Pompeo is poison that Asian countries should guard against: Lying not to make America 'great again'

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo File photo: AFP 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2020/nov/03/us-election-2020-live-results-donald-trump-joe-biden-who-won-presidential-republican-democrat

 

Lying not to make America 'great again'

 

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo concluded his Asia tour after completing his surprise trip to Vietnam. Vietnam and China have maritime territorial disputes, but China is Vietnam's largest trading partner and both are socialist countries. China-Vietnam relations are strong, important and subtle.

Pompeo scolded China during his trip, but he seemed to be some kind of restraint in Vietnam. Before he boarded the returning airplane, there was no reports about him talking about China on either Vietnamese or Western media. He only said, "We have enormous respect for the Vietnamese people and your country's sovereignty," as if he was hinting at something. Some media outlets also quoted his empty words about constructing regional security, peace and prosperity. It seems Vietnam has put some pressure on Pompeo to not take Vietnam as another stage to attack China.

Pompeo hoped that the five Asian countries he visited can follow the US in confronting China. But as The Jakarta Post reported on Tuesday, this is "an impossible mission." Pompeo not only attacked China but also bullied some small nations during his trip. At joint press conferences, he often tried to create the impression that these countries share the US' attitude on China. However, people have noticed the difference between Pompeo's statements and those of the host countries, and how these countries tried to clarify their position during or after Pompeo's speeches.

Many regard Pompeo's tour as his farewell trip. If the Republican party loses the upcoming presidential election, then many things Pompeo negotiated or signed during his trip will have to be reassessed. Even if Donald Trump is reelected, Pompeo is also likely to be replaced.

In Sri Lanka, Pompeo accused China of being a "predator" and said the US is Sri Lanka's "friend" and "partner." This was the main theme of his visit. But is there any country that doesn't want to have more friends? How annoying it is when a person walks over and says that your friend is a bad person you need to guard against! How could the US secretary of state have such a low EQ?

The Maldives established diplomatic relations with the US in 1966. But the US has just announced it would be establishing an embassy there. Since 2004, no US secretary of state had visited the Maldives until Pompeo's recent trip after a hiatus of 16 years. How can Pompeo condemn China, the biggest investor and source of tourists for the Maldives, on the island nation? The Maldivian people understand that if it were not because of the development of China-Maldives relations, Pompeo would not have visited the island nation or promised to open an embassy.

The Indonesia-claimed exclusive economic zone near the Natuna Islands overlaps with China's maritime claims, but the two sides have successfully managed their disputes. However, Pompeo made an issue of the dispute, trying to make Indonesia a frontline against China on the South China Sea issue. Pompeo is humiliating the political wisdom of Indonesians, thinking that a few words can mislead Jakarta over where its national interest is.

Vietnam and China have comparatively the most maritime disputes. But Vietnam is a land neighbor that has close exchanges and relations with China in various areas. Pompeo in recent years launched scathing attacks on the Communist Party of China, portraying the CPC as tyrannical. Vietnam is under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam. The US approach against socialist China also poses long-term threats to socialist Vietnam. Vietnam should strike a balance between developing a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership with China and handling territorial disputes.

Pompeo is a typical spoiler, and what Asia needs now is construction. There are disputes across Asia, but there is no reason to let any dispute dominate the region. Pompeo wants himself to be the reason. He has become poison in the area. Normally, no one wants to drink poison. Pompeo has come and left, and these Asian countries will carefully put the memory of him as poison in the corner of the house.

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Blockchain unlocks travel amid the coronavirus pandemic

Blockchain technology allowed 17 million people to travel between China’s Guangdong province and Macau amid the coronavirus pandemic.

• Macau and China’s southern Guangdong province have a mutually recognised health code system powered by blockchain
• This allows both sides to validate the health status of travellers without directly exchanging personal data, hence complying with local privacy laws

Pedestrians wear face masks as they walk outside the New Orient Landmark hotel in Macau on January 22, 2020. Photo AFP

EVEN amid a global travel standstill due to the coronavirus, more than 17 million people travelled between Macau and China’s southern Guangdong province since May.

This is thanks to a mutually recognised QR health code system using a crucial piece of technology: blockchain.

Blockchain technology is seen as a secure way to transfer data as it stores records in a network of computers instead of a centralised system. Each new record is linked to previous ones, making it extremely difficult for anyone to make changes.

The mainland China-macau health code system, based on technology by Chinese opensourced blockchain platform Fisco Bcos and Webank, a fintech developer backed by Chinese Internet giant Tencent Holdings, provides a solution to a major challenge to crossborder travel, Fisco Bcos said in a press release.

