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SPECIAL
EVENTS
Standing
Against Racism in the Time of COVID-19
On
Sunday, Asia Society Southern California gathered a remarkable group of
politicians, actors, advocates, journalists, student leaders, and
musicians for a
special event raising awareness of escalating violence and
discrimination against people of Asian descent in the wake of the
coronavirus. In panel discussions, video messages, and performances,
the participants condemned racism and spoke about the need to remain
unified and connected through these challenging times.
Participants
included CNN hosts Lisa
Ling and Van
Jones; Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti;
actors Wang
Leehom, Joan
Chen, and Tzi Ma; author Kelly Yang;
congressman Ted
Lieu (D-CA); advocates Stewart Kwoh, Max Sevillia,
and Marc
Morial; and many more.
“I’ll be frank,” said Ling, “I wish we didn’t have to do this.” But in
spite of the solemn occasion, the participants affirmed the importance
of remaining engaged with their work and in their communities.
“The more you know about us, the more opportunity you’ll have to
understand us,” Ma, star of The
Farewell and Tigertail,
said. “And the more opportunity we’ll have to be united as one.”
Image: Ringo
Chiu/ZUMA Wire/Alamy Live News
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CURRENT
AFFAIRS
Surveillance,
Privacy, and the Difficult Questions Surrounding COVID-19
Until
treatment or a vaccine emerges, one of the most effective tools public
health officials have to suppress the coronavirus is known as “contact
tracing”: notifying people that they’ve been in proximity to an
infected person so that, in turn, they can isolate themselves before
infecting others. To expedite this process, governments around the
world have deployed smartphone apps that can supplement manual tracing.
But the technology comes bundled with thorny privacy considerations.
Who oversees the data stored in the app? And will surveillance simply
disappear as soon as the coronavirus threat ends?
In order to examine these implications, Asia Society Executive Vice
President Tom
Nagorski spoke
with Jennifer
Daskal, an expert at the American University Washington
College of Law, and Nikhil
Pahwa, founder of MediaNama.
Both expressed skepticism that contact tracing apps would be a
game-changing solution.
“Technology isn’t a panacea,” Daskal said. “It’s not a knight in
shining armor. [Contact tracing apps] need to be part of a more
holistic solution which, in particular, involves testing and ensures
that apps are reliable and that people follow them.”
“Data should be treated as nuclear waste,” Pahwa said. “We’ll need to
have a movement toward data disarmament because data can be
weaponized.”
Image: Saeed
Khan/AFP/Getty Images
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POLICY
Lessons
From Taiwan's Successful Suppression of COVID-19
Few
places in the world have been more successful in containing the spread
of COVID-19 than Taiwan: Since late January, the island has
registered fewer than 500 confirmed cases and only six
deaths. This feat is especially remarkable considering Taiwan’s
proximity and extensive links to mainland China, where the virus
originated.
Last
week Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) Vice President Daniel Russel spoke
with two experts — Dr. Chunhuei Chi of Oregon State
University and Syaru
Shirley Lin of the University of Virginia — about
Taiwan’s successful approach to the virus.
Image: Philip
Fong/AFP/Getty Images
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EDUCATION
Introducing
Asia Society at Home — a One-Stop-Shop for Parents, Children, and
Teachers Under Quarantine
Finding
a way to keep kids occupied and productive while under quarantine is no
easy task — but Asia Society’s Center for Global Education is here to
help. Asia
Society at Home pulls together dynamic resources for
parents, kids, and teachers that are designed to help children
investigate the world, recognize perspectives, communicate ideas, and
take action.
Explore child-centered content featuring the cultures, traditions,
literature, and food of Asia; virtual global learning projects for
teachers, and resources for Chinese-language teachers.
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CURRENT
AFFAIRS
Coronavirus
Roundup: The Global Economic Fallout
- The
latest episode of the Asia
In-Depth podcast features an
in-depth discussion assessing the global economic
fall-out from the coronavirus. Journalist and former Asia Society
Southern California Executive Director Jonathan Karp
spoke with three investment experts — Weijian Shan,
John
Emerson, and Howard Marks — about what
we can expect from markets in the months ahead.
- ASPI
President Kevin
Rudd spoke with Tijjani Muhammad-Bande,
president of the United Nations General Assembly, about the crucial
role of multilateral institutions during the
coronavirus crisis.
- ASPI
Senior Fellow Puneet
Talwar and Associate Director Anubhav Gupta
wrote in Foreign
Affairs that COVID-19 could provide
an opportunity for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
- Running
out of things to watch, read, and listen to under quarantine? Here
are some recommendations for Asia-related films, books, TV shows,
and more from our colleagues at Asia
Society Texas and Asia
Society New York.
- Michael
Cohen, chief U.S. economist at
BP, analyzed the future of global oil and gas markets in light of
COVID-19 in
a conversation organized by Asia Society Texas.
- South
Korea-based ambassadors of 40 countries say
“thank you” in their national languages to health
workers saving lives during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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