Beijing accuses NATO of exaggerating 'China threat theory' - CNA

BEIJING: Beijing on Tuesday (Jun 15) accused NATO of exaggerating the threat from China and "creating confrontation", after a vow from the Western allies to work together to counter the "systemic challenges" posed by its policies.

NATO leaders made the commitment on Monday, as US President Joe Biden renewed Washington's transatlantic ties at his first summit with the allies.

In a broad statement of intent, the leaders said China's increasingly assertive actions in building a nuclear arsenal and space and cyber warfare capabilities threatened the international order.

In an angry response, a statement from the Chinese mission to the European Union called for NATO to "view China's development rationally, stop exaggerating various forms of 'China threat theory' and not to use China's legitimate interests and legal rights as excuses for manipulating group politics (while) artificially creating confrontations".

It added that NATO's accusations were a "slander of China's peaceful development, a misjudgement of the international situation and its own role, and it is the continuation of a Cold War mentality and the group's political psychology at work".

READ: Biden rallies NATO against 'systemic' China threat

Military tensions have increased over the past year between China and rival powers including the United States and India, with flashpoints like the Himalayan border, Taiwan and the South China Sea.

China's military budget - the second largest in the world after the US, though still less than a third of Washington's - is set to increase by 6.8 per cent in 2021, the finance ministry announced in March.

Beijing has also poured billions into its space programme in a bid to make up ground on pioneers Russia and the United States.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the allies would seek to cooperate with China on global issues like climate change - but decried Beijing's increasingly assertive stance on other issues.

G7 CRITICISM

The exchange came a day after the Chinese embassy in Britain hit back at the G7 for "political manipulation" after the group criticised China's human rights record.

In a communique after a three-day summit in England, G7 leaders slammed China over abuses against pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong and minorities in the Xinjiang region.

Human rights groups say China has rounded up an estimated one million Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang into internment camps, which Beijing says is to eradicate Islamic extremism.

Biden called for China to "start acting more responsibly in terms of international norms on human rights".

As well as human rights, tensions have soared between Washington and Beijing on a number of fronts in recent years, including trade, technology and the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.

READ: China slams G7 'manipulation' after Xinjiang, Hong Kong criticism

'CRITICALLY IMPORTANT' ALLIANCE

In the summit communique, NATO leaders also warned Russia's President Vladimir Putin, whom Biden will meet on Wednesday in Geneva, that his country's military build-up and provocative behaviour on NATO's eastern frontier "contribute to instability along NATO borders and beyond".

When he arrived at the NATO headquarters in Brussels for a summit with his 29 counterparts, Biden stressed that the alliance was "critically important" to US security.

"I think that there is a growing recognition over the last couple of years that we have new challenges," Biden told Stoltenberg at bilateral talks just ahead of the main summit.

"We have Russia that is not acting in a way that is consistent with what we had hoped, as well as China," he said.

"I want to make it clear: NATO is critically important for US interests in and of itself. If there weren't one, we'd have to invent it," he said.

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2021-06-15 05:51:36Z
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India's second COVID-19 wave sparks selfless acts, but the battle is far from over - CNA

MUMBAI: People feared they would die if they stepped out of their homes. In the streets, people were weeping beside the dead. Oxygen and hospital beds were in dire shortage.

As new cases in India exceeded 400,000 and deaths exceeded 4,000 on some days last month, even the rich and connected were not spared from the devastating second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the virus did not kill the spirit of generosity.

In Mumbai, kidney dialysis patient Rozy Saldhana and her husband had basic medical facilities including an oxygen cylinder set up at home for emergencies. Despite her kidney failure, the 52-year-old did not hesitate to give the cylinder to someone else who needed it.

Her husband, Pascol, had received a call from his friend, a school principal. The husband of a teacher needed oxygen but could not get hold of a cylinder.

WATCH: In India, dialysis patient saves dying COVID-19 victims (3:22)

When Saldhana — who has been on dialysis for five years — heard about it, she told her husband to give their cylinder to the man. “Don’t worry about me. I’m fit enough,” her husband recollected her saying.

