Hi all,

In today's bulletin: China overtakes US to become EU's largest trading partner; Myanmar's military promises elections as second case is filed against Suu Kyi; updates on the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine; Singapore's Budget, Thai PM faces no-confidence vote, and more.

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China dethrones US to be EU's biggest trading partner

China has overtaken United States to become the European Union's (EU's) biggest trading partner in 2020, Eurostat, the EU statistics agency said.

Both imports and exports went up. China's consumption, which exceeded levels of 2019 in 2020, saw sales of European products, such as automobiles and luxury goods, to China increase. Europeans, meanwhile, bought more medical equipment and electronics, as they dealt with the pandemic and its impact on businesses.

Eurostat said the trade volume with China reached 586 billion euros ($711 billion) in 2020, compared to 555 billion euros (S$890 billion) for the US. The data comes at a time when the EU and China are set to ratify an investment deal that would give European companies better access to the Chinese market.

Don't miss

What the EU is signalling as it signs China investment deal by Jonathan Eyal

Myanmar military's first press conference

Myanmar's military rulers promised to hold elections soon and hand power to the winning party, at their first news conference, since the coup on Feb 1 in a move that seemed a reiteration of their claims of fraud during the voting process.

Brig Gen Zaw Min Tun, who addressed the press conference, said the military would not hold power for long. "We guarantee... that the election will be held," he said. No date was announced for the elections, however, and based on earlier announcements, emergency is to remain in place for a year.

Meanwhile, a second charge was filed against ousted democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi. This time it was for violating the country's Natural Disaster Law.

Developments in Myanmar came up in Singapore Parliament and Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said the Asean states had discussed the political crisis in Myanmar intensively. He said the regional grouping can play a discreet role in helping Myanmar return to stability. For now, the key is to not escalate the situation but to keep communication avenues open and continually engage key stakeholders, he said in response to a question.

Also read

Gen Z breaks out from Suu Kyi's shadow, takes charge of resistance against Myanmar coup by Tan Hui Yee

Myanmar coup: Limits to US, Chinese influence over domestic developments by Charissa Yong

South-east Asia's two coups and one-party regimes by Thitinan Pongsudhirak

South Africa asks Serum Institute to take back vaccines; Britain mulls purchase

The complexities of Covid-19 vaccination came to the fore as South Africa asked India's Serum Institute to take back one million doses of the vaccine shipped to the country, after a study showed that the jab failed to prevent mild and moderate cases of the virus variant in the country. Another shipment of 500,000 doses from the same firm is due to arrive shortly.

Serum Institute has been working overtime to meet growing demand for its vaccines produced in collaboration with AstraZeneca and Oxford. It is set to send 20 million doses to neighbouring countries and has recently entered into an agreement with Canada as well.

The AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, approved by the World Health Organisation for emergency use, is relatively inexpensive, easier to transport and is the preferred option for several developing countries. However, questions have arisen over its efficacy, in different countries.

South Korea, which too will be using the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, decided on Monday that it will exclude elderly citizens aged 65 and above from its first round of vaccinations against the coronavirus starting on Feb 26, amid growing concerns over the issue.

In another development, Britain's drug regulator said it is auditing manufacturing processes at the Serum Institute to allow imports of the vaccine, reflecting the continuing scramble to secure adequate numbers of vaccines, by countries for their people.

Singapore Budget 2021: $11b for three-pronged approach to allow Republic to bounce back from Covid-19

Singapore's efforts to bounce back from Covid-19 will get another push. An $11 billion Covid-19 Resilience Package will be set aside to enhance Singapore's recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat announced today. Of this, $4.8 billion will go towards safeguarding public health, including providing everyone who is eligible with free vaccination against the virus.

The Government aims to fund the Covid-19 Resilience Package by drawing on past reserves. And for a second year in a row, Singapore will dip into its past savings to pay for measures needed to fight Covid-19, with a draw of $1.7 billion on the reserves. Altogether, the expected draw on the reserves over the two financial years will come up to a total of $53.7 billion.

Along with several other initiatives, the Budget also saw the announcement of a substantial increase in the number of charging points for electric vehicles in the next decade. Singapore is set to ensure 60,000 charging points at public carparks and private premises by 2030, up from the previous target of 28,000.

Delve deeper

Key highlights of Budget 2021: From household vouchers to GST on imported goods bought online

New measures to narrow cost difference between electric cars and conventional cars

Thai PM Prayut faces no-confidence vote as protests gather steam

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is set to face a no-confidence vote as pro-democracy protests gather momentum. Activists are demanding the premier's ouster for alleged mismanagement of the Covid-19 outbreak as well as reforms of the monarchy. A four-day debate in Parliament is due to be held and it could culminate in a vote on Saturday (Feb 20).

In other news…

Australian PM Morrison promises probe into rape allegation: Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison has promised a through investigation into the government's workplace culture after a woman alleged that she was raped in the country's Parliament by someone who also worked for Morrison's ruling Liberal party.

Indonesia to release guidelines for digital banks this year: Indonesia's financial watchdog is set to outline guidelines for digital banks by the middle of this year, one of the country's top officials said in an interview. Digital banking is expected to substantially boost Asean's largest economy by being able to reach out to nearly a third of the population who remain unbanked.

That's it for today. Thanks for reading The Straits Times and today's Asian Insider newsletter.

Shefali