The US has delayed a regional ASEAN summit scheduled to take place in Las Vegas this month due to fears about the spread of COVID-19, a senior administration official said on Friday.
“As the international community works together to defeat the novel coronavirus, the United States, in consultation with ASEAN partners, has made the difficult decision to postpone the ASEAN leaders meeting,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
ASEAN leaders were scheduled to be hosted by US President Donald Trump on March 14.
Photo: AP
The US “values our relationships with the nations of this critical region, and looks forward to future meetings,” the official said.
The announcement came as health officials in California confirmed the US’ second case believed to have been transmitted to a person who did not travel overseas or come in contact with anyone known to be infected.
Trump has played down fears of a major outbreak in the US, even as infections ricochet worldwide.
There are now more daily cases being recorded outside of China than inside the country, where the virus first emerged in December last year, the WHO said.
More than 2,700 people have died in China and about 78,000 have been infected. There have been more than 50 deaths and 3,600 cases in dozens of other nations, raising fears of a pandemic.
Trump last year skipped an ASEAN summit and parallel East Asia Summit in Bangkok.
He instead sent US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, in the lowest-level participation ever by the US in the East Asia Summit.
The move came after years of US efforts to show that Washington is committed to Asia in the face of a rising China.
In Japan, major cherry blossom festivals have been canceled due to an outbreak of COVID-19, the latest in a growing list of events quashed as the virus spreads globally.
The traditional spring celebrations in Tokyo and Osaka, which attract millions of people wanting to seeing the white and pink flowers, would not go ahead as planned next month.
“We are sincerely sorry for those who were looking forward to the viewing ... but please give us your understanding,” the Japan Mint said in Osaka on Friday.
Other cherry blossom events — feverishly anticipated by locals and tourists — are likely to follow suit, local media reported.
The organizers of Tokyo’s Nakameguro Cherry Blossom Festival said that people could still enjoy the blooming trees that grow along public roads.
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
RSS