Asia
How India is changing vaccine plan amid shortages
Starting Monday, every adult in India will be eligible for a free vaccine paid for by the federal government.
The new policy, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, ends a complex system introduced just last month of buying and distributing vaccines that overburdened states and led to inequities in how the shots were handed out.
India is a key supplier of vaccines around the world, and its missteps at home have led it to stop exports of shots, leaving millions of people around the world waiting unprotected. Only about 3.5% of Indians are fully vaccinated and while supporters hope the policy change will make vaccine distribution more equitable, poor planning means shortages will continue.
Here’s a look at the changes to India’s vaccine policy and what they mean.
THE EARLIER POLICY
India has vast experience in running large immunization programs, and each year it distributes 300 million shots to infants and mothers for free. For these programs, the federal government is in charge of buying the vaccines and then works with the states to figure out how best to distribute them.
But the scale of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign is unprecedented. And a massive surge in March pushed India’s health system to the breaking point. As hundreds of thousands of people became infected each day and hospitals overflowed with patients gasping for air, the states complained they weren’t getting enough shots from the federal government and clamored for more control over how the vaccines were distributed.
Also read: To launch J&J Covid shot in India, Biological E begins talks with govt lab to test vaccine
So, starting in May, the federal government agreed to buy just half of all vaccines produced for use in India and continued to give them out for free to health care and frontline workers and those over 45. The other half became available for states and private hospitals to buy directly. These vaccines were destined for people between 18 and 45; they were free if obtained from the states, but cost money if obtained privately.
WHY IT DIDN’T WORK
The states had never bought vaccines before and a limited supply meant they were competing with one another as well as with private hospitals. They were forced to pay higher prices than the federal government could have negotiated, said Dr. Chandrakant Lahariya, a health policy expert.
“That essentially makes it inefficient,” he said.
Private hospitals passed that cost on to people, and amid shortages at government centers, people had to either pay for a vaccine, or not get a shot.
The change in policy also expanded eligibility to all adults. Expanding the criteria despite shortages meant shots weren’t always going to the groups the federal government initially said it would prioritize: those with essential jobs and the elderly. Since May, more people younger than 45 have received their first shot than those older than 60. More than 74 million people over 60 remain unvaccinated.
Modi said these decisions were taken to satisfy the states’ demands, but the fractured response may have cost lives, said Dr. Vineeta Bal, who studies immune systems at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research in Pune city.
Also read: After Black & White: First case of Green Fungus reported in India
WHAT HAS CHANGED NOW?
The federal government has now decided to buy a larger portion of vaccines — but it’s still not returning fully to its original policy. It will buy 75% of all vaccines made for use in India and likely renegotiate prices. These shots will be given to states and will continue to be distributed for free. Private hospitals can buy the remaining 25% at prices that have been capped and can charge for them.
States will receive vaccines based on their populations, disease burdens and how many people have been vaccinated. They will be penalized for wasting doses.
But supply remains a challenge. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said: “Where will the vaccines come from is a big question.”
India has placed orders for vaccines still in development, but for the moment it will continue to rely on existing, overstretched suppliers like the Serum Institute of India.
To launch J&J Covid shot in India, Biological E begins talks with govt lab to test vaccine
In a move to launch the US pharma giant Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine in India, pharma company Biological E has begun discussions with the country’s apex vaccine testing laboratory, the Central Drugs Laboratory.
Last week, the officials of Hyderabad-based Biological E — the company contracted by J&J to mass manufacture its one-shot vaccine — met officials at CDL in Himachal Pradesh’s Kasauli to explain the standard testing procedures for the American vaccine.
“The officials from Biological E, last week, began their discussions with CDL. While they have explained to the laboratory officials the methods they use for quality testing, the CDL officers, in turn, have asked the company to supply the specific list of reagents used for testing,” said a senior government official privy to the development.
Read:After Black & White: First case of Green Fungus reported in India
“CDL generally asks for demonstrations from the manufacturers to conduct the quality tests. Company officials wanted to understand the expectations from CDL so they could start preparations,” the official added.
Biological E told the Reuters in February that it was looking to contract-manufacture about 600 million doses of the J&J vaccine annually.
