China

By Damir Nazarov   Ibragimov, Sc.D., Director of the “Research Information Centre”, a non-governmental and non-profit organization The construction of a railway through Kyrgyzstan has been considered for a long time – more than two decades. During this time, the PRC railway ministries have repeatedly stated about their great interest …

By Damir Nazarov   U.Ibragimov, Director of the “Research Information Centre”, a non­governmental and non-profit organization On December 19-20, 2019, Tashkent held the first meeting of members of Working Group on Formation of a Multimodal Transport Corridor for “Asian- Pacific Region – China – Kyrgyzstan – Uzbekistan – Turkmenistan – …

A spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry suggested on Thursday the U.S. military might have brought the coronavirus to the Chinese city of Wuhan, which has been hardest hit by the outbreak, doubling down on a war of words with Washington. China has taken great offence at comments by U.S. officials …

About a quarter of China’s new confirmed cases and almost all of those outside the epidemic’s epicenter in Wuhan originated outside the country on Friday, according to official data. Most of these cases, which include infections of Chinese nationals who caught the virus abroad, were in China’s northwestern Gansu province, …

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared a 30-day state of emergency on Thursday and Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity was closed following the discovery of seven cases of coronavirus in the traditional birthplace of Jesus. The decree was announced by Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh, who decided to close all schools, …

The U.S. death toll from coronavirus infections rose to 11 on Wednesday as new cases emerged around New York City and Los Angeles, while Seattle-area health officials discouraged social gatherings amid the nation’s largest outbreak. The first California death from the virus was an elderly person in Placer County, near …

Some key insights into the novel coronavirus offered in the Report of the WHO-China Joint Mission on Coronavirus Disease 2019(COVID-19) Pathogen The virus has features typical of the coronavirus family and is of Betacoronavirus 2b lineage. Full genome sequence analysis of the novel coronavirus revealed that its closest relative is …

Taiwan’s foreign minister on Saturday accused giant neighbor China of waging cyber “war” on the island to disrupt its fight against the coronavirus by using fake news, as the island Beijing claims as its own reported a jump in new cases The coronavirus outbreak has strained already poor ties between …

United Nations human rights guardian Michelle Bachelet urged the global community on Thursday to show solidarity with people of ethnic Asian origin subject to discrimination amid an outbreak of a novel coronavirus that started in China. “The coronavirus epidemic has set off a disturbing wave of prejudice against people of …

The United Arab Emirates, a major air transit center, is ready for “worst case scenarios” as the coronavirus spreads in the Middle East and has the facilities to quarantine patients and screen new arrivals, a government official said on Wednesday. It was too early to ban public gatherings in the …

China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued a notice on Monday that urged Chinese tourists not to travel to the United States, suggesting that visitors from China were being unfairly targeted amid the global response to the coronavirus outbreak. The announcement drew a number of supportive comments on Chinese social …

China’s ruling Communist Party has postponed the biggest event on its political calendar, the National People’s Congress, as it concentrates on fighting the coronavirus. But the decision could further complicate President Xi Jinping’s ability to fulfill his ambitious agenda for the year, which includes doubling economic output compared with 2010 …

China reported another fall in new coronavirus infections outside of its epicenter on Sunday, but world health officials warned it was too early to make predictions about the outbreak as new cases and fears of contagion increased elsewhere. China’s health commission confirmed 648 new infections – higher than a day …

The fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak will likely lower China’s economic growth this year to 5.6%, down 0.4 percentage points from its January outlook, and shave 0.1 percentage points from global growth, the IMF said on Saturday. International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva presented the outlook to central bankers and finance …

By Paige Winfield Cunningham This sounds like great news: Drugmakers are starting to develop a coronavirus vaccine. The downside: That’s because they believe the virus is so deadly that developing a vaccine is worth risking a lot of money. Drugmaker Johnson & Johnson has announced its Janssen unit will partner …

Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, Chinese authorities have introduced policies and measures to respond to the epidemic and help people get through difficult times. Here we list some of the policies and measures that have been rolled out. 1. Treatment bills of infected patients subsidized Apart from confirmed …

China’s experience in fighting the novel coronavirus could provide more practical experience in upgrading global cooperation in public health emergencies, according to a newly released report. The report, China’s Fight Against COVID-19 Epidemic, said that a full governmental and social mobilization across the country has made a great contribution to …

Residents of a central Ukrainian town clashed with police, burned tires and hurled projectiles at a convoy of buses carrying evacuees from China’s Hubei province, quarantined in case of the coronavirus, to a sanatorium on Thursday. Some protesters and police were lying wounded on the ground after the clashes. At …

A coronavirus outbreak in South Korea fanned fears on Thursday of the global spread of the pathogen as research suggested it was more contagious than thought and two elderly passengers from a cruise ship quarantined in Japan died. China reported a sharp drop in new cases but the data was …

Passengers began disembarking on Wednesday from the virus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship after spending two weeks in quarantine off Yokohama, near Tokyo, public broadcaster NHK said. Around 500 people were expected to disembark on Wednesday with the entire process to be completed by Friday, NHK reported. The Diamond Princess, operated …

Foreign companies, enterprises above the designated size and export companies have resumed work one after another in the nation, as it fights against the novel coronavirus pneumonia. With sound protective measures, employees of United Initiators, a Germany-headquartered company, have started work at a circular economic demonstration park in Feidong county, …

Favipiravir, an antiviral that has shown potential in treating the novel coronavirus, was approved for marketing, the Taizhou government of Zhejiang province announced Sunday. The drug is approved for marketing in the treatment of influenza, and is one of three drugs demonstrating efficacy against the novel coronavirus in human trials. …

