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Countries evacuating nationals from Chinese coronavirus areas
Reuters

A growing number of countries around the world are evacuating or planning to evacuate diplomatic staff and citizens from parts of China hit by the new coronavirus.

Following are some countries’ evacuation plans, and how they aim to manage the health risk from those who are returning.
- Kazakhstan, which has previously evacuated 83 from Wuhan, will send two planes to China on Feb. 10 and Feb. 12 to evacuate its citizens. Out of 719 Kazakhs remaining in China, 391 have asked to be repatriated.
- A second evacuation flight is bringing back another 174 Singaporeans and their family members from Wuhan to the city-state on Feb. 9, Singapore’s foreign ministry said.
- Thirty Filipinos returned to the Philippines on Feb. 9 from Wuhan, the Department of Foreign Affairs said. The returning passengers and a 10-member government team will be quarantined for 14 days.
- Britain’s final evacuation flight from Wuhan, carrying more than 200 people, landed at a Royal Air Force base in central England on Feb. 9. A plane carrying 83 British and 27 European Union nationals from Wuhan landed in Britain last week.
- The 34 Brazilians evacuated from Wuhan landed in Brazil on Feb. 9, where they will begin 18 days of quarantine.
- Two planes with about 300 passengers, mostly U.S. citizens, took off from Wuhan on Feb. 6 bound for the United States -- the third group of evacuees from the heart of the coronavirus outbreak, the U.S. State Department said.
- Uzbekistan has evacuated 251 people from China and quarantined them on arrival in Tashkent, the Central Asian nation’s state airline said on Feb. 6.
- A plane load of New Zealanders, Australians and Pacific Islanders evacuated from Wuhan arrived in Auckland, New Zealand on Feb. 5, officials said.
- Taiwan has evacuated the first batch of an estimated 500 Taiwanese stranded in Wuhan.
- Italy flew back 56 nationals from Wuhan to Rome on Feb. 3. The group will spend two weeks in quarantine in a military hospital, the government said.
- Saudi Arabia has evacuated 10 students from Wuhan, Saudi state television reported on Feb. 2.
- Indonesia’s government flew 243 Indonesians from Hubei on Feb. 2 and placed them under quarantine at a military base on an island northwest of Borneo.
- South Korea flew 368 people home on a charter flight that arrived on Jan. 31. A second chartered flight departed Seoul for Wuhan on Jan. 31, with plans to evacuate around 350 more South Korean citizens.
- Japan chartered a third flight to repatriate Japanese people, which arrived from Wuhan on Jan. 31, bringing the number of repatriated nationals to 565.
- Spain’s government is working with China and the European Union to repatriate its nationals.
- Canada evacuated its first group of 176 citizens from Wuhan to an Ontario air force base early on Feb. 5, according to the Globe and Mail newspaper. The country’s foreign minister said a second group should arrive later on Feb. 5 after changing planes in Vancouver. All evacuees will be quarantined on the base for two weeks.
- Russia said it would begin moving its citizens out of China via its Far Eastern region on Feb. 1, regional authorities said. It plans to evacuate more than 600 Russian citizens currently in Hubei, Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said. A first Russian military plane took off on Feb. 4 to evacuate Russian citizens from Wuhan, the RIA news agency reported.
- The Netherlands is preparing the voluntary evacuation of 20 Dutch nationals and their families from Hubei, Foreign Minister Stef Blok said. The Netherlands is finalising arrangements with EU partners and Chinese authorities.
- France has evacuated some nationals from Wuhan and said it would place the passengers in quarantine. It said it would first evacuate nationals without symptoms and then those showing symptoms at a later, unspecified date.
- Swiss authorities said they hope to have about 10 citizens join the French evacuation of nationals from China.
- A plane brought 138 Thai nationals home from Wuhan last week. They will spend two weeks in quarantine.

