White flags are seen on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the
United States, on Sept. 16, 2021. More than 660,000 white flags were installed here to honor the lives lost to COVID-19 in the United States.Photo:Xinhua
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The US hit a record high of 543,928 daily new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. The number of new deaths reached 3,023 the same day. For two consecutive days, new COVID-19 cases in the US have exceeded 500,000. Behind each startling number is an unfortunate live and family. As the epidemic hits new records again and again, Washington is ending 2021 in an extremely somber way, and its fiasco will go down in history.
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The previous record of new COVID-19 cases was a figure of 294,015 recorded on January 8, one day after the confirmation of Joe Biden's presidential election victory by the Congress. After taking office, Biden made control of the epidemic a top priority and launched a series of prevention and control measures. Many thought that the record on January 8 would be the peak, and even the most pessimistic person at that time probably couldn't have imagined that a new record would be reached by the end of the year. The White House has a new president, but the epidemic is raging even more widely. In 2021, the US still presents the world with chaos, disorder and contradiction in its fight against the epidemic.
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Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik wrote in his article, entitled "Farewell to 2021, the stupidest year in American history," that "instead of unity and immunity, this year has brought us stupidity and insanity on an unimaginable scale." He argues that COVID-19 is surely "the focus of the most obtuse and ignorant public reactions and state and local policy responses to any crisis in American history." Some media outlets commented that a sense of powerlessness over political confrontation, social rifts and rampant anti-intellectualism has further dissipated expectations of a united response to the epidemic.
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As the country with the most advanced technology and top comprehensive strength, the US has the strongest financial and medical resources, moreover, it only has a population of 329 million people. But two years since the COVID-19 epidemic broke out, over 810,000 people have died of the pandemic. Under the so-called democratic system, nobody is held accountable for such a huge loss of human lives. People don't even know who is responsible for fighting the pandemic under the US President. "Human" is left out of human rights: such an absurd logic just happened in a modern society.
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People found that the death toll has a much smaller impact on politicians in Washington than the number of votes and the ups and downs of the stock market. In developed countries with advanced medical conditions and better welfare systems, we have constantly seen cruel scenes of social Darwinism: The poor are facing a higher risk of being infected and witnessing a higher death rate. Some medical institutions have even given tacit permission for "selective treatment" of impoverished patients or those of ethnic minorities.
When a large number of ordinary families are caught up in financial difficulties due to the epidemic, the assets of billionaires have risen significantly. According to a recent report by Business Insider, 52 members of the US Congress were found to have concealed their technology, pharmaceutical or other stock trades, violating the STOCK Act. They were suspected of taking advantage of the turmoil of the epidemic to make a fortune out of national crisis through engaging in insider trading.
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What's currently happening in the US is a humanitarian catastrophe and a human rights disaster. But those "human rights preachers" are either at a loss about what to do, or they just turn a blind eye to it. Apart from being symbolically mentioned on occasional commemorative ceremonies, the misfortunes of the broken families and individuals have been collectively neglected. The "human" has been left out of US' "human rights," that's why the economy has been put above human lives and saving the stock market is considered more important than curbing the epidemic.
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In 2021, under the scourge of the COVID-19 pandemic, the US has defeated the US, and the true nature of the "human rights defender" has been exposed. We feel sympathy for the American people who have suffered miserably from the pandemic, while having a more sober understanding of the hypocrisy of the US-style human rights
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PETALING JAYA: Booster jabs for all Covid-19 vaccine recipients will now take place three months after they get their second shot following a decision by the Health Ministry to shorten the waiting period.
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More vaccination centres and clinics will also be opened to increase capacity.
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Previously, only Sinovac recipients got their booster shots 90 days after receiving their second dose while those on Pfizer and AstraZeneca had to wait 180 days.
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Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the Covid-19 booster shots for Pfizer and AstraZeneca recipients could now be shortened to three months.
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He said recent data showed that the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus could cause increased transmission of infections and had higher viral binding affinity and higher antibody escape than vaccine-induced immunity or natural infections.
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“Strong evidence has accumulated over the past three weeks indicating that a Covid-19 booster vaccine is possible to increase protection against Omicron variant infections,” he told reporters here yesterday.
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A technical working group, he added, had also evaluated the existing evidence and provided new recommendations on the administration of Covid-19 booster doses.
