US and allies (India, Australia and Japan) promise one billion jabs for South East Asia

‘The leaders of the US, Australia, India and Japan have agreed to deliver one billion doses of coronavirus vaccine to much of Asia by the end of 2022. The joint commitment was made following the first leaders' meeting of the so-called Quad - a group formed in 2007. The vaccines - expected to be the single-dose Johnson & Johnson product - are set to be manufactured in India.’

Read here (BBC, Mar 13, 2021)

Countries urge drug companies to share vaccine know-how

‘Across Africa and Southeast Asia, governments and aid groups, as well as the World Health Organization, are calling on pharmaceutical companies to share their patent information more broadly to meet a yawning global shortfall in a pandemic that already has claimed over 2.5 million lives. Pharmaceutical companies that took taxpayer money from the U.S. or Europe to develop inoculations at unprecedented speed say they are negotiating contracts and exclusive licensing deals with producers on a case-by-case basis because they need to protect their intellectual property and ensure safety.’

Read here (AP, Mar 2, 2021)

Politics, race, and religion: Pandemic misinformation courses through the Southeast Asian internet

‘From tales of allegedly dwindling food stockpiles in Singapore to Indonesian land supposedly being traded to China for precious supplies of vaccine, false narratives about COVID-19 have swirled around the Southeast Asian internet for months.

‘Disinformation in the region is not a new phenomenon. During  the 2014 Indonesian election, Islamist groups targeted current President Joko Widodo and falsely claimed he was a non-Muslim of Chinese lineage. Online troll armies notoriously helped propel Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte to victory in his 2016 campaign. Concerns about misinformation have led governments to implement highly controversial legislation in Thailand and Malaysia.

‘Now, the misinformation ecosystem in Southeast Asia continues to thrive in the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.’

Read here (Defend Democracy, Jan 25, 2021)

Has Covid-19 killed Asia's growth miracle? Khor Hoe Ee

‘It was no fluke that the ASEAN+3 region emerged unscathed from the 2008 crisis. Sound macroeconomic fundamentals, as well as sizable fiscal and financial-sector buffers, enabled policymakers to lead the region out of the crisis quickly by adopting expansionary measures to boost domestic demand.

‘A similar response is needed today. Although the COVID-19 crisis has exposed the vulnerabilities of global supply chains and the economies that depend on them, pursuing a strategy of insourcing or localizing production would be devastating for the global economy.

‘Instead, overcoming supply-chain weaknesses requires enhancing globalization and economic integration, diversifying sources of supply to build resilience, and reforming and strengthening multilateral institutions and multinational forums. These measures will help to ensure that when the next global shock occurs, governments will be equipped to cooperate effectively and resist the lure of protectionism. That would be the best outcome for the global economy, and ASEAN+3 in particular.’

Read here (Japan Times, Jan 3, 2021)

The hunt for the origins of SARS-CoV-2 will look beyond China: The virus may have been born in South-East Asia

‘John Bell, a professor of medicine at the University of Oxford, says everyone thought there would be a flood of cases in Vietnam because the country is right across the border from China. Yet Vietnam has reported only 300 in a population of 100m, and no deaths. The country did not have a great lockdown either, he adds. Nobody could work out what was going on.

‘One explanation, he suggests, is that Vietnam’s population is not as immunologically “naive” as has been assumed. The circulation of other sars-like viruses could have conferred a generalised immunity to such pathogens.’

Read here (The Economist, July 22, 2020)

Why has the pandemic spared the Buddhist parts of South-East Asia?

‘Vietnam is the standout: with 97m people, it claims no deaths from covid-19. Thailand, with 70m, has seen just 58 fatalities and no local transmission in over 40 days. Impoverished Myanmar claims just six deaths from 317 cases, while Cambodia (141 confirmed cases) and tiny Laos (19 cases) also have no deaths apiece and no local transmission since April. Compare that with the nearby archipelagic nations of Indonesia (some 68,100 cases and 3,400 deaths) and the Philippines (50,400 cases and 1,300 deaths), where the pandemic still rages.’

Read here (The Economist, July 11, 2020)

Coronavirus spreads anti-Chinese feeling in Southeast Asia, but the prejudice goes back centuries

‘The coronavirus pandemic has triggered a wave of anti-Chinese sentiment throughout Southeast Asia, with some businesses refusing to accept Chinese customers and authorities conducting surprise health checks on foreign workers. Islamic State affiliates in Indonesia are using the coronavirus to stoke resentment towards Chinese Indonesians, while in Bukittinggi, on the island of Sumatra, several hundred people marched to a Novotel hotel to demand that Chinese tourists return home. In the Philippines, Adamson University in Manila openly called for its “Chinese” students to stop attending classes.’

Read here (South China Morning Post, April 29, 2020)