The Guardian (May 10)
“Tensions between Shanghai residents and China’s Covid enforcers are on the rise again, amid a new push to end infections outside quarantine zones to meet President Xi Jinping’s demand for achieving “dynamic zero-Covid.” To express their displeasure with what are increasingly being viewed as violations of human rights and the rule of law, residents are sharing incriminating videos on social media. “Censors have been taking down many of these videos, but determined residents have continued to post them.”
Tags: China, Covid, Displeasure, Enforcers, Human rights, Infections, Quarantine, Residents, Rule of law, Shanghai, Social media, Tensions, Videos, Violations, Xi
Time (February 14)
“The number of patients infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus aboard a quarantined cruise ship docked in Yokohama, Japan has continued to rise—making the ship the largest cluster of the deadly virus outside China.” The cruise ship now “accounts for more than one third of all cases detected outside mainland China” and also boasts the highest infection rate worldwide. “Nearly 6% of the 3,711 passengers and crew members now infected.” In contrast, Wuhan’s infection rate is less than 0.3%.
Tags: China, Cluster, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Cruise ship, Infection rate, Japan, Patients, Quarantine, Wuhan, Yokohama
Time (February 4)
“This week could prove crucial for understanding how much farther the outbreak is likely to spread and whether the dramatic efforts of Chinese authorities to contain the coronavirus have been effective.” Efforts include a massive quarantine that has “expanded to 16 surrounding cities with a combined population of more than 50 million, creating what is believed to be the largest quarantine in human history.”
Tags: China, Coronavirus, Crucial, Outbreak, Quarantine, Spread
Bloomberg (December 18, 2013)
‘Many Chinese consumers underestimate the volume of GMOs in their food, and thus, the debate often lags behind actual situation in China’s kitchens and pantries.” The government is divided on GMOs, which are already pervasive in China. There is broad support from the Ministry of Agriculture and opposition from quarantine officials, who recently stopped 180,000 tons of U.S. corn from entering China. This makes “the anti-GMO justification for blocking the U.S. corn shipments so suspect.” The root cause is likely trade tension and politics.
Tags: China, Consumers, Corn, GMO, Government, Ministry of Agriculture, Politics, Quarantine, Suspect, Trade tension, U.S.