In April, J&J told ThePrint that it is in discussions with the Government of India with the objective of starting a bridging clinical study. However, now, according to new rules, it is not mandatory for the vaccine approved by the US drug regulator to conduct bridging trials in India.
ThePrint sent an email seeking a response from Biological E and J&J, but did not receive one till the time of publishing this report.
Read: India’s Taj Mahal reopens as new infections slow
CDL told Biological E it can perform tests
In the meeting, according to the official quoted above, representatives from Biological E wanted to know what type of tests will be conducted on their vaccines and using which techniques.
“For instance: In J&J’s vaccine, the potency testing procedure is quite different from the other Covid-19 vaccines that are currently being tested,” the officer said.
“CDL can probably modify the procedure used for testing rotavirus vaccines as both the platforms are quite similar. J&J’s testing may require lysate sensitivity testing too, which has altogether a different technique,” he added.
“The apex laboratory has communicated to the company that it can perform these tests but they may need to supply some reagents.”
Read: 'Project O2 for India' initiated to meet rising oxygen demand
CDL generally develops its own technique of testing the vaccines by combining the procedures adopted by the manufacturer and innovating their procedures over time to save cost, time and ensure accurate results.
“The lab will use the company’s procedure, their own procedure, compare results using both methods and find one final method that saves time, ensures quality and is cost effective,” the officer explained.
This article was first published on ThePrint.in
India cranking up border infrastructure to narrow gap with China
From construction of roads, tunnels and bridges to early opening of mountain passes despite formidable terrain and weather challenges, India has worked on a war-footing over the last year to ensure swifter mobility of its troops and weapon systems in forward areas amidst the continuing military confrontation with China in eastern Ladakh.
India is still quite behind China in terms of border infrastructure but “all-out efforts are being made to narrow the gap”, even as 50,000 to 60,000 troops continue to remain forward deployed along the frontier, say officers.
Read: Ex-India skipper Md Azharuddin sacked as regional cricket body chief
Towards enhancing border connectivity, defence minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday e-inaugurated 12 roads built by Border Roads Organization (BRO), which includes a 20-km Kimin-Potin double lane one and nine others in Arunachal Pradesh as well as one each in Ladakh and J&K. “India seeks peace but knows how to respond befittingly if anyone shows us an aggressive attitude,” he said, at the event in Lakhimpur district of Assam.
The two-day Army commanders’ conference, chaired by General M M Naravane, also kicked off in Delhi on Thursday to discuss the operational situation along the borders with China and Pakistan.
China has so far declined to complete the stalled disengagement process at Hot Springs, Gogra and Demchok in eastern Ladakh, let alone stop blocking Indian patrols in the strategically-located Depsang Plains. It has also upgraded infrastructure along the Line of Actual Control in terms of roads, troop accommodations, helipads and surface-to-air missiles positions, as was earlier reported by TOI.
Read: After Black & White: First case of Green Fungus reported in India
India, too, has cranked up its efforts. Overall, BRO has completed 1,200-km of “road formation works” and 2,850-km of “surfacing works” over the last one year. “Of the 1,200-km figure, just 162-km is in Rajasthan. The rest is distributed all along the northern border from J&K to Arunachal,” an official told TOI.
There is also much-needed progress in the slow pace of construction of the 73 “strategically-important roads”, totaling 4,643-km along the China front, which were first approved way back in 1999.
Of the 61 roads (totaling 3,323-km) roads with BRO, around 45 have been fully completed, while “connectivity” has been achieved on 59. “Seven of the last nine roads that will be left this year will be completed by March 2022, and the other two by March 2023,” said another official.
Read: India’s Taj Mahal reopens as new infections slow
Similarly, BRO has “completed” 74 permanent bridges and 33 bailey bridges over the last one year. “Some forward locations, like Yangtse in Arunachal, have also been connected,” he added.
As for mountain passes in the higher reaches of Himalayas, several of them ranging from Zoji La, Lachung La and Shinkun La to Baralacha La and Nakee La have been opened much ahead of time this year. “The early opening of these passes has led to crores being saved on air sustenance efforts,” said the official.
This article was first published on The Times of India
Hong Kong newspaper increases print fivefold after arrests
Hong Kong pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily increased its print run more than fivefold to 500,000 copies as residents lined up Friday to buy the paper in a show of support for beleaguered press freedoms, a day after police arrested five top editors and executives.
