World

China said Tuesday it would speed up a push to vaccinate people aged 60 and older against Covid-19 after the country posted record daily case numbers in recent days.

The announcement comes after a weekend of protests demanding an end to the country’s strict zero-Covid policy, which responds to even small caseloads with harsh lockdowns and quarantine orders.

Beijing’s National Health Commission (NHC) pledged to “accelerate the increase in the vaccination rate for people over the age of 80, and continue to increase the vaccination rate for people aged 60-79”.

It also said it would “establish a special working group… to make special arrangements for the vaccination of the elderly against Covid”.

“It is necessary to conduct popular science education on the meaning and benefits of vaccination, and fully publicize vaccines’ efficacy on preventing severe illness and death,” it added. 

China’s low vaccination rates, particularly among the older population, have long been seen as prolonging Beijing’s no-tolerance approach to Covid.

Just 65.8 percent of people over 80 are fully vaccinated, NHC officials told a press conference Tuesday.

And China has not yet approved mRNA vaccines, proven to be more effective, for public use.

Many fear that lifting that policy while swathes of the population remain not fully immunised could overwhelm China’s healthcare system and cause over a million deaths.

But the zero-Covid policy has stoked massive unrest, with people taking to the streets in China’s major cities on Sunday to protest draconian lockdowns and broader restrictions on freedom of movement.

A deadly fire last week in Urumqi, the capital of northwest China’s Xinjiang region, was the catalyst for the wave of outrage, with protesters blaming Covid restrictions for hampering rescue efforts — claims the government has denied.

China logged 38,421 domestic infections Tuesday, slightly down from record highs seen over the weekend and comparably low when compared to caseloads seen in western countries during the height of the pandemic. 

Equities rose with oil prices and the dollar weakened Tuesday as China avoided another night of protests after a weekend of unrest, with speculation growing that officials will announce a further easing of the country’s strict Covid containment measures.

The gains were led by a rally in Hong Kong and Shanghai, with property firms enjoying a much-needed surge on the back of moves to ease funding restrictions on troubled developers.

But sentiment was tempered by warnings from top Federal Reserve policymakers that US interest rates would rise further and could go higher than initially thought to fight inflation.

The remarks were partly to blame for big losses of more than one percent in Wall Street’s three main indexes.

China was rocked by demonstrations at the weekend calling for more political freedoms and an end to the country’s long-running and economically painful zero-Covid strategy that has seen millions thrown into lockdown for months.

Several arrests were made and security forces were out in force Monday to prevent a repeat of the protests, which were the most widespread since pro-democracy demonstrations were crushed in 1989.

The return of some calm helped Hong Kong stocks rally more than five percent and Shanghai more than two percent, with rumbling that the unrest could help push leaders to ease some of the strict containment measures. 

Beijing announced Tuesday afternoon a plan to speed up vaccinations of people aged 60 and older after seeing record daily case numbers in recent days.

Talk of a lighter approach to fighting the disease has helped reopening-linked firms rise, with retailers, cinema chains, Macau casinos and other tourism stocks benefiting.

Property firms were among the best performers after China said it would end a ban on firms raising cash by selling stocks, the latest measure to ease pressure on the sector, which has seen several companies collapse and threatens the wider economy.

Chinese investors were taking “a more pragmatic approach to the current Covid proceedings”, said SPI Asset Management’s Stephen Innes. “Indeed, a probable outcome is a quicker loosening of restrictions once the current Covid wave and numerous protest flash points subside.”

Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Wellington, Bangkok, Mumbai, Taipei and Manila were also in positive territory, though Tokyo dipped with Jakarta.

London, Paris and Frankfurt all opened on the front foot.

The more upbeat mood saw the dollar drop against its peers, while oil prices rallied on the prospect of a pick-up in demand in China if leaders roll back some of their measures.

Attention is turning to the United States this week with a number of Fed officials due to speak, including boss Jerome Powell, while Friday sees the release of key jobs data, which could provide an idea about the bank’s plans for monetary policy.

Bets on a slowdown in its pace of rate hikes have boosted markets for the past weeks, but some high-ranking members on Monday looked to play down the chances of a more dovish pivot.

St. Louis Fed chief James Bullard warned “markets are underpricing a little bit the risk that the (policy board) will have to be more aggressive rather than less aggressive in order to contain the very substantial inflation that we have in the US”.

And Richmond Fed president Thomas Barkin added: “I’m very supportive of a path that is slower, probably longer and potentially higher than where we were before.”

The officials indicated borrowing costs would not likely come down until the end of next year or in 2024.

– Key figures around 0820 GMT –

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.6 percent at 28,027.84 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 5.2 percent at 18,204.68 (close)

Shanghai – Composite: UP 2.3 percent at 3,149.75 (close)

London – FTSE 100: UP 0.5 percent at 7,511.04

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0356 from $1.0347 on Monday

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 138.20 yen from 138.87 yen

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2024 from $1.1952

Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.13 pence from 86.50 pence

West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.6 at $78.46 per barrel

Brent North Sea crude: UP 1.8 percent at $84.68 per barrel

New York – Dow: DOWN 1.5 percent at 33,849.46 (close)

British airline EasyJet on Tuesday confirmed a third annual loss in a row, which was however far less than during the worst of the Covid pandemic.

