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About The Asian reporter. (Portland, Or.) 1991-current | View Entire Issue (July 4, 2022)
Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER ASIA / PACIFIC July 4, 2022 Bangladesh marks opening of country’s longest bridge DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina recently celebrated the opening of the country’s longest bridge, which took eight years to build amid setbacks involving political conflict and corruption allegations. The 4.04-mile bridge spanning the Padma River cost an estimated $3.6 billion and was paid for with domestic funds after the World Bank and other global lending agencies declined to finance the project following a graft scandal involving a Canadian construction company. The bridge, which is now open to the public, will slash the distance between the capital, Dhaka, and Bangladesh’s second largest seaport, Mongla, by 62 miles. South Korea approves its own COVID-19 vaccine SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Health officials in South Korea have approved the country’s first domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine for people 18 years or older, adding another public health tool in the fight against a prolonged pandemic. In clinical trials involving some 4,000 participants in South Korea and five other countries, SK Bioscience’s two-dose SKYCovione vaccine appeared to be more effective than the broadly used AstraZeneca shots in building immunity against infections, officials at South Korea’s Food and Drug Safety Ministry said. It isn’t immediately clear how officials will administer the newly developed vaccine or how big of a role the shots will have in the next phase of the pandemic. The shots were designed for the original version of the coronavirus, not the more transmissible omicron variant that wreaked havoc in the country earlier this year. U.S. vaccine giants Pfizer and Moderna have been speeding up their development of booster shots targeting omicron and experts say it’s possible the virus could evolve again in the coming months. South Korea’s mass immunization campaign has been mainly dependent on Pfizer and Moderna’s mRNA shots. But officials say protein vaccines like SKYCovione, which are similar to shots used for years against the common flu and hepatitis B, could appeal to people who are hesitant to use vaccines developed with newer technologies. SK Bioscience is also seeking an approval from the World Health Organization for its shots, which would potentially open export opportunities. 500+ inmates escape from Sri Lanka drug treatment center COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — More than 500 inmates escaped from a heavily guarded drug rehabilitation center in late June in northern Sri Lanka after a suspicious death led to an outbreak of violence, police said. The Kandakadu rehabilitation center, about 150 miles northeast of the capital, Colombo, mainly treats prisoners convicted of drug-related crimes. Nearly 1,000 people were undergoing rehabilitation at the center, which is guarded by military troops. Police officers were at the center investigating the death when inmates became violent, broke the security fence, and escaped, police said, adding that a search was begun for the escapees. Illegal drug use has become a problem in Sri Lanka, where officials say about 300,000 people — around 1.5% of all Sri Lankans — are addicted to drugs. South Korea hits dozens with travel bans amid crypto probe SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean prosecutors have barred dozens of people connected to Terraform Labs from leaving the country as they expand an investigation into a $40 billion collapse of the company’s cryptocurrency that devastated traders around the world. The Seoul Southern District Prosecutor’s Office said it will summon them for questioning as it tries to determine whether the company committed fraud or violated financial regulations before the implosion of its digital currencies, TerraUSD and Luna, in May. The office didn’t specify the number of people placed under the monthlong travel ban or who they are, although they may include current and former staff members and developers. Prosecutors refused to provide more details, saying the investigation was ongoing. The Bank of Korea, South Korea’s central bank, said in a report published last month that the collapse of TerraUSD and Luna was a major factor in the global currency market shrinking by more than 40% compared to late last year, when its market value reached over $2.3 trillion. The U.S. Federal Reserve’s recent decision to raise its key interest rate to fight inflation has also contributed to the slide by further repelling investors from volatile assets, the bank said. Man receives 18-month term in high-profile sexual assault HONG KONG (AP) — A man involved in a high-profile sexual assault against an Alibaba employee has been sentenced to 18 months in prison, months after the employee went public about her assault and sparked renewed conversation of the treatment of women in Chinese society. The defendant, Zhang Guo, was a representative from a supermarket that was in talks about business dealings with Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant. Zhang had met the female Alibaba employee, surnamed Zhou, at a business dinner in July 2021. Zhou later accused Zhang and another male Alibaba colleague of plying her with alcohol. She said she was sexually assaulted at