Locusts overtake India's capital region


Locusts threaten crops and livelihoods of millions of Indians. File Photo by dr322/Shutterstock

June 27 (UPI) -- Local officials in India advised residents near Delhi to be on alert and close their windows as a swarm of desert locusts entered the capital Saturday.

The swarm arrived in the neighboring city of Gurugram in Haryana state, as well as the South and West districts of Delhi. The government of Haryana issued a high alert, and Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai called for an emergency meeting.

"All district magistrates have been advised to remain on high alert and to cooperate with the district fire department personnel for spraying prescribed pesticides/insecticides," the a Delhi advisory said.

Rai said he ordered districts to contain the spread of the insects by advising residents to make loud noises and burn Neem leaves.

The Delhi government advised people to keep their windows closed and cover plants with plastic sheets. They also suggested the use of insecticides after sunset.

K L Gunjar of the Locust Warning Organization told the Press Trust of India that the swarm was moving toward Faridabad and Palwal in Haryana state.

Locusts pose a threat to crops and food supply, endangering the lives and livelihoods of millions of people in their path.

Asian Americans take campaign against 'Kung Flu' slur to the streets

Members of Concerned AsAm Citizens of NYC greet people on the street and ask them to take part in the "Asians Are Not A Virus 2020" campaign in the Chinatown section of New York City on Saturday. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

 A member of Concerned AsAm Citizens of NYC takes signatures from the public for posters that will be sent to the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus in Washington on Saturday at a street corner of the Chinatown section of New York City. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

NEW YORK, June 27 (UPI) -- Asian Americans most affected by U.S. President Donald Trump's use of the phrase "Kung Flu" to refer to the novel coronavirus are not only voicing their opposition to the use of the term, they're increasingly taking their campaign to the streets.

They say the term, along with the phrases "China virus," "Wuhan virus," and "Wu-flu," are racist, and draw attention away from the president's handling of the coronavirus.

Shirley Ng, co-founder of Concerned AsAm citizens of NYC, a grassroots organization, said during the group's "Asians Are Not A Virus" campaign in Manhattan Chinatown, Trump is using the trope of China to distract from his administration's record on COVID-19.

"He's always trying to deflect," Ng told UPI. "It's not him, it's always somebody else."

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Since the outbreak of the global coronavirus pandemic, Ng has been active on social media but felt calling out anti-Asian racism online wasn't enough. In May, Ng and her co-organizers, with the help of nearly 50 volunteers, launched their first campaign, "Don't Be Cruel," to inform Chinese American and other minority-owned businesses in New York to notify police if they encounter race-based harassment, or a hate crime.

CAAC NYC's campaign on Saturday drew curious looks from random passersby at the corner of a street adjacent to Columbus Park, where the members of the local Chinatown community gather to practice Tai Chi or play chess. Some people declined to sign the posters against racist speech, even as others jumped immediately at the opportunity.

Lillian Bit, a resident of Long Island, stopped by the group's table to sign posters, which Ng says will be sent to the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus in Washington.

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Trump is "inciting division" among Americans, and using phrases like "Kung Flu virus" to divert from his own mishandling of the coronavirus, Bit, who is Chinese American, said.

Other people stopped by the table to speak to Ng and the other organizers, initially unsure about the campaign.

Nelson Wong, a businessman with an office in Chinatown, said he did not have problems with Trump associating the coronavirus with China.

"What's the problem with the 'Wuhan virus'?" Wong said, referring to the origins of the disease.

Wong, who grew up in the neighborhood of Brownsville in Brooklyn in the '70s, said the outcry over recent anti-Asian racism may have deeper roots, and that Trump is not entirely to blame for the more than 2,200 reported anti-Asian hate incidents since the start of the pandemic.

"I was a bony Asian kid in Brownsville," said Wong. "I had to literally fight my way through school, or I had to hide from people after school so I could get home."

Wong also said the dynamics of anti-Asian or anti-Chinese racism is complex, the perpetrators are not always White, and experiences with racism like his are not always addressed in his community.

