Stories about East Asia from March, 2020
Cambodian garment workers strike over unpaid wages amid COVID-19 outbreak
"We cannot let the employers give excuses to delay paying workers’ wages, because workers are in debt and they cannot make an excuse to delay their expenses."
COVID-19 diaries from Wuhan: Looking for human connection in isolation
Global Voices will publish Ai and Guo's diaries from Wuhan in a series. The following words were written in the second week of the lockdown between January 29-February 4, 2020.
Outrage after Indonesian politicians among first in line to get tested for COVID-19
"A lot of people are angry with parliamentarians as even doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers - the people on the front lines - are not being tested."
Classified data shows that China's official figure of zero domestic COVID-19 cases excludes asymptomatic carriers
According to classified data seen by the South China Morning Post, asymptomatic COVID-19/coronavirus carriers who tested positive have not been included in the official count of confirmed cases in China.
Thai workers speak out about their need for unions and better conditions at the workplace
"I hope that one day domestic workers will be able to stand up without feeling shameful. Honestly, when I was a housekeeper, I was not proud of my profession."
Combating ‘fake news’ in the time of COVID-19 in Myanmar
"Thousands of social media users made a group and a network to serve as watchdogs for fake news on social media."
Japan resurrects ‘Amabie’, an ancient supernatural creature, to fight COVID-19
"Was there a monster that was loved so quickly in such a short time?"
‘Being an activist is just a side-effect of being an artist': An interview with Chinese-Australian cartoonist Badiucao
Badiucao made headlines in 2019 when he revealed his identity in a documentary released on the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre. Filip Noubel caught up with the artist in Prague.
China government spokesperson suggests on Twitter that COVID-19 may have originated in the United States
Chinese Communist Party-affiliated media have framed the incident as part of the US information war against China.
Does Singapore’s ‘top-down approach’ to handling COVID-19 deserve all the praise it's been getting?
"Singapore's coronavirus strategy cannot be just a top-down approach that does not account for the feelings of people on the ground."
Churches in Greece and North Macedonia refuse to modify rituals conducive to the spread of COVID-19
The ritual known as the Holy Communion or Eucharist has Orthodox Christian worshippers drinking wine by a shared spoon, while Catholics eat thin slices of bread directly from the hand of the priest.
Campaign urging Wuhan residents to show gratitude to the Communist Party leadership in fighting COVID-19 backfires
"They don’t even have the strength to properly grieve and now somebody is telling them to learn how to say thank you. This is against humanity."
Facebook seller wearing ‘sexy clothes’ charged with pornography in Cambodia
"Punishing women for their choice of clothing is part of the root cause of violence, rather than its cure, and must be rejected.”
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