The raid on the paper’s offices by hundreds of police and security agents — along with the freezing of $2.3 million worth of its assets — marked the first time a sweeping national security law has been used against the media. It was the latest sign of a widening crackdown on civil liberties in the semi-autonomous city, which has long cherished freedoms that don’t exist elsewhere in China.
Police said the editors were arrested on suspicion of foreign collusion to endanger national security, based on over 30 articles that authorities said had called for international sanctions against China and Hong Kong.
On Friday, the National Security Department charged two men with collusion with a foreign country to endanger national security, according to a government statement. The two will appear in court on Saturday.
It did not name them, but the South China Morning Post newspaper cited an unnamed source saying they are Apply Daily’s chief editor Ryan Law and Cheung Kim-hung, the CEO of Apple Daily’s publisher Next Digital. The other three were being detained for investigation.
With anti-government protests silenced, most of the city’s prominent pro-democracy activists in jail and many others fleeing abroad, people snapped up copies at newsstands and in convenience stores.
“There are lots of injustices in Hong Kong already. I think there are a lot of things we cannot do anymore,” said resident Lisa Cheung. “Buying a copy is all what we can do. When the law cannot protect Hong Kong people anymore, we are only left to do what we can.”
The front page of Friday’s edition splashed images of the five editors and executives led away in handcuffs. Police also confiscated 44 hard drives worth of news material. A quote from Cheung, the arrested CEO of Next Digital, said “Hang in there, everyone.”
Another resident, William Chan, said he bought a copy of the paper as a show of support.
“It was such a groundless arrest and suppressed freedom of the press,” he said.
The national security law was imposed after massive protests in 2019 challenged Beijing’s rule by calling for broader democratic freedoms. It outlaws subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign countries. The maximum penalty for serious offenders is life imprisonment.
READ: Editors of Hong Kong newspaper arrested under security law
Security Minister John Lee had on Thursday warned other journalists to distance themselves from those under investigation at Apple Daily. He said those arrested had used journalistic work to endanger national security and that anyone who was “in cahoots” with them would pay a hefty price.
The United States, which has imposed sanctions against Hong Kong and Chinese officials over the crackdown, strongly condemned the arrests and called for the immediate release of the five arrested.
“We are deeply concerned by Hong Kong authorities’ selective use of the national security law to arbitrarily target independent media organizations,” State Department spokesman Price said, adding that the suspected foreign collusion charges appear to be politically motivated.
“As we all know, exchanging views with foreigners in journalism should never be a crime,” he said.
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a tweet that freedom of the press is one of the rights China had promised to protect for 50 years when Britain handed over Hong Kong in 1997.
“Today’s raids & arrests at Apple Daily in Hong Kong demonstrate Beijing is using the National Security Law to target dissenting voices, not tackle public security,” Raab said.
European Union spokesperson Nabila Massrali said that the arrests “further demonstrate how the National Security Law is being used to stifle media freedom and freedom of expression in Hong Kong.” Media freedom and pluralism are fundamental to Hong Kong’s success under the “one country, two systems” framework, she said.
In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian rejected the foreign criticism and defended the government’s action, repeating China’s insistence that the national security targets only a “small group of anti-China elements who disrupted Hong Kong and endangered the national security of the country.”
“No right or freedom, including freedom of the press, can break through the bottom line of national security,” Zhao told reporters at a daily briefing.
“Hong Kong is China’s Hong Kong, Hong Kong affairs are purely China’s internal affairs, and no country, organization or individual has the right to intervene,” he said.
Apple Daily has pledged to readers that it will continue its reporting, and on Thursday night invited members of the media to its printing presses to watch its Friday edition roll off the press in a show of commitment.
READ: Hong Kong democracy activist Agnes Chow released from jail
Its founder Jimmy Lai is currently serving a 20-month prison sentence on charges of playing a part in unauthorized protests in 2019, and faces further charges under the national security law that could potentially put him away for life.
The paper’s average daily circulation has been around 86,000 copies.
