Hi all,
In today's bulletin: Pompeo unveils new actions on Chinese apps, the Philippines economy slumps, Hiroshima marks 75 years since atomic bomb, Singapore economy to rebound in 2021, Melbourne starts strict lockdown and more.
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POMPEO SHRUGS OFF CHINA'S OBJECTIONS OVER TAIWAN VISIT, UNVEILS NEW ACTIONS AGAINST APPS AND DATA ACCESS
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday (Aug 5) shrugged off China's objections to US Health and Human Services Secretary Alez Azar's planned visit to Taiwan, saying it was not inconsistent with previous policy, US Bureau Chief Nirmal Ghosh reports.
The visit by Mr Azar to Taiwan, while focused on health and the pandemic, is difficult to separate from the wider context of the Trump administration painting the Chinese Communist Party as a malign actor and threat to democracies.
Pompeo also unveiled a series of new actions under a "Clean Network Programme" designed to reduce China's access to American data. The programme will focus on five areas and include steps to prevent various Chinese apps, as well as Chinese telecoms companies, from accessing sensitive information on American citizens and businesses.
And just days ago the Trump administration said it wants to ban or force the sale of TikTok, the popular short video sharing platform owned by the Chinese firm ByteDance, in what Beijing called a "smash and grab."
China said on Thursday it was firmly opposed to the US government's action to block Chinese apps and said the move went against market principles and had no factual basis.
China Correspondent Elizabeth Law reports that the US government wanted to ban Tiktok app instead of forcing sale: ByteDance.
And US Bureau Chief Nirmal Ghosh looks deeper into the deepening US mistrust of China, and how July 2020 will almost certainly be remembered as the month the US-China relationship went into a steep nosedive.
PHILIPPINES POSTS WORST GDP SLUMP ON RECORD, PLUNGES INTO RECESSION
The Philippine economy suffered its deepest slump on record in the second quarter, plunging the country into a recession with little hope of a quick recovery, as crippling measures meant to contain a coronavirus outbreak continue to wipe out jobs and incomes, Philippines Correspondent Raul Dancel reports.
Gross domestic product (GDP), the broadest measure of goods and services produced, shrank 16.5 per cent in the April-June quarter from a year earlier, the biggest contraction since the government began a new series of data-tallying in 1981.
President Rodrigo Duterte placed Metropolitan Manila and the rest of the main island of Luzon - home to about half the country's population of over 107 million - on lockdown in mid-March to slow an outbreak of Covid-19 infections.
Lasting until June 1, it was one of the strictest and longest lockdowns in the world.
Read also:
Record single-day jump in number of Covid-19 cases in Philippines
HIROSHIMA MARKS 75 YEARS SINCE ATOMIC BOMBING IN SCALED-BACK CEREMONY
Bells tolled in Hiroshima on Thursday for the 75th anniversary of the world's first atomic bombing, with ceremonies downsized due to the novel coronavirus and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urging dialogue between countries to decrease security threats.
Though thousands usually pack the Peace Park in central Hiroshima to pray, sing and lay paper cranes as a symbol of peace, entrance was sharply limited and only survivors and their families could attend the memorial ceremony itself.
The city said that given the significance of the 75th anniversary of the bombing, that killed 140,000 people before the end of 1945, they had decided to hold the ceremony despite the spread of coronavirus, but with strict precautions in place.
At the exact time the bomb exploded, the crowd stood for a moment of silence in the heavy summer heat while cicadas shrilled and the Peace Bell rang.
Must read:
Hiroshima at 75: Asia back on the nuclear centre stage
Japan court recognises more Hiroshima bomb survivors
Japan bomb survivors make final pleas for abolition
SINGAPORE LIKELY TO REBOUND FROM RECESSION, ACHIEVE 7 PER CENT GDP GROWTH IN 2021
Singapore's economy is set for a strong recovery next year after a deeper- than-expected slump amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report by the Asean+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (Amro).
The Republic's economic growth will expand by 7 per cent in 2021 after shrinking 6 per cent this year, Amro said in its August update of the Asean+3 Regional Economic Outlook 2020 report released on Thursday.
The gross domestic product growth forecast for 2020 was downgraded from Amro's earlier projection of 0.8 per cent released in March.
Must read:
ST Editorial: Hard decisions ahead as downturn bites
Singapore factory activity gauge jumps back into expansion territory
AUSTRALIA'S SECOND-BIGGEST CITY ENTERS STRICT NEW CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWN
Australia's second-biggest city Melbourne began the first day of a six-week total lockdown on Thursday with the closure of most shops and businesses raising new fears of food shortages, as authorities battle a second wave of coronavirus infections.
Shops were shut and streets were deserted in the city of about 5 million people, the capital of Victoria state, which reported 471 new Covid-19 cases and eight deaths in the past 24 hours.
Australia has now recorded about 20,000 Covid-19 cases and 255 fatalities, still far fewer than many other developed nations.
Jonathan Pearlman reports from Sydney that other states have begun imposing tougher border controls after experiencing fresh cases of Covid-19.
See also:
What Covid-19 lockdown 2.0 looks like in Australia and elsewhere: Harsher rules, deeper confusion
Singaporeans in Melbourne hunker down amid stricter, extended lockdown
IN OTHER NEWS
MALAYSIAN MINISTER CAUGHT VAPING DURING PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS, APOLOGISES ON SOCIAL MEDIA: A video depicting Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein vaping during Parliamentary proceedings has made the rounds on social media. The video had shown Datuk Seri Hishammuddin sneaking a vape behind his face mask. "Sorry, I didn't realise - it's a new habit. I apologise to the Dewan (Chambers) and promise not to do it again, " he tweeted.
TRANS-PACIFIC TRADE BLOC SAYS TO ENSURE FOOD, MEDICINE SUPPLIES AMID PANDEMIC: Ministers from a trans-Pacific trade bloc have agreed to fight protectionism and avoid food and medicine shortages during the coronavirus pandemic, they said in a joint statement published on Wednesday. The bloc comprises Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Together they have a combined economy of US$13.5 trillion (S$18.5 trillion).
CANADIAN PASTOR JAILED IN MYANMAR FOR DEFYING CORONAVIRUS BAN AFTER CLAIMING CHRISTIANS SAFE FROM VIRUS: A Canadian preacher who claimed that Christians were safe from coronavirus was jailed on Thursday for three months in Myanmar after he and dozens of his followers became infected when he held a banned service. Toronto-based David Lah, 43, was born in Myanmar and often returns to his motherland to preach.
That's it for today, thanks for reading. See you tomorrow.
Tom