She did not stop there. She told her husband to sell all her jewellery and buy oxygen to help more people. He received 80,000 rupees (S$1,450) from the sale and did as his wife had asked.

Over in Delhi, a Sikh voluntary organisation called Khalsa Help International has set up makeshift hospital facilities in several locations to treat patients. Its free oxygen support service has saved thousands of lives since late April.

Its founder, Gurpreet Singh Rummy, said the group has not refused anyone. It has served more than 15,000 people, of whom around 8,000 to 10,000 had arrived in a critical state and would have died without oxygen support, he said.

Khalsa Help International’s oxygen support service has saved many lives.

“Whether you’re coming in a rickshaw or a Mercedes-Benz, we treat all equally. Our only priority is the level of oxygen,” he told the programme Insight.

We don’t discriminate on the basis of religion, caste, creed or if one is rich or poor. Our service is for everyone.

While getting supplies is not easy, he told Reuters that the organisation’s volunteers “travel hundreds of kilometres” to fetch oxygen, and “you can’t expect such zeal from most government bodies”.

THE PATH TO CATASTROPHE

Healthcare experts said a highly transmissible strain, complacency and large gatherings were among the reasons behind the second wave.

Last year, India was quick to impose a lockdown from late March. While it caused suffering to migrant workers within the country, it helped contain case numbers, noted Rajesh Parikh, the director of medical research at Jaslok Hospital, one of Mumbai’s top hospitals.

Dr Rajesh Parikh.

But India failed to take advantage of the respite to ramp up facilities and oxygen production, he said.

From October, most safety protocols had been abandoned, and millions of people travelled between states. Large gatherings in the form of Diwali celebrations and weddings made a comeback.

“One of the confounding factors in the second wave has been large gatherings, whether it’s for the Kumbha Mela, a religious gathering, or the political rallies which occurred throughout West Bengal,” said Parikh. These “undoubtedly” amplified the second wave.

Political rallies amplified India's COVID-19 resurgence.

The authorities also incorrectly estimated that India’s population had “possibly acquired herd immunity”, cited K Srinath Reddy, the president of the Public Health Foundation of India.

Antibody surveys were done in a “patchy” and “piecemeal” fashion across the country, with “markedly varying results”, noted the professor. The best results showed widespread detection of antibodies, hence the belief that “most of India” had herd immunity.

“The public wanted to believe it. The businessmen wanted to believe it because they wanted to put the economy back on the rails. The small traders wanted to believe it because they’d suffered a lot,” said the cardiologist and epidemiologist.

“The politicians wanted to believe it because they wanted to go back to election rallies … Even people who wanted to organise religious festivals wanted to believe that good news, because that’s their business as well.”

WATCH: The full episode — India’s COVID catastrophe: What went wrong? (48:05)

Meanwhile, a new viral strain — called the Delta variant, or B.1.617 previously — emerged and spread more quickly than doctors expected.

“We’ve seen that (if) even one person in the family is infected, the entire household comes down with the infection in the next 10 or 12 days,” said Mumbai-based infectious diseases expert Trupti Gilada-Baheti.

VACCINATION A MATTER OF URGENCY

The outcome is immeasurable grief across India. Pune resident Arun Gaikwad, a 47-year-old Indian Air Force officer, lost his wife and half her family in the span of 15 days in March and April.

They had held prayers for his late father-in-law, and one of his brothers-in-law had a cold. In the following days, nearly everyone who had gathered, including Gaikwad’s teenage daughter and son, tested positive for COVID-19.

Arun Gaikwad (left) lost his wife and half her family.

When his wife developed breathing difficulties, he rushed to several hospitals before locating one 40 kilometres away with a ventilator bed available. Two days after she was admitted, she died of cardiac arrest. Two brothers-in-law and his mother-in-law also died.

New cases have declined since last month after lockdowns were imposed. But to prevent a resurgence, doctors say the country must urgently vaccinate its people.

In a population of over 1.3 billion people, over 240 million doses of vaccine have been administered so far.

India must ensure that there are enough vaccines and ramp up its vaccination drive in both cities and villages, said Gilada-Baheti, who works at the Unison Medicare and Research Centre.