Other Asian Americans disagree the recent surge in anti-Asian hate crimes have only a tenuous connection to the coronavirus pandemic and its association with China.

Judy Ng, a CAAC NYC co-organizer, said she was walking to a grocery store when a pedestrian, a man, covered his face as he approached her.

The move felt ambiguously hostile, but enough to catch Ng's eye. As COVID-19 ran its course in New York, Ng, a single parent with a child, said she found herself staying indoors and hardly going outside.

Ng said she made her first major outing when meeting with Shirley at the end of May to prepare for the campaigns.

Shirley Ng said her campaign delivers a message of hope to Asian Americans who have opted to stay in for fear of hate attacks.

"I don't want them to live that way," Ng said. "That's what the racists want you to do. They want you to live in fear."

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On this date in history:

In 1778, the Continental Army under command of Gen. George Washington defeated the British at Monmouth, N.J.

In 1838, Victoria was crowned queen of England. She would rule for 63 years, 7 months.

In 1914, Archduke Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia, an act considered to have ignited World War I.

In 1919, World War I officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.

In 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the use of public funds for parochial schools was unconstitutional.

In 1972, President Richard Nixon announced that no more draftees would be sent to Vietnam unless they volunteered for service in the Asian nation.

In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the new healthcare law known as the Affordable Care Act.

On This Day: 

Stonewall riots kick off gay rights movement

On June 28, 1969, the clientele of a New York City gay bar, the Stonewall Inn, rioted after it was raided by police. 

The event is considered the start of the gay liberation movement.

By UPI Staff


People stop to take pictures of the Stonewall Inn during LGBT Pride Month on June 19. On June 28, 1969, the clientele of the Stonewall Inn rioted after it was raided by police. The event is considered the start of the gay liberation movement. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

   SPAIN JUNE 28,2020 GAY PRIDE PARTICIPANT 

Hong Kong photographer’s images of injured protesters wins first prize in Sony World Photography Awards’ documentary section

Chung Ming-ko’s series ‘Wounds Of Hong Kong’ show 24 men and women, some with scars and bandages, taken against a dramatic black background

Chung says he wanted to draw attention to the brutality of the Hong Kong police’s treatment of anti-government protesters

Kylie Knott Published: 10 Jun, 2020

One of the 24 images in Hong Kong photographer Chung Ming-ko's 'Wounds of Hong Kong' series, which won first prize in the documentary section of the 2020 Sony World Photography Awards. Photo: Chung Ming Ko, Hong Kong, Category Winner, Professional, Documentary, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards

Images of protesters injured during anti-government clashes have won Hong Kong photographer Chung Ming-ko first place in the documentary section of the Sony World Photography Awards.

Chung’s series “Wounds Of Hong Kong” show 24 men and women, some with scars and bandages, taken against a dramatic black background.

“While the scars and bruises may fade, we must remember what caused them,” says Chung. He says he wanted to draw attention to police brutality. “The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting.”

Pablo Albarenga, from Uruguay, was named photographer of the year with his series “Seeds of Resistance” showing photographs of landscapes in danger from mining and agribusinesses alongside portraits of the activists fighting to conserve them.

What hurt most was inside. [A secondary-school student,] Chu was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and was still in a trance when I met him three months after his injury ... A kid like him doesn’t deserve thisChung Ming-ko, photographer

Other winners include British artist Tom Oldham with a black and white portrait of the frontman of alternative rock band the Pixies, Charles Thompson (whose stage name is Black Francis), 19-year-old Hsieh Hsien-pang from Taiwan, who scooped the youth photographer award, and South African photographer Brent Stirton who won the nature category for his series Pangolins in Crisis.

Chung says he is happy the prize will give him global recognition for his work that also aims to draw attention to the rise in cases of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder in the city as a result of the protests.

Hong Kong protests will inspire world even if they fail, historian says
23 Jan 2020

He said the most memorable interviewee was a secondary-school student named Chu.