the dinner, and later again in her hotel room. She went public with her accusations on Alibaba’s internal message board after she said she had received no satisfactory response from the company. A court in Jinan found Zhang to be guilty of forcible indecency against Zhou while she was drunk at the dinner and the next day in her hotel room, and sentenced him to prison, according to a statement issued by the court on its official WeChat account. It also said Zhang did not exhibit remorse nor plead guilty for his actions. When Zhou went public with her accusations, the case drew much attention online. Alibaba faced backlash for how it handled the situation. TEA PLEA. A Pakistani boy works at a tea shop in Peshawar, Pakistan, on June 12, 2022. A minister in Pakistan’s newly elected government faced criticism in June following his plea to the nation to drink less tea to help save on imports amid a deepening economic crisis. Pakistan is among the world’s top tea importers, a hugely popular drink among both the rich and the poor in the country of 220 million people. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad, File) Pakistani government chided for “Drink less tea, save money” plea By Munir Ahmed The Associated Press SLAMABAD — A minister in Pakistan’s newly elected government faced criticism in June following his plea to the nation to drink less tea to help save on imports amid a deepening economic crisis. Pakistan is among the world’s top tea importers, a hugely popular drink among both the rich and the poor in the country of 220 million people. The government spends about $600 million from the central bank’s hard currency reserves for tea imports annually. A Pakistani is believed to drink at least three cups of tea a day on average, the nation’s caffeinated drink of choice. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who took over in April after Imran Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote in parliament, has pledged to improve the ailing economy and meet conditions set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in an effort to revive a $6 billion bailout package. Still, planning minister Ahsan Iqbal’s appeal to drink less tea surprised many. “I appeal to the people to reduce their tea drinking by one or two cups a day because we also borrow money for the tea, which is imported,” Iqbal said at a press conference. Some openly advised Iqbal on social media to resign. “… Ahsan Iqbal asked us to consume less tea and tomorrow they may say eat less. Is it a solution?” asked Dil Sher, who owns a roadside tea stall on the outskirts of Islamabad. The government has so far hiked the price of fuel, natural gas, and electricity by up to 45%, sending food prices soaring. Sharif’s cabinet presented its first budget to parliament in mid-June for approval, levying more taxes on the rich and vowing to remove subsidies on energy and fuel as demanded by the IMF. To the shock of many Pakistanis, Sharif’s I government that night at midnight announced the third hike of 24 rupees in the price of petrol in as many weeks, taking it to about 234 rupees per liter. Petrol was available at about 150 rupees per liter in Pakistan when Khan was ousted in April. Khan says Sharif came into power under a U.S. plot, a charge Washington denies. Sharif and the country’s military have also denied Khan’s claim, saying no evidence of U.S. conspiracy in Khan’s ouster was available. Hourslong power cuts across Pakistan have also made Sharif’s coalition government unpopular. Now in the opposition, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party also took to Twitter, claiming Sharif’s government has damaged the economy, barely two months since taking office. Sharif, however, says he is paying the price for the mismanagement of his predecessor’s government. During his 3 1/2 years in power, Khan’s government also faced criticism, including when a lawmaker from his party, Riaz Fat- yana, appealed to people to use less sugar and eat just one flatbread with every meal instead of more amid a shortage of sugar and wheat at the time. In Pakistan, most people consume roti, a flatbread similar to India’s naan. Pakistan’s currency, the rupee, had also plummeted to a record low in trading against the U.S. dollar. Also in June, Esther Perez Ruiz, the IMF’s resident representative for Pakistan, denied local media reports that the world lender asked Pakistan to renegotiate the CPEC- related energy deals before making hefty payments to Beijing. “These claims are simply untrue. Rather, the IMF supports the govern- ment’s multipronged strategy to restore energy sector viability which shares the burden of restoring viability across all stake- holders — the government, producers, and consumers,” Ruiz said in a statement. Asian Currency Exchange Rates Units per U.S. dollar as of 7/01 Bangladesh Taka· · Cambodian Riel · · China Renminbi · · Fijian Dollar · · · · Hong Kong Dollar · Indian Rupee · · · · Indonesian Rupiah · Iranian Rial · · · · Japanese Yen · · · Laos New Kip · · · Malaysian Ringgit · Nepal Rupee · · · · Pakistani Rupee · · Papua N.G. Kina · · Philippine Peso· · · Russian Ruble · · · Saudi Riyal· · · · · Singapore Dollar · · South Korean Won · Sri Lankan Rupee · Taiwan Dollar · · · Thai Baht · · · · · Vietnam Dong · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 93.45 4068.0 6.7035 2.1993 7.8466 78.908 15006 42.131 135.25 14977 4.406 126.37 204.5 3.52 55.124 52.626 3.7524 1.3976 1300.3 360.16 29.819 35.63 23332
