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CURRENT
AFFAIRS
How South
Korea Flattened the Curve
Arguably
no country has done a better job of managing the coronavirus outbreak
than South Korea. In the weeks since the first cases were confirmed in
the city of Daegu, fewer
than 10,000 South Koreans have become infected with COVID-19
— and fewer than 200 have died. These numbers contrast not only with
those found in Italy, Spain, and the United States; they also occurred
without similarly strict quarantines or drastic economic shutdowns.
Life in South Korea hasn’t returned to normal just yet. But the
country’s handling of the crisis nevertheless presents an opportunity
for other countries to learn from it. How did South Korea “flatten the
curve"?
In a recent
conversation with Asia Society Executive Vice President Tom Nagorski,
author and historian John
Delury and journalist Jeongmin Kim — both based in
South Korea — addressed these questions, pointing to abundant testing,
an excellent public health care system, and social cohesion as key
factors in South Korea’s success. Delury and Kim also commented on how
the coronavirus outbreak was playing out in North Korea.
Image: Ed
Jones/AFP via Getty Images
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CURRENT
AFFAIRS
Coronavirus
and Racism: Viruses and Pathogens Do Not Discriminate
The
spread of coronavirus from Hubei Province in central China to the rest
of the world has sparked a surge in
racist attacks against Asians. In this
conversation with Tom Nagorski, Leesa Lin, professor
at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and
Megatoys co-founder and CEO Charlie
Woo discuss these incidents and explain why racial
discrimination makes tackling the pandemic even more difficult.
Image: Filo/Getty
Images
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POLICY
The Belt,
the Road, and the Coronavirus
Since
2013, China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has aimed to
connect every continent in the world through investments in ports,
railways, and other infrastructure projects in some 70 countries. But
the outbreak of the coronavirus presents a daunting set of challenges
for the initiative. How will the fear of contagion affect progress on
existing projects? And how will the expected economic downturn — both
within China and among its partner countries — shape BRI’s future?
Asia
Society Policy Institute (ASPI) Vice President for International
Security and Diplomacy Daniel
Russel examined these questions and assessed the
outlook of the BRI in a
recent conversation with Asia Society Policy Institute
Associate Director Anubhav
Gupta. The web-only program was part of ASPI’s expert-led
discussion series on the coronavirus, Asia, and the
world.
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ARTS
Asia
Society Recommends: Social Distancing Edition
With
social distancing measures firmly in place around much of the world,
there’s never been a better time to catch up on books, films, and music
from around Asia. This
list from members of Asia Society New York’s staff is a
great place to start — and stay tuned for more to come.
Image: A
Girl Walks Home Alone at Night.
Still. 2014. USA. Dir. by Ana Lily Amirpour. Image courtesy of
film-grab.com.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
With
the suspension and cancellation of in-person programming due to the
outbreak of COVID-19, Asia Society is planning to hold virtual programs
on the virus as well as other subjects — please follow us on Facebook
and Twitter
for updates.
- Apr.
2: Jamil
Anderlini, Hong Kong-based Asia Bureau Chief of The Financial Times,
discusses how China’s decision to expel American journalists —
following a U.S. move to limit Chinese reporters — will affect
bilateral relations. He will appear in a web-only
program organized by Asia Society Switzerland at 8:30
a.m. Zurich time.
- Apr.
2: Asia Society Australia's Richard Maude assesses the
effect of the coronavirus on Southeast Asia. The web-only
program, which begins at 8 p.m. New York time, is part
of Asia Society Policy Institute’s series
of events on coronavirus, Asia, and the world.
- Apr.
3: Gabriel
Leung, dean of medicine at Hong Kong University,
provides an update on the coronavirus in a Facebook Live
conversation with Asia Society Hong Kong Executive Director S. Alice Mong.
The
program will begin at 9:30 a.m. Hong Kong time.
- Apr.
7: The second annual Asia Game Changer Awards West will be
holding a virtual gala honoring four exceptional young
entrepreneurs: Zoom CEO Eric
Yuan, multimedia artist Yang Yongliang,
and entrepreneurs Roopam
Sharma and Nanxi Liu.
Learn
more and register now.
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JOIN & SUPPORT
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and institutions of Asia and the United States.
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