“On the night of September 7, 2019, protesters formed a human chain at Tai Po Market MTR Station where Chu was beaten with police batons by at least seven police officers and needed two stitches on his head and underwent surgery for a fractured right finger. He was hospitalised for two weeks,” Chung says.

“But what hurt most was inside. Chu was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and was still in a trance when I met him three months after his injury. I suffered from bipolar disorder several years ago and understand that psychic trauma is more difficult to heal than physical injuries. A kid like him doesn’t deserve this.”

Photo: Hsien-Pang Hsieh, Taiwan, Youth Photographer of the Year, Street photography, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards.

Chu says he was also concerned about the challenges protesters face that reflect problems in Hong Kong’s society. “After being injured by the police, teenagers may not be able to go home to their pro-establishment parents. That begs the question, shouldn’t a ‘home’ be a place for recovery?”
With housing a concern for Hong Kong citizens, Chung says it was impossible to afford a studio, so most photograph locations were public places such as backstreets and parks.

Photo: Chung Ming-ko, Hong Kong, Category Winner, Professional, Documentary, 2020 Song World Photography Awards

Photo: Chung Ming-ko, Hong Kong, Category Winner, Professional, Documentary, 2020 Song World Photography Awards

Photo: Chung Ming-ko, Hong Kong, Category Winner, Professional, Documentary, 2020 Song World Photography Awards

Photo: Pablo Albarenga, Uruguay, Photographer of the Year, Creative, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards

Photo: Tom Oldham, United Kingdom, Open Photographer of the Year, Portraiture, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards

Photo: Sandra Herber, Canada, Category Winner, Professional competition, Architecture , 2020 Sony World Photography Awards

Brent Stirton, South Africa, Category Winner, Professional competition, Natural World & Wildlife, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards

Photo: Angel Lopez Soto, Spain, Category Winner, Professional competition, Sport , 2020 Sony World Photography Awards

Photo: Alessandro Gandolfi, Italy, Category Winner, Professional competition, Still Life, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards

Rebel City: Hong Kong’s Year of Water and Fire is a new book of essays that chronicles the political confrontation that has gripped the city since June 2019. Edited by the South China Morning Post's Zuraidah Ibrahim and Jeffie Lam, the book draws on work from the Post's newsrooms across Hong Kong, Beijing, Washington and Singapore, with unmatched insights into all sides of the conflict. 

Amazon,
Kobo,
Google Books, and
eBooks.com.

Born a boy, raised as a girl, then expected to be a man – the harsh impact of China’s one-child policy dramatised in short film

Bo Hanxiong’s film explores the struggles of Yan, a man with gender identity issues whose family raised him as female because of China’s one-child policy

Rather than focusing only on the negative aspects of the situation, Bo also wanted to send a positive message about the importance of family

Kylie Knott Published:  12 Jun, 2020

Wang Junxiong plays the lead role of Yan in the short film Drifting, which focuses on the effects of China’s one-child policy. He was cast after being spotted on a subway in Beijing.


Beijing born, Los Angeles-based filmmaker Bo Hanxiong has ventured into sensitive territory with his new short film, Drifting.hot in Beijing, it focuses on Yan, a second child born illegally during the time of China’s one-child policy, a programme introduced in 1979 to curb the country’s explosive population growth. Parents who obeyed it were rewarded financially and with jobs; those who disobeyed faced harsh penalties – fines, forced contraception, abortion, and sterilisation.

With this in mind, Yan’s parents send their daughter into hiding in the countryside and keep Yan at their home in the city, disguising him as his sister by dressing him in girl’s clothing.

As a teenager, and with his true identity revealed, Yan struggles with his gender identity and must battle not just his own demons but intolerance and bullying from his parents and peers, all while bearing the burden of being an only son and under pressure to pass on the family name.

China abolished the one-child policy in 2015, but Bo wanted to use film to make sure the policy, and the damage it caused families, was not forgotten. “Growing up in Beijing, I didn’t understand the [one-child] policy, as we were so young,” Bo says. “My classmates and friends were all only children, so we just thought it was normal.”