North Korea's Kim vows to be ready for confrontation with US
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered his government to be prepared for both dialogue and confrontation with the Biden administration — but more for confrontation — state media reported Friday, days after the United States and others urged the North to abandon its nuclear program and return to talks.
Kim’s statement indicates he’ll likely push to strengthen his nuclear arsenal and increase pressure on Washington to give up what North Korea considers a hostile policy toward the North, though he’ll also prepare for talks to resume, some experts say.
During an ongoing ruling party meeting Thursday, Kim analyzed in detail the policy tendencies of the U.S. under President Joe Biden and clarified steps to be taken in relations with Washington, the Korean Central News Agency said. It did not specify the steps.
Kim “stressed the need to get prepared for both dialogue and confrontation, especially to get fully prepared for confrontation in order to protect the dignity of our state” and ensure national security, it said.
In 2018-19, Kim held a series of summits with then-President Donald Trump to discuss North Korea’s advancing nuclear arsenal. But the negotiations fell apart after Trump rejected Kim’s calls for extensive sanctions relief in return for a partial surrender of his nuclear capability.
Biden’s administration has worked to formulate a new approach on North Korea’s nuclear program that it describes as “calibrated and practical.” Details of his North Korea policy haven’t been publicized, but U.S. officials have suggested Biden will seek a middle ground between Trump’s direct meetings with Kim and former President Barack Obama’s “strategic patience” to curb Kim’s nuclear program.
Also read: North Korea holds huge military parade as Kim vows nuclear might
Earlier this week, leaders of the Group of Seven wealthy nations issued a statement calling for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and “the verifiable and irreversible abandonment” of North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs. They called on North Korea to engage and resume dialogue.
Sung Kim, the top U.S. official on North Korea, is to visit Seoul on Saturday for a trilateral meeting with South Korean and Japanese officials. His travel emphasizes the importance of three-way cooperation in working toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the State Department said.
Kim Jong Un has recently threatened to enlarge his nuclear arsenal and build high-tech weapons targeting the U.S. mainland if Washington refuses to abandon its hostile policy toward North Korea.
In March, Kim’s military performed its first short-range ballistic missile tests in a year. But North Korea is still maintaining a moratorium on long-range missile and nuclear tests in an indication that Kim still wants to keep prospects for diplomacy alive.
Kwak Gil Sup, head of One Korea Center, a website specializing in North Korea affairs, wrote on Facebook that Kim’s statement suggested he’s taking a two-track approach of bolstering military capability and preparing for talks. But he said Kim will more likely focus on boosting military strength and repeating his demand for the U.S. to withdraw its hostile policy, rather than hastily returning to talks.
Kim said last week North Korea’s military must stay on high alert to defend national security.
Also read: North Korea’s Kim adds title: General secretary of ruling party
Analyst Cheong Seong-Chang at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea said North Korea will likely return to talks but won’t accept a call for immediate, complete denuclearization. He said North Korea may accede to a proposal to freeze its atomic program and partially reduce its nuclear arsenal in phased steps if the Biden administration relaxes sanctions and suspends its regular military drills with South Korea.
Cha Duck Chul, a deputy spokesman at South Korea’s Unification Ministry, said it’s closely monitoring the North’s ongoing political meeting and wants to reemphasize the best way to achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula is through dialogue.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijiang called for renewed dialogue between North Korea and the U.S., saying that “We believe that the Korean Peninsula situation is facing a new round of tension.”
Kim called the ruling Workers’ Party’s Central Committee meeting taking place this week to review efforts to rebuild the economy, which has been severely crippled by pandemic border closings, mismanagement amid the U.S.-led sanctions, and storm damage to crops and infrastructure last year.
On Tuesday, Kim opened the meeting by warning of potential food shortages, urging officials to find ways to boost agricultural production because the country’s food situation “is now getting tense.” He also urged the country to brace for extended COVID-19 restrictions, suggesting North Korea would extend its border closure and other steps despite the stress on its economy.
Official says Nepal desperately needs vaccines
Nepal has significantly reduced coronavirus infections after its worst outbreak, which overwhelmed the country’s medical system, but is in desperate need of vaccines, its health minister said Thursday.
“We have gone down from the red stage to the yellow stage, but are not yet able to reach the green zone,” Health Minister Sher Bahadur Tamang said in an interview with The Associated Press. “We are working very hard to get us there.”
