Global Developments and Analysis: Weekly Monitor, 05 April - 11 April 2021

Economic

China lacks clear path to global dominance: JPMorgan's Dimon

A handover of global leadership to China is not inevitable, if only the U.S. confronts its own failures head-on and starts thinking longer-term, according to a lengthy analysis by JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on the great power competition that looks to define the 21st century. In his annual letter to shareholders, published April 07, Dimon dissected China's strengths and weaknesses and introspected America's own, characterizing the Sino-American contest to be at a turning point. "China does not have a straight road to becoming the dominant economic power," wrote the Wall Street executive. Likewise, "while I have a deep and abiding faith in the United States of America and its extraordinary resiliency and capabilities, we do not have a divine right to success." Chinese leaders see an America that is in decline -- losing ground in technology, infrastructure and education, torn by politics and inequality, and unable to coordinate government policies to accomplish national goals, Dimon said his letter. Facing a challenge from China, which uses a system of government that allows for consistent leadership and policy execution over several years, Dimon argued the U.S. government also needs to implement multiyear budgeting, planning and reporting to enable long-term public policy.
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Yellen calls for global minimum corporate tax

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on April 05 that she is working with G-20 countries to agree on a global corporate minimum tax rate to end a "30-year race to the bottom on corporate tax rates." The global minimum tax is a key pillar of President Joe Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure spending plan, which calls for an increase in the U.S. corporate tax rate to 28%. Without a global minimum, the United States would again be at a disadvantage to a number of other major economies with lower tax rates, tax experts say, with U.S. commitment helping to jump start negotiations for a tax deal among a number of major economies. Yellen, speaking to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, said she also would use her participation in International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings this week to advance discussions on climate change, improve vaccine access and encourage countries to support a strong global recovery. The new Treasury chief said it was important to "end the pressures of tax competition" and make sure governments "have stable tax systems that raise sufficient revenues in essential public goods and respond to crises, and that all citizens fairly share the burden of financing government."
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US targets supercomputers in Biden's first move against Chinese tech

The Biden administration took its first trade action against China on April 08, adding seven Chinese supercomputing developers to an export blacklist for assisting Chinese military efforts in a move that will likely further escalate frosty tensions between the world's two largest economies. The U.S. Commerce Department said the seven added to the Entity List were "involved with building supercomputers used by China's military actors, its destabilizing military modernization efforts, and/or weapons of mass destruction programs." The sanctioned groups are leading China's supercomputing development and are key players in Beijing's plan for chip self-sufficiency. The newly blacklisted entities are Tianjin Phytium Information Technology, Shanghai High-Performance Integrated Circuit Design Center, Sunway Microelectronics, the National Supercomputing Center Jinan, the National Supercomputing Center Shenzhen, the National Supercomputing Center Wuxi, and the National Supercomputing Center Zhengzhou. Chinese supercomputers have been taking more top spots in the U.S.-European led TOP500 project, which ranks supercomputer speed twice a year.
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Tencent's plans for Indonesia herald wave of Asia data centers

Chinese internet conglomerate Tencent Holdings said it would build most of its planned data centers in Asia, including South Korea and Thailand, as well as the Middle East, Poshu Yeung, Tencent Cloud International's senior vice president told Nikkei Asia in an interview. Tencent operates 20 data centres outside China, with the first batch launched in Europe and the U.S. But amid growing political tensions between China and Western countries, Yeung said the company plans to add 30% to 50% more data centres by the end of this year mostly in the Asian region. During the coronavirus pandemic, Asia has experienced fast growth in video conferencing, e-commerce, online education, gaming and live streaming as people spend more time at home. Among Asian countries, Indonesia is one of the hottest battlegrounds for cloud services. Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook have announced plans to build their first data centres in the country, the world's fourth largest with a population of 270 million. Alibaba also has opened two data centers in Indonesia and plans to add a third.
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Myanmar's brewing currency crisis causes consumer prices to soar

