Free Republic

In Hong Kong, where there's been one coronavirus fatality, schools remain closed due to a government-imposed shutdown, forcing many children to be start homeschooling themselves during the outbreak.

Despite China’s incredible economic success as of late, it’s important to remember that it is still fundamentally a communist country. Recent events have been a stern reminder. Freedom can be messy, but it’s nothing like the mess an authoritarian regime creates when it fears losing power. The disturbing outbreak of the coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in China and the communist government’s response to it should be a reminder of the consequence of a system based on state control, without rule by the people and a vibrant civil society. Many are impressed by the fact that China built a 1,000-bed hospital in 10...

HONG KONG: Armed robbers who stole hundreds of toilet rolls were being hunted by Hong Kong police on Monday (Feb 17), in a city wracked by shortages caused by coronavirus panic-buying. Toilet rolls have become hot property in the densely packed business hub, despite government assurances that supplies remain unaffected by the virus outbreak. Supermarkets have found themselves unable to restock quickly enough, leading to sometimes lengthy queues and shelves stripped bare within moments of opening.

China has appointed a hardliner, who is known for removing hundreds of crosses from churches in the eastern province of Zhejiang, to take charge of its office overseeing matters in Hong Kong, which might raise concerns among pro-democracy protesters and residents in the semi-autonomous city. Xia Baolong, the vice chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference who was a close aide to Chinese Premier Xi Jinping from 2003 to 2007 when he was Communist Party secretary of Zhejiang Province, will serve as the director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, China’s Human Resources Ministry has announced, according...

The defiant lyrics to the classic Les Misérables track are reverberating through uprisings in Hong Kong and China I t has soared during an airport sit-in, united street protests and drowned out the Chinese national anthem at a school assembly. Do You Hear the People Sing?, the defiant chorus from the musical Les Misérables, has become a song of protest in Hong Kong and, more recently, mainland China. Explicit references to Li Wenliang, the Wuhan doctor censured for his warnings about the coronavirus outbreak, and to Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, are stamped upon – but lines from the song slip...

The Centre for Health Protection has found excessive levels of Legionella bacteria in tested samples of cooling towers at Choi Hung MTR station following 11 infections in Wong Tai Sin, a nearby neighbourhood. The water-dwelling bacteria causes Legionnaires’ disease which can lead to a fever, cough, headache, muscle pain and diarrhoea. Humans contract the disease – which can be lethal – by inhaling contaminated droplets. The incubation period is around two to 10 days. High-risk groups including people over the age of 50 and with weakened immunity. There is no known vaccine but the disease can be treated with antibiotics....

Key Points China said it confirmed 15,152 new cases and 254 additional deaths and that those figures include the ones reported earlier by Hubei province. China’s Hubei province reported an additional 242 deaths and 14,840 new cases as of Feb. 12. The province said it is starting to include “clinically diagnosed” cases in its figures and that 13,332 of the new cases fall under that classification. =================================================================== All times below are in Beijing time. 6:03 pm: Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi warns of first-quarter smartphone hit The chief executive of smartphone maker Xiaomi said the the disruption caused by the coronavirus...

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong is evacuating people from a residential building in the New Territories district of Tsing Yi, where two people confirmed with coronavirus live though on different floors, authorities said early on Tuesday. The director of the Centre for Health Protection, Dr Wong Ka-hing, said the government was investigating the suspected environmental transmission of two cases in the building.

The cruise line operator Royal Caribbean has said it will refuse any passengers with Chinese, Hong Kong or Macao passports, regardless of when they were last in China. The remarkable statement comes after reports that about two dozen passengers aboard a cruise ship that docked in Bayonne, New Jersey, on Friday morning were screened for coronavirus and four were sent to a local hospital for further screening. (please see link, for full story)

Lack of travel history in several confirmed cases convinces Professor Yuen Kwok-yung of local human-to-human transmission A top microbiologist has declared a community outbreak of the deadly coronavirus in Hong Kong as a government adviser revealed mainland Chinese entering the city could be quarantined in hotels or public facilities under compulsory restrictions taking effect on Saturday. The dreaded confirmation of a local spread came a day after the government said all travellers from the mainland, including Hong Kong residents, would be placed on a mandatory 14-day quarantine as part of its escalated response to the contagion. The city’s administration was...

