China defended its measures to curb a COVID-19 outbreak and expressed displeasure with the US over what it calls a “groundless accusation” of Chinese pandemic policies, even as cases in Shanghai continued to spread despite an extensive lockdown.
Shanghai reported a record 24,943 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, the municipal government said.
That is more than five times the number seen on March 28, when 4,477 infections were reported as the city first imposed a lockdown. Total new infections in China on Saturday were at 26,355.
The US Department of State recommended US residents to not travel to China and avoid visiting COVID-19 hotspots, including Shanghai, due to what it calls an “arbitrary enforcement” of virus restrictions.
It also allowed non-emergency employees and their family members from the US consulate in Shanghai to leave, and notified Chinese officials of the voluntary departure decision while raising concerns about China’s response to the virus.
“The US announcement of authorizing the voluntary departure of US personnel and their family members at the US Consulate General in Shanghai is the US’ own decision,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian (趙立堅) said in a statement.
“However, it should be pointed out that China’s anti-epidemic policies are science-based and effective, and we are fully confident that Shanghai and other places in China will prevail over the new wave of the epidemic,” the statement said.
China is struggling to stop the hyperinfectious Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 with lockdowns in several cities and repeated mass testing as it uses a zero-tolerance approach.
The strategy has become less effective in preventing domestic flareups due to the growing contagiousness of new variants, and more disruptive to economic activities and people’s lives.
“We are strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed to the US side’s groundless accusation against China’s epidemic response policies, and have lodged solemn representations with the US side,” Zhao said.
China’s adherence to the zero-tolerance policy has left the country increasingly isolated in a world that has largely moved to reopening borders and living with the virus.
Shanghai’s infection count keeps climbing despite the city’s move to lock down its 25 million people.
Although there have been some adjustments to allow some movement for people, there is no clarity regarding when the restrictions might be lifted, despite increasing desperation among the population to access food and medical care.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) launched a week-long diplomatic blitz of South America on Thursday by inaugurating a massive deep-water port in Peru, a US$1.3 billion investment by Beijing as it seeks to expand trade and influence on the continent. With China’s demand for agricultural goods and metals from Latin America growing, Xi will participate in the APEC summit in Lima then head to the Group of 20 summit in Rio de Janeiro next week, where he will also make a state visit to Brazil. Xi and Peruvian President Dina Boluarte participated on Thursday by video link in the opening
‘HARD-HEADED’: Some people did not evacuate to protect their property or because they were skeptical of the warnings, a disaster agency official said Typhoon Man-yi yesterday slammed into the Philippines’ most populous island, with the national weather service warning of flooding, landslides and huge waves as the storm sweeps across the archipelago nation. Man-yi was still packing maximum sustained winds of 185kph after making its first landfall late on Saturday on lightly populated Catanduanes island. More than 1.2 million people fled their homes ahead of Man-yi as the weather forecaster warned of a “life-threatening” effect from the powerful storm, which follows an unusual streak of violent weather. Man-yi uprooted trees, brought down power lines and smashed flimsy houses to pieces after hitting Catanduanes in the typhoon-prone
HOPEFUL FOR PEACE: Zelenskiy said that the war would ‘end sooner’ with Trump and that Ukraine must do all it can to ensure the fighting ends next year Russia’s state-owned gas company Gazprom early yesterday suspended gas deliveries via Ukraine, Vienna-based utility OMV said, in a development that signals a fast-approaching end of Moscow’s last gas flows to Europe. Russia’s oldest gas-export route to Europe, a pipeline dating back to Soviet days via Ukraine, is set to shut at the end of this year. Ukraine has said it would not extend the transit agreement with Russian state-owned Gazprom to deprive Russia of profits that Kyiv says help to finance the war against it. Moscow’s suspension of gas for Austria, the main receiver of gas via Ukraine, means Russia now only
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un renewed his call for a “limitless” expansion of his military nuclear program to counter US-led threats in comments reported yesterday that were his first direct criticism toward Washington since US president-elect Donald Trump’s electoral victory on Oct. 6. At a conference with army officials on Friday, Kim condemned the US for updating its nuclear deterrence strategies with South Korea and solidifying three-way military cooperation involving Japan, which he portrayed as an “Asian NATO” that was escalating tensions and instability in the region. Kim also criticized the US over its support of Ukraine against a prolonged Russian invasion.
RSS