center of the outbreak, have called on health care workers to speed up the process.
Many sick residents in Hubei also say that they have been turned away by overstretched hospitals, which lack test kits and beds.
The widening scope of the new virus has strained China’s health care system and brought the country to a standstill. The government has sealed off more cities, canceled public gatherings and shut down schools.
Wuhan told to round up infected residents for new mass quarantine camps.
A senior Chinese official has ordered the authorities in the city of Wuhan to immediately round up all residents in the city who have been infected with the coronavirus and place them in isolation, quarantine, or in designated hospitals.
Sun Chunlan, a vice premier tasked with leading the central government’s response to the outbreak, said city investigators should go to each home to check the temperatures of every resident and interview infected patients’ close contacts.
“Set up a 24-hour duty system. During these wartime conditions, there must be no deserters, or they will be nailed to the pillar of historical shame forever,” Ms. Sun said.
The city’s authorities have raced to meet these instructions by setting up makeshift mass quarantine shelters this week. But concerns are growing about whether the centers, which will house thousands of people in large spaces, will be able to provide even basic care to patients and protect against the risk of further infection.
A lockdown across the city and much of its surrounding province has exacerbated a shortage of medical supplies, testing kits and hospital beds for those sickened by the coronavirus. Many residents, unwell and desperate for care, have been forced to go from hospital to hospital on foot, only to be turned away from even being tested for the virus, let alone treated. They have had to resort to quarantines at home, risking the spread of the virus within families and neighborhoods.
The city has set up makeshift shelters in a sports stadium, an exhibition center and a building complex. Some went into operation on Thursday. The shelters are meant for housing coronavirus patients with milder symptoms, the government has said.
When Ms. Sun inspected one of the shelters, set up in Hongshan Stadium on Tuesday, she emphasized that anyone who should be admitted must be rounded up, according to a Chinese news outlet, Modern Express. “It must be cut off from the source!” she said of the virus. “You must keep a close eye! Don’t miss it!”
Photos taken inside the Hongshan sports stadium showed narrow rows of simple beds separated only by desks and chairs typically used in classrooms. Some comments on Chinese social media compared the scenes to those from the Spanish flu in 1918.
A widely shared post on Weibo, a popular social media site, said on Thursday that “conditions were very poor” at an exhibition center that had been converted into a quarantine facility. There were power failures and electric blankets could not be turned on, the user wrote, citing a relative who had been taken there, saying that people had to “shiver in their sleep.”
There was also a staff shortage, the post said, where “doctors and nurses were not seen to be taking note of symptoms and distributing medicine,” and oxygen devices were “seriously lacking.”
Xi orders crackdown on people who undermine efforts to fight virus.
China’s leader, Xi Jinping, said on Wednesday that the country was at a “critical moment” in its fight against the coronavirus epidemic and ordered a crackdown on people who undermine the country’s efforts to control the outbreak.
Mr. Xi also said his government would crack down on people who assault medical workers and who manufacture and sell fake products, according to Xinhua, the state-run news agency. He also said that officials would take aim at those who resist epidemic prevention and control efforts, including by spreading false rumors.
On Monday, Mr. Xi called the epidemic “a major test of China’s system and capacity for governance.”
The epidemic has strained China’s health care system and brought the country to a virtual standstill. And the virus continues to spread.
In the quiet streets of Wuhan, the party tries to be heard.
From Chris Buckley, our chief China correspondent, on the ground in Wuhan:
In the mornings, Wuhan is so quiet that bird calls sound down once busy streets. Stray dogs trot in the middle of empty expressways. Residents wrapped in masks creep out of their homes, anxiety flitting across their eyes.
They line up at hospitals overwhelmed by a virus that most had not heard of until a few weeks ago.
They line up outside pharmacies despite the door signs declaring they have sold out of protective masks, disinfectant, surgical gloves and thermometers. They line up to buy rice, fruit and vegetables from food stores that keep operating, while nearly all other shops are closed.
