Southeast Asia

Dateline Southeast Asia – January 12 to 18, 2021

DEVELOPING / UPDATED
Dateline Southeast Asia – January 12 to 18, 2021

REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

The crash of Sriwijaya Air Flight SJ 182 on Saturday, January 9, with 62 people on board, compounds the list of mishaps Indonesia is facing in a period of pandemic. The archipelago, the most populous in Southeast Asia, also owns the ignominy of being the country with most COVID-19 fatalities

In other countries in the region, the race is on to acquire coronavirus vaccines and fast-track vaccination programs.

Bookmark and refresh this page for updates and analyses of the latest news in Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

LATEST UPDATES

CAMBODIA: Court convenes for mass trial of opposition

Reuters

A court in Cambodia convened on Thursday, January 14, for the treason trial of scores of opposition figures, one of a series of cases seen by activists as moves by the ruling party to sideline threats to its political monopoly.

The defendants are among 121 people affiliated with the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) who are charged with treason and incitement.

Sixty-one opposition figures have been summoned to appear in court, Mu Sochua, CNRP’s deputy president who is in the United States, told Reuters in a text message.

It was not immediately clear how many would show up, given many are in exile fearing they would not get a fair hearing.

The CNRP was banned and its leader Kem Sokha arrested before an election in 2018, allowing Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party to win every parliamentary seat, prompting international concern.

Theary Seng, an American-Cambodian lawyer who was among those due in court, said she had a right to express opinions, including the right to express dissent.

“The real purpose of the charges against me is to silence me,” she said in a statement.

Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Regional Director Yamini Mishra said in a statement: “These mass trials are an affront to international fair trial standards, Cambodia’s human rights commitments and the rule of law.”

People in Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam angered by China’s closing of dam

THAILAND: Blood donations plummet over coronavirus infection fears

Reuters

Thailand’s Red Cross Society appealed for people to give blood on Wednesday, January 13, as donations hit a record low, with volumes collected halved amid public concern about getting infected with the coronavirus.

Thailand is fighting a second wave of infections after an outbreak found a month ago among migrant workers, which led to cases more than doubling to 10,991 and reaching more than half of the country’s provinces.

The government has urged people to stay home until the outbreak is contained, while universities and companies that normally host blood drives have put donation programs on hold.

“This is most intense crisis ever,” said Piyanun Kumkrong, assistant director for donor recruitment at the National Blood Center.

“Usually we get 2,200 units per day,” she told Reuters, adding that the center had received just 394 units on Wednesday because donors were concerned about being infected with COVID-19.

On average, donations have been down by 700-900 units.

If the trend continues, hospitals will have to postpone surgeries outside of emergencies, Piyanun said.

The center in a statement said it did not have enough plasma for 340 hospitals in Thailand. It is appealing on social media for people to come forward and donate blood.

“Plasma donations are needed urgently for surgery and pediatric patients with blood diseases such as anaemia, thalassemia, and hemophilia,” the center said.

SINGAPORE: Gov’t says ramping up COVID-19 vaccination drive

Reuters

More than 6,000 people in Singapore have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, the health ministry said on Wednesday, January 13, with numbers expected to rise substantially in the coming weeks as the city-state ramps up its immunization drive.

Singapore started vaccinating healthcare workers on Dec. 30, becoming one of the first Asian countries to start its coronavirus inoculation program.

The nation of 5.7 million people has been reporting relatively very few local cases in recent months and fatalities are among the world’s lowest, with just 29 coronavirus-related deaths.

It has so far approved only the Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine but has said it has secured enough doses from other vaccine-makers like Moderna and Sinovac to give to all citizens and residents by the third quarter of 2020.

Singapore may also be able to start vaccinating the elderly from the end of this month, slightly ahead of schedule, said Lawrence Wong, a minister who co-heads Singapore’s virus task force.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong received his first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine last week.

LAOS: Communist Party holds leadership congress amid economic pain

Reuters

Laos started a five-yearly congress of its long-ruling Communist Party on Wednesday, January 13, to decide on the country’s leadership and agree on a new economic strategy, as it faces challenges from the coronavirus pandemic and a potential debt default.

More than 700 officials of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party will hold meetings in the capital Vientiane until Friday, January 15, during which a new central committee and politburo will be named, state media reported.

President and party chief Bounnhang Vorachit, one of the last remaining members of the revolutionary generation, prefaced the meeting by laying a wreath for fighters that defeated a Western-backed government to form the Lao People’s Democratic Republic in 1975, according to the Vientiane Times.