Healthcare experts say India must step up its vaccination drive.

“To keep ourselves from a very disastrous third wave, we’ll have to vaccinate a substantial number of a population at phenomenal speed,” said the doctor, who is also a consultant at Prince Aly Khan Hospital and at Masina Hospital.

Effective control measures would also ease the mental strain on healthcare professionals. “Every day in the ward or the ICU is like a battle,” said Gilada-Baheti. “Every day we see victories, and we see losses … It’s heartbreaking.”

Watch this episode of Insight here. The programme airs on Thursdays at 9pm.

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2021-06-14 22:15:17Z
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China accuses G7 leaders of ‘small circle’ power politics after rebuke - South China Morning Post

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1. China accuses G7 leaders of ‘small circle’ power politics after rebuke  South China Morning Post
2. China slams G7 'manipulation' after Xinjiang, Hong Kong criticism  CNA
3. Imperfect competition between US and China: Statesman, Asia News & Top Stories  The Straits Times
4. China is quite right – the G7 cannot dictate to the rest of the world | Hamish McRae  The Independent
5. G7’s ‘unprecedented’ united front piles pressure on China, analysts say  South China Morning Post
6. View Full coverage on Google News

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2021-06-14 10:10:23Z
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Israel's new government begins, Netanyahu era ends - CNA

JERUSALEM: The first Israeli government in 12 years not led by Benjamin Netanyahu got down to business on Monday (Jun 14), with the former prime minister shying away from a handover ceremony with successor Naftali Bennett.

The right-wing leader's record run in office ended on Sunday with parliament approving, by a razor-thin majority of 60-59, a new administration led by Bennett, a nationalist whose views mirror Netanyahu's on many issues.

In Tel Aviv, thousands turned out to welcome the result, after four inconclusive elections in two years.

"I am here celebrating the end of an era in Israel," said Erez Biezuner in Rabin Square.

"We want them to succeed and to unite us again," he added, as flag-waving supporters of the new government sang and danced around him.

A combative Netanyahu, 71, said that he would be back sooner than expected.

"If we are destined to go into the opposition, we will do so with our heads held high until we can topple it," he told parliament before Bennett was sworn in.

READ: Israel swears in new coalition, ending Netanyahu's long rule

READ: Who is Naftali Bennett, Israel's incoming PM?

The traditional handover ceremony was not scheduled at the prime minister's office, where Netanyahu was expected to meet Bennett later on Monday to brief him on state matters.

The last time Netanyahu was unseated as Israel's leader, in 1999, he ended his first term in office with a glass of wine in his hand and affable words of welcome to then Labor Party leader Ehud Barak, who defeated him at the polls.

"Sour, grumpy, not stately – Trump-like until the final moment," Yossi Verter, a political affairs commentator, wrote in the left-leaning Haaretz newspaper.

Asked why there would be no such scene now, Topaz Luk, a senior aide to Netanyahu, told Army Radio: "That's just what happens."

Netanyahu, he said, was "filled with motivation to topple this dangerous government as quickly as possible". Luk declined to disclose Netanyahu's comeback strategy, pointing only to the new administration's slim margin of support in parliament.

Luk said that the incoming government was receiving briefings from Netanyahu's diplomatic and security advisers to ensure an orderly handover.

After holding its first meeting late on Sunday, Bennett's new Cabinet was invited for a traditional group photograph, showcasing incoming governments, at the official residence of President Reuven Rivlin.

UNSEATING NETANYAHU

With little in common other than a desire to unseat Netanyahu, the patchwork coalition of right-wing, centrist, left-wing and Arab parties largely plans to avoid sweeping moves on hot-button issues such as policy towards the Palestinians, and to focus instead on domestic reforms.

Palestinians were unmoved by the change of administration, predicting that Bennett, a former defence chief who advocates annexing parts of the occupied West Bank, would pursue the same right-wing agenda as Netanyahu.

Under the coalition deal, Bennett, a 49-year-old Orthodox Jew and high-tech millionaire, will be replaced as prime minister in 2023 by centrist Yair Lapid, 57, a popular former television host.