Then they shuffle home to wait out this 21st-century siege. The unluckiest ones lie at home or in a hospital, stricken by pneumonia fevers that could spell death linked to coronavirus 2019-nCoV.
“I’ve started to lose track of the days,” said Yang Dechao, a burly 34-year-old factory worker trapped in Wuhan. “Is it Sunday or Monday? You forget because all normal activity has stopped. Ordinary people have just their families and their phones.”
Soothing recorded messages playing over loudspeakers say that the government cares, and admonish residents to wear masks and minimize outings. Red banners hang on road barriers and walls, telling residents not to heed hearsay about miracle cures.
“Don’t panic,” says one banner. “Don’t allow rumors to make a mess of things.”
But after Wuhan officials silenced early talk of the virus outbreak as “rumor mongering,” many residents are skeptical about the reassuring official message.
“First, we need honesty and transparency now,” said Mao Shuo, a 26-year-old engineering company worker who had briefly tugged down her mask outside for a cigarette. “Who’s to blame, who gets punished, that must come, but now we just want to survive.”
Day two of a cruise ship quarantine: permission to breathe.
Things were looking up on Thursday for the more than 2,000 passengers quarantined on a cruise ship in Yokohama, Japan: Meals were coming on a more regular schedule. The internet was upgraded to a wider bandwidth. And there was even official approval to breathe some fresh air.
Still, on the second day of a planned two-week quarantine, there was persistent concern about the spreading coronavirus and dread about long days ahead stuck inside the cabins.
As Japanese health officials continued to screen 273 passengers who were potentially exposed to the virus, they said that 20 of the 102 tested so far had been found to be positive.
The first 10 cases were announced on Wednesday, and the second 10 on Thursday. The new cases involved four Japanese passengers, two Americans, two Canadians, one New Zealander and one Taiwanese. They were removed from the ship on Thursday and taken to medical facilities.
“I keep hearing painful coughs from a foreigner in a nearby room,” one passenger wrote on Twitter, noting with concern that crew members were delivering meals from room to room. “I might get infected today or tomorrow.”
Other passengers who have been whiling away some of the time on social media told of more hopeful signs. One noted that supplies were being moved into the port and that ambulances were in position. Another said that entertainment crews had been visiting guest rooms to cheer people up, and that toilet paper had been distributed.
Some posted a letter that had been delivered to their rooms saying that the ship was negotiating with Japanese quarantine officials to allow small groups with face masks to breathe air on open decks.
The cruise ship, the Diamond Princess, with a total of about 3,700 people on board, arrived in Yokohama on Monday night after a 14-day trip to Southeast Asia. They have been forced to stay on the vessel since an 80-year-old Hong Kong man who disembarked last month tested positive for the virus.
The Diamond Princess is not the only cruise ship caught up in the coronavirus epidemic, which has killed hundreds of people in China. A ship called the World Dream is idling in the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in Hong Kong after eight people from mainland China who were on a previous journey were found to be infected with the coronavirus.
Nintendo, Qualcomm and Yum China join list of companies hit by coronavirus.
Nintendo, the Japanese maker of video games and gaming devices, has become the latest company to get hit by the coronavirus.
Citing the impact of the outbreak on China, where many of its devices are manufactured, Nintendo said on Thursday that shipments of its Nintendo Switch game console to customers in Japan would be delayed. It also said shipments of peripherals like its Joy-Con, the controllers that slide into either side of the Switch, and its Ring-Con, a device intended to allow players to exercise while they play a game called Ring Fit Adventure, will be delayed as well.
Also delayed in Japan: A special Switch tied to Animal Crossing, a video game about a village populated by walking, talking, animals.
As the coronavirus and government containment efforts spread through China, the world is acknowledging just how much it has come to count on the world’s No. 2 economy.
On Wednesday, Akash Palkhiwala, chief financial officer of Qualcomm, told investors that the giant American chip maker reduced the low end of its earnings guidance for the coming three months because of the uncertainty created by the outbreak. The company is a major supplier of chips essential to running Chinese-made smartphone, including local brands.