“Health authorities in Chinese mainland and Macau need to verify the health information submitted by users crossing the border and yet they are not supposed to exchange data directly with each other to stay in compliance with their corresponding regulations,” the blockchain platform said.

The health code system uses blockchain to encrypt the identification and personal health information of travellers, storing it in a consortium blockchain network which grants access only to authorised organisations.

This way, health authorities on both sides are able to verify whether travellers are in good health and have been in contact with any known Covid-19 cases without actually accessing personal data, thus complying with privacy regulations on both sides of the border that prohibit the direct exchange of such information.

With the code and valid negative coronavirus test results, Macau travellers are now exempt from a 14-day quarantine when entering China.

Chinese travellers from outside Guangdong province can also participate in the system to travel into Macau without quarantine requirements as long as they allow Guangdong authorities to access their data.

“The whole process does not involve transmission of data between back-end platforms,” said Fan Ruibin, head of blockchain technology at Webank.

“The original data is still stored in the local authority’s data centre.”

The technology “greatly improves the efficiency and accuracy of information verification across borders” and saves travellers the trouble of filling in personal information repeatedly on different platforms, Fisco Bcos said.

The average time of setting up the mutually-recognisable health code for the first time is 100 seconds and it takes less than three seconds to repeat the procedure thereafter, according to the statement.

Technically speaking, the system allows “both authorities to recognise a person’s health conditions through asymmetric cryptographic technology”, which uses a pair of related keys to encrypt and decrypt a message and protect it from unauthorised access or use, said Gao Chengshi, a cryptography expert and a member of the Blockchain Committee of the China Computer Federation.

“The technology itself isn’t complicated, and can be easily introduced to other countries and regions as long as the authorities are willing to conduct such mutual recognition of health identities,” Gao said.

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Global economic rebound stricken by Covid-19 surge

European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde (pic) said the economic recovery is “losing momentum more rapidly than expected” after the partial rebound seen in the summer. She warned that the risks to Europe’s economies are “clearly tilted to the downside”.

THE recent resurgence of the Covid-19 infections has cast a new shadow over the global economy, with lockdown measures taking place.

In France, President Emmanuel Macron has declared a nationwide lockdown starting today. It comes just days after German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced a four-week shutdown of bars, restaurants and theatres.

This week’s decline in global equities comes as investors grow increasingly worried about the economic recovery due to the sharp rise in the number of Covid-19 cases in Europe and in the US.

Over the past few weeks, there has been a series of new restrictions in many countries, including Malaysia, that make it harder to know where the economy is heading.

On Thursday, European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde said the economic recovery is “losing momentum more rapidly than expected” after the partial rebound seen in the summer.

She warned that the risks to Europe’s economies are “clearly tilted to the downside”.

The latest round of infections are causing a heightened level of uncertainties for governments to prepare fiscal and monetary responses.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief economist Gita Gopinath called on governments to continue fiscal support, including credit lines for small and medium businesses, wage subsidies and grants until the recovery is underway.

“To prevent large scale bankruptcies and ensure workers can return to productive jobs, vulnerable but viable firms should continue to receive support, wherever possible, through tax deferrals, moratoriums on debt service, and equity-like injections, ” she said in mid-October.

“Most economies will experience lasting damage to supply potential, reflecting scars from the deep recession this year, ” she added.

The IMF pointed out that Covid-19 remained the critical factor in economic recovery, and that “many more millions of jobs are at risk the longer this crisis continues.”

According to a recent estimate by the World Bank, up to 150 million more people may be pushed into extreme poverty by 2021.

The global economy is expected to decline by 4.4% this year before it expands to 5.2% in 2021, according to the IMF’s World Economic Outlook report published recently.

Interestingly, IMF data shows that emerging markets are likely to see a lower contraction of 3.3% this year compared to 5.8% decline in developed economies.

For the eurozone economy, the agency expects a slump in GDP by 8.3% in 2020, a level not seen since the 1930s Great Depression, with Spain likely to suffer the most.

The report predicts the Spanish economy to slide 12.8% followed by Italy, down by 10.6.%. Even the EU’s economic powerhouse, Germany, could contract by 6%.

Advanced economies’ recovery in 2021 would be slower than emerging economies, with GDP expected to grow 3.9% compared to 6%, the IMF believes.

The IMF said China, where the first cases of Covid-19 were reported, will be the only economy with positive growth for this year, with 1.9% expansion.

“While recovery in China has been faster than expected, the global economy’s long ascent back to pre-pandemic levels of activity remains prone to setbacks, ” it said.

