A RECORD number of Hong Kong residents have relocated to Taiwan following China’s crackdown on the city’s protest movement and the implementation of a controversial new national security law.
Newly released figures from Taiwan’s Immigration Agency show that more than 10,800 Hong Kongers received local resident permits in 2020, nearly double the amount who relocated to the democratic island the prior year.
The number of Hong Kongers relocating to Taiwan in 2020 is the highest in at least three decades, according to agency data that goes back to 1991.
The figures underscore the desire among some Hong Kong residents to seek a new home and more stable political environment outside of Asia’s main financial hub after months long protests and China’s crackdown on dissent. It also comes as the UK launches a new visa program and path to citizenship for British National (Overseas) passport holders in Hong Kong.
Following China’s move on June 30 to impose the security law on Hong Kong with no local government debate, many prominent activists have been arrested, charged or fled into exile in the UK and elsewhere. In August, China’s coast guard also apprehended 12 Hong Kong activists fleeing to Taiwan by boat.
The security law prohibits subversion, terrorism, secession and “collusion” with foreign forces. While China has said the law is necessary to restore stability after the protests in 2019, foreign governments said the legislation has been used to target democracy activists and is eroding freedoms Beijing pledged to maintain after the 1997 handover.
Taiwan shares similar aspects of Chinese culture and has a government that cheered on the city’s pro-democracy movement. It has been a favored destination for Hong Kongers looking to leave their home city. — Bloomberg
LONDON — Almost all people previously infected with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have high levels of antibodies for at least six months that are likely to protect them from reinfection with the disease, results of a major UK study showed on Wednesday.
Scientists said the study, which measured levels of previous COVID-19 infection in populations across Britain, as well as how long antibodies persisted in those infected, should provide some reassurance that swift cases of reinfection will be rare.
“The vast majority of people retain detectable antibodies for at least six months after infection with the coronavirus,” said Naomi Allen, a professor and chief scientist at the UK Biobank, where the study was carried out.
Among participants who had tested positive for previous COVID-19 infection, 99% retained antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 for three months, the results showed. After the full six months of follow-up in the study, 88% still had them.
“Although we cannot be certain how this relates to immunity, the results suggest that people may be protected against subsequent infection for at least six months following natural infection,” Allen said.
She said the findings were also consistent with results of other studies in the United Kingdom and Iceland which found that antibodies to the coronavirus tended to persist for several months in those who have had the disease and recovered.
A study of UK healthcare workers published last month found that people who have had COVID-19 were likely to be protected for at least five months, but noted that those with antibodies may still be able to carry and spread the virus.
The UK Biobank study also found that the proportion of the UK population with COVID-19 antibodies – a measure known as seroprevalence – rose from 6.6% at the start of the study period in May/June 2020 to 8.8% by November/December 2020.
SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence was most common in London, at 12.4%, and least common in Scotland at 5.5%, it found. —Reuters
A WIN by Gilas Pilipinas in the third window of the International Basketball Association (FIBA) Asia Cup Qualifiers (ACQ) this month pretty much secures for it a spot in the continental tournament, but the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) wants the team to go for a sweep of its assignments if possible.
Currently leading Group A in the qualifiers with a 3-0 record, the Philippines has put itself in solid position to advance to the FIBA Asia Cup happening in Indonesia later this year.
The Philippine national men’s basketball team will try to secure the win that propels it to the Asia Cup in its scheduled three matches — two versus Korea (2-0) and one against Indonesia (1-2) — in the relocated window in Doha, Qatar, this month.
Thailand (0-4) is the other team in Group A.
For SBP President Al Panlilio, Gilas Pilipinas has always been out to get the best finish it can get every time it competes, and the ongoing qualifiers are no different.
“Of course, we want to win all those three games against Korea and one against Indonesia. We are still out there to win,” said Mr. Panlilio during the online Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum on Tuesday.
“It’s one game (needed to advance), but we will try to win every game. We want to make sure that we are competitive in all of them,” he added.
Mr. Panlilio, also an executive of Smart Communications and PLDT, shared that preparations of Gilas have been going well on the lead of SBP program director Tab Baldwin and head coach Jong Uichico.
“They are planning their strategies and assessing the competition. It’s very important that we prepare our players very well,” said the SBP head, whose organization is also in the process of gathering all the requirements of the team to be able to fly to Doha and compete.
In the third window, Gilas will parade a team composed of a mix of Philippine Basketball Association players and cadet members, who are currently gathered at the INSPIRE Sports Academy in Laguna in a training “bubble.”