READ: Netanyahu departure ends 'one of worst periods' of conflict, says Palestinian PM 

United States President Joe Biden congratulated Bennett and Lapid, saying he looked forward to strengthening the "close and enduring" relationship between the two countries.

Addressing parliament on Sunday, Bennett put Biden on notice that he would follow in Netanyahu's footsteps in opposing any US return to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal abrogated by former president Donald Trump.

Netanyahu was Israel's longest-serving leader, and had served consecutive terms as prime minister since 2009.

He used his global stature to resist calls for Palestinian statehood, describing it as a danger to Israel's security. He sought to bypass the Palestinian issue by forging diplomatic deals with regional Arab states, on the back of shared fears of Iran and its nuclear programme.

But he was a divisive figure at home and abroad, weakened by repeated failure to clinch a decisive election victory, and by a corruption trial in which he has denied any wrongdoing.

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2021-06-14 11:42:20Z
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Malaysia's move to start Covid-19 vaccinations in key economic sectors draws brickbats - The Straits Times

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's move to start inoculating workers in key economic sectors against Covid-19 before the completion of vaccinations for senior citizens and front-liners has drawn criticisms from several opposition politicians.

Mr Khairy Jamaluddin, the national coordinating minister for immunisation, said on Monday (June 14) that the government will begin vaccinating industry workers from Wednesday, as part of measures to reduce infections in workplaces that continue to dominate the number of new clusters.

Vaccine centres will be opened for the manufacturing, construction, plantation, retail and hospitality sectors.

A total of 30,000 doses will be set aside to inoculate factory workers this month.

"If we look at the daily Covid-19 data on Sunday, 11 out of 15 clusters are workplace outbreaks, involving almost 200 active cases," Mr Khairy told a news conference.

"This is why we made the decision for the fourth phase, or the pandemic control phase, to kick off as soon as possible to reduce the number of workplace clusters and stop the transmission of infections among workers."

But the move announced last week was slammed by the opposition who pointed out that the vaccination of front-liners and senior citizens has yet to be completed.

The management department director of the federal police, Datuk Ramli Din, revealed last week that 20 per cent of the police force, many of whom have to man roadblocks during the ongoing nationwide lockdown, had yet to be vaccinated.

Opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) MP and former deputy education minister Teo Nie Ching said on June 10: "KJ (Khairy Jamaluddin) promised in March that teachers would be prioritised in phase two. However as at June 5, only 70,000, or 16.2 per cent, of the teachers under the Ministry of Education had been vaccinated. When will the remaining 83.8 per cent of the teachers get their vaccine?"

Teachers are currently conducting classes online until end-July.

While some 57 per cent of senior citizens are expected to be vaccinated by mid-June, it appears the rest may have to wait while the government fast-tracks vaccines for workers, said DAP MP Khoo Poay Tiong on June 9.

"As Khairy himself has repeatedly stated, our supply of Covid-19 vaccines is limited. Starting phase four concurrently with phase two means fewer vaccines would be available for senior citizens. This is a major deviation from the government's own policy. In effect, senior citizens would have to wait longer for their vaccine although they are categorised as a high-risk group."

The states of Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan, as well as Sabah in Borneo, have the lowest vaccine take-up rates in the country.

As at June 6, the registration rates for Pahang, Kelantan and Terengganu were 43.36 per cent, 36.83 per cent and 43.28 per cent respectively, DAP Pahang assemblyman Chiong Yoke Kong said last week.

Sabah has the lowest rate at 19.75 per cent.

In contrast, Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur have the highest rates of 100 per cent and 70.65 per cent respectively.

Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang also have the highest number of people who skipped their vaccine appointments, totalling more than 10,000 in each state.

Believing in fake news, not checking the vaccine app and transport issues, were some of the reasons for missing the appointments, said Mr Chiong.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on Sunday said the government is confident that Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya will achieve herd immunity earlier than expected by August.

Malaysia recorded 4,949 new cases on Monday, with 2,026 of them from Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.

There are a total of 662,457 cases so far.