Drifting is inspired by true events; when Bo heard about a child being raised in a different gender he knew he wanted to make it the focus of a film. He drew inspiration from the 2018 documentary China’s Forgotten Daughters, which follows one woman’s search for her birth family. Under the one-child policy, many newborn girls were abandoned, adopted or sold because China’s society is patriarchal and favours sons.

So Long, My Son film review – the fallout from one-child policy in China
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As well as highlighting the extreme lengths to which some families went to cover up a second child, Bo also wanted to convey a positive message about love and family

“With this film, I hope people can better understand their parents, or their children, and have a better idea about what each other has been through,” he says. “I want to help different generations better understand and accept each other.”

Bo says some scenes reflect his personal experiences. “The fight scene on the bridge happened to me but in my case, it was in a fight on a basketball court [in Beijing] when some kids circled me and tried to bully me. My parents came over, broke up the circle and saved me … that incident really moved me.

“In China, we don’t verbalise our love, we don’t say ‘I love you’ in daily life. But if a situation calls for it, family will stand up and make sacrifices, it just needs certain circumstances for that love to be revealed.”

As well as highlighting the lengths some families went to cover up a second child during the one-child policy era, director Bo Hanxiong also wanted to convey a positive message about love and family.

Drifting explores one man’s struggle with his gender identity after being raised as a girl during the one-child policy era.

When auditions failed to find a lead actor, Bo’s casting eye turned to the streets of Beijing. “I wanted someone real and authentic to portray the main character, so I looked on the streets, on buses and in bars,” says Bo. He discovered non-actor Wang Junxiong, who plays Yan, in the Beijing subway, used daily by more than 13.7 million people.

“It was great that he was so willing to work with me,” Bo says.

The parents are played by professional actors. “Han Sanming, who plays the father, has been in a few Jia Zhangke films, including his famous Still Life . Wang Jiali, who plays the mum, is active in TV shows and commercials.”

Bo, who is working on his first feature film, which explores interracial love, says his passion for film started at a young age. “Watching DVDs after school allowed me to switch off my brain,” says Bo. “It gave me enjoyment, and when I was watching films I would picture in my head the story that I wanted to tell.”

Bo is working on his first feature film, which explores interracial love.

Drifting was selected for the San Sebastian Film Festival, Busan International Short Film Festival and FilmFest Dresden International Short Film Festival; because of the coronavirus pandemic, these events will now be held in September.

His film will be screened as part of the Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival on June 22. For more details visit: Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: One-child policy in focus: born a boy, raised a girl, expected to be a man

Queer Malaysian singer Alextbh on embracing his sexuality, living in a conservative society and going global

Alexbth has gone from his first YouTube song getting four views to his single Stoop So Low being streamed 20 million times

He talks about openly singing about homosexuality in his home country, which is known for being conservative

THAT'S AN UNDERSTATEMENT BEING A SHARIA LAW COUNTRY 
THEY HAVE THE LASH FOR SODOMY, AND ADULTERY (LESBIANISM)
Haneesa Begum Published: 27 May, 2020

Malaysian singer Alextbh sings openly about homosexuality in his conservative home country.

MUSIC VIDEOS BELOW

Living in conservative Malaysia has not stopped the proudly queer Alex Bong from making waves in the music industry. Going by the stage name Alextbh, he writes songs that deal with relationships and heartbreak, and are mostly inspired by experiences in the modern-day dating world.

The Sarawak native got his first taste of music production when he was only 14. After his mother gave him an iPad, he started experimenting with the music software Garage Band. The first song he posted to YouTube received just four reactions.

Ten years on, the 24-year-old has appeared at festivals across Asia, opened for international stars including US singer Khalid and British electronic band Clean Bandit, and toured with Australian soul/R&B sensation Jess Connelly.

With a sound that straddles minimalist R&B and dream pop, Bong has notched up more than 400,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. The singer’s most played single, Stoop So Low, has so far been streamed more than 20 million times on the platform. Bong says Stoop So Low track represented a turning point in his career. Moving away from soundscapes inspired by electronic dance music (EDM), Stoop So Low became his first venture into R&B genre.

