WUHAN (REUTERS, AFP) - The head of the World Health Organisation-led team in the central Chinese city of Wuhan probing the origins of Covid-19 said on Tuesday (Feb 9) that cold chain transmission of the virus is a possibility and warrants further investigation.
"Cold chain" refers to the transport and trade of frozen food. China has pushed the idea that the virus can be transmitted by frozen food and has repeatedly announced findings of coronavirus traces on imported food packaging.
However, Dr Peter Ben Embarek, a WHO specialist in animal diseases who leads the independent group of experts, also said the team’s nearly month-long investigation in Wuhan had not dramatically changed the picture of the outbreak.
“We know the virus can survive in conditions that are found in these cold, frozen environments, but we don’t really understand if the virus can transmit to humans” or under which conditions, he told the briefing.
Dr Embarek said it would be worthwhile to explore whether a frozen wild animal in a market setting with the right conditions could be conducive to rapid spread of the virus.
He also said investigators were looking at whether the virus was circulating earlier than first thought, and that blood samples needed to be found to conduct further research.
Lab leak unlikely
The possibility that the virus leaked from a lab – another hypothesis – was extremely unlikely and did not require further study, Dr Embarek told the briefing.
Dr Liang Wannian, an expert with China’s Health Commission, also told the press briefing that there had been no substantial spread of the virus in the city before the late 2019 outbreak.
The investigation had not yet found the animal host responsible for transferring the virus to humans, Dr Liang said. Transmission from animals was likely but so far "the reservoir hosts remain to be identified", he added.
Members of the joint WHO-China mission speaking during a press conference on Feb 9. 2021. PHOTO: AFP
Members of the team have sought to rein in expectations about the mission, with zoologist Peter Daszak saying last week that one of their aims was to “identify the next steps to fill in the gaps”.
Another team member, infectious disease expert Dominic Dwyer, said it would probably take years to fully understand the origins of Covid-19.
The United States said China needed to be more open when it comes to sharing data and samples as well as allowing access to patients, medical staff and lab workers. Beijing subsequently accused Washington of politicising a scientific mission.
NAYPYIDAW: Police fired gunshots into the air and used water cannon, tear gas and rubber bullets on Tuesday (Feb 9), as demonstrators across Myanmar defied a military ban on rallies.
Four people were hurt by rubber bullets in the capital Naypyidaw, and one of them, a woman, was in critical condition with a head wound, a doctor said.
Protests erupted for a fourth straight day against last week's coup to oust civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, despite a warning from the new junta that they would take action against demonstrations that threatened "stability".
Protesters confront police vehicles during a demonstration at the monument of General Aung San, the late father of detained Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi in the capital Naypyidaw on Feb 9, 2021. (Photo: STR / AFP)
In Naypyidaw, the remote capital purpose built by the previous military regime, witnesses said police fired rubber bullets at protesters after earlier blasting them with water cannon.
"They fired warning shots to the sky two times, then they fired (at protesters) with rubber bullets," a resident told AFP, adding that he saw some people injured.
An AFP reporter on the ground confirmed that shots had been fired.
It remained unclear how many people were hurt, as a hospital in Naypyidaw would not allow relatives in to see their family members, said Tun Wai, who rushed there when he heard his 23-year-old son was in the operation room.
"My son was shot when he tried to use the megaphone to ask people to protest peacefully after the police used water cannon to disperse them," the 56-year-old goldsmith told AFP.
"He got hit in the back... I'm very worried about him."
In Mandalay, the country's second-biggest city, police fired tear gas to disperse protesters.
A medical team gives first aid to a man injured after police used a water cannon on protesters holding a demonstration against the military coup in Mandalay on Feb 9, 2021. (Photo: STR / AFP)
After watching hundreds of thousands of people rally in opposition to last week's coup, junta chief General Min Aung Hlaing made a televised speech on Monday evening to justify seizing power.
The military has banned gatherings of more than five people in Yangon, the nation's commercial hub, as well as Naypyidaw and other areas across the country where major rallies have erupted, including the second biggest city Mandalay.
A nighttime curfew has also been imposed at the protest hotspot sites.
Demonstrators stand off with police in riot gear at an intersection during a protest in Mandalay, Myanmar on Feb 9, 2021. (AP Photo)
But on Tuesday, fresh protests emerged in various parts of Yangon, including near the headquarters of the National League for Democracy (NLD), the party of deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained by the military.