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2021-06-14 11:39:03Z
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3 S'pore medical bodies say risk to heart from Covid-19 mRNA vaccines very small, public should get jabs - The Straits Times

SINGAPORE - Three independent bodies of medical experts here have reiterated that the risk of heart conditions associated with the Covid-19 mRNA vaccine is "very small", and have recommended that people still receive the vaccines in the interest of public health.

The Chapter of Cardiologists at the College of Physicians, the Academy of Medicine and the Singapore Cardiac Society said on Monday (June 14) that the risk posed by Covid-19 to health is much greater than the risk of the jabs.

"We continue to recommend that eligible members of the public go for Covid-19 vaccination as the risk of complications from Covid-19 infection continues to significantly exceed the risk from Covid-19 vaccines," they said in a joint statement.

"The vaccination helps keep the majority of individuals from getting seriously ill from Covid-19 and facilitates herd immunity in the community."

Six people here have been reported to have suffered myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart muscle, and pericarditis, or inflammation of the lining outside the heart, after getting an mRNA vaccine, among whom four are young men less than 30 years old. The other two are a man and a woman both aged above 40.

The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) said most of the cases had occurred within a few days after receiving the second dose of the vaccine, and that all have recovered or been discharged well from hospital.

Current data suggests that there is a very small risk of myocarditis and pericarditis after receiving a second dose of mRNA Covid-19 vaccine, particularly in males under 30 years old.

But the authorities and experts have both said that such cases are extremely rare and it remains unclear if the vaccines are responsible for them.

As a precaution, experts have advised that vaccinated people, especially adolescents and younger men, should avoid strenuous physical activity for one week after their second dose.

The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, the two used in Singapore's national inoculation programme, are mRNA vaccines.

The United States and Israel - two major users of the mRNA vaccines - have also reported a slightly increased risk of myocarditis and pericarditis in young men after the second dose of mRNA vaccination.

The three medical bodies on Monday acknowledged that these two countries have observed increased risk of such heart conditions, but noted that the sample size of Singapore is too small to be conclusive.

They added that they are monitoring the situation closely and will advise should there be updates.

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2021-06-14 08:03:42Z
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China slams G7 'manipulation' after Xinjiang, Hong Kong criticism - CNA

BEIJING: China on Monday (Jun 14) accused the G7 of "political manipulation" after it criticised Beijing over its human rights record in Xinjiang and Hong Kong.

In a communique after a three-day summit in England, G7 leaders slammed China over abuses against minorities in the Xinjiang region and activists in Hong Kong, while US President Joe Biden called for Beijing to "start acting more responsibly in terms of international norms on human rights".

The Chinese embassy in the United Kingdom responded angrily on Monday, and accused the G7 of "interfering".

"The Group of Seven takes advantage of Xinjiang-related issues to engage in political manipulation and interfere in China's internal affairs, which we firmly oppose," an embassy spokesman said in a statement.

The statement accused the G7 of "lies, rumours and baseless accusations".

Human rights groups say China has rounded up an estimated 1 million Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang into internment camps, which Beijing says is to eradicate Islamic extremism.

"We will promote our values, including by calling on China to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms," the G7 communique read.

READ: G7 calls out China, demands COVID-19 origins investigation

At their first physical summit in nearly two years, leaders of the seven nations announced a number of pledges on COVID-19 vaccinations, climate change, rights and trade.

They also called for a new investigation in China into the origins of COVID-19 - prompting a response from the Chinese embassy that the work needs to be done in a "scientific, objective and fair manner", without agreeing to a new probe.

"The current epidemic is still raging around the world, and the traceability work should be carried out by global scientists and should not be politicised," the embassy said.

READ: China cautions G7: 'Small' groups don't rule the world

The coronavirus first emerged in central China in late 2019, and the World Health Organization sent a team of international experts in January to probe its origins.

But their long-delayed report published in March drew no firm conclusions, and the investigation has since faced criticism for lacking transparency and access.

The G7 also announced a new infrastructure fund which President Biden said would be "much more equitable" than China's massive Belt and Road Initiative.

The Chinese embassy statement complained in response that the "accusations against China on economic and trade issues in the communique are inconsistent with the facts and are unreasonable".

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2021-06-14 05:35:21Z
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