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“All seniors aged 60 and above, and all adults who have received both doses of their vaccines (from Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Sinovac) are highly recommended to get their booster vaccine at least three months after receiving the primary vaccine.
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“Individuals with comorbidities, and residents and staff at healthcare centres will be given priority to receive the booster shots.
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“We will be using the age de-escalation approach for adults who have received two doses of their jabs, starting from 50 years and above, 40 years and above, and subsequently, 18 years and above.
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“Adults are expected to receive their booster shots in January and February and we will increase the capacity by opening more vaccination centres and private clinics,” he said.
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He added that heterologous vaccination – mixing vaccine types – was found to be safe and effective.
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“We will give priority to Pfizer and AstraZeneca as booster shots. However, we will look at an individual’s safety profile.
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“Sinovac will only be given to those who are contraindicated against Pfizer or AstraZeneca,” he said.
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The government, announced Khairy, would also lift the temporary travel restrictions against eight countries – South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Malawi.
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“We will shift them from total ban to high-risk countries. However, we urge people to avoid any unnecessary travel to high-risk countries as the Omicron situation there is dangerous,” he said.
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Khairy said the Health Ministry was also considering taking action against the 1.4% of Covid-19 positive cases who violated the quarantine granted to them under the Surveillance and Observation Order between Dec 1 and 28.
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On another matter, he said the MySejahtera Trace (MySJ Trace) would use Bluetooth technology to allow easier close contact tracing with those who tested positive for Covid-19 in public areas.
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“It is highly recommended the public use this feature for their own safety.
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“To ensure the effectiveness of the feature, users are required to activate the Bluetooth on their devices when they are outside.
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“When a person is confirmed to be positive for Covid-19, a notification will appear through MySejahtera to request approval for the sharing of any close contact information that was detected.
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“Upon approval, MySejahtera will provide access to the Health Ministry to conduct a risk assessment on all the close contact data traced via Bluetooth before carrying out close contact tracing activities on identified individuals.
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“However, this will not take place if no approval is given by the individual and any close contact tracing will be done manually,” he said.
Pfizer, AZ booster shots can be given at least three months after second dose, says Khairy
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Reduce the risks: Khairy, seen at the
Health Ministry in Putrajaya, says the government urges people to avoid
any unnecessary travel to high-risk countries as theOmicron situation
there is dangerous. — BernamaReduce the risks: Khairy, seen at the
Health Ministry in Putrajaya, says the government urges people to avoid
any unnecessary travel to high-risk countries as theOmicron situation
there is dangerous. — Bernama
PETALING JAYA: Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccine booster shots can be given at least three months after the second dose, says Khairy Jamaluddin (pic).
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The Health Minister made the announcement on the shorter interval for Covid-19 booster shots during a press conference on Tuesday (Dec 28).
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The move to shorten the interval is similar to measures taken by other countries such as Germany and Australia, which are recommending shorter booster intervals in an attempt to stop the spread of new variants.
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Khairy added that following the discovery of a confirmed Omicron case in a man in Sarawak who has no history of recent travel abroad, it is very likely that Omicron is now in the community.
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He said recent data showed that Omicron variants could cause increased transmission of infection, higher viral binding affinity and higher antibody escape than vaccine-induced immunity or natural infections.
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"Strong evidence accumulated over the past three weeks indicate that a Covid-19 booster vaccine is possible to increase protection against Omicron variant infections.
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"Results initially involving 21 million booster doses administered in the United Kingdom have shown very convincing security data.
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"In line with that, regulatory bodies such as in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, as well as a panel of health experts are now recommending an interval for booster dose vaccination can be given as early as three months after receiving the primer vaccine," he said at a press conference on Tuesday (Dec 28).
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Khairy added that the technical working group has also evaluated the existing evidence and provided new recommendations on the administration of Covid-19 booster doses.
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"All seniors aged 60 and above and all adults who have received both doses of their vaccines (Pfizer, AZ and CoronaVac) are highly recommended to receive their booster vaccine at least three months after receiving the primary vaccine.
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"Individuals with comorbidities, residents and staff at health care centres will be given priority to receive the booster shots.
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"We will be using the age de-escalation approach for those who are 18 years old and above and have received two doses of their jabs, starting from 50 years and above, 40 years and above, and subsequently 18 years and above.
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"Adults will receive their booster shots in January and February next year and we will increase the capacity by opening more PPV and private clinics," he said, adding that Sinovac booster shots would only be given to those who were contraindicated against Pfizer or AZ.