Myanmar's currency has been depreciating since the Feb. 1 coup; considerably increasing the prices of imported goods. The value of the kyat against the U.S. dollar dropped 14% in the two months following the coup. While the price of gasoline jumped more than 20%, imported foodstuffs are also becoming expensive, leading to more strains on consumers. Myanmar chronically suffers trade deficits because of its fragile industrial sector. Less foreign capital inflow through investment and economic assistance since the coup could snowball into further depreciation of the currency and continuing price hikes. A money exchange in Yangon posted a rate of 1,600 kyat to the dollar for buyers of the U.S. currency on April 09. Under Myanmar's managed floating rate system, which keeps the kyat's rate within a set range, the reference rate set by the country's central bank was 1,330 kyat to the dollar on Feb. 1. Before the coup, there was little difference between exchange rates on the street and the official reference rate. But while the reference rate dropped 11% since the coup, the market rate fell 14%.
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Biden: Korea battery makers’ settlement good for US

US President Joe Biden on April 11 welcomed a last-minute agreement ending a trade dispute between two South Korean electric-vehicle battery makers that he said represented “a win for American workers and the American auto industry.” The deal between industrial giants SK Innovation and LG Energy Solution was also seen as a victory for Biden as he presses for a quick embrace of electric vehicles as a key element in combating climate change. The deal will clear the way for two new factories in Georgia to supply batteries for Ford and Volkswagen. Under the last-minute resolution of the trade-secrets dispute, SK Innovation will provide LG Energy Solution with a total of $1.8 billion and an undisclosed royalty, the companies said in a joint agreement. “We need a strong, diversified and resilient US-based electric-vehicle battery supply chain, so we can supply the growing global demand for these vehicles and components – creating good-paying jobs” now and in the future, Biden said. The Korean settlement was “a positive step in that direction.”
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EU proposes six-month tariff freeze with United States: Report

The European Union has suggested that it and the United States suspend tariffs imposed on billions of dollars of imports for six months, EU trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis was quoted as telling Germany's Der Spiegel on Apr 10. That would go beyond a four-month suspension agreed last month, and send a signal that Brussels is seeking compromise in a 16-year-old dispute over aircraft subsidies. "We have proposed suspending all mutual tariffs for six months in order to reach a negotiated solution," Dombrovskis told the news magazine. "This would create a necessary breathing space for industries and workers on both sides of the Atlantic," he added. In March, the two sides agreed on a four-month suspension covering all US tariffs on US$7.5 billion of EU imports and all EU duties on US$4 billion of US products, which resulted from long-running World Trade Organization cases over subsidies for plane makers Airbus and Boeing. Dombrovskis also said the EU would closely monitor US President Joe Biden's "Buy American" laws which provide for US public contracts to be awarded exclusively to American firms.
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Alibaba shares soar as it plays down hit from record US$2.78 billion fine

Shares in tech giant Alibaba surged 9 per cent on Apr 12 as the ecommerce titan reassured investors that a record US$2.78 billion antitrust fine imposed by China would have little impact on its operations. Regulators slammed the tech giant with the penalty on April 10 after a month long probe concluded it had been abusing its dominant market position. But in a conference call to investors on April 12, Alibaba's board put a positive spin on the regulatory blow saying it appeared to be the end of the investigation, with Chairman Daniel Zhang saying the fine would not have a "negative impact" on business operations. "We had good guidance on some of the specific issues under the anti-monopoly law and I would say that we are pleased that we are able to put this matter behind us," company vice-chair Joe Tsai added. The firm's stock price jumped 8.99 per cent to as high as HK$237.60 (US$30.50) in Hong Kong on April 12 morning before easing back marginally. The probe, which began in December, centred on Alibaba's practice of forbidding merchants who wish to sell their wares on its popular online marketplaces from simultaneously offering them on rival e-commerce sites, the State Administration for Market Regulation said on imposing the fine April 10.
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China takes lead in race to launch digital currencies thanks to broad mobile coverage, early innovations

The global race to launch digital currencies is fiercer as central banks from more countries explore how to use the money of the future. In the competition, China has taken the lead thanks to an early start and abundant application scenarios aided by wide broadband coverage, which analysts said will help boost the internalization of the Yuan against US dollar hegemony. On April 06, the Bank of Japan said that it has been preparing for experiments on a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in early fiscal year 2021, to test the technical feasibility of the core functions and features required for the CBDC such as issuance, distribution and redemption. The proof-of-concept phase one began on the same day and will continue through March 2022, the bank said in a statement on its website. In addition, the US Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and MIT, which are developing prototypes for a digital dollar platform, aim to unveil their research as soon as July, Bloomberg reported. In a separate report, Bloomberg said that European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said that the institution could launch a digital currency in four years.
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Solar-Energy Supply Chain Depends on Region Where China Is Accused of Genocide