Demonstrators in London stand in solidarity with Hong Kong protest movement

HKFP Lens

Thousands rallied in over 40 cities around the world over the weekend in opposition to totalitarianism, and in solidarity with protesters in Hong Kong who also took to the streets en masse. Events were held in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, South Korea, Taiwan, and other places. 

Photographer Darcy Miller captured the rally in London.

Photo: Darcy Miller.

Photo: Darcy Miller.

Photo: Darcy Miller.

Photo: Darcy Miller.

Photo: Darcy Miller.

Photo: Darcy Miller.

Photo: Darcy Miller.

Photo: Darcy Miller.

Photo: Darcy Miller.

Photo: Darcy Miller.

Photo: Darcy Miller.

Photo: Darcy Miller.

Photo: Darcy Miller.

Photo: Darcy Miller.

Photo: Darcy Miller.

EU nears potential breakthrough on tougher China tariffs

A volte-face by the Netherlands increases the chances of Europe imposing higher tariffs.
By HANS VON DER BURCHARD AND ALBERTO MUCCI
France and Germany are leading in pushing for the far higher levels of tariffs more typical of the U.S., as they seek to protect industries from a tide of cheap Chinese imports

EU countries are closing in on a deal that will enable them to slap higher tariffs on dumped Chinese goods.
Reforms to introduce higher duty levels have long been opposed by a British-led blocking minority of mainly northern European states including Ireland, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands. 

They have argued against a stronger EU tariff system by saying that European manufacturers higher up the value chain will be harmed by more expensive raw materials.
France and Germany are leading a group of 14 countries in pushing for the far higher levels of tariffs more typical of the U.S., as they seek to protect industries such as steel, ceramics and textiles from a tide of cheap Chinese imports.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has complained that tariffs against dumped Chinese steel of more than 250 per cent are not uncommon, while the EU’s system often leads to duties less than a 10th of that level.
There was some unexpected movement on this long-frozen dossier on Friday at a meeting of trade ministers in Brussels after the Netherlands, previously a key country in opposing a toughening of trade defense legislation, hinted at willingness to switch sides.
“We will look into the proposals … with a positive frame of mind,” Dutch trade minister Lilianne Ploumen told reporters after the meeting.
A proposal for tariff reform has been stalled since 2013. 

But the debate has now gained additional urgency because China will style itself as a “market economy” from December 11, meaning that it will become even harder to prove dumping.
Diplomats added that Croatia had joined the Netherlands in now being open to consider to a change of EU trade defense strategy. 

This leaves the remaining ultra free-traders such as the U.K. and Sweden increasingly isolated.
“There is a clear recognition that we need to move forward,” said French Trade Minister Matthias Fekl. 

“We could not reach a clear majority [for the reform] today, but we will still get it this year. We have to.”
Peter Žiga, economy minister of the Slovak Republic that currently holds the EU presidency, said discussions will continue “at the technical and ambassador level and get to an agreement.”

Duty calls
The reform centers on a quirk of EU trade policy called the “lesser duty rule.” 

This means that the duty imposed rarely reflects the absolute difference between a dumped price and the cost of production. 

Instead, the tariff is pitched far lower and only aims to remove any actual harm to European businesses caused by the dumped good.
Ploumen, the Dutch minister, said that part of her government’s change of position was based on a demand from the Dutch parliament this week “that we need a real quick reform, including the lesser duty rule.”
The Slovak Presidency proposed this week a new compromise solution on the lesser duty rule that defined specific cases in which the rule could be waived.
However, Italy triggered debate at Friday’s meeting by raising objections to that proposal, diplomats said.
“Italy has reservation on the entire structure of how the lesser duty rule will be waived,” a source close to the discussions said, adding that the “watered down version [of the lesser-duty rule] does not give enough assurance to Italy,” a source close to the discussions said.
A reform of the lesser-duty rule is seen as crucial for the success of an additional trade defense proposal, which was made by the Commission on Wednesday to change the methodology for calculating anti-dumping tariffs.
Ministers also discussed this proposal during their meeting, but said it was to early to draw any conclusion.