The current coronavirus outbreak is not the first epidemic in China. Historian Hsu Chung-mao looks at a plague outbreak in Manchuria over a century ago and the role played by a Malaya-born doctor and Nobel Prize nominee.

Manila’s decision to withdraw from the 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement with the US will benefit China and Russia. Russia’s attempt to cozy up to the Philippines, however, might not be wholly welcomed by Beijing. ISEAS academic Ian Storey sets out the impact of the decision.

The possibility of Covid-19 being a US-related biological weapon has been swirling around in the press and on social media. While little weight is given to the conjectures, just like in the case of sinophobia, a climate of fear could continue to cause panic and cloud China’s interactions with the world.

Zaobao correspondent Yang Danxu does a roundup of the leadership changes in Hubei and Wuhan due to the Covid-19 epidemic, and finds out that more is yet to come.

Political scientist Ang Yuen Yuen concludes that given time and circumstance, there is a much higher political price to pay for Covid-19 in the 2020s compared to SARs in the 2000s. 

The Covid-19 crisis should have been a chance for the US and China to increase cooperation. Instead, the two countries have lobbed diplomatic volleys against each other in a show of one-upmanship. Now, their competition arena has widened beyond trade or tech, to the escalating coronavirus epidemic.

Zhang Yun, associate professor at Japan’s Niigata University, observes how the “yellow peril” of old persists in the current jaundiced views of China amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Amid growing resentment against the leaders of Wuhan and Hubei, Chen Yixin, secretary-general of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, has taken charge of efforts against the epidemic in Hubei. Zaobao correspondent Yu Zeyuan looks at the difficulties of changing provincial-level officials in China and the likelihood of personnel changes improving the situation.

Hong Kong political commentator Leung Man-tao reflects on the dearth of truth in mainland Chinese society as he grieves the passing of Dr Li Wenliang. He remembers the men and women who have gallantly pursued truth in the face of adversity and believes that we can all learn to do the same.

Lianhe Zaobao journalist Tai Hing Shing rationalises that Hong Kong’s decision thus far not to completely close borders with the mainland is not unfounded.