Nepal has been under lockdown since April after new cases and deaths spiked following a massive outbreak in neighboring India.
Also read: Doctors in Nepal warn of major crisis as virus cases surge
Close to 10,000 new cases and hundreds of deaths were reported daily in mid-May, when the surge was at its worst. There was an acute shortage of hospital beds, medicines and oxygen for patients.
In the capital, Kathmandu, doctors treated patients in hospital corridors, verandahs and parking lots, and ambulances were turned back due to a lack of space. There were long lines at oxygen plants to fill cylinders.
After weeks of lockdown, the situation has improved. The number of new cases on Thursday was 2,607 along with 39 deaths, according to the Health Ministry.
Nepal launched a vaccination campaign in January but was forced to suspend it after India halted exports of domestically produced AstraZeneca vaccines because of its own outbreak. China then donated 800,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine in March and another 1 million earlier this month.
Still, only about 8.5% of the population has received one shot and about 2.5% have been fully immunized.
Also read: Bangladesh stands by Nepal in its Covid-19 crisis
“The main issue for us is vaccines, and unless we get vaccines we cannot say everyone is safe,” Tamang said. “We have been appealing to all countries manufacturing vaccines to please provide us with some.”
About 1.4 million elderly Nepalese received an initial dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine in March but now are unsure when they can get a second dose as the government struggles to acquire the vaccine.
Tamang said the government has set aside funds to purchase vaccines, and both the World Bank and Asian Development Bank are providing money as well, so funds are not currently a problem.
COVAX, the U.N.-backed project to supply vaccines to poor regions of the world, pledged Nepal 2 million doses by March but has only provided 248,000 because it also is facing a serious shortage.
“We were supposed to get vaccines from the COVAX facility, but we feel like we have fallen to the lowest priority position on their list,” Tamang said.
He said new regulations have been adopted to allow any vaccine producer to come to Nepal to run vaccine trials, and if possible produce them, with all fees waived.
Also read: China cancels Everest climbs over fears of virus from Nepal
With the emergency phase now over, the country needs to focus on improving its medical facilities and equipment to prepare for future disease outbreaks, Tamang said.
He noted that Nepal has received planeloads of emergency supplies such as oxygen cylinders, oxygen concentrators, face masks, gloves and other medical goods from the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Switzerland and Australia.
“We are very thankful to all the donors who came to help us in our time of need but now we are urging the donors to please give us ICU beds, ventilators, X-ray machines and equipment to test for other diseases too,” Tamang said.
Mamata Banerjee challenges her rival's election win
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has moved a higher court in state capital Kolkata against the win of her former protege-turned-rival Suvendu Adhikari from Nandigram in last month's assembly polls. The High Court in Kolkata is slated to hear Mamata's petition on Friday morning, her lawyer has said.
On May 2, Mamata single-handedly pulled off a landslide victory in the assembly election for the third time in a row, bucking anti-incumbency and staving off a massive challenge from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Though her Trinamool Congress party swept back to power with a resounding majority, she lost her own seat in Nandigram to BJP's star campaigner Suvendu by a thin margin of some 2,000 votes.
Also read: Bengal's ruling party makes Mamata's nephew second-in-command
In her plea, Mamata has asked the high court to declare Suvendu's election win null and void on the grounds that he indulged in corrupt practices and sought votes on the basis of religion. "Suvendu Adhikari has indulged in several corrupt practices that have enhanced his winning chances and materially altered Mamata Banerjee's chances of success in the election," her petition read.
In her petition, the firebrand woman politician has also alleged discrepancies in the counting of votes, according to Mamata's lawyer Sanjay Bose. "The High Court is likely to hear the plea around 11am on Friday," he told the media.
Also read: Mamata Banerjee sworn in as Bengal CM
Though Mamata had conceded defeat to Suvendu in Nandigram -- the potboiler of the assembly election in Bengal -- the Trinamool supremo said on the counting day only that she would challenge the result in a court of law. "I will move the court against Suvendu's win," she had said.
West Bengal witnessed the most high-profile contest in India's recently held state elections. While Mamata harped on being Bengal’s daughter, the BJP asked people to vote for "change and socio-economic development" after nearly 50 years of Communist and Trinamool Congress rule.