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Furthermore, Khairy said the government would lift the temporary travel restrictions to eight countries namely South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Malawi.
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"We will shift them from total ban to high risk countries.
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"However, we urge people to avoid any unnecessary travel to the high risk countries, as the Omicron situation in these countries are dangerous," he said.
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In Japan, the customer service agent was extremely nice and friendly, but declined his request politely, saying it was against the policy. In Japan, you are rude if you try to change your appointment when the prearranged date is near.
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In Korea, the customer consultant was not particularly friendly, but she changed the delivery date for him anyway. In fact, in Korea it is possible to change your appointment even until the last moment. Koreans are quite flexible about such things. Besides, Koreans are well known to do things quickly, too. Indeed, everything is so fast in Korean society that it surely is convenient to live there.
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Then the journalist wrote that in the United States he could not even talk to the customer service representative. Presumably, when he called, the answering machine put him on hold forever. In my recent experience, I had to wait about 40 minutes before I was finally able to talk to a customer service representative. Although it varies depending on the companies and calling hours, putting a customer on hold for about half an hour seems to be common in the United States these days.
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The Korean correspondent’s comparison of Japan, South Korea and the United States made me smile because it revealed the radical differences among the three countries. Indeed, Japan is a country where people are polite and friendly, and yet they do everything “by the book”. Additionally, in Japanese society it is seriously frowned upon to put someone to much trouble or to take up much of anyone’s time. You should not make yourself an annoyance or nuisance, either.
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South Korea is a country where the people do not always live by the book strictly and thus can be flexible. Although such elasticity may cause problems sometimes, it certainly is convenient for ordinary people’s everyday lives. In addition, Korean society is speedy. Everything is so fast, so you do not need to wait for a long time. Some foreigners like it so much that they decide to live in Korea much longer than they originally planned.
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Compared with Korea, everything is so slow in the United States. For example, when you apply for a driver license or transfer from another state’s license, it usually takes a month to receive the license by mail. In South Korea, you can get your driver license within 10 to 15 minutes. When you submit a paper to an American journal, it takes at least a year to get published. In Korea, it takes only a few weeks.
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Recently, an American friend of mine called a company to paint his house. The company told him that the paint job had to wait for about a year. He also called an electrician to repair an electrical problem in his study. The electrician informed him that he had to be on a waiting list which stretched for about three months. Granted, the Covid-19 pandemic and the current housebuying boom in the United States has had significant effects on supply and demand, but it still is too long to wait.
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In Korea, painters or electricians would come right away when you call them. As for a doctor’s office in Korea, one can drop in anytime, even without an appointment. In the United States, you may have to wait for several months unless it is an emergency.
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In the 1970s, when I lived in the United States, America was a truly advanced country. Everything was so admirable and commendable. At that time, the social system of America was superb, and American society was reasonable and rational. Living in the United States at the time was indeed convenient and pleasurable.
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Half a century has passed. The problem is that the American system has not changed much since then, while other countries have changed rapidly and radically to suit the hyperspeed electronic era. As time goes on, therefore, the once-efficient and impeccable American system has become relatively inefficient and slow.
`
Perhaps the American people may not realise it because they have been living in such an environment for a long time. However, in the eyes of young foreigners who are used to speedy procedures and dynamic changes in their country, obviously many things seem to be very slow in the United States.
`
In America, when you are a regular customer, not a new one, things are much better. For example, when my toilet began leaking a few days ago, the plumbing company initially set up an appointment to install a new one two weeks later. When notified of the urgency, however, a technician came immediately and took care of it. Thus, it all depends.
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By such comparisons, we can learn many intriguing things about other countries. – The Korea Herald/Asia News Network
`
In Japan, the customer service agent was extremely nice and friendly, but declined his request politely, saying it was against the policy. In Japan, you are rude if you try to change your appointment when the prearranged date is near.
`
In Korea, the customer consultant was not particularly friendly, but she changed the delivery date for him anyway. In fact, in Korea it is possible to change your appointment even until the last moment. Koreans are quite flexible about such things. Besides, Koreans are well known to do things quickly, too. Indeed, everything is so fast in Korean society that it surely is convenient to live there.
