East Asia

Commentary on the Gospel of the second Sunday per year, B (John 1, 35-42).

CCP members and the media must increasingly align themselves with the dictates of the Chinese president. Hi-tech giants are a danger and need to be brought under control. Strategies to prevent US-orchestrated international containment. Everything will depend on the economic results.

The population hopes that restrictions for gyms, karaoke and schools will soon ease. But authorities will maintain limit of 4 people per gathering. Special quarantine rules for the Lunar New Year. Out of a population of 51 million, the country had 71,241 cases and 1217 deaths, with a mortality rate of 1.71%.

State enterprise administrators, members of the Chinese Communist Party, military officials and large companies such as CNOOC and Xiaomi targeted. Those who contribute to China's "coercive" actions in the South China Sea also on the list. Xi asks US multinationals to favour commercial relations between the two countries.

In a letter to Francis, Tsai Ing-wen writes that Taiwan has actively embraced a spirit of compassion and empathy since the start of the pandemic, sharing its successful disease management skills with other countries.

Authorities claim that HKChronicles violated national security laws. Website managers: it is censorship; we will operate on another domain. Democratic field: fears for the freedom of information online. The authorities step up their crackdown.

Tesla sold 114,000 electric cars in China last year. However, its Chinese competitors are growing. Large state-owned enterprises are increasingly indebted. China’s debt-to-GDP ratio hits 275 per cent. Exports are growing, but are bound to slow once public handouts for the Covid-19 emergency end.

Healthcare and public safety personnel, seniors and staff most frequently in contact with the public get priority. Cardinals and retired Holy See officials, as well as their families, will also be vaccinated. Some 5,000 Holy See employees should be vaccinated, including 618 people with Vatican citizenship, 246 of whom are local residents. Overall, some 10,000 people might get the vaccine.

The prosecutor asked for the reinstatement of a first and second degree sentence of 30 years. She will be released from prison in 2039. Park Geun-hye is the fourth South Korean president to end up in jail: her predecessor Lee Myung-bak is serving a 17-year sentence.

The arrested include well-known lawyer Daniel Wong Kwok-tung, district councillor of the democratic camp and tenacious defender of many young people arrested during last year's demonstrations. All are suspected of helping 12 activists flee to Taiwan, who were then arrested and tried by the Shenzhen police.

A rare Workers' Party Congress ended this week. The North Korean leader calls for a “do-or-die struggle struggle” to save the country’s economy. COVID-19, typhoons and sanctions have made life increasingly difficult. South Korean officials believe that Pyongyang is waiting for the Biden administration to take over.

The account of the Kazakh human rights group was blocked after 9 January. As it gets ready to enter the Chinese market, Facebook seems to be censoring what might upset Beijing. The human rights group has more than 30,000 videos of Kazakhs speaking about their missing relatives.