Included in the pool players are PBA players Kiefer Ravena and Raul Soyud (NLEX), Troy Rosario and Roger Pogoy (TNT), Justin Chua (Phoenix Super LPG), and CJ Perez (San Miguel).
They are joined by PBA Gilas draftees Isaac Go, Rey Suerte and Matt and Mike Nieto, and cadets Juan and Javi Gomez de Liaño, Will Navarro, Calvin Oftana, Kemark Carino, Dave Ildefonso, Angelo Kouame (naturalized player candidate), Justine Baltazar, and Dwight Ramos.
Also set to join the pool is National Basketball Association G League player Kai Sotto, who returned from the United States on Tuesday night. He will undergo necessary quarantine and tests before joining the team in training.
In the training bubble, too, are assistant coaches Norman Black, Caloy Garcia, and Sandy Arespacochaga.
The Philippines was supposed to host Groups A and C in the third window of the FIBA ACQ, but the SBP had to pull the plug on it because of the country’s ongoing travel ban on incoming foreigners from countries with known cases of the new variants of the coronavirus.
Group C has New Zealand, Australia, Guam, and Hong Kong.
Doha agreed to accommodate Group A matches, along with those in Group B and E.
LONDON — Golf’s lawmakers are considering changes to equipment and the implementation of ‘local rules’ in an attempt to tame the power of the game’s massive hitters.
The Royal and Ancient (R&A), in conjunction with the United States Golf Association (USGA), said they are reengaging with the golf industry to achieve a more sustainable future for the game, fearing courses could become obsolete.
American Bryson DeChambeau, who won last year’s US Open, topped the 2020 PGA driving distance charts with a colossal 329-yard average, with 78 players averaging 300 yards or more.
He trialed a 48-inch driver for the tournament, the maximum permitted shaft length, at the US Open but new proposals could see the limit set at 46 inches.
One “area of interest” for the R&A and USGA is for the potential use of local rules that would specify the use of clubs and/or balls, resulting in shorter distances.
“This would enable committees conducting competitions to stipulate whether such equipment should be used,” a joint statement said. “It could be available at all levels of play and would also allow golfers playing outside of competition to choose for themselves.”
Stakeholders are being invited to participate in the process by sharing any data they might have on the topics by Nov. 2.
While dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic has been the priority of golf’s authorities or the past year, focus has now returned to the issue of controlling distance and acting on the Distance Insights Report published last February.
The report said increased hitting distances changed the strategic challenge of the game, altering the variety of skills needed to be successful and risked making courses obsolete.
The R&A and USGA are also seeking comment from manufacturers on proposed Equipment Standards changes, namely a reduction to 46 inches for maximum club length (not including putters), golf ball testing methods and changes to the testing tolerance in relation to a club’s “spring-like” effect.
Stakeholders, including manufacturers, have until March 4 to comment on the proposed club-length limits.
Mike Davis, Chief Executive Officer of the USGA, said hitting distances had to be addressed.
“Hitting distances have consistently increased through time and, if left unchecked, could threaten the long-term future of our game at every level and every golf course on which it is played,” he said in a statement.
“This is the first forward step in a journey and a responsibility the USGA and The R&A share with the worldwide golf community, to ensure that golf continues to thrive for the next hundred years and beyond.”
R&A Chief Executive Martin Slumbers said it was a “critical topic” and looked forward to insights from the golf industry.
“We remain fully committed to conducting this hugely important exercise for the sport thoroughly, efficiently, and collaboratively,” he said. — Reuters
THE online national summit of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) resumes on Thursday, focusing on the local government units and their sports development programs.
Davao del Norte (DavNor) Sports and Youth Development head Giovanni Gulanes will be the resource speaker in the second session of the sport summit, dubbed “Sports Conversations,” and is expected to share their experience in DavNor under the session “Sports in Local Governments (A Model System).”
Mr. Gulanes will talk about DavNor and their hosting of local multisport festivals, like the Palarong Pambansa (National Games), Batang Pinoy (Philippine Youth Games), as well as share how their province has successfully and effectively implemented their sports program.
“We are excited to showcase DavNor as a model. Hopefully, it could inspire other leaders and coordinators from different LGUs to pursue their own sports development programs,” said PSC chairman William Ramirez in a statement.
Originally scheduled for February last year, the 2021 national sports summit has been readjusted as a three-phased project.
The summit has taken the form of a series of weekly conference-type online sessions hosted by the PSC via Zoom. It will run until May this year.
Sports Conversations is aimed at taking insights of different sports stakeholders and using those as foundations in crafting a sustainable and workable short to long-term plan for Philippine sports.