The Communist Party has been in power ever since, and Laos has traditionally mirrored neighboring Vietnam’s political system, although China’s sway has grown in recent years.

Any signs of a new generation of leaders coming forward will be under careful scrutiny, as will perceived views toward China and Vietnam.

The poor Southeast Asian country of 7 million people has faced unprecedented fiscal challenges in recent years.

“The COVID-19 outbreak has intensified the growth slowdown, plunging Lao PDR’s economy into its first recession since the Asian financial crisis in 1998,” the World Bank said in a report earlier this week.

It estimated a contraction of 0.6% in 2020, and public debt to rise to 69% of GDP in 2020, with external debt-service payments standing at $1.2 billion.

The government struggled last year to make its scheduled payments, largely owed to China – Laos’ biggest creditor – and also Thai bond markets.

Amid the debt burden, state-owned Electricite du Laos (EdL) last year signed a deal giving a Chinese company majority ownership of its electric grid, people with knowledge of the agreement said.

THAILAND: Gov’t says on track to use Sinovac vaccine, despite trial data

Reuters

Thailand on Wednesday, January 13, said it was still on track to receive and administer a coronavirus vaccine by China’s Sinovac Biotech starting next month, despite data from a Brazil trial that showed 50.4% efficiency, health officials said.

“There is no impact on our plan right now,” Supakit Sirilak, Director-General of Medical Science Department, told a briefing when asked about Brazil’s data.

“We are asking for information directly from Sinovac, so we are waiting for their response to get all the facts,” he said.

Thailand, which has reported a total of 10,991 infections and 67 fatalities since it detected its first case a year ago, has ordered 2 million doses of Sinovac’s CoronaVac and expects to receive the first 200,000 doses next month.

It has also ordered 61 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which will be produced by local firm, Siam Bioscience for domestic use and export.

The Brazil trial findings came just as Indonesia started a massive coronavirus vaccination campaigns, with its president the first to be inoculated with CoronaVac

Malaysia on Wednesday said it would only go ahead with procurement of Sinovac’s vaccine if it satisfies the safety and efficacy standards of local regulators.

Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday said it was assessing all vaccines based on quality, safety and efficiency.

“The companies requesting approval must provide information that addresses all these points,” FDA Deputy Secretary-General Surachoke Tangwiwat said.

Thailand received requests on Tuesday, January 12, for vaccine registration from AstraZeneca and Sinovac.

MALAYSIA: Gov’t to study Sinovac clinical trial data before approving vaccine

Reuters

Malaysia, which is negotiating supplies of a COVID-19 vaccine with China’s Sinovac Biotech, will only go ahead with procurement if it satisfies the safety and efficacy standards of local regulators, a minister said on Wednesday, January 13.

Brazil has triggered concerns over Sinovac’s vaccine, after clinical trials found that it was only 50.4% effective at preventing symptomatic infections.

The findings were released just as Indonesia rolled out one of the world’s biggest coronavirus vaccination campaigns on Wednesday, with President Joko Widodo being the first to be inoculated with Sinovac’s CoronaVac vaccine.

Malaysia will first review Sinovac’s clinical data before deciding, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said on Twitter.

“If we are not satisfied with the safety and efficacy, we will not go through with the procurement,” Khairy said.

On Tuesday, January 12, Malaysia’s Pharmaniaga Bhd signed a deal with Sinovac to purchase 14 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines and later to manufacture it domestically.

Malaysia is also in talks with another Chinese manufacturer, CanSino Biologics, and Russia’s Gamaleya Institute, the maker of the Sputnik V vaccine, to secure a total of 23.9 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines.

This would be on top of vaccines procured from US and German drugmakers Pfizer and BioNTech, and British-Swedish biopharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca PLC.

INDONESIA: Navy suspends dive search for crashed jet’s cockpit recorder

Reuters

Indonesian navy divers stand on a rubber boat next to Indonesian naval warship KRI Rigel 933, during the search and rescue operation for the Sriwijaya Air flight SJ 182, at the sea off the Jakarta coast, Indonesia, January 12, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

Indonesia on Wednesday, January 13, temporarily suspended a search by divers for the cockpit voice recorder of a Sriwijaya Air that crashed with 62 people on board shortly after takeoff.

The search in the Java Sea had to be halted due to bad weather that whipped up waves of up to 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) in height, officials said.

Earlier on Wednesday, divers retrieved more debris and a damaged Identity card of one of the victims, Navy official Abdul Rasyid told reporters on board the Indonesian navy ship Rigel. Read the full story here.

MALAYSIA: State of emergency imposed, parliament suspended

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