`
Then the journalist wrote that in the United States he could not even talk to the customer service representative. Presumably, when he called, the answering machine put him on hold forever. In my recent experience, I had to wait about 40 minutes before I was finally able to talk to a customer service representative. Although it varies depending on the companies and calling hours, putting a customer on hold for about half an hour seems to be common in the United States these days.
`
The Korean correspondent’s comparison of Japan, South Korea and the United States made me smile because it revealed the radical differences among the three countries. Indeed, Japan is a country where people are polite and friendly, and yet they do everything “by the book”. Additionally, in Japanese society it is seriously frowned upon to put someone to much trouble or to take up much of anyone’s time. You should not make yourself an annoyance or nuisance, either.
`
South Korea is a country where the people do not always live by the book strictly and thus can be flexible. Although such elasticity may cause problems sometimes, it certainly is convenient for ordinary people’s everyday lives. In addition, Korean society is speedy. Everything is so fast, so you do not need to wait for a long time. Some foreigners like it so much that they decide to live in Korea much longer than they originally planned.
`
Compared with Korea, everything is so slow in the United States. For example, when you apply for a driver license or transfer from another state’s license, it usually takes a month to receive the license by mail. In South Korea, you can get your driver license within 10 to 15 minutes. When you submit a paper to an American journal, it takes at least a year to get published. In Korea, it takes only a few weeks.
`
Recently, an American friend of mine called a company to paint his house. The company told him that the paint job had to wait for about a year. He also called an electrician to repair an electrical problem in his study. The electrician informed him that he had to be on a waiting list which stretched for about three months. Granted, the Covid-19 pandemic and the current housebuying boom in the United States has had significant effects on supply and demand, but it still is too long to wait.
`
In Korea, painters or electricians would come right away when you call them. As for a doctor’s office in Korea, one can drop in anytime, even without an appointment. In the United States, you may have to wait for several months unless it is an emergency.
`
In the 1970s, when I lived in the United States, America was a truly advanced country. Everything was so admirable and commendable. At that time, the social system of America was superb, and American society was reasonable and rational. Living in the United States at the time was indeed convenient and pleasurable.
`
Half a century has passed. The problem is that the American system has not changed much since then, while other countries have changed rapidly and radically to suit the hyperspeed electronic era. As time goes on, therefore, the once-efficient and impeccable American system has become relatively inefficient and slow.
`
Perhaps the American people may not realise it because they have been living in such an environment for a long time. However, in the eyes of young foreigners who are used to speedy procedures and dynamic changes in their country, obviously many things seem to be very slow in the United States.
`
In America, when you are a regular customer, not a new one, things are much better. For example, when my toilet began leaking a few days ago, the plumbing company initially set up an appointment to install a new one two weeks later. When notified of the urgency, however, a technician came immediately and took care of it. Thus, it all depends.
`
By such comparisons, we can learn many intriguing things about other countries. – The Korea Herald/Asia News Network
Protesters wearing masks of South Korean
President Park Geun Hye (right) and her confidante Choi Soon Sil posing
for a performance during a rally denouncing a scandal over President
Park's aide in Seoul on Oct 27, 2016.
PHOTO: AFP
Ms Choi, 60, is daughter of the late Choi Tae Min, a shadowy
religious figure who married six times, had multiple pseudonyms and set
up a cult-like group known as the Church of Eternal Life.
Mr Choi befriended a traumatised Ms Park after the 1974 and 1979 assassinations
of her mother and father, who he said had appeared in his dreams asking for his
help.
Mr Choi became a key mentor for the young Ms Park, a role that
angered a number of key aides to her father, the country's then military
ruler Park Chung Hee
see more https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/choi-soon-sil-the-female-rasputin-at-the-centre-of-south-koreas-political-scandal
The currency’s correlation with an MSCI Inc index of its developing-nation peers rose to record in September on a weekly basis before edging back slightly amid the Omicron outbreak, Bloomberg data show.
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BEIJING: The Chinese yuan is having a greater impact on its emerging-market counterparts than ever before and may play a crucial role in determining their performance in the coming year.
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The currency’s correlation with an MSCI Inc index of its developing-nation peers rose to record in September on a weekly basis before edging back slightly amid the Omicron outbreak, Bloomberg data show.
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While the close relationship is partly a result of China’s large weighting, it’s also been driven by the yuan’s links to the Brazilian real reaching the strongest since at least 2008, and that with India’s rupee touching a three-year high.The yuan’s rising global influence is yet another sign of China’s deepening connections across the world economy.
