ASIA - CHINA, Hong Kong and Taiwan are racing to track several plane passengers who have shared a flight with the Mexican man who became Asia's first confirmed case of swine flu.
China was searching on Saturday for passengers on a flight from Mexico to Shanghai after a man on the plane fell ill with swine flu in Hong Kong, bringing the disease dangerously close to the mainland.
BANGKOK - THAILAND on Saturday sought to reassure Asian leaders that a regional summit to be rescheduled and held on the southern isle of Phuket would not end in chaos as an earlier meeting did in April.
The summit of leaders from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and six dialogue partners was abruptly cancelled last month after anti-government protesters stormed the venue in the coastal city of Pattaya.
HONG KONG - HONG KONG'S move to quarantine hundreds of people in a hotel after a Mexican man tested positive for H1N1 flu was causing dismay among some guests on Saturday, while an infectious disease expert questioned the drastic steps.
Police wearing surgical masks sealed off the Metropark hotel on Friday night after test results on the 25-year-old Mexican guest were confirmed, ordering approximately 200 guests and 100 staff to stay in the hotel for the next seven days.