“I started with EDM because a lot of YouTube tutorials revolved around very loud, ‘synthy’ soundscape designs,” he tells the Post. “Once I made Stoop So Low, I realised the beauty of minimalist R&B and putting [my] vocals centre stage. [My musical style] has settled on R&B and I’ve been sitting here comfortably since then.”

Alex says that his recent tracks have pushed the envelope further, with lyrics that unapologetically embrace his sexuality.

Between, released in April, is accompanied by an enigmatic lyric video, featuring close-up shots of male bodies and blossoming flowers. This is the first track in which he discusses sex, using words such as “guy” and “boy” to refer to his lover.

In the past, Bong admits he subconsciously omitted such pronouns, perhaps because most of his fans are female.

“I have always been writing about heartbreak … never really about sex. I wanted to write a song that fearlessly expresses my sexuality without having to navigate my way around lyrics to make it sound neutral,” Alex explained.

This month, Bong released a music video for Moments with colourisation that gives a subtle nod to classic Hong Kong films. Moments acts as a prelude to his forthcoming EP, exploring the modern-day hook-up culture.

Set for release on June 12, Bong describes his new EP The Chase as his most “open and honest record” so far, hoping it will spark discussions on hook-up culture in the gay community. Specifically, he says that “relationships nowadays are so frail” and that “dating apps take away the opportunity to get to know someone before hooking up.”

Bong has shown that it’s possible for an out and proud performer to experience success in conservative Malaysia. Although some performers in the country’s music industry still disapprove of queer lifestyles, Bong says that there is a close-knit community of LGBT people supporting others creatively – and those are the fans he chooses to focus his energy on.

Malaysian singer Alextbh has many fans and ignores the haters.

With loyal fans hailing from the US to Indonesia, he pays no attention to the haters. “I’ve learned from the get-go that it is easier to brush off the negative responses because I’m here minding my own business, and I’m feeling great about myself,” he says.

“For one show, I brought my friends, because they’re amazing and talented drag queens. I brought them on stage with the pride flag, and it was queer as f***. It was like a big relief … knowing that there is a community out there that is so supportive in a country so repressive and so against us. It’s great to know in that one moment, for one night, I had the ability to make people feel at home.”

Bong says he originally wanted to please his parents by taking a more viable career path – which led to him completing a diploma in engineering. Only a year into his music career did he come clean to his parents about his real job. Fortunately, they were supportive and Bong has never had to look back.

Instead, he is set on going global. Bong says his long-term plan is to move to London or Los Angeles to be closer to his management team. With the coronavirus outbreak putting things on hold, Bong is keeping busy creatively, writing new songs and eagerly awaiting fans’ response to his upcoming debut EP.

Alextbh’s debut EP The Chase will be released on June 12

End Washington’s spurious extradition ‘lawfare’ now

It’s high time to return ‘the two Michaels’ and Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou to their respective homes
Alex Lo Published: 25 Jun, 2020

Canada and the United States may look similar but they are two very different countries.

The US is fundamentally a national security state for which the laws are made or remade to suit national security priorities. This is perhaps inevitable, as it has, after all, to maintain a global empire secured by the world’s most powerful military.


Canada, on the other hand, is probably as close as any country that has been able to run genuinely by the rule of law.

There is perhaps nothing as stark as the clash between American “lawfare” and the Canadian rule of law as in the tragic affair of “the two Michaels” and Huawei’s No 2, Meng Wanzhou.

It’s now clear as day the American case against Meng is part of Washington’s ruthless campaign to destroy the Chinese telecoms giant and its global 5G ambitions. Nor is there any doubt that the Chinese arrest of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor – who have been charged with espionage – is directly linked to Meng’s detention in Vancouver.

Both China and the US have acted disgracefully and immorally. Likely to be apprehensive that many allies with which the US has an extradition treaty would challenge their arrest request for Meng, US authorities spent months, according to court testimonies, “shopping” for a reliable country that would do the deed without question.