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Investors are increasingly being drawn to its bonds as an alternative to United States Treasuries, while some banks are calling for the yuan to join the dollar, euro and yen as a global reserve currency.
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Yet with China’s potential being offset by murky policy making and regulatory crackdowns, being tied too closely to the yuan may also backfire.
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“China is going to be a very important element of emerging-market stability and the growth picture,” said Magdalena Polan, principal economist at PGIM Ltd in London.
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“The willingness for Chinese policy makers to stabilise growth will be very important to the outlook for Latam and Asia and South Africa, as countries there still rely quite a lot on exports from China.”
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While correlations can be measured in many ways, China’s increasing presence in global trade has progressively boosted the yuan’s links with those of its emerging-market peers.
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In 2000, the average developing nation sent only 2.2% of its exports to China, while that proportion has now grown to 11.3%, according to data from Societe Generale SA.
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The investment bank says the yuan’s relative stability has traditionally made it most closely correlated with those of its emerging-market peers with strong and credible policy makers such as Mexico, Chile and South Korea.
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Since the US-China trade war in 2018, however, the yuan’s links with emerging markets as a whole have grown stronger, with the average correlation rising to 83% that year, according to SocGen data.
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There’s a risk of course that those very connections may also weigh on emerging-market currencies if the yuan begins to weaken. The major risk of that happening looks to be due to potential policy divergence, with the People’s Bank of China expected to ease monetary policy in 2022, just as central banks from the US, UK and Australia start to tighten.
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The yuan will face a particular challenge as the Federal Reserve beings to raise borrowing costs, a move that is anticipated to lead to a stronger dollar and outflows from emergin
`g markets. Still, China’s currency has so far shown itself to be relatively resilient to monetary policy at home and abroad.
China’s economy has become an increasingly important influence on global growth over the past decade, and a vital one for emerging markets, according to JP Morgan Private Bank.
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“Since the financial crisis, we’ve had mini cycles in global emerging markets, largely coincident in China’s property and credit cycle and since the crisis that has been the key driver of the outlook in emerging markets for the most part,” said Alexander Wolf, head of investment strategy, Asia, at JP Morgan Private Bank in Hong Kong.
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The yuan’s relative resilience this year has also played a role in limiting fluctuations across emerging markets, in what has otherwise been a very tumultuous 12 months.
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“The fact that the yuan’s not doing too much I categorise it as a volatility suppressant,” said Paul Mackel, head of global foreign-exchange research at HSBC Holdings Plc in Hong Kong. “We believe that stability can last for longer.” — Bloomberg
Martin Jacques, former senior fellow at the Department of Politics and International Studies at Cambridge University, said on Thursday at A Dialogue on Democracy in Beijing that there are two problems in the Western concept of democracy. "The first is the lack of any serious historical context, and the second is the failure to understand and respect cultural difference," he said.
Dr. Rasul Baksh Rais, a political science professor from Pakistan, to discuss what democracy means to him and how he views the democratic system of China. Dr. Rais said that democracy does not have a single form and that "it is not important to measure democracy by Western standards."
Fragmented regions under US-instigated color revolutions -Funding opposition leaders, training protesters, pressuring through diplomacy, feeding biased media reports... #ColorRevolutions instigated by the US in the name of democracy have caused social conflicts around the world. #WeaponizedDemocracy
Democracy summit will dodge questions on governance gap between China and US:
There is something more than a little ironic about President Biden's Summit for Democracy this week. The intention is blindingly obvious: to rally the troops in favour of Western-style democracy and draw a line in the sand between "democracy" (ie, the West) and "autocracy" (ie, China and Russia). In this Biden faces two huge problems, which will get little or no airing at the Summit. First, the Western democracies are in serious difficulties. And second, that China, in terms of governance, has been seriously out-performing the West.
The US talks about democracy in the manner of a slick TV advert. It is all good and no bad. It is timeless. It has long reigned and will reign forever. It cannot be improved upon. This, of course, is nonsense. No form of governance has, or will, last indefinitely. There are multiple signs that Western democracy is losing its popularity. Numerous Western polls have indicated growing disillusionment in their political systems.