The PSC said all data gathered from the Sports Conversations series will be processed and studied to create a new set of resolutions to be presented to sports leaders for action.
The summit kicked off on Jan. 27 with President Rodrigo R. Duterte officially opening the online gathering.
The first speaker was United States Sports Academy (USSA) President T.J. Rosandich, who talked about “Sports Success from a First World Perspective.” — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
FILIPINO mixed martial arts fighter Robin “Ilonggo” Catalan makes his ONE Championship return at the promotion’s pre-recorded “Unbreakable III” event on Friday and is looking to earn back-to-back wins.
Mr. Catalan, 30, sporting a 10-6 record, takes the ONE Circle after more than a year of inaction against Japanese Ryuto Sawada in a scheduled three-rounder in the event set in Singapore.
The Iloilo City native last fought in ONE in November 2019, where he was a second-round knockout winner (head kick) over Cuban Gustavo Balart.
In said fight, Mr. Catalan was on point with his striking throughout the bout and held his own against the high-level grappling of the Olympian wrestler Balart.
Late in the second round, he uncorked a well-timed right high kick that connected and took Mr. Balart out instantly.
It is the same success he wants to achieve versus Mr. Sawada, who was victorious in his last fight in ONE in October.
“This fight is important for me as a win could propel me to be one of the contenders in my division (strawweight),” Mr. Catalan said.
He admits, however, that against Mr. Sawada he has his work cut out for him, but he remains undeterred and hell bent on making things happen and winning.
Interestingly, Mr. Catalan’s brother, Rene, also fights in the strawweight division and ONE: Unbreakable III, headlined by the atomweight collision between Stamp Fairtex of Thailand and Alyona Rassohyna of Ukraine.
It will shown over One Sports+ on Cignal TV at 8:30 p.m. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
KYRIE Irving scored a season-high 39 points, but the Brooklyn Nets nearly collapsed again down the stretch before outlasting the Los Angeles (LA) Clippers 124-120 on Tuesday night in New York.
Kevin Durant added 28 points and nine rebounds for the Nets, who shot 57% from the floor. James Harden posted his fourth triple-double with the Nets and the 50th of his career by totaling 23 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds.
Kawhi Leonard scored 33 points for the Clippers, who saw a three-game winning streak stopped and lost for only the second time in their past 12 games. Paul George added 26 and Nicolas Batum contributed 21 for Los Angeles, which shot 45.5% on field-goal attempts.
The Nets rebounded from a wild 149-146 loss in Washington on Sunday when they allowed two 3-pointers in the final seconds.
Against the Clippers, Brooklyn hit four free throws in the final 9.8 seconds.
Three foul shots by Harden put Brooklyn up 115-106 with 2:36 left, and the Nets held a 118-108 lead after a 3-pointer by Durant with 1:55 remaining.
Los Angeles scored the next nine points to get within 118-117 on a corner 3-pointer by George with 24.8 seconds left. Brooklyn did not score again until Durant hit two free throws for a 120-117 lead with 9.8 ticks remaining.
After two free throws by Leonard made it a one-point game with 7.1 seconds left, Jeff Green’s layup off a long inbounds pass from Harden made it 122-119 with 5.5 seconds left.
Batum split two free throws with 3.1 seconds left, and Irving sank two free throws with 1.9 seconds left to finally secure the win.
Irving scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, and his reverse layup around Leonard and George gave the Nets the lead for good at 104-102 with 4:58 remaining. Irving’s go-ahead basket occurred two minutes after Los Angeles held a 102-97 lead after a three-point play by George.
Brooklyn stormed back from a nine-point deficit late in the second quarter and was within 58-57 by halftime after nifty layups by Harden and Irving in the final 35 seconds. The third quarter featured eight lead changes and four ties as Los Angeles rallied from a six-point deficit in the final 4:20 and took a 90-88 lead on George’s 16-footer with 1.1 seconds remaining. — Reuters
MILO Philippines and the Department of Education (DepEd) continue with their longtime collaboration with a program highlighting the importance of physical health among students and the youth, more so now in the time of the pandemic.
Dubbed “Milo Champion Habit,” the program, which was launched last December, provides students in the elementary level an exercise program to follow online.
At the online Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum on Tuesday, officials of Milo and DepEd said that while the ongoing pandemic has presented challenges in pushing physical activities, efforts still have to be made on that front to make the development of the youth well-rounded.
And they are hoping that the Milo Champion Habit provides a platform for that.