Senior Communist Party official warns of the dangers to the country’s economy and the risks to ‘social stability’ By Gordon Watts special to The Levant Millions of small businesses in China could be destroyed by the coronavirus outbreak, which has swept across the country, threatening “social stability.” Painting a picture …

U.S. prosecutors on Thursday accused Huawei of stealing trade secrets and helping Iran track protesters in its latest indictment against the Chinese company, escalating the U.S. battle with the world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker. In the indictment, which supersedes one unsealed last year in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, …

The coronavirus crisis, which has already battered oil prices, threatens to further undercut Gulf economies battling a downturn and struggling to wean themselves from a decades-old energy addiction. The six Gulf states — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates — count China as their main trading …

The coronavirus epidemic could spread to about two-thirds of the world’s population if it cannot be controlled, according to Hong Kong’s leading public health epidemiologist. His warning came after the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said recent cases of coronavirus patients who had never visited China could be …

Oman’s oil minister said on Saturday that his country supports the recommendations made by an OPEC+ technical panel for a short, deeper oil output cut until the end of June. “Oman supports the recommendation of OPEC+ JTC for a potential short, deeper cut agreement, where OPEC+ would reduce oil output …

China has achieved “positive” results in its prevention and control efforts in fighting the new coronavirus, President Xi Jinping told Saudi Arabia’s King Salman by telephone, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported. The two discussed “efforts to combat and control the novel coronavirus epidemic”, the report said. China has declared …

Rarely has such an integral part of multinational industry and trade faced such an abrupt and open-ended freeze out   By James T. Areddy SHANGHAI—China’s isolation amid the coronavirus outbreak, a rare freeze out for such a vital economic center, is rippling across the world. Uncertainty over the virus—which has …

The world is being roiled by the Corona Virus, which appears to have come out of China.  Not only is it worrying health experts, it is affecting financial markets as China has aggressively quarantined infected areas and closed large factories, which threatens to impact their economy.  And, since China’s economy …

Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al-Saud said on Monday the kingdom was closely monitoring developments in global oil markets resulting from “gloomy expectations” over the impact of the new coronavirus on the Chinese and global economy and oil market fundamentals. Prince Abdulaziz said he was confident the …

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said Jordan will host 2020 Olympics boxing qualifiers for Asia and Oceania after an event in China’s Wuhan was canceled due to fears over the new flu-like coronavirus. The death toll from the virus rose to 41 on Saturday, with more than 1,300 infected …

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper suggested on Thursday he could be ready to start a highly anticipated global force repositioning this year as part of an effort to refocus the Pentagon on challenges from China and Russia. Esper said he did not want to put a firm timeline on the …

The United States is committed to regional political stability, a US State Department official underscored on Sunday. Francis Fannon, Assistant Secretary at the US State Department’s Bureau of Energy Resources, said that following his visit to the UAE last January, he is visiting the country again to “underscore the United …

The United States should stop abusing the use of force and seek solutions via dialogue, China’s foreign minister said, after a U.S. air strike in Baghdad on Friday killed Iran’s most prominent military commander. The risky behavior of the U.S. military violates the basic norms of international relations and will …

By Sarah Safa   A new phase of reconciliation could finally begin to define the US relations with China after nearly two years of commercial and economic tensions. Those tensions have been shaking the balance and stability of the international system, what brought on the surface divergences for the first time …

China, Iran and Russia will hold joint naval drills starting on Friday in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Oman, China’s defense ministry said on Thursday, amid heightened tension in the region between Iran and the United States. China will send the Xining, a guided missile destroyer, to the drills, …

Russia, backed by China, on Friday cast its 14th U.N. Security Council veto since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011 to block cross-border aid deliveries from Turkey and Iraq to millions of Syrian civilians. The resolution, drafted by Belgium, Kuwait and Germany, would have allowed cross-border humanitarian deliveries …

Thousands of protesters marched in support of China’s Uighurs in Istanbul on Friday and voiced solidarity with Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil after the furore caused by his criticism of China’s policies toward the Muslim minority. Last week, soccer star Ozil, a German Muslim of Turkish origin, posted messages on social …

Leaders and senior representatives from some 20 Muslim nations flocked to the Malaysian capital on Wednesday to discuss issues agitating Muslims globally at a summit Saudi Arabia decided to snub, and Pakistan ducked out of attending. No agenda for the Kuala Lumpur Summit has been released, but it could address …

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday came out in support of Arsenal player Mesut Ozil for his criticism of China’s treatment of ethnic Uighur Muslims, saying Beijing can censor the team’s football games but cannot hide rights violations. The Arsenal midfielder, a German Muslim of Turkish origin, last …

Oman’s state-owned Electricity Holding Company, also known as Nama, has sold a 49% stake in Oman Electricity Transmission Co. to State Grid Corporation of China, raising around $1 billion, Mansoor Al Hinai, a Nama spokesman, said on Sunday. The deal is one of five privatizations that Nama is planning as …

U.S. lawmakers announced an agreement on Monday on a $738-billion bill setting policy for the Department of Defense, including new measures for competing with Russia and China, family leave for federal workers and the creation of President Donald Trump’s long-desired Space Force. It also calls for sanctions on Turkey over …

Russia, Iran, and China will hold joint naval war games on Dec. 27, Russia’s TASS news agency cited a senior Iranian naval official as saying on Tuesday. TASS did not report where the drills would be held. Source: Reuters