Ultimately, any form of governance depends upon its ability to deliver. Whatever the fancy words, this is the bottom line. If it fails to deliver, then people will look for alternative forms of governance. Western governance was at its most successful during the long boom between 1945 and the mid-1970s. It delivered rapid economic growth, full employment, generous welfare reforms and prosperity. In the 1959 general election, the British Conservative Prime Minister ran on the slogan "You've never had it so good." He was right. And the Conservatives won big time. Even during the following rather less successful period between 1980 and 2007, Western governance still worked after a fashion. The turning-point was the Western financial crisis in 2008, the worst since 1931.
Ever since then, living standards in the West have struggled to return to even where they were in 2007. All the Western economies have remained on life-support, with zero or near zero interest rates, following the financial crisis. Their economic woes had political consequences, with growing disillusionment in the mainstream political parties and their leaders and, more seriously, in societal elites and governing institutions. The most dramatic case was the United States, the citadel of Western democracy. The reasons for the disaffection go back long before 2008: nearly half of all Americans have experienced static or falling living standards since 1980. Trump gave voice to the anti-establishment anger. His attitude towards democracy is, to put it mildly, unclear, as his covert support for the Insurrection at Capitol Hill last January well illustrates. Biden won the 2020 presidential election, but what will happen in 2024 is anyone's guess. The country is deeply divided and polarised to the point where there are almost two Americas. For the first time since the Civil War, there are serious doubts among Americans as to whether their democracy can survive.
Democracy works in good times but not so well in bad times. Between 1918 and 1939, a large majority of European states lived under various forms of dictatorship for part of, or most of, that period. Democracies were, for the most part, few and far between. The overriding reason was the Great Depression, with falling living standards, huge unemployment, impoverishment, racism, nationalism, and acute political polarisation.
Even if Western-style democracy survives, and it likely will in most Western countries, such are its deep roots, it will enjoy nothing of the elan and prestige it possessed during its heyday in the long boom, or even between 1980 and 2007. The reason is simple. Between 1945 and 2000, the West dominated the world. In 1970 it accounted for two-thirds of global GDP. The United States was by far the dominant country. Now the West accounts for rather less than half of global GDP while China, in terms of size, is on a par with America. We are in the process of transitioning to a post-Western world. Domestically and internationally, Western leaders enjoy much less prestige and authority than they did during the second half of the 20th century. Compare the regard in which Roosevelt, Eisenhower and Kennedy were held with that for George W Bush, Trump and Biden. And the same can be said of the declining respect for the US political system. The allure of democracy has greatly diminished.
The rise of China since 1978 has become a new measure of the performance of the United States and the West. Over this period China has out-performed the West in terms of delivery: the supercharged growth rate, the transformation in living standards, the huge reduction in poverty, the increase in life expectation, the long run social stability and the very high approval ratings. The way in which China has handled the pandemic, with just 4,636 deaths compared with 787,695 deaths in the US, is a powerful endorsement of Chinese governance and a shameful exposure of that in the US. Western democracy is under huge pressure both internally and externally. And the gulf between the relative performance between the US and China is set to grow ever wider.
These are the questions that should be discussed at the Summit for Democracy. But they won't be.
Martin Jacques was until recently a Senior Fellow at the Department of Politics and International Studies at Cambridge University. He is a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Modern International Relations at Tsinghua University and a Senior Fellow at the China Institute, Fudan University. He is the author of When China Rules the World.
` ` MAN and nature are running out of time. That’s
the core message of the UN Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change
...
Moral vacuum at the heart of modernity, now embodied in US laws!
` In short, historically it was the Church that gave the moral blessing for colonisation, slavery and genocide during the Age of Globalisation. The tragedy is that the Doctrine of Discovery is now embodied in US laws.
MAN and nature are running out of time. That’s the core message of the UN Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released this week.
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UN secretary-general António Guterres called the report a “code red for humanity”. “The evidence is irrefutable: greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel burning and deforestation are choking our planet and putting billions of people at immediate risk.”
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What can we, individually and collectively, do about it?
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Many animals and human beings cannot survive at high temperatures. Seattle, a temperate climate city, hit 104 degrees Fahrenheit in June, only four degrees below the maximum 108 degrees where humans can’t survive.
`
Like the pandemic, the twin effects of climate warming and biodiversity loss are hurting the bottom half of society who are most vulnerable to natural and/or man-made disasters.
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Indeed, indigenous and native people who live closest to nature, comprising 5%-6% of world population scattered in remote areas, are likely to face loss of culture, lives and habitat because all their water, food and livelihoods will be devastated by climate change.
