East Asia

In 2021, not enough people will be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity. Over 15 billion doses will be needed to immunize the world. China and India plan to help poor countries, but only after their own citizens. Developing countries face logistical problems. The UN has its work cut out.

Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan issues order, after a visit to the province. Online posts against religions and Catholics are multiplying: their "development" endangers the "socialist system". Up until yesterday, over 800 positive cases have been recorded in Hebei, of which 771 in Shijiazhuang.

Call to "work with determination to promote the conditions necessary for a world without nuclear weapons". "To pray means to fight for unity. Yes, to fight, because our enemy, the devil, as the word itself says, is the divider. The devil always divides, it is convenient for him”.

The outgoing secretary of state attacks the Chinese for the repression of Muslims in Xinjiang. His accusations confirmed by the UN, independent researches and various media. The Chinese respond with irony. Antony Blinken: Trump's "tough" policy towards China corrected.

In 2020, the number of rural workers who sought jobs in cities drops by 5 million. Inflation wipes out wage gains. The crisis in the export and construction sectors cuts job opportunities for domestic migrants.

In a message on Martin Luther King Day, Francis writes that the leader for civil rights of African Americans is still relevant in a world “which increasingly faces the challenges of social injustice, division and conflict that hinder the realisation of the common good.”

US experts want to interview Wuhan medical staff and access all scientific data. 300 studies related to the virology institute suspected of being the epicentre of the pandemic have disappeared from the web. Independent group: Unjustified delays by WHO and China.

Half a million Japanese have lost their jobs in the past six months; 40% of workers have poorley paid "temproary" jobs and little access to welfare. Out of a sense of shame, many citizens in distress do not ask for help. With poverty, suicides increase.

North Korea’s parliament ratified the decisions Kim Jong-un presented at the last congress of the Workers' Party of Korea. Self-sufficiency remains the goal to limit the effects of the pandemic and international sanctions. Officials held responsible for the latest economic failures were punished.

Highly toxic PFAS are present in great levels. China has no national safety standards. Levels are higher in the industrial areas of southern and eastern China. Chinese company is building drinking water plants in developing countries.

Beijing is the only G-20 country to record positive growth. Among the advanced economies, only Taiwan has done better. The problem of debt. Domestic consumption and the number of migrant workers dropps. Collapse of investments in the Belt and Road Initiative.

Pope Francis comments on Jesus' meeting with the first disciples before the Angelus prayer. “Their hearts grow warmer and warmer as the Master speaks. They sense the beauty of words that respond to their greatest hope”. “The light that only God can give explodes in them … this light overflows from their hearts like a raging river”. The Day for the deepening of dialogue between Catholics and Jews. The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.