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In today's bulletin: Quad summit, high-level diplomacy signal US's Asia priorities; China's plans for HK electoral reform pilloried; Kerala a victim of its own success in pandemic fight; Jokowi's 'hate foreign products' remarks confuse investors; How ready is Japan for the next 'big one' after Fukushima disaster; and more.

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Quad summit, first high-level diplomacy, signal Washington's Asia priorities

That Asia and the Indo-Pacific are the Joe Biden administration's top foreign policy priority is clear from the calibrated flurry of diplomatic activity in the coming days, which kicks off with a summit of leaders of the Quad - India, Japan, Australia and the United States - on Friday (March 12) morning US time.

Almost 10 years ago, former President Barack Obama's "pivot to Asia" made headlines but was seen in the region as long on rhetoric but short on delivery, ST's US Bureau Chief Nirmal Ghosh reports. As put by Mr Ian Bremmer, president of The Eurasia Group, "in Asia, the US never got its sea legs".

In a carefully choreographed schedule next week, following high-level visits by US officials in Japan, Korea and India, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will meet China's most senior foreign policy official, Mr Yang Jiechi, and Chinese State Councillor Wang Yi, next Thursday in Alaska.

Ahead of the US-China meeting, however, differences cropped up again and Beijing blasted Washington for unfairly imposing new restrictions on China's national tech champion Huawei Technologies, a measure it said would hurt both countries.

For more:

Biden steers off a blunt anti-China message with Asian allies for Quad meeting

Quad nations meeting to announce financing to boost India Covid-19 vaccine output

Japan says PM Suga plans to meet Biden in US next month

China's plans for HK electoral reform pilloried by the West

The European Union has warned China it could take "additional steps" as it slammed a vote by Beijing's parliament for sweeping changes to Hong Kong's electoral system, which includes powers to veto candidates running in the city to gear it towards a "patriotic" government.

Forecasting "difficult" talks with China's top diplomats next week, the United States meanwhile has also condemned China's moves, calling it a continuing assault on democracy in Hong Kong where huge anti-government protests erupted in 2019.

To some critics, the series of legislative moves - including a national security law introduced in Hong Kong in 2020 - to exert additional control over the city and remove any potential avenues of dissent represents an end to the city's hopes of democracy.

Read more:

'Patriots governing Hong Kong' move right out of China's playbook

21 Hong Kong activists remain in custody after court rejects bail appeals

China says legal moves on Hong Kong a 'combination of punches' to end chaos

India's Kerala state victim of its own success in pandemic fight

Previously praised as one of the world's success stories in curbing the spread of the coronavirus, India's southern state of Kerala is now among six states accounting for 86 per cent of the new Covid-19 cases reported in the country.

In February, one in two cases in India were from the state. It now has 10 per cent of new cases in the country, ST's India Correspondent Rohini Mohan reports.

"The about-turn is a warning that epidemics don't follow a linear progression," said a Kerala Health Ministry official who did not want to be named.

More on the pandemic in India:

Behind the fall and rise of India's Covid-19 cases

India's drug regulator panel eases use condition for home-grown Covid-19 vaccine

Jokowi's 'hate foreign products' remarks confuse investors

Indonesian President Joko Widodo's recent battle cry to "love own products and hate foreign products" could harm global trade relations and alienate the very investors the country seeks to attract to boost trade and economic recovery, analysts say.

"The statement could be considered discriminatory and may trigger retaliation from other countries against Indonesia's export products. In the end, our exports will suffer," Mr Ahmad Heri Firdaus, an economist from the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef), told ST's Regional Correspondent Arlina Arshad.

While Mr Widodo's knee-jerk move to protect local small and medium enterprises was understandable, it was a drastic U-turn from his recent vows of business reforms through relaxing investment laws and establishing a sovereign wealth fund, among other things.

Read more:

Indonesia to pass e-commerce regulation for fair competition in domestic market

10 years after Fukushima disaster: How ready is Japan for the next 'big one'?

The odds of a 'big one' - an ominous reference to a giant earthquake - hitting directly beneath Tokyo in the next three decades stand at 70 per cent, government seismologists here have long warned.

A disaster-prone nation, Japan faces many other risks as well, ST's Japan Correspondent Walter Sim reports.

Watch video:

Asian Insider: Fukushima nuclear disaster haunts Japan 10 years on

For more:

Japan mourns victims of massive quake, nuclear accident

Ghost towns of Fukushima remain empty after decade-long rebuild

IN OTHER NEWS

More Myanmar protests held as South Korea suspends defence exchanges: Myanmar activists held more rallies against the junta on Friday (March 12) as South Korea said it would suspend defence exchanges and reconsider development aid to the Southeast Asian nation because of the military's harsh crackdown on the protests. Friday's rallies came a day after a rights group said security forces killed 12 protesters and as the lawyer of deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi ridiculed new bribery allegations against her.

Malaysian government criticised for 'draconian' use of emergency powers to outlaw fake news: The move by the Malaysian government to use its emergency powers to outlaw fake news that zeroes in on claims relating to Covid-19 or the proclamation of emergency has triggered widespread criticism from the opposition as well as lawyers and media groups. Opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat's organising secretary Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad told ST's Malaysia Bureau Chief Shannon Teoh that it is a "draconian attempt to muzzle criticism of its handling of Covid-19".

That's it for today. Hope you enjoyed today's stories, and do check back next week for more insightful reads.

Choo Kiong

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