China’s recovery from the pandemic is mostly coming from accelerating industrial production and robust export growth.

The US economy grew at a record pace in the third quarter. It expanded by an annualised 33.1% quarter-on-quarter following a plunge of 31.4% q-o-q in the preceding quarter as economic activities gradually resumed.

With the second wave of pandemic infections, though, some market observers suggest that a recovery remains uncertain.

MIDF Research said that on an annual basis, the US economy contracted 2.9% year-on-year in the third quarter, which is a “significant recovery” from the 9% fall registered in the second quarter this year.

“The recovery remains incomplete as the pandemic-induced crisis is far from over and the number of daily Covid-19 cases remains elevated.

“Tighter rules in other parts of the world such as in some European countries could be echoed by the US, which threatens the continuous recovery in the country, ” it said in a report yesterday.

In a report by Reuters, Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi said rising Covid-19 cases, particularly in the winter months, could means a second economic hit from the virus, which is likely to be worse than the first time around.

He expects more business failures should the number of cases continue to spike.

“A lot of businesses were able to navigate together with the PPP money (Paycheck Protection Programme loans). Of course, consumers were able to hang in there, because they got all that consumer support from the government, ” he said.

“This time, if the pandemic intensifies and infections rise, it is going to be very difficult for these businesses to make it through, ” he added.

“We will see more business failures and the scarring effect, as economists say, will make it much more difficult for the economy to get back on track and get back to full employment.”

The IMF, meanwhile, has called on governments to rethink their spending priorities and direct funding to projects that will boost productivity, including green energy investments and education.

With debt on the rise in many countries, it said policymakers may need to increase taxes on the highest earners, cut out loopholes and deductions, and ensure that corporations pay their fair share of taxes while eliminating wasteful spending.

“This is the worst crisis since the Great Depression, and it will take significant innovation on the policy front, at both the national and international levels, to recover from this calamity, ” IMF said.

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WASHINGTON: The United States passed nine million reported coronavirus cases on Friday and broke its own record for daily new infections for the second day in a row, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University, as Covid-19 surges days before the country chooses its next president.

The U.S, which has seen a resurgence of its outbreak since mid-October, has now notched up 9,034,295 cases, according to a real-time count by the Baltimore-based school.

On Friday the country set a record for new daily infections of more than 94,000 in 24 hours, breaking the record of 91,000 it had set just one day earlier.

With the virus spreading most rampantly in the Midwest and the South, hospitals are also filling up again, stretching the health care system just as the nation heads in to flu season.

“We are not ready for this wave,“ Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University school of public health, warned on ABC’s Good Morning America on Thursday.

Authorities in El Paso, Texas, imposed a curfew this week to protect “overwhelmed” health care workers and began setting up field hospitals.

But a judge’s attempt to shut down non-essential businesses in the city has been challenged by the mayor and the state’s attorney general, the Washington Post reported.

Midwestern state Wisconsin has also set up a field hospital in recent weeks, and hospital workers in Missouri were sounding warning bells as cases there rise.

Hospitals in the western state of Utah were preparing to ration care by as early as next week as patients flood their ICUs, according to local media.

‘Utterly disqualifying’

The pattern of the pandemic so far shows that hospitalizations usually begin to rise several weeks after infections, and deaths a few weeks after that.

More than 229,000 people have died of the virus in the US since the pandemic began, the Hopkins tally showed as of Friday, with the daily number of deaths creeping steadily upwards in recent weeks also — though at present it remains below peak levels.

For months public health officials have been warning of a surge in cases as cooler fall weather settles over the U.S, driving more people indoors.

As the weather changes, New York and other parts of the northeast, which were the epicenter of the U.S outbreak in the spring but largely controlled the virus over the summer, were reporting a worrying rise.

Some epidemiologists believe that Covid-19 spreads more easily in drier, cool air.

Rural areas, which in the spring appeared to be getting off lightly compared to crowded cities, were also facing spikes with states like North Dakota charting one of the steepest rises in recent weeks.

The state is so overwhelmed that earlier this month it told residents they have to do their own contact tracing, local media reported.

With four days to go until the election, Donald Trump was battling to hold on to the White House against challenger Joe Biden, who has slammed the president’s virus response.

“It is as severe an indictment of a president’s record as one can possibly imagine, and it is utterly disqualifying,“ Biden said Friday as the toll passed nine million.

Trump downplays the virus even as the toll has been accelerating once more, holding a slew of rallies with little social distancing or mask use.

He has repeatedly told supporters that the country is “rounding the curve” on Covid infections.

But Americans, wary of crowded polling booths on Election Day as the virus spreads, are voting early in record numbers. — AFP

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