Asia Today: China to curtail assembly; Australia eases up
BANGKOK (AP) — A Chinese official confirmed that the annual legislative session will be curtailed to protect public health during the coronavirus pandemic.
Zhang Yesui, the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress, did not indicate how much it would be shortened. He told the official Xinhua News Agency that the agenda and schedule would be approved before the session starts in Beijing on May 22.
The congress, delayed from March because of the outbreak, normally lasts about two weeks. Police have announced a ban on drones and other low-flying objects because of the May 20-28 meeting, so this year’s could run about a week.
China’s ruling Communist Party decided to go ahead with the meeting of 3,000 delegates after largely stopping the spread of the virus. But some government officials will join breakout sessions with deputies via video link, and news conferences will also be conducted remotely by video.
Small clusters of new cases are still popping up elsewhere in China. Two more cases were confirmed Friday in one such area, Jilin province in the country’s northeast.
In other developments in the Asia-Pacific region:
— SOUTH KOREA SEES NIGHTCLUB CASES WANING: South Korean officials have so far confirmed 162 coronavirus cases linked to clubgoers in the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area, and are expressing cautious hope that infections are beginning to wane. Health Ministry official Son Young-rae on Saturday said the country may have ducked a major surge in transmissions in a region where half of its 51 million people live. Son points out that the daily increase in infections has been within 30 over the past days despite a jump in tests. Son said 46,000 people have so far been tested following a slew of infections linked to clubs and other nightspots in Seoul’s...