On Tuesday, Myanmar's authorities extended areas where gatherings are restricted to more parts of the country, the military's information unit said.
The areas where public gatherings of more than five people are banned and a curfew has been imposed include the commercial hub of Yangon, the capital Naypyidaw, as well as some towns in the Magwe region, Kachin state, Kayah state, Mon state and Shan State, the Facebook page of the military's True News information unit said.
Protesters face off with riot police during a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon on Feb 9, 2021. (Photo: Sai Aung Main / AFP)
NAYPYIDAW: Police fired gunshots into the air and used water cannon, tear gas and rubber bullets on Tuesday (Feb 9), as demonstrators across Myanmar defied a military ban on rallies.
Four people were hurt by rubber bullets in the capital Naypyidaw, and one of them, a woman, was in critical condition with a head wound, a doctor said.
Protests erupted for a fourth straight day against last week's coup to oust civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, despite a warning from the new junta that they would take action against demonstrations that threatened "stability".
Protesters confront police vehicles during a demonstration at the monument of General Aung San, the late father of detained Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi in the capital Naypyidaw on Feb 9, 2021. (Photo: STR / AFP)
In Naypyidaw, the remote capital purpose built by the previous military regime, witnesses said police fired rubber bullets at protesters after earlier blasting them with water cannon.
"They fired warning shots to the sky two times, then they fired (at protesters) with rubber bullets," a resident told AFP, adding that he saw some people injured.
An AFP reporter on the ground confirmed that shots had been fired.
It remained unclear how many people were hurt, as a hospital in Naypyidaw would not allow relatives in to see their family members, said Tun Wai, who rushed there when he heard his 23-year-old son was in the operation room.
"My son was shot when he tried to use the megaphone to ask people to protest peacefully after the police used water cannon to disperse them," the 56-year-old goldsmith told AFP.
"He got hit in the back... I'm very worried about him."
In Mandalay, the country's second-biggest city, police fired tear gas to disperse protesters.
A medical team gives first aid to a man injured after police used a water cannon on protesters holding a demonstration against the military coup in Mandalay on Feb 9, 2021. (Photo: STR / AFP)
After watching hundreds of thousands of people rally in opposition to last week's coup, junta chief General Min Aung Hlaing made a televised speech on Monday evening to justify seizing power.
The military has banned gatherings of more than five people in Yangon, the nation's commercial hub, as well as Naypyidaw and other areas across the country where major rallies have erupted, including the second biggest city Mandalay.
A nighttime curfew has also been imposed at the protest hotspot sites.
Demonstrators stand off with police in riot gear at an intersection during a protest in Mandalay, Myanmar on Feb 9, 2021. (AP Photo)
But on Tuesday, fresh protests emerged in various parts of Yangon, including near the headquarters of the National League for Democracy (NLD), the party of deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained by the military.
On Tuesday, Myanmar's authorities extended areas where gatherings are restricted to more parts of the country, the military's information unit said.
The areas where public gatherings of more than five people are banned and a curfew has been imposed include the commercial hub of Yangon, the capital Naypyidaw, as well as some towns in the Magwe region, Kachin state, Kayah state, Mon state and Shan State, the Facebook page of the military's True News information unit said.
Protesters face off with riot police during a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon on Feb 9, 2021. (Photo: Sai Aung Main / AFP)
HONG KONG: Hong Kong residents with dual nationality are not entitled to foreign consular assistance, the city's leader said on Tuesday (Feb 9), confirming warnings by Western diplomats that authorities have begun strictly enforcing Chinese nationality regulations in the finance hub.
The revelation sent diplomats from Britain, Canada and the US scrambling, given the potential implications for hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong residents in the city with dual nationality.
On Tuesday, chief executive Carrie Lam confirmed that while residents could own multiple passports, dual nationality was not recognised in Hong Kong under China's nationality law.
"That (law) has a very specific provision that where people (who) have foreign nationality or right of abode elsewhere ... are regarded as Chinese nationals in Hong Kong," Lam told reporters.
"So likewise they will not be eligible for consular protection, including consular visits," she added, unless they have received permission to renounce their Chinese nationality.
Beijing's top lawmaking body set these rules in Hong Kong back in 1996, the year before Hong Kong's handover by Britain.