“The program focuses on developing speed, agility, strength and power,” said Milo Sports executive Luigi Pumaren of the program, which has national athletes Alyssa Valdez (volleyball) and Japoy Lizardo (taekwondo) part of the campaign.
For Joel Erestain, director in the DepEd Secretariat, their program with Milo got added significance as the country continues to work its way through the coronavirus pandemic.
“The best way to fight back (against the virus) is by being healthy and staying healthy. We want to instill the habit of daily exercise among our youth,” said the DepEd official, who attended the forum on behalf of Education Undersecretary Tonisito Umali.
A six-minute exercise video featuring Ms. Valdez and Mr. Lizardo is currently available on Milo’s YouTube Channel for students to follow.
“It’s an exercise that can turn into a habit,” said Ms. Valdez. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
MILAN — Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice to fire Juventus to a 2-1 comeback win over Inter Milan in a hard-fought Coppa Italia semifinal first-leg clash at San Siro on Tuesday.
Lautaro Martínez gave the home side an early lead, but the Portuguese replied with a penalty before pouncing on a defensive mix-up to put the Turin club in front before halftime.
Inter, without suspended top scorer Romelu Lukaku, pushed for an equalizer but couldn’t find a way past 43-year-old goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. The Italian produced a superb save to deny Matteo Darmian on the 1,100th senior appearance of his career for club and country.
Nine players were booked in a fiery encounter as Andrea Pirlo’s side earned revenge for their 2-0 Serie A defeat in this fixture, known as the “Derby of Italy,” last month.
Juventus, who finished as runners-up last year, host the second leg in Turin on Tuesday, Feb. 9 and the winner will face Napoli or Atalanta in the final.
Inter coach Antonio Conte was without two influential players through suspension in Lukaku and wing-back Achraf Hakimi, but Martinez squeezed a finish past Buffon after nine minutes to give the hosts a perfect start.
However, Ashley Young’s tug on Juan Cuadrado resulted in a penalty following a VAR review, which Ronaldo smashed into the roof of the net.
The striker soon grabbed his second by pouncing on some hesitation between Samir Handanović and Alessandro Bastoni on the edge of the box, pinching the ball and finishing into an unguarded net.
Inter pushed forward after the break, but they were denied by heroic last-ditch defending as Alexis Sánchez’s shot was cleared off the line by Merih Demiral and Buffon showed sharp reflexes to save Darmian’s shot. — Reuters
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has undoubtedly affected us. It has increased our worries and concerns about physical health. COVID-19 has added to the existing challenges parents face, and has also created greater awareness surrounding the fragility of mental health.
Yet, the second wave has also paved the way for a larger discussion on ways to promote mental well-being.
As a researcher and a clinical psychologist, I lead a research group that investigates how emotion regulation, values, and beliefs affect the development and inter-generational transmission of mental or behavioral disorders, and how these problems can impact educational achievement.
Our research group believes that when parents are aware of their own emotional self-regulation, and when they can find space to structure meaningful family activities that promote mutual bonding, both they and their children are in a better position to learn core coping skills that will benefit individuals and family relationships.
IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC ON FAMILY LIFE A recent report by the Australian Human Rights Commission investigated COVID-19-related concerns experienced by children aged five and older and emerging adults from January to April 2020. The report suggested that “mental health concerns resulting from COVID-19” and “impacts on family life” were among the top five concerns endorsed by youth.
Similarly, a July 2020 Statistics Canada report revealed three out of four parents experienced concerns and worries about balancing child care, their child’s schooling, and their own professional work irrespective of the child’s age. More than half of parents surveyed reported greater difficulty managing their child’s emotions as well as their own.
The arising parenting challenges surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic may represent an opportune time for us to improve our resilience and model more adaptive strategies and skills. In turn, such skills can promote the development of resilient behaviors in our children.
Not everyone reacts in the same way to a given situation. The ability to manage strong negative emotions and shift our mindset to a more adaptive perspective can be developed at any age. Since our brain is most adept at performing a new task early in life, it’s most beneficial for people to become socialized in these fundamental life skills early. This will help children to become self-regulated, adaptive, and thriving adults.
Parents can encourage children to see pandemic changes as an opportunity as opposed to a source of anxiety.
PARENTAL EMOTIONS Findings from our research group’s recent study, conducted with mothers, suggest that parents’ abilities to regulate their own emotions predicted how frequently and effectively they rely on supportive parenting practices. Supportive practices are things like comforting children when they experience negative emotions, engaging in problem-solving strategies aimed at reducing children’s distress, and discussing children’s emotional experiences with them. As such, these results suggest that supportive parenting is associated with children who are better at managing difficult emotions.