Champions of the accelerating push for solar energy around the world are confronting a previously overlooked challenge: The industry’s supply chains are heavily reliant on Xinjiang, a Chinese region the U.S. government and others say is the scene of genocide against local ethnic minorities including the mostly Muslim Uyghur inhabitants. About half the world’s supply of poly-silicon, an essential ingredient in most solar panels, comes from this part of north-western China, where human-rights groups and U.S. officials say China runs a sprawling network of internment camps that the U.S. says have held more than 1 million Uyghurs, a Muslim minority group. Some in the renewable-energy industry say they fear that poly-silicon and other essential materials that come from Xinjiang could have links to forced labour. And lack of unrestricted access to Xinjiang means it is difficult to ensure suppliers aren’t somehow linked to human-rights abuses. Global pressure to curb trade with Xinjiang is building. Both the U.S. and the European Union are weighing legislation that could lead to import bans on more products from the region, including poly-silicon. The U.S. already banned imports of Xinjiang-produced cotton and tomatoes in January. Many Western solar companies are already scrambling to cut exposure to the region, fearing their industry will be spotlighted next.
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Foreign lenders cutting ties with Lebanon’s central bank: Sources

Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun blamed the central bank, in a speech late on April 07, for the financial collapse and for stalling an audit that is the key to unlocking foreign aid. The central bank has not responded to Aoun’s remarks. Salameh’s letter said JPMorgan was still offering letters of credit needed to help Lebanon import fuel and other goods, a judicial source added. JPMorgan declined a request for comment. But basic subsidies, drawn from critical foreign reserves, are already precarious. Money to fund imports of wheat, fuel and medicine will run out by the end of May, the caretaker finance minister told Reuters news last week. “Given the situation, it is not surprising that some banks are withdrawing from Lebanon,” said Khaled Abdel Majeed, MENA fund manager at London-based SAM Capital Partners, an investment advisory firm. Lebanon’s predicament echoes that of Venezuela, also increasingly shunned by international lenders as the South American country grapples with economic crisis and sanctions. The role of Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon means some of the country’s banks have long been deemed risky for international lenders, some of whom have faced US penalties for dealings with Iran.
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Strategic

NATO has an open door policy, but Ukraine unlikely to walk through it any time soon, German officials say amid Donbass escalations

Despite Kiev claiming that only NATO membership will end the risk of supposed Russian aggression in the Donbass, there are currently no plans for the country to join the US-led military bloc, the German government has announced. Ulrike Demmer, Berlin’s deputy spokesperson, told reporters on April 07 that the question of Ukraine’s accession to the faction was not currently on the table. “As you know, with regard to new members NATO generally follows an open-door policy,” she said. “Ukraine has a right of free choice and its own political needs. However, no further steps towards its membership are currently envisaged.” The day before, Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, used a call with NATO’s General Secretary, Jens Stoltenberg, to say that his country’s accession to the bloc would be the only path to peace in its war-torn east. Commenting on Kiev’s request, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “we deeply doubt that this will help Ukraine somehow cope with its internal problem.”
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South Korea soars into elite group with KF-21 fighter

Hailed by President Moon Jae-in as “a historic milestone in the development of the (South Korean) aviation industry,” the nation unveiled its home grown supersonic jet fighter on April 09, joining an exclusive club of military aviation giants, CNN reported. Once operational, the KF-21 — which looks very much like the American F-35 — is expected to be armed with a range of air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles, and possibly even air-launched cruise missiles. The twin-engine fighters, envisioned as a steppingstone to develop better fighter aircraft and operate locally developed arms, will come in single- and two-seat versions, depending on the missions to which they are tasked. Moon said after ground and flight tests are completed, mass production of the KF-21 will begin with a goal of 40 jets deployed by 2028 and 120 by 2032 — an ambitious plan for a small country. While only 65% of the KF-21 is of South Korean origin, its rollout still marks a significant achievement for a country that doesn’t have a lengthy history of aircraft production.
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US agrees to withdraw 'remaining combat troops' from Iraq – reports