Also read: India: Mamata inducts 43 Ministers into her Cabinet
Editors of Hong Kong newspaper arrested under security law
Hong Kong police used a sweeping national security law Thursday to arrest five editors and executives of a pro-democracy newspaper on charges of colluding with foreign powers — the first time the legislation has been used against the press in yet another sign of an intensifying crackdown by Chinese authorities in the city long known for its freedoms.
Police said they had evidence that more than 30 articles published by Apple Daily played a “crucial part” in what they called a conspiracy with foreign countries to impose sanctions against China and Hong Kong.
The newspaper said in a statement that the move left it “speechless” but vowed to continue its reporting and even invited other media outlets to watch the Friday editions roll off the presses, a show of its commitment to continue its work.
Apple Daily has long been one of the most outspoken defenders of Hong Kong’s freedoms and in recent years has often criticized the Chinese and Hong Kong governments for walking back promises that the territory could retain those freedoms for 50 years after the former British colony was handed over to China in 1997.
The newspaper has thus found itself a frequent target. Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai is currently serving a 20-month prison sentence after being convicted of playing a role in unauthorized protests in 2019, when Hongkongers took the streets in massive antigovernment demonstrations in response to a proposed extradition law that would have allowed suspects to stand trial in China. Protests grew to include calls for broader democratic freedoms, but the movement only appeared to harden Beijing’s resolve to limit civil liberties in the territory, including by imposing the national security law used in Thursday’s arrests.
The legislation outlaws secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign collusion and has been used to arrest over 100 pro-democracy figures since it was first implemented a year ago, with many others fleeing abroad. The result is that it has virtually silenced opposition voices in the city — and drawn sanctions from the U.S. against Hong Kong and Chinese government officials.
Also read: Hong Kong democracy activist Agnes Chow released from jail
Those arrested Thursday included Apple Daily’s chief editor Ryan Law; the CEO of its publisher Next Digital, Cheung Kim-hung; the publisher’s chief operating officer; and two other top editors, according to the newspaper.
Police also froze 18 million Hong Kong dollars ($2.3 million) in assets belonging to three companies linked to Apple Daily, said Li Kwai-wah, a senior superintendent at Hong Kong’s National Security Department.
Trading in shares of Next Digital was halted Thursday morning at the request of the company, according to filings with the Hong Kong stock exchange.
In an apparent show of force, more than 200 police officers were involved in the search of Apple Daily’s offices, and the government said a warrant was obtained to look for evidence of a suspected violation of the national security law.
Apple Daily published a letter to its readers, saying that police had confiscated many items during the search, including 38 computers that contained “considerable” journalistic material.
“Today’s Hong Kong feels unfamiliar and leaves us speechless. It feels as though we are powerless to stop the regime from exercising its power as it pleases,” the letter read. “Nevertheless, the staff of Apple Daily is standing firm. We will continue to persist as Hongkongers and live up to the expectations so that we have no regrets to our readers and the times we are in.”
Hong Kong Security Minister John Lee told a news conference that police will investigate those arrested and others to establish if they have assisted in instigating or funding the offenses.
He alleged that the police action against the Apple Daily editors and executives is not related to “normal journalistic work.”
“The action targeted the use of journalistic work as a tool to endanger national security,” he said.
In a chilling warning, he said that anyone working with the “perpetrators” would “pay a hefty price.” He added: “Distance yourself from them, otherwise all you will be left with are regrets.”
Also read: Hong Kong vigil organizer arrested on Tiananmen anniversary
The Chinese government’s liaison office in Hong Kong said in a statement Thursday that it supported police action, noting that while the city’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law, guarantees the freedoms of speech and press, those rights cannot undermine the “bottom line of national security.”
“Freedom of the press is not a ‘shield’ for illegal activities,” the liaison office said.
Experts said that, with the arrests, the government has sent a message that certain topics are off limits.
“This is a direct attack on Apple Daily, and on press freedom in Hong Kong,” said Thomas Kellogg, executive director of the Georgetown Center for Asian Law. “I fear that the arrests will send a message to media outlets across Hong Kong, that certain red lines will be enforced … and that those who cross them risk the possibility of arrest and of jail time under the national security law.”
