Asian Insider, April 13: China’s second-wave scare, Seoul’s testing kits for US, Yuriko Koike vs Abe

Hi all,

In today's bulletin: A new hotspot in China raíses fears of a second-wave of coronavirus infections, Seoul to send Covid-19 testing kits to Washington, Muslims prepare for a quieter Ramadan, a record Opec oil deal fails to substantially hike prices, Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike in Covid-19 spotlight as premier Shinzo Abe is criticised, and more.

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China and several regional economies struggled to curtail people's movement as demands grew to save livelihoods, together with lives.

A surge in the number of new infections in China to 108 on Sunday, up from 99 a day earlier, marked the highest number of cases reported in the country from 143 on March 5.

These cases emerged as China has started easing movement curbs to get its economy back on track. But the emergence of a new hotspot in Heilongjiang province raised a fresh alarm of a second wave of Covid-19 infections, triggered by arrivals from overseas and asymptomatic patients. The province is close to Russia's Far Eastern Federal district, home to the city of Vladivostok where several Chinese work.

Malaysia, meanwhile, rescinded its earlier decision to allow hairdressers, beauty salons and optometrists to operate while its movement controls to curb the coronavirus outbreak are in force, despite pleas for the same. Last Friday, the government announced that it would extend the controls to April 28, but would allow some additional businesses to reopen.

And India is due to announce shortly if it will be extending its lockdown measures. The country's 21-day travel ban is due to end tomorrow (April 14) but the government is widely expected to extend it with the number of coronavirus infections rising.

South Korea was preparing to ship 600,000 testing kits to the United States tomorrow (April 14) following a call from President Donald Trump last month.

Seoul's gesture comes as the US surpassed Italy as the country with the highest number of coronavirus related deaths, with more than 20,000 fatalities since the outbreak began. It also comes as the two countries seem to be making little headway in discussions on the sharing of costs for 28,000 US troops being stationed in South Korea.

Reports said the US government will pay for the first shipment while an additional 150,000 kits will be exported in the near future, to be sold via a retailer.

Muslims around the region will be marking a quieter month of Ramadan this year.

Traditionally, this is the time to spend hours at mosques to perform the congregational terawih prayers to study the Quran, among other things. But the closure of mosques in their countries is yet another blow after Saudi Arabia early last month suspended the all-year umrah pilgrimage in Mecca on fears of the virus spreading to Islam's holiest cities, write Regional Correspondent Arlina Arshad and Malaysia Correspondent Nadirah Rodzi.

Plans for the main haj pilgrimage, set for late July into early August, also remain up in the air.

The record deal to slash production reached by Opec over the weekend may not result in a substantial hike in oil prices, industry watchers say, with the pandemic decimating demand for oil at a time when producers have been working to ramp up oil production after their last discord.

Prices gained less than 5 per cent today and are still 50-60 per cent down for the year after Opec and allies led by Russia agreed to reduce output by 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) in May and June, which is nearly 10 per cent of global supply.

Some hope rests on demand for oil increasing from China, which has recovered from the pandemic faster than other economies, but it is not clear yet if its exports will pick-up as soon enough.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike's tough measures to fight the pandemic in Japan's capital city is being praised while Japanese premier Shinzo Abe continues to get flak for what critics say is a timid, sluggish response to the Covid-19 outbreak. His move, over the weekend, to share a video of himself lounging on a sofa with his dog, drinking tea and reading, prompted an angry response from some Twitter users. The Tokyo governor, meanwhile, has taken a no-nonsense approach issuing blunt warnings and hosting daily briefings on the pathogen's threat.

KIM JONG UN RESHUFFLES TOP GOVERNING BODY: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has carried out a major reshuffle of his State Affairs Commission (SAC), the nation's highest-decision making body, replacing more than a third of its members. A former US government analyst on North Korea described the move as a rather large scale reshuffle.

CHINA-TAIWAN MILITARY TENSIONS: Taiwan has complained about a Chinese naval flotilla led by the country's first aircraft carrier Liaoning passing by its eastern and southern coasts to carry out drills. This is the latest indication of China's increased military presence near the island in the past few weeks, Taipei said. The Liaoning and five accompanying warships passed first through the Miyako Strait, located between Japan's islands of Miyako and Okinawa, to the north-east of Taiwan, on Saturday, it's Defence Ministry said.

ASEAN MEETS: Leaders of the regional grouping are due to meet virtually tomorrow (April 14) to discuss collective action against Covid-19. Their summit will be followed by an Asean plus three summit with China, Japan and South Korea. The leaders were due to meet in Danang, Vietnam this week, before the Covid-19 outbreak led to travel restrictions.

FOOD SHIPMENTS STALLED: Lockdown measures are making it harder to clear shipping containers at regional ports and elsewhere. In fact, experts say that the port backlogs that have crippled food shipments around the world for weeks are getting worse.

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

Shefali