The US has agreed to withdraw its remaining combat forces from Iraq, at a date to be determined in talks with Baghdad and remain in the country solely in an advisory and support role against terrorists. “US forces are in Iraq at the invitation of Iraqi Government to support the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) in their fight against ISIS,” said a joint statement following the “strategic dialogue” between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein on April 07. “Based on the increasing capacity of the ISF, the parties confirmed that the mission of U.S. and Coalition forces has now transitioned to one focused on training and advisory tasks, thereby allowing for the redeployment of any remaining combat forces from Iraq, with the timing to be established in upcoming technical talks,” the statement added. Hussein and Blinken agreed to “continue bilateral security coordination and cooperation” between the US and Iraq and emphasized in the joint statement that “the bases on which US and Coalition personnel are present are Iraqi bases and their presence is solely in support of Iraq's effort in the fight against ISIS.”
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State Dept says US prepared to lift Iran sanctions, but warns of ‘long road ahead’ amid indirect talks to revive nuclear pact

The US State Department has signalled willingness to drop sanctions on Iran that conflict with the 2015 nuclear pact, but suggested Tehran would still have to make concessions of its own – a notion that Iran previously rejected. “We are prepared to take the steps necessary to return to compliance with the JCPOA, including by lifting sanctions that are inconsistent with the JCPOA,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters on April 07, referring to the nuclear deal by its formal title, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Price added that he was not in a position to provide “chapter and verse” on what sanctions Washington will consider ending nor any timeframe for when that might happen, saying “That is precisely why we have agreed to engage in diplomacy to this effect.” The statement came after the two sides concluded the second day of indirect talks to breathe new life into the nuclear pact, which kicked off in Vienna on April 06. While Price said the dialogue has been “constructive” and “business-like” so far, he warned of a “long road ahead” in the negotiations, indicating ongoing disagreement over exactly when and how either party will return to compliance with the deal.
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Iran reports ‘NUCLEAR terrorism’ attack at Natanz facility – day after uranium enrichment began

Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility was hit by a “terrorist” attack on April 11, the country’s nuclear chief said, hours after reports of an electrical “accident” – and a day after new uranium enrichment centrifuges were started up. Iran reserves the right to “take action” against those behind the incident at the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facility in Natanz, the head of the nation’s Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi, told state TV on April 11. He called the incident at the plant an act of “nuclear terrorism.” Iran “condemns this heinous act,” Salehi said, calling on the international community and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in particular to “deal” with the act of “nuclear terrorism.” The incident at the plant was earlier described as an “electricity problem” at a power grid in Natanz. “Fortunately, the incident did not cause any human injuries or pollution,” Behrouz Kamalvandi, the spokesman for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization (AEOI), said earlier on April 11. The event reportedly caused a blackout in the electricity distribution network of the Shahid Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan nuclear facility in Natanz.
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Chinese aircraft carrier and 5 ships pass Okinawa on way to Pacific

The Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning and five escort vessels have passed through a key waterway off Japan on their way to the Pacific Ocean, the Joint Staff Office of the Japanese Defense Ministry said April 11. The carrier group was spotted around 8 a.m. April 10 roughly 470 km southwest of Nagasaki Prefecture's Danjo Islands, the joint staff said. The convoy then passed through the Miyako Strait, the 250 km-wide waterway between Okinawa Island and Miyako Island. This is the first time since April 2020 that the Liaoning has been known to pass this waterway, and it comes just days after exercises between the U.S. and Australian navies in the Eastern Pacific. Accompanying the Liaoning were one Renhai class stealth guided missile destroyer, two Luyang III class guided missile destroyers, one Jiangkai II multi-role frigate and one Fuyu class fast combat support ship. The joint staff also said that a Chinese Y-9 military transport aircraft passed over the Miyako Strait on April 11 and that Japan had scrambled a jet fighter in the airspace to respond.
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China deploys fast-attack missile catamarans in SCS

The Type 22 (NATO designation: Houbei class) cruise missile boat is a ship class in the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy. They’re fast, around 36 or 38 knots, and also well-armed. Each boat boasts eight launchers for YJ-83 subsonic anti-ship missiles and a fast-firing 30mm H/PJ-13 Gatling gun on the bow to engage aerial targets and provide fire support. Short-range air defence is apparently entrusted to man-portable air defence systems operated by the crew. These prolific “chase” vessels — China has reportedly built at least 80 Type 022 fast-attack catamarans — were chiefly considered a coastal defence asset, up until now. It seems they are now being used in a more expeditionary role, which could have major strategic implications for the South China Sea. According to an exclusive report by Thomas Newdick at The War Zone, a Type 022 (NATO Houbei class) vessel has reportedly been involved in an incident with a boat chartered by a Philippine media company in the hotly contested waters of the South China Sea. It is not clear where these fast-attack missile craft operated by the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) fast-attack are operating from and whether any examples are now permanently or semi-permanently deployed at outposts in the South China Sea.
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US issues guidelines for 'clarity' on meeting Taiwan officials