Hong Kong Journalists Association Chairman Chris Yeung echoed those concerns, saying the national security law was being used as a “weapon to prosecute media executives and journalists.”
He said that the court warrant that allowed police to search the offices of Apple Daily had undermined journalists’ ability to protect their materials, a vital part of upholding press freedom.
“Self censorship will get worse if journalists are not sure whether they are able to protect their sources of information,” said Yeung.
China's comical picture 'The Last G-7' raps Japan's Fukushima water
A comical illustration titled "The Last G-7" has been spreading online in China, depicting Japan as a dog pouring mysterious green water into a glass from a kettle with a radiation warning symbol.
A Chinese cartoonist collaged Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper," with the Communist-led government lambasting Japan's decision to release treated radioactive water into the sea from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in two years.
Portraying animals, the picture mocks the Group of Seven countries -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States -- as well as Australia and India, all of which have been trying to counter China's growing assertiveness.
Japan is an "Akita dog," said the Global Times, a tabloid affiliated with the ruling Communist Party, in reporting on the political satire, adding, "Without a seat, it is busy serving the others a 'drink' -- pouring green radioactive water into the glasses of the other animals."
It said, "The green water is the contaminated water that Japan plans to release to the Pacific from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant," citing some users of Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter.
In late April, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian also drew criticism for using a parody picture of a "ukiyo-e" work by Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai to take a jab at Tokyo's decision on the treated water at the Fukushima plant.
Japan's Foreign Ministry lodged a protest with China over Zhao's post that insults Japanese culture, calling for its deletion.
China, meanwhile, has apparently restricted media reports on fuel rods being damaged recently at a nuclear power plant at home, as the leadership of President Xi Jinping has been promoting exports of nuclear reactors to other nations.
In the Last G-7, nine animals sit around a table, on which a cake with a Chinese-map-shaped decoration is put. A bald eagle wearing a bowler hat with a U.S. flag sits in the middle of the table as if it were Jesus in The Last Supper.
A rooster, France's national bird, and black hawk, obviously representing Germany, sit on the right and left sides of the table, respectively, showing "less enthusiasm" for the U.S. propaganda, the Global Times said.
In a communique, released after their three-day summit through Sunday in Britain, the G-7 leaders called for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and urged China to respect the human rights of the Muslim Uyghur minority in Xinjiang and freedoms in Hong Kong.
Resident: Junta burns Myanmar village in escalating violence
Government troops have burned most of a village in Myanmar’s heartland, a resident said Wednesday, confirming reports by independent media and on social networks. The action appeared to be an attempt to suppress resistance against the ruling military junta.
Government-controlled media reported the fires were set by “terrorists” the armed troops were trying to arrest. The government and its opponents each refer to the other side as “terrorists.”
The near-destruction of the village is the latest example of how violence has become endemic in much of Myanmar as the junta tries to subdue an incipient nationwide insurrection. After the army seized power in February, overthrowing the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, a nonviolent civil disobedience movement arose to challenge military rule, but the junta’s attempt to repress it with deadly force fueled rather than quelled resistance.
Read: Ousted Myanmar leader on trial; critics say charges bogus
Photos and videos of devastated Kinma village in Magway region that circulated widely on social media showed much of the village flattened by fire and the charred bodies of farm animals. One report said the village had about 1,000 residents.
A villager contacted by phone said only 10 of 237 houses were left standing. The villager, who asked that his name not be used because of fear of government reprisals, said most residents had already fled when soldiers firing guns entered the village shortly before noon on Tuesday.
He said he believed the troops were searching for members of a village defense force that had been established to protect against the junta’s troops and police. Most such local forces are very lightly armed with homemade hunting rifles.
Read: Suu Kyi appears in Myanmar court for 2nd time
The village defense force warned residents before the troops arrived, so only four or five people were left in the village when they began searching houses in the afternoon. When they found nothing, they began setting the homes on fire, he said.
“There are some forests just nearby our village. Most of us fled into the forests,” he said.
The villager said he believed there were three casualties, a boy who was a goat herder who was shot in the thigh, and an elderly couple who were unable to flee. He believed the couple had died but several media reports said they were missing.