China accuses detained Canadians of spying, following Huawei CFO extradition approval

Once all hell had proverbially broken loose, with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Canadian pork, beef, canola, soy and peas rejected or banned by China and with the two Canadians in detention, Washington didn’t lift a finger to help a loyal ally.

Yet, Ottawa continues to insist the Meng case must be brought to an end in court before its justice minister can make a decision on the extradition. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the rule of law must be upheld.

Canadian Michael Kovrig’s wife calls for intervention in Meng Wanzhou case
24 Jun 2020


Now, though, a former justice minister and a former Supreme Court judge have come out to confirm that by law, the minister of justice has full power to halt an extradition proceeding. Factors to be considered include national interests. Kovrig’s father and his separated wife now demand the minister to act

If ever there is a legal case to be decided on the basis of the Canadian national interest, it’s this one. Americans will complain, but no one else will think the rule of law has been breached. It’s time to put an end to this sorry saga.


Alex Lo has been a Post columnist since 2012, covering major issues affecting Hong Kong and the rest of China. A journalist for 25 years, he has worked for various publications in Hong Kong and Toronto as a news reporter and editor. He has also lectured in journalism at the University of Hong Kong.

America is the world’s most powerful rogue state

Every state murders and pillages to some extent, but when you are the hegemon, it’s called promoting democracy and freedom. After all, the victor writes the history


Alex Lo Published:  15 Jun, 2020

America has never been a champion of democracy. That was what I wrote yesterday. But a reader pointed out that I only listed three terrifying incidents of US subversion involving the deaths of hundreds of thousands to millions: Indonesia in 1965 and 1966, the traumatic birth of Bangladesh in 1971, and the overthrow and killing of democratically elected Salvador Allende Gossens of Chile in 1973.

He is right; three incidents hardly count as “never”. Today, I have more space. Just a random example: the kind of bananas we get in supermarkets is a legacy due mostly to the United Fruit Company that turned numerous South American countries literally into “banana republics” with the help of the US military and Central Intelligence Agency up to the 1970s.

Still, the list of US subversions around the world is just too long. Stephen Kinzer’s 2007 Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq, has a pretty full list. I still recall my life-changing experience of reading, in college, the two-volume Political Economy of Human Rights by Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman. Unfortunately, it’s dated, as it only runs up to 1979.

Also, they skip many US subversions against non-state actors, the only type of which you ever hear about are terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda, rather than legitimate political parties, popular democratic movements, labour and socialist groups, and persecuted ethnic and peasant organisations, especially in South America.

On a less bloody note, The New York Times cited a 2016 study by Dov H. Levin, now an assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong, who found that the US carried out both covert and overt election manipulation operations in other countries 81 times between 1946 and 2000, against 36 by the Soviet Union. These were not outright regime change or military takeover, but “influence operations”, exactly what Washington had angrily denounced the Russians for doing during the 2016 American presidential election.

Sometimes, though, it was a combination of terror and influence operations, such as those against the leftist Sandinista government in Nicaragua, by the Reagan administration, which funded, armed and trained the terrorist and drug-smuggling Contras and led to the Iran-Contra scandal. Subsequently, it tried less bloody influence operations and helped the opposition win the 1990 election.

Given Washington’s past behaviour, I have no doubt that it has been conducting at least “influence operations” in Hong Kong. But as anti-China hostilities intensify, our city is being turned into a battleground.

Is the US economy an oligarchy?




This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: US is the world’s most powerful rogue state


Alex Lo has been a Post columnist since 2012, covering major issues affecting Hong Kong and the rest of China. A journalist for 25 years, he has worked for various publications in Hong Kong and Toronto as a news reporter and editor. He has also lectured in journalism at the University of Hong Kong.