The U.S. State Department on April 09 issued new guidelines that will enable U.S. officials to meet more freely with officials from Taiwan, a move that deepens relations with Taipei amid stepped-up Chinese military activity around the island. "These new guidelines liberalize guidance on contacts with Taiwan, consistent with our unofficial relations," State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. The aim, he said, was "to encourage U.S. government engagement with Taiwan that reflects our deepening unofficial relationship."Another State Department spokesman said the new guidelines meant, for example, that working-level meetings with Taiwanese officials were now encouraged in federal buildings and could also take place at Taiwan's representative office. A report on the Financial Times website shortly before the release of Price's statement said U.S. officials would also be able to attend events at Twin Oaks, an estate in Washington that served as the residence of Taiwan's ambassador until the United States switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing in 1979. However, it quoted a U.S. official as saying there would still be some "guard rails," such as not allowing officials to attend functions at Twin Oaks on major Taiwanese holidays that might complicate the U.S. "One-China" policy.
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Japan and India to hold 2-plus-2 talks with eye on China

Japan and India plan to hold a "two-plus-two" meeting of foreign and defence ministers here to discuss security cooperation as early as late April, as China ramps up activity in the East and South China seas. The meeting will lay the groundwork for security discussions when Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a planned visit to India during Japan's long Golden Week holiday, which runs from late April to early May. This will be the two countries' second two-plus-two meeting, following the first in November 2019 in India, as Tokyo and New Delhi build closer ties with an eye toward China. The two sides signed an acquisition and cross-servicing agreement last year to share resources such as food and fuel between Japan's Self-Defense Forces and the Indian military. Last month, Japan issued its first official development assistance to India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands. While the assistance is for the installation of a battery energy storage system and not related to Japan having a presence on the islands, analysts said that the collaboration between the two countries there was significant and symbolic of the deepening ties.
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Japan decides to release water from Fukushima plant into sea

The Japanese government has decided to release treated radioactive water accumulated at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea despite opposition from fishermen, a source familiar with the matter said April 09. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said April 07 his government will decide "in a few days" whether to release the water after meeting with Hiroshi Kishi, head of the national federation of fisheries cooperatives, who conveyed his organization's unwavering opposition to the plan. In February last year, a government panel proposed various options for disposing of the water, including releasing it into the ocean as well as evaporating it. The following month, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, the operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant, drafted a plan to dilute the water to below the legal limit for concentration of radioactive materials before releasing it in the sea. The government has said it cannot continue postponing a decision on the disposal issue, given that the storage capacity of water tanks at the Fukushima complex is expected to run out as early as fall next year.
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Details of sweeping effort to counter China emerge in US Senate

Leaders of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee introduced major legislation on April 08 to boost the country's ability to push back against China's expanding global influence by promoting human rights, providing security aid and investing to combat disinformation. The draft measure, titled the "Strategic Competition Act of 2021," mandates diplomatic and strategic initiatives to counteract Beijing, reflecting hard-line sentiment on dealings with China from both Democrats and Republicans in Congress. The 280-page bill addresses economic competition with China, but also humanitarian and democratic values, such as imposing sanctions over the treatment of the minority Muslim Uighurs and supporting democracy in Hong Kong. It stressed the need to "prioritize the military investments necessary to achieve United States political objectives in the Indo-Pacific." It called for spending to do so, saying Congress must ensure the federal budget is "properly aligned" with the strategic imperative to compete with China. The bill recommends a total of $655 million in Foreign Military Financing funding for the region for fiscal 2022 though 2026, and a total of $450 million for the Indo-Pacific Maritime Security Initiative and related programs for the same period. It would expand the scope of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).
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‘Worst ever’ threat to Kim Jong Un’s rule