In a press conference early Friday evening, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam urged residents to stay vigilant and announced further measures by the government to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Here are the highlights: The numbers: There are now 12 confirmed cases of the virus in Hong Kong, five of which are Hong Kong residents and seven are mainland Chinese residents, Lam said.School suspended: Primary and secondary schools were originally set to resume on February 17, but will now stay suspended until March 2. The government will re-evaluate at that point whether to resume classes, depending on the status of...

Long lines form at pharmacies and crowds of panic-buyers strip supermarket shelves in Hong Kong as fears spread through the crowded territory over China’s new coronavirus epidemic. As a territory that lost nearly 300 people to the SARS virus in 2003, Hong Kongers are taking few chances over the latest disease outbreak that began in central China and has since spread. Usually clogged streets have been uncharacteristically quiet, with light traffic and crowds over the Lunar New Year holiday. However, the one place Hong Kongers are still willing to gather in sizeable numbers is outside their local pharmacies, hoping to...

About 4,515 cases of the illness have been recorded across the country, including almost 1,000 people in critical condition, according to state media. Though the number of cases appears to have risen quickly, from 2,887 on Monday, this was likely to be due to better reporting, and the numbers remain small compared with the population.

Hong Kong’s embattled leader adopted the advice of local medical experts as she on Saturday launched a new wave of measures to counter the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus – though divisions remained on whether the city should tighten or even close its border with mainland China. Some 48 hours after the city confirmed its first two cases – with a further three announced on Friday – Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor raised the government’s response against the new virus to the highest level of emergency after a public outcry. Lam agreed to suggestions by microbiologist Professor Yuen Kwok-yung...

Hundreds of patients in Wuhan who have yet to be confirmed as carrying the new strain of coronavirus are becoming increasingly desperate as the city struggles to cope with the numbers reporting pneumonia symptoms. One 36-year-old, speaking by phone outside a major hospital in the city, said she had spent the past week taking her sick husband from hospital to hospital in a vain attempt to get him tested for the virus, which has already killed 41 people and infected hundreds more. “I have nothing. No protective clothing, only a raincoat, and I am standing outside the hospital in the...

The United States is organizing a charter flight to evacuate diplomats and citizens from the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus outbreak originated. Also Saturday, A Chinese doctor treating patients with coronavirus died after he contracted the virus while caring for patients. The virus has reached the U.S., with cases in both Washington state and Illinois. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Friday that four people have been isolated and are being tested for the strain of coronavirus, which can spread through human-to-human contact.

After six months of protests in Hong Kong, the new year has brought more chaos, with Tsai Ing-wen winning an election in Taiwan and disease spreading in Wuhan. Perhaps President Xi Jinping should recognise that China needs new leadership. The new year has only brought more chaos: in addition to Tsai’s victory, China faces an outbreak of a coronavirus in Wuhan – which has now spread to Japan, and elsewhere – just as the Lunar New Year holiday is beginning. While a ceasefire in the trade war has ostensibly been declared, the phase one deal required concessions from Beijing and...

DAVOS, Switzerland—President Donald Trump said China’s human rights record and the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong are part of phase two trade discussions with China, in response to a question from The Epoch Times on Jan. 22. At a press conference in the Swiss Alpine town of Davos on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, Trump said “we would like to see we can do something” about the issues in China and Hong Kong. “We are discussing that already,” he told reporters. “We’re doing a trade deal, and it’s a very big deal. Phase one is done, phase two...

The supporters of the Second Amendment and the Antifa expected to be in Richmond, Virginia tomorrow with the Second Amendment groups protesting new laws and Antifa ready to act violently. As the FBI moved to arrest alleged Neo-Nazis headed for the rally in recent days, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency and imposed a weapons ban..... World leaders are described as "fully committed" to a peaceful resolution of the Libyan conflict.... A mass rally in Hong Kong today by pro-democracy demonstrators..... "a dangerous attack on the right of the American people to freely choose their president" Part...

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen won a second term by a landslide in the island’s presidential election on Jan. 11, in a victory seen as a rejection of Chinese regime encroachment. Tsai of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won by a margin of around 20 percent—by more than 2.6 million votes—against her main opponent, Han Kuo-yu of the Kuomingtang (KMT) party. Supporters of Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen celebrate the preliminary results at a rally outside the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) headquarters in Taipei, Taiwan Jan. 11, 2020. (Reuters/Tyrone Siu)The election is widely viewed as a referendum on whether Taiwan should pursue...