The airline, which flies mainly across Europe, posted a loss after tax of £169 million ($203 million) for its financial year to the end of September.

That compared with a net loss of £858 million in 2020/21, EasyJet added in a statement.

The Covid pandemic ravaged global aviation, grounding planes worldwide and forcing airlines to slash thousands of jobs in 2020.

Demand has recovered sharply after most lockdowns were lifted. However, airlines and airports are struggling to recruit sufficient staff after having axed so many positions.

“EasyJet has achieved a record bounce back this summer,” chief executive Johan Lundgren said in the statement.

He added that during the current “tough” economic climate, consumers would still look to go on holiday but seek out value, helping the no-frills carrier to do better than more established rivals.

“Legacy carriers will struggle in this high-cost environment,” Lundgren said.

Dozens of modern artworks removed from Kyiv to protect them from Russian strikes that have already done huge damage to Ukraine’s cultural heritage will go on display at a Madrid museum on Tuesday.

The works on show at the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum of Art as part of the “In the Eye of the Storm: Modernism in Ukraine 1900-1930” exhibition include oil paintings, sketches and collages.

Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza founded “Museums for Ukraine” which is seeking to showcase Ukrainian art, using the museum which houses her late father’s collection for the exhibition.

The Madrid exhibition is one of a number of showings of Ukraine’s cultural heritage across Europe, as well as an effort to raise awareness of the threat posed to the war-torn country’s artistic legacy as fighting grinds on.

Curators say it is one of the most comprehensive surveys of Ukrainian modern art in the period between 1900 to 1930.

Many of the works have hardly been seen outside of Ukraine. The exhibition will run at the museum until April 30, and then go on show in Cologne in Germany from September 2023.

– ‘Vision’ of Russia’s destruction –

President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video shown at a preview Monday that “this is a vision of what Russia is trying to destroy”.

After weeks of intense preparation, the pieces were loaded into two trucks in mid-November just before the Ukrainian capital came under intense missile fire.

As it headed to the Polish border the convoy avoided passing infrastructure likely to be attacked, Thyssen-Bornemisza said.

When the convoy reached the border, they found it shut because a missile had just landed in a Polish village killing two people.

Thyssen-Bornemisza said she then asked Ukraine’s ambassador to Spain for help, who in turn contacted “every politician he knew between Poland and Ukraine”.

“It took them 12 hours that night — they managed to get through,” she said.

UNESCO, the United Nations’ cultural agency, says over 200 cultural sites in Ukraine, including museums, have been damaged since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.

Krista Pikkat, UNESCO’s cultural and emergencies director, said in October that “cultural heritage is very often collateral damage during wars — but sometimes it’s specifically targeted”.

– ‘Talk about the war’ –

The exhibition follows a chronological order.

It starts with the 1910s when Ukraine was part of the Russian empire and ends in the 1930s when several artists died during purges carried out by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, said one of the show’s curators Katia Denysova.

Most of the works come from the National Art Museum of Ukraine.

Among the works on display is “Composition”, a Cubist-inspired painting by Vadym Meller and a realistic portrait of a soldier by Kostiantyn Yeleva.

“It is important for us to continue to talk about the war,” Denysova said.

“But we also want to show with this project that Ukraine has so much more to offer.”

Rocketing energy bills are forcing Hungary to shutter libraries, theatres, swimming pools and even its new football stadiums for winter.

The state-of-the-art grounds — symbols of right-wing nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s 12 years in power — are among a long list of buildings no longer able to cope with rising energy prices in the central European country.

Despite being one of the country’s richest cities and being run by Orban’s own party, Szekesfehervar is one of many closing its museums, libraries and theatres.

Its new 14,000-capacity city-run stadium also pulled down its shutters this month to save costs, said mayor Andras Cser-Palkovics.

“Community spaces are what make a city. No one was happy about the measures but they accepted that they are needed,” Cser-Palkovics, a member of Orban’s ruling Fidesz party, told AFP in Szekesfehervar’s City Hall.

– ‘Won’t wait for miracles’ –

Like other cities, Szekesfehervar, 60 kilometres (37 miles) southwest of the capital Budapest, has tried to mitigate the effects of these closures.

The next Hungarian league games are in late January, so no football matches have had to be called off because of the stadium’s closure. 

Local side Fehervar FC, which usually trains at the stadium during the winter, can use other pitches in the city.

“Fehervar FC’s professional work is not particularly affected by the drastic decision to save energy,” the club said.

Cser-Palkovics said the plan is for the stadium, only built in 2018, to reopen in mid-January, adding that he has asked the league to reschedule evening games in the New Year to save on pitch heating and floodlight costs.