As a result, Hong Kong officials have described the move to reject consular assistance for dual nationals as nothing new.
But Western diplomats say there has been a concrete policy change because they had previously had no problem visiting dual nationals in custody.
No Hong Kong official, including Lam, has publicly addressed whether any order has been made to more strictly enforce nationality rules.
But on Monday night, Britain's consulate changed its travel advice after it said it had been informed that "Hong Kong, like other parts of China, does not recognise dual nationality".
"If you have both British and Chinese nationality you may be treated as a Chinese citizen by local authorities, even if you enter Hong Kong on your British passport," the consulate warned.
"If this is the case, the British consulate may not be able to offer you consular assistance."
The apparent change comes as Beijing clashes with Western nations over its crackdown in the finance hub following huge and often violent democracy protests in 2019.
The change is most likely to effect ethnic Chinese dual citizens in Hong Kong.
Mainland China has even stricter dual citizenship laws where people are not allowed to own another country's passport, although many, especially wealthy elites, simply keep that ownership secret.
NAYPYIDAW: Security forces fired rubber bullets and tear gas at anti-coup protesters in Myanmar's capital on Tuesday (Feb 9), as demonstrators around the country defied a military ban on rallies.
Protests erupted for a fourth straight day against last week's coup to oust civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, despite a warning from the new junta that they would take action against demonstrations that threatened "stability".
In Naypyidaw, the remote capital purpose built by the previous military regime, witnesses said police fired rubber bullets at protesters after earlier blasting them with water cannon.
"They fired warning shots to the sky two times, then they fired (at protesters) with rubber bullets," a resident told AFP, adding that he saw some people injured.
An AFP reporter on the ground confirmed that shots had been fired.
In Mandalay, the country's second-biggest city, police fired tear gas to disperse protesters.
After watching hundreds of thousands of people rally in opposition to last week's coup, junta chief General Min Aung Hlaing made a televised speech on Monday evening to justify seizing power.
The military has banned gatherings of more than five people in Yangon, the nation's commercial hub, as well as Naypyidaw and other areas across the country where major rallies have erupted, including the second biggest city Mandalay.
A nighttime curfew has also been imposed at the protest hotspot sites.
But on Tuesday, fresh protests emerged in various parts of Yangon, including near the headquarters of the National League for Democracy (NLD), the party of deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained by the military.
On Tuesday, Myanmar's authorities extended areas where gatherings are restricted to more parts of the country, the military's information unit said
The areas where public gatherings of more than five people are banned and a curfew has been imposed include the commercial hub of Yangon, the capital Naypyidaw, as well as some towns in the Magwe region, Kachin state, Kayah state, Mon state and Shan State, the Facebook page of the military's True News information unit said.
SINGAPORE: The Myanmar military still buckles under international pressure, even if it has said in the past that it is impervious to it, said the United Nations special rapporteur on Myanmar, Tom Andrews, on Monday (Feb 8).
Such pressure include economic and diplomatic sanctions and these work, Mr Andrews pointed out, "because they have worked".
"We know in the past, the military has said that they're impervious to international pressure ... But we've learned that that's not true. They do care, they do want to engage in the international economy," Mr Andrews told CNA.
"They want to make money. They want to be prosperous. They understand the consequences of a country being in deep isolation as Myanmar was for so long," he added.
Mr Andrews was speaking about a week after the Myanmar military detained the country's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi as well as other senior officials from the National League for Democracy party.
It swiftly seized power after the arrests, which it said were in response to "election fraud", and imposed a one-year state of emergency.
Thousands have since taken to the streets of Myanmar to denounce the military regime, prompting the authorities to use force to quell the crowds, including firing water cannon at demonstrators gathered on a highway in capital Naypyidaw.
"The people of Myanmar now understand the difference as well," said Mr Andrews. "And they have no intention of going back. So, we have seen it work in the past. I think it could work again.
"I know that leaders around the world are discussing the application of a new round of economic sanctions. I think that's all to the good."
Mr Andrews said it is important for there to be an "unmistakable signal" to the Myanmar military, "that anything and everything that they do, they will be held accountable".
The use of water cannon is a "distressing sign", said the UN expert.
"The use of violence by the military is unacceptable ... It must be stopped and the international community will do everything they can to protect the people and their fundamental human rights," he said.
"We are on the side of the protesters who are there on the streets, demonstrating for their future for their children and for their basic rights."