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In essence, we are in an existential situation whereby nature is being destroyed by human excess consumption, which creates pollution and carbon emission, but all this is made possible by monetary creation by bankers and businesses who seem to care more about their profits than the human condition.
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Thus, decisions over climate change, human activities, financialisation and globalisation are essentially moral questions over the power to lead us out of the wilderness of nuclear destruction through war or planetary burning.
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In his monumental “History of Western Philosophy” (1946), British philosopher Bertrand Russell argued that those in power understand that they have twin powers over nature and political power to rule other human beings.
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Traditionally, the limits to such power have been God and truth. But today, religions are also in turmoil on what is their role in finding pathways out of the current mess. Furthermore, FakeNews obscures what is truth.
`
The current mess is not unlike the Lost People wandering in the desert waiting for Moses to find the 21st century version of the 10 Commandments. Unfortunately, the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are aspirations and not commandments.
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As economists say, climate change is a market failure, but there is no modern day Moses nor operating manuals to translate SDGs to environmental, social and governance (ESG) projects and programmes for businesses, governments and social institutions.
`
In this twin injustices against man and nature, people sense that there is both a moral vacuum in globalised modernity, as well as lack of a shared, practical pathway out of planetary destruction. If secular science or politics cannot help us, is religion the solution?
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Ironically, religion has played a far larger role in the current quandary than meets the eye.
`
Two papal bulls empowered the Portuguese and Spanish conquests of new land in the second half of the 15th century. Papal bulls are public decrees, letters patent or charters issued by a Catholic pope.
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The Papal Bull Romanus Pontifex issued by Pope Nicholas V in 1455 gave Portuguese King Alfonso the right to “invade, search out, capture, vanquish and subdue all Saracens and pagans whatsoever, and other enemies of Christ whatsoever placed, and the kingdoms, dukedoms, principalities, dominions, possessions and all movable and immovable goods whatsoever held and possessed by them and to reduce their persons to perpetual slavery... to convert them to his profit... [such assets becoming] justly and lawfully acquired.”
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The Papal Bull Inter Caetera, issued after Christopher Columbus returned from America in 1493, not only reinforced the Spanish right to property and slavery seized or colonised from non-Christian kingdoms or pagan natives, but also established the Doctrine of Discovery.
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This doctrine formed the basis of national and later international laws that gave licence to explorers to claim vacant land (terra nullius) on discovery. Vacant land meant land not populated by Christians, and thus the Christian discoverers and occupiers could have legal title to them, regardless of the rights of the indigenous people.
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In short, historically it was the Church that gave the moral blessing for colonisation, slavery and genocide during the Age of Globalisation. The tragedy is that the Doctrine of Discovery is now embodied in US laws.
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In the historic case of Johnson vs McIntosh (1823), Supreme Court Justice John Marshall ruled: “According to every theory of property, the Indians had no individual rights to land; nor had they any collectively, or in their national capacity; for the lands occupied by each tribe were not used by them in such a manner as to prevent their being appropriated by a people of cultivators. All the proprietary rights of civilised nations on this continent are founded on this principle. The right delivered from discovery and conquest, can rest on no other basis; and all existing titles depend on the fundamental title of the crown by discovery.”
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If humanity still treats nature as a free asset to be mastered, and other human beings to be dominated and disenfranchised because of the Doctrine of Discovery, how can we move forward morally to create human inclusivity and planetary justice?
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Under secular science, the elites that control the media, military, economy, political or social institutions have forgotten that they are not masters of man and nature, but stewards to protect human well being and nature for future generations.
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In this polarised age, we forget that the shamans of the indigenous people carry ancient wisdoms about how to live with nature and each other through traditional values, medicine and shared rituals. The shamans are not seers but healers and carriers of tribal memories and values.
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When modern scientists and technocrats have no solutions to present problems except more speed, scale and scope in the rush to modernity, isn’t it time to listen to traditional wisdoms from those who have living but dying memories of how to live with nature and each other?
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Without moral bearings, no wonder we have no maps out of the current mess.
Politeness rules: Japanese players bowing towards fans after a rugby match in Scotland. Japan is a country where people are polite and friendly – and where everything is done by the book. Deviating from the norm is seriously frowned upon. – Reuters
Park Geun-hye became South Korea's first
democratically elected leader to be thrown out of office after being
impeached in 2017. - Reuters
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