Asian Insider, March 30: Borders close, Taiwan & expelled US journalists, iPhone & China

Asian Insider brings you insights into a fast-changing region from our network of correspondents.

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In today's bulletin: Asia tightens border controls further, Seoul to make emergency cash payments to people, Taiwan's rift with Beijing, iPhone manufacturers look at setting up shop outside China, a report on being in the ICU, and more.

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ASIA TIGHTENS BORDER CONTROLS

Asia continues to tighten border controls as it battles Covid-19. After China banned foreigners from entering the country on Saturday, Japan said it would ban the entry of foreign citizens travelling from the United States, China, South Korea and most of Europe.

In Asean, Vietnam's prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc asked major cities to prepare for possible lockdowns as the number of confirmed infections reached 200 while Thailand proceeded to lockdown the Phuket beach resort that has long been popular with tourists.

Myanmar banned all international flights while Laos said all international checkpoints will be closed. Indonesia, meanwhile, was awaiting a cabinet decision on limiting the movement of almost 30 million people in the capital city and adjoining areas.

And India said it won't extend the current 21-day lockdown that ends in mid-April, as it struggles to prevent tens of thousands of migrant workers fleeing to the countryside.

Read more:

Linda Yulisman: In Jakarta, epicentre of Indonesia's coronavirus outbreak, home is the safest place

Tan Hui Yee: A kick-boxing cluster and growing nervousness in coronavirus-stricken Thailand

Rohini Mohan: Police violence and stranded migrants mark India's coronavirus lockdown

SOUTH KOREA TO MAKE EMERGENCY CASH PAYMENTS

South Korea joined the growing list of countries striving to financially assist people and businesses tide over the economic impact of the coronavirus.

President Moon Jae-In announced earlier today that the country will make emergency cash payments to all but the richest families and draw up a second supplementary budget next month in a bid to ease the drawn-out economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

The new package is the latest in a recent series of steps the government has taken to ease the pressure on Asia's fourth-largest economy.

Go deeper:

Chang May Choon: Moon declares war on coronavirus

TAIWAN WELCOMES EXPELLED US JOURNALISTS, COMPLAINS ABOUT NOT GETTING WHO INFORMATION

Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu invited American journalists expelled by China recently to set up shop in the island, in a move that could widen its rift with Beijing.

Beijing ordered the expulsion of 13 journalists from the New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal earlier this month as part of a widening spat with the US over media freedom. The crackdown rattled nerves as China said those journalists wouldn't be allowed to work in Hong Kong as well.

The move comes amid continuing differences between Beijing and Taiwan.

In another development, Taiwan complained that the World Health Organisation (WHO) had not shared with member states information Taiwan provided on the coronavirus. This follows its earlier complaint that keeping it out of WHO during the outbreak amounts to playing politics with Taiwanese lives. But, both the WHO and China say Taiwan has been provided with the help it needs.

Go deeper:

Goh Sui Noi: Lost opportunity for China, Taiwan to mend ties

Coronavirus outbreak becomes new battleground for China-Taiwan rivalry

PANDEMIC SPEEDS UP IPHONE MAKERS' PLANS TO EXIT CHINA

Apple's manufacturing partners in China are considering relocation to other countries, in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak, realising the folly of concentrating production in one country.

Among them, Wistron Corp said it could move half its production capacity to outside China within a year, to countries such as India, Vietnam and Mexico. Pegatron, which assembles iPhones, is looking to increase capacity in Taiwan and Inventec, Apple's main assembly partner for AirPods, said it will establish a unit in Vietnam.

So, will China no longer be the world's electronics workshop? Experts differ.

Read more:

Apple's supply chain woes linger even as China recovers from coronavirus

Ovais Subhani: Epidemic may speed up supply chain move from China to Asean

DAYS IN ICU THE SCARIEST OF MY LIFE: A SINGAPORE CORONAVIRUS PATIENT SHARES HIS STORY

An intensive care unit is one place you never want to be, in these Covid-19 times. But one man did end up there, after he contracted coronavirus, like many others around the world. Now that he's out of it, he shares what he went through, what kept him going and what he'll never forget with ST's Senior Correspondent Joyce Lim.

IN OTHER NEWS

PYONGYANG FIRES ROCKET LAUNCHERS: Nuclear-armed North Korea successfully tested its "super-large multiple rocket launchers" but unusually leader Kim Jong Un was not described as commanding the drill. The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said it was led by ruling party vice-chairman Ri Pyong Chol and conducted by the Academy of National Defence Science.

CAMBODIA TO BAN RICE EXPORTS: Cambodia will ban some rice exports starting April 5 to ensure local food security during the coronavirus crisis, Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Monday (March 30). The Asian nation is the latest country to curb food exports, although it is not a major rice exporter, exporting only about 500,000 tonnes a year according to government figures.

That's it for today. Thanks for reading. Stay safe and we'll be back with you tomorrow.

Shefali

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