Also on Wednesday, Yum China, which operates KFC and Pizza Hut franchises in China, said that nearly one-third of its restaurants had been closed because of the outbreak. Andy Yeung, Yum China’s finance chief, said the company could post operating losses for the first three months of the year, and also for the full year “if the sales trend continues.”
Online rumors send Hong Kong on a hunt for toilet paper.
Rumors of an impending toilet paper shortage incited Hong Kong residents to make a furious dash to stock up on Wednesday night, despite little evidence supplies were running low.
Across the city, shelves cleared within hours as messages claiming to have inside information from Wellcome, a supermarket chain, were passed around online. The messages claimed that suspended manufacturing in mainland China would cause most brands of toilet paper to run out soon.
In a statement, Wellcome’s parent company, Dairy Farm Group, said the rumors were false and that it was “working closely with our suppliers to provide sufficient and diversified choices of products to our customers.”
The sudden demand for toilet paper reflected a city on edge, fearful that what has so far been a modest number of confirmed cases could soon explode. It also reflected a distrust in the government, besieged by pro-democracy protests that have boiled for eight months, and its ability to respond to the crisis.
Most residents of Hong Kong, scarred by the SARS outbreak of 2002, wear surgical masks in public, which has led to an actual citywide shortage. Outside a drugstore in the North Point neighborhood, a line of about 100 people snaked around a sidewalk on Thursday, despite a sign at the door saying no masks would be sold there.
“Please do not queue up,” the sign said, to no avail.
On Thursday, would-be visitors to the website for ParknShop, a grocery chain, were forced to wait in an online queue just to access the shopping site. At noon, the wait was more than an hour, with 25,000 people waiting their turn.
China warns Taiwan not to use the outbreak as an excuse for independence.
China’s government on Thursday accused Taiwan’s governing party of exploiting the coronavirus outbreak to push for Taiwan’s independence, referring to its effort to participate in World Health Organization discussions over the outbreak.
Taiwan, which is self-governed but which China claims is part of its territory, has repeatedly lobbied to be included in panels held by the W.H.O., the United Nation’s health agency. The W.H.O. cannot share information about the virus independently with Taiwan, because the United Nations considers it part of China.
“‘Taiwan independence’ separatists have seized on the opportunity to clamor for participation in the World Health Organization’s discussions, in an attempt to use the epidemic to expand the so-called ‘international space’ of Taiwan,” read a statement from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office on Thursday.
In an apparent attempt to avoid taking sides in the dispute, the W.H.O. referred to the island as “Taipei and environs” in a list of Chinese cities and provinces with confirmed cases of the coronavirus. The United Nations body has previously referred to the entire island as Taipei — Taiwan’s capital city. It has also referred to it as Taipei, China, drawing a backlash from residents.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs mocked the W.H.O.’s new moniker. “W.H.O., what’s wrong with you?” a pointed tweet from the ministry’s official account said.
Su Ih-jen, the director general of the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control, said the political definitions that led to the exclusion of Taiwanese medical experts in international public health meetings had hampered prevention efforts during the SARS epidemic of 2002-3. “The two sides of the Taiwan Strait must extend olive branches at this time, put aside political considerations and work together to fight the epidemic,” he wrote that in an opinion piece for The Times.
The Taiwanese government has been taking tough measures to prevent the virus from infiltrating its borders. Health officials on Thursday banned all international cruise ships from its ports after a 60-year-old Taiwanese woman contracted the virus on a cruise ship now quarantined in Yokohoma, Japan.
Communist Party clamps down on the media as Beijing becomes a target.
As the number of coronavirus infections in China continues to surge without any sign of slowing down, the ruling Communist Party has clamped down on the news media and the internet, signaling an effort to control the narrative about a crisis that has become a once-in-a-generation challenge for leaders in Beijing.
With frustrations running high across the country, China’s leaders appear to be strengthening information controls after a brief spell in which news organizations were able to report thoroughly on the crisis, and many negative comments about the official response were left uncensored online.
