Tag: Coronavirus fight

  • Indonesia president announces $25 billion spending to fight coronavirus

    Indonesia president announces $25 billion spending to fight coronavirus

    Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo, on Tuesday, said he had signed a regulation to let the government significantly raise spending in its fight against the coronavirus and widen the 2020 budget deficit to 5.07 per cent of GDP.

    Widodo also announced a national public health emergency and said the government would spend 405.1 trillion rupiahs ($24.85 billion) more on COVID-19 response, social welfare programmes and economic stimulus, including a three percentage point cut in corporate tax rates to 22 per cent.

    The emergency regulation is effective immediately, but parliament must approve it to turn it into law in its current session. (Reuters)

  • Coronavirus fight requires enhanced globalization with improved global governance

    Coronavirus fight requires enhanced globalization with improved global governance

    Healthcare workers transport a patient on a stretcher into an ambulance at Life Care Center of
    Kirkland on February 29 in Kirkland, Washington. Dozens of staff and residents at Life Care
    Center of Kirkland are reportedly exhibiting coronavirus-like symptoms. Photo: AFP
    The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has caused a global pandemic. The number of
    COVID-19 cases confirmed worldwide exceeded 162,600 on Sunday, with 81,597 cases outside
    China, according to a real-time database compiled by the Center for Systems Science and
    Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The number of countries and regions reporting cases has
    reached 143.
    The coronavirus outbreak has posed a challenge to the entire world. It is vitally important for
    countries to understand the nature of this global challenge and make proper responses.
    This pandemic is driving strong demand for a new globalization. After the epidemic first broke out
    in China, some forces that are profoundly opposed to globalization concluded that the outbreak
    had provided them with sufficient evidence to advocate for the "end of globalization." They
    claimed that China's defensive measures against the virus created a spillover effect that impacted
    global supply chains and this proved globalization is unreliable. They preached that the
    coronavirus outbreak would spur decoupling around the world. Some even blamed globalization
    for accelerating the spread of the virus.
    Like the rise of populism and the emergence of anti-globalization waves in Europe and the US,
    such views do present some problems: Globalization has not only produced benefits, but also
    challenges. Some risks have been amplified by the globalization process.
    Those people who are against globalization believe that all problems brought about by
    globalization would be solved if the world were to slide backward to a time when it was
    dominated by Western developed countries. The solution they proposed is in essence a regression
    and is wrong.
    The global fight against the coronavirus has shown that only through cross-border cooperation,
    sharing of information, resources and other tools, can countries around the world cope with the
    global challenge.
    In China, an increasing number of imported cases of the virus suggests that even if the coronavirus
    is contained or even eradicated within the country, China still faces challenges as the virus
    continues to spread globally. The same is true for other countries.
    A country can only be safe when the world is safe. The fight against the COVID-19 has pointed to
    a profound new direction for globalization. Global problems can be resolved effectively by
    augmenting globalization.
    In the fight against the COVID-19, different countries have made different choices. What has
    influenced a country's choice is the value it places on human life.
    A country requires leaders with firm strategic will and enough political responsibility to make
    correct domestic political decisions. The issues that global governance must first address and
    improve are whether there are enough countries that correctly understand the situation, have
    enough ability to act, and are willing to contribute to the fight against the epidemic domestically

    and internationally.
    In face of the threat of the COVID-19, it must be understood that the world is a community with a
    shared future for mankind. One of the common values followed by this community is the concern
    for human life. Fighting the threat and saving lives should be the consensus of all parties. The
    international community must achieve effective overall mobilization and organization. With the
    leadership and promotion of responsible major powers, all countries should make more positive
    contributions to fight the coronavirus. China should take this opportunity to make a greater
    contribution to the world and provide more effective services.
    In this sense, the global spread of the COVID-19 signifies that globalization and global
    governance are entering a new stage where the governance capabilities of nations are the core
    concern. With that in mind, here are some goals all parties should work toward: establish a fairer
    international governance structure, let emerging powers play a greater role in the process of sound
    changes in global governance, build governance structures that are beneficial to the well-being of
    people and explore a more flexible and effective governance practice model.
    (The author is director at the Research Center for Cyberspace Governance of Fudan University.