Pyongyang’s announcement that North Korean athletes would not participate in the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo was undoubtedly disappointing news for both South Korea and Japan. The South Korean government had hoped to use the Games as a platform to reinvigorate its desperate efforts at engagement with the North. For Japan, the danger is that this may be a harbinger of other dropouts that also will cite Covid-19 fears. The North Korean move, however, should not have been a shock. The Olympics decision is only the tip of an iceberg of troubles that could be seen surfacing in recent months. At the top is the pandemic, which triggered the shutdown of almost all cross-border trade and exposed a health system incapable of dealing with the spread of the virus. Underneath is an economy crippled by systemic failure and by international sanctions that have shut off much of the regime’s precious hard currency revenue. Least visible, but most dangerous, is the spread of anti-regime feeling, prompting a tightening of internal controls and a fierce ideological campaign to stamp out potential resistance.
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Future ties at stake as South Korean PM visits Iran

The future of diplomatic and financial relations between Iran and South Korea is at stake as Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun visits Tehran for three days of talks. South Korea has for years blocked at least $7bn of Iranian money in its banks as it fears falling afoul of harsh economic sanctions the United States started unilaterally imposing on Iran in 2018. In a joint press conference in Tehran, Jahangiri called for the release of the funds. “South Korean banks’ move to block Iran’s foreign currency reserves comes as the Iranian nation severely needs them due to conditions created by the coronavirus and its economic and health ramifications,” he told reporters while standing behind a podium next to Chung. Chung is also expected to meet Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, supreme leader’s adviser Ali Larijani, and President Hassan Rouhani during the trip. Iranian officials’ repeated harsh criticism of South Korea and threatening legal action for refusing to release the money has led to no results so far, but the talks are hoped to provide a breakthrough.
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Medical

COVAX vaccine distribution scheme delivers jabs to more than 100 nations, despite supply difficulties – Gavi/WHO

More than 100 countries have received Covid-19 vaccines since the COVAX distribution scheme launched in February, its organizers have said. However, 38 million delivered doses is a far cry from the two billion goal set for 2021. Some 60 of the recipients were states with lower-income economies who were supplied with donor-funded doses, Gavi – an alliance of governments, drug makers, charities and international bodies – and the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a joint statement. The 100 nations mark has been reached 42 days after the launch of the scheme, which Gavi and the WHO established to ensure the “equitable” distribution of coronavirus jabs around the globe. The first country to receive doses under COVAX was Ghana, on February 24. So far, around 38 million doses from vaccine manufacturers including AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech and the Serum Institute of India (SII) have been shipped to countries on six continents as part of COVAX, according to the statement.
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EU drugs regulator finds possible link between AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine and ‘very rare cases of unusual blood clots’

AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine, Vaxzevria, should include a warning about the risk of blood clots as one of the jab’s very rare side effects, the EU’s drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), has said. The latest review by the EMA’s safety committee on the Anglo-Swedish vaccine has found that its benefits continue to outweigh the associated risks. However, the agency said in a statement on April 07 that both healthcare professionals and anyone receiving the vaccine should be reminded that “unusual blood clots with low blood platelets” remains a “very rare side effect.” The EMA said most reported cases of blood clots have been in women under 60 years of age within two weeks of being vaccinated with the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab. The regulator’s safety committee reviewed 62 cases of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis and 24 cases of splanchnic vein thrombosis in people who received the vaccine in the EU and the UK up to March 22. A total of 18 cases of blood clotting were fatal among the 25 million people to have received the vaccine across the UK and EEA (European Economic Area), the EMA said.
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China's top official admits Chinese vaccines have low effectiveness

In a rare admission of the weakness of Chinese coronavirus vaccines, the country's top disease control official says their effectiveness is low and the government is considering mixing them to get a boost. Chinese vaccines ''don't have very high protection rates,'' said the director of the China Centers for Disease Control, Gao Fu, at a conference April 10 in the south-western city of Chengdu. Beijing has distributed hundreds of millions of doses abroad while trying to promote doubt about the effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine made using the previously experimental messenger RNA, or mRNA, process. ''It's now under formal consideration whether we should use different vaccines from different technical lines for the immunization process,'' Gao said. Officials at a news conference April 11 didn't respond directly to questions about Gao's comment or possible changes in official plans. But another CDC official said developers are working on mRNA-based vaccines. Gao did not respond to a phone call requesting further comment. “The mRNA vaccines developed in our country have also entered the clinical trial stage,'' said the official, Wang Huaqing. He gave no timeline for possible use. Experts say mixing vaccines, or sequential immunization, might boost effectiveness.
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