In recent days, both the state-run news media and more commercially minded outlets have been told to focus on positive stories about virus relief efforts, according to three people at Chinese news organizations who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal directives.
Internet platforms have removed a variety of articles that suggest shortcomings in the Chinese government’s response or are otherwise negative about the outbreak.
Local officials have also cracked down on what they call online “rumors” about the virus. China’s Ministry of Public Security this week lauded such efforts, which have continued even after one person who was reprimanded for spreading rumors turned out to be a doctor sounding the alarm about early cases of the illness.
In the early days of the crisis, online vitriol had largely been directed at the local authorities. Now, more of the anger is being aimed at higher-level leadership, and there seems to be more of it over all, said King-wa Fu, an associate professor at the Journalism and Media Studies Center at the University of Hong Kong.
Reporting was contributed by Elaine Yu, Daniel Victor, Sui-Lee Wee, Raymond Zhong, Tiffany May, Carlos Tejada, Isabella Kwai, Amy Qin, Elsie Chen and Chris Buckley.
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2020-02-06 09:56:35Z
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China Cuts Tariffs on $75 Billion in U.S. Goods. That Was the Easy Part. - The New York Times
HONG KONG — China on Thursday said it would reduce tariffs on $75 billion worth of American-made goods, a step that signals its intention to hold up its end of a trade truce with President Trump despite the coronavirus crisis unfolding largely within its borders.
That truce most likely will not last long, however, if China does not carry through with the part of the deal Mr. Trump prizes most: a promise to buy about $200 billion in goods from the United States over the next two years.
The move announced on Thursday was widely expected as both sides back down from an increasingly punishing trade war. In January the two governments reached an interim trade pact intended to forestall more tariff increases. The deal represented a freeze on the trade war rather than an end, and the countries have pledged to continue talks.
The United States agreed to reduce tariffs on $120 billion worth of Chinese-made goods as part of that deal, and on Thursday, China reciprocated. China’s Ministry of Finance said that it would essentially halve tariffs it placed in September on American cars, crude oil, soybeans and other goods. The tariff cuts would go into effect on Feb. 14.
Chinese officials on Thursday said that they still hope to eventually eliminate tariffs enacted by both sides. The trade truce left in place most of the new and increased tariffs on $360 billion in Chinese-made goods that Mr. Trump began enacting in 2018, setting off the trade war between the two economic heavyweights.
“The next step of the adjustment depends mainly on the development and changes of the Sino-US economic and trade situation,” the ministry said in a statement. “We hope to work with the United States toward the ultimate elimination of all imposed tariffs.”
Before that next step can happen, China may need to prove to the United States that it plans to buy that $200 billion in goods that it promised in January. That could be difficult for Beijing, which is grappling with one of its biggest challenges of the modern era.
Chinese officials have put major portions of the country on lockdown as they try to contain a coronavirus that has killed hundreds of people and sickened thousands more. Factories and companies across the country have temporarily closed their operations. Major airlines have canceled flights to China.
The outbreak and containment threaten to reduce China’s economic growth, which could blunt its appetite for American-made goods, meat and crops. They also present logistical problems. Many government offices that do not supply essential or emergency services have been closed, while travel within the country has become difficult as the authorities set up checkpoints and limit travel.
In a research note on Wednesday, Fitch Ratings, the ratings firm, said that the country’s economic growth in the January-to-March period could fall by nearly half, to 3 percent compared with a year earlier, if the epidemic is not contained before spring.
The price of oil has fallen in anticipation of lower Chinese demand. China has signaled that it would allow firms to claim force majeure — essentially, recognition that a company cannot meet its obligations because of circumstances beyond its control — for reasons related to the outbreak.
Still, the coronavirus gives China new reasons to hold up its end of the bargain. The trade pact commits China to purchasing $32 billion in American agricultural products over two years. That food could come in handy: Chinese officials have rushed to ensure adequate food supplies and keep grocery bills low despite the containment efforts.
Cao Li contributed research.
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