“We should not wait for miracles, we can help ourselves by our own measures,” he said.

Elsewhere in the city, the Vorosmarty Theatre will close after performing its Christmas and New Year programme and will reopen in March when the spring season kicks off, said its head Janos Szikora.

“We won’t sit around desperately thinking, ‘Oh my God what will happen,'” Szikora told AFP, adding that while the theatre is closed actors will find other spaces to rehearse.

– Blaming Brussels –

The energy crisis — a ripple effect from the Ukraine war — has piled pressure on nationalist premier Orban, who has made low household utility bills a core policy over the last decade. 

Inflation in Hungary reached 21.6 percent in October, its highest level since 1996, and the third highest in the EU, according to Eurostat.  

Government-mandated price caps on basic foodstuffs and fuel aimed at stemming price rises have led to shortages in some shops and petrol stations.

With recession looming — GDP contracted by 0.4 percent in the third quarter — EU funds totalling more than 14 billion euros ($14.4 billion) have been withheld over corruption and rule-of-law concerns.

“Rising energy bills and even more so inflation are affecting everyone — the question is who Hungarians will blame for these economic hardships,” said Andrea Virag, strategy director of the Budapest-based Republikon think tank.

A government billboard campaign accuses the EU, saying “Brussels sanctions are ruining us”, while a government “national consultation” survey sent to households poses leading questions also critical of the sanctions.  

“It is clear that the tactic of the Hungarian government and Orban is to put all the blame on Brussels,” Virag told AFP. “There is some research that suggests that a huge amount of people believe Fidesz’s narrative.” 

It remains to be seen how many businesses will be forced to close for good in the months to come.

While industrial Szekesfehervar is relatively wealthy, other municipalities particularly in poorer eastern regions are threatened by bankruptcy unless they get state support, according to mayor Cser-Palkovics.

Geza Deli, a pensioner walking on Szekesfehervar’s main street, told AFP he agreed with City Hall’s strategy of reducing services deemed non-essential. 

“Obviously there are some basic public services which need support — primarily education and healthcare. It is more important that a doctor can take care of me than I can go to a football match,” the 72-year-old said.

US President Joe Biden is monitoring unrest in China by protesters demanding an end to Covid lockdowns and greater political freedoms, the White House said Monday, as rallies popped up in solidarity around the United States.

The comments came after hundreds of people took to the streets in China’s major cities over the weekend, in a rare outpouring of public frustration that has spread to international Chinese-speaking communities.

“He’s monitoring this. We all are,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Monday.

Kirby would not describe Biden’s reaction to the demonstrators’ demands, saying: “The president’s not going to speak for protesters around the world. They’re speaking for themselves.”

But he stressed US support for the demonstrators’ rights.

“People should be allowed the right to assemble and to peacefully protest policies or laws or dictates that they take issue with,” Kirby said.

Earlier Monday, the US State Department implied that China’s strict lockdown policies were excessive, with a spokesperson saying “it’s going to be very difficult” for China to “contain this virus through their zero-Covid strategy.”

Discontent has been brewing for months in China over harsh coronavirus control measures, with relentless testing, localized lockdowns and travel restrictions pushing many to the brink.

That frustration was brought to a head after a deadly fire broke out last week in Urumqi, the capital of northwest China’s Xinjiang region, with many blaming Covid-19 lockdowns for hampering rescue efforts.

Around the United States, notably on university campuses, rallies sprang up Monday in support of the protests in China.

– ‘Solidarity’ –

Around 100 people, many of them students, gathered in Washington to call for greater freedoms and mourn those who died in Urumqi.

“(Officials) are borrowing the pretext of Covid, but using excessively strict lockdowns to control China’s population. They disregarded human lives,” said a Chinese student surnamed Chen.

“I came here to grieve,” the 21-year-old added.

Referring to protests across China, another student Zhou, 22, said: “My friends and I never imagined things would develop so rapidly.”

Attendees held white sheets of paper symbolizing censorship and chanted slogans including “Freedom of speech! Freedom of assembly! Tear down the firewall!”

In the evening, similar rallies were held in New York, on the campus of Columbia University, as well as at North Carolina’s Duke University.

Like at the protests in China, some in the crowds called for the resignation of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who recently secured a historic third term while consolidating power over the country’s billion-plus population.

Dozens of people gathered at the University of California’s Berkeley campus chanted in Mandarin “Xi Jinping, step down!”

There were also shouts in English of “Free China!,” while one protester was seen carrying a drawing of Xi with the slogan “Death to the dictator.”

Earlier on Monday in Washington, around 25 members of the Uyghur community gathered outside the State Department, and called on the United States and other democracies to apply further pressure on Beijing.

“We want them to issue a formal statement condemning the loss of lives, Uyghur lives, and to call for full transparency on the real number of deaths that occurred,” said Salih Hudayar, a Uyghur-American who campaigns for Xinjiang independence.

“We’re hoping that the international community supports these protesters in demanding accountability from the Chinese government,” he added of protests in China.