How coronavirus bailouts can kick off a ‘Great Reset’ – for a fairer, greener economy

Governments must use today’s short-term rescue measures to encourage more responsible business practices, save jobs, address inequality and climate change, and build resilience against shocks

Saadia Zahidi Published: 28 Jun, 2020

The Next Generation EU crisis fund, unveiled by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen last month, should be taken as a model in promising a fair and inclusive recovery by accelerating the transition to a green digital economy. Photo: European Commission/DPA
As the pandemic-induced lockdown wreaks havoc on the global economy, exposing the inadequacies of many institutions, an era of bigger – and perhaps bolder – government has arrived.

Already, an estimated US$9 trillion has been pumped into the global economy to support households, stem job losses and keep businesses afloat. As some countries emerge from lockdowns, their leaders have a unique opportunity to reshape the economy to provide better, greener and more equitable outcomes for all – what the World Economic Forum deems the “Great Reset”.]\

Building on lessons learned from the 2008 financial crisis, many governments are attaching meaningful conditions to bailouts and other rescue measures. This short-term help can and should be leveraged to encourage more responsible business practices, save jobs, address inequality and climate change, and build long-term resilience against shocks.

For example, France, Denmark and Poland have denied government support to companies with headquarters in tax havens outside Europe. And Britain has banned dividend payments and restricted bonuses in companies accessing its loan scheme.

Governments are also safeguarding jobs by providing incentives for companies to maintain employment levels. US companies accessing Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act funds must maintain at least 90 per cent of pre-pandemic employment levels until September 30. Japan has applied similar conditions in extending employee-retention help to companies.

Meanwhile, Russia is subsidising wages for companies that retain at least 90 per cent of their workforce, and Italy is implementing a temporary ban on dismissals. It remains to be seen if employment will be maintained after the restrictions are lifted but, for now, they provide a cushion – and a fighting chance – for workers.

Even in deeply distressed sectors such as the
airline industry, rescue measures are being designed to emphasise social and environmental responsibility, and encourage more long-term thinking.
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Over the past decade, the largest airlines in the United States spent 96 per cent of their free cash flow on share buy-backs, nearly double the rate of other S&P 500 companies. Now, cash-strapped airlines wishing to access government funds must not only cease stock buy-backs and dividend payments until the end of next year, but also agree not to use involuntary furloughs or reduce pay rates until September 30.

Likewise, the French government attached “green strings” to its €7 billion (US$7.9 billion)
bailout of Air France-KLM, requiring that it commit to halving carbon dioxide emissions (per passenger and per kilometre), relative to its 2005 level, by 2030.

Embedding long-term thinking into short-term measures are steps in the right direction. But given the sheer scale of fiscal support being provided and rising concerns about inequality, climate change, unemployment and public debt, the next wave of recovery measures should go further.

The European Commission’s
Next Generation EU crisis fund should be taken as a model. With €750 billion in grants and loans, it promises a fair and inclusive recovery by accelerating the transition to a green digital economy. It would help European countries shift from declining heavy industries while supporting vulnerable workers. But whether all European Union states will get on board remains to be seen.



Experts reluctant to predict end of Covid-19 pandemic as global case numbers keep setting records 

The pandemic has thrust governments into a more proactive role than anyone would have imagined just a few months ago. Beyond the immediate health crisis, policymakers must seize the opportunity to implement bold reforms. That includes redesigning social contracts, providing adequate safety nets, cultivating the skills and jobs the future economy will need, and improving the distribution of risk and return between the public, state and private sector.

But while governments must assume leadership, shaping the recovery and charting a new course for growth will require greater collaboration between businesses, public and government institutions, and workers. For the Great Reset to succeed, all stakeholders must have a hand in it.

We cannot return to a system that benefited a few at the expense of many. Forced to manage short-term pressures and confront long-term uncertainties, leaders find themselves at a historic crossroads. Governments’ new clout gives them the means to start building fairer, more sustainable and more resilient economies.

Saadia Zahidi is managing director and head of the Centre for the New Economy and Society at the World Economic Forum. Copyright: Project Syndicate
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Bailouts can kick off a great economic reset

Saadia Zahidi
is managing director and head of the Centre for the New Economy and Society at the World Economic Forum.