ASIA: The US Senate has approved a final version of legislation that would punish China for moves that lawmakers fear will crush democratic freedoms in Hong Kong. The move by lawmakers comes as China has passed a controversial national security law for Hong Kong that lends Beijing sweeping new powers over the semi-autonomous city. The […]

ASIA: China has passed a wide-reaching national security law for Hong Kong, which many fear could be used to override existing legal processes and further erode the city’s civil and political freedoms. Beijing’s top lawmaking body, the National People’s Congress (NPC), passed the law unanimously on Tuesday morning local time, bypassing Hong Kong’s legislature, Chinese […]

ASIA: A new strain of flu that has the potential to become a pandemic has been identified in China by scientists. It emerged recently and is carried by pigs, but can infect humans, they say. The researchers are concerned that it could mutate further so that it can spread easily from person to person, and […]

ASIA: Indian and Chinese military commanders have agreed to disengage troops from a heavily disputed stretch of their border where a clash last week left 20 Indian soldiers dead, an Indian government source said on Tuesday. Senior military officials from both sides met for several hours on Monday in an attempt to reduce tensions in […]

ASIA: China has suspended US poultry imports from a plant owned by a US-based meat processor, Tyson Inc, that has been hit by the coronavirus, as authorities struggle to bring an outbreak in Beijing under control. China’s general administration of customs said on its website it had decided on the suspension after the company confirmed […]

ASIA: Donald Trump has renewed his threat to cut ties with China, a day after his diplomats held high-level talks with Beijing and his top US trade negotiator said severing the trade relationship was not a viable option. The US response came as Washington questioned China’s credibility on accurately reporting the new Covid-19 cluster in […]

QUESTION: Do you think the Fed will venture into capping the long-term rates as they did during World War II? JH ANSWER:  There is much talk that the Fed will go into yield-curve control in the near future. Some expect that if the Fed does employ yield-curve controls, they expect that yields would be capped […]

ASIA: Beijing has reported 106 new infections in the last five days. The city raised its alert level from Level 3 to Level 2 — the highest alert being Level 1 — the Beijing government’s Deputy Secretary Chen Bei announced in a press conference Tuesday night. Fearing the possibility of another outbreak, Beijing has imposed […]

ASIA: Beijing is reintroducing strict lockdown measures and rolling out mass testing after a fresh cluster of novel coronavirus cases emerged from the city’s largest wholesale food market, sparking fears of a resurgence of the deadly outbreak. The Chinese capital reported 36 new Covid-19 cases on Monday, bringing the total number to 79 since a […]

ASIA: China is warning its students to reconsider plans to study in Australia due to an increase in racist attacks as it steps up a campaign to punish Australia economically for supporting an international probe into coronavirus. The travel warning on Tuesday follows last week’s advice for Chinese tourists to stay away from Australia and […]