Parents may have heard the airplane safety tip to always don one’s own oxygen mask before helping a child: the same applies with emotional regulation. As parents, when we prioritize managing our own stress; tolerating greater uncertainty; and engaging in self-care activities like exercise, good sleep hygiene, and relaxation, this expands our capacity to respond calmly. This teaches our children that they too can cope and manage stress and related threats.
Supportive parenting is best achieved when a connected, caring, and responsive relationship with children is fostered early on. Supportive parenting that builds resilience is comparable to an early investment that grows with time. It is key to create as many early positive and reinforcing experiences as possible. — The Conversation
Tina Montreuil is an assistant professor, Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology; associate member, Department of Psychiatry; and director of Childhood Anxiety and Regulations of Emotions (C.A.R.E.) Research Group at McGill University in Canada.
The Philippines has signed a preliminary deal with Moderna Inc. to supply its coronavirus vaccines, with a final agreement likely this month.
Moderna is among the five vaccine makers the Philippines has inked term sheets with for about 108 million doses, said Carlito G. Galvez, Jr., who heads the nation’s vaccine program. He didn’t specify how many doses are being sought from Moderna, although he earlier said that there are talks for up to 20 million doses.
The Philippines, which has the second-highest number of coronavirus infections in the region, targets to buy 148 million doses this year to vaccinate up to 70% of its population and aid the recovery of its economy that’s seen to remain in recession until this quarter. — Bloomberg
Fans of the mega-band BTS (pictured), known as ARMY, have planted tens of thousands of trees in recent years, from South Korea to the Philippines in the name of their celebrities. Screengrab of BTS’s music video “Idol”
From petitioning to save forests to raising cash for disaster victims, a growing army of K-pop fans worldwide has emerged as the latest force in the global fight against climate change.
Young and tech-savvy, K-pop lovers have used their social media power to take up political causes, including mobilizing funds for the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States last year and supporting Thailand’s pro-democracy protests.
But the group is now increasingly vocal on climate change, shining a youth spotlight on environmental issues that get relatively little attention in some parts of the world.
“K-pop fans are mostly millennials and from the Gen-Z generation—we want to fight for our future,” said Indonesian student Nurul Sarifah, 21, who set up the Kpop4Planet movement in mid-January.
Using social media, it aims to become a platform for like-minded K-pop fans around the world to discuss and raise awareness on climate-change issues affecting their home cities, said Ms. Sarifah, a fan of top South Korean boyband EXO.
“Every day we are experiencing these effects: pollution, heatwaves, floods, wildfires. We can change this by doing good, just like how our idols did, so we can enjoy K-pop on a liveable planet,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone.
The movement is just one of the latest campaigns by K-pop fans seeking to make a difference for nature and the climate.
STAR POWER As K-pop became a global phenomenon in the last two decades, the philanthropic efforts of its South Korean stars—from donating to orphanages to planting trees—have pushed fans to adopt similar approaches to social and environmental problems.
Climate change has become an increasingly important issue and was highlighted in December when K-pop global sensation Blackpink released a video to raise awareness ahead of the UN climate summit, Conference of the Parties (COP) 26, due to take place in Glasgow in November.
In it, the girl band told their nearly 60 million subscribers on YouTube it was not too late to act on climate change and urged their fans, known as BLINKs, to learn more.
The COP26 talks are widely viewed as a make-or-break moment for the 2015 Paris Agreement, with governments under pressure to submit stronger climate action plans to limit global warming to “well below” 2°C above pre-industrial times.
Fans of the mega-band BTS, known as ARMY, meanwhile have planted tens of thousands of trees in recent years, from South Korea to the Philippines in the name of their celebrities.
They also raised funds for flood-hit communities in the Indian state of Assam last year.
“K-pop fandom does great things beyond borders and generations,” said South Korean activist Kim Na-yeon, 15, from campaign group Youth 4 Climate Action, which last year sued the Korean government for being slow to tackle climate change.
Awareness is low in South Korea, she said, adding that she connects with other fans through their shared love for K-pop and taps into the network to advocate for climate action.
“As I have been a K-pop fan for a long time, I know how people are gathering and moving online, so I am using my skills for our campaign,” said Ms. Kim, a fan of boyband NCT Dream.
The diverse backgrounds of K-pop followers—from North America to Asia—are seen as key to engaging fans in deeper discussions on a range of contemporary issues.
“K-pop fans are generally open-minded and outward-facing in their approach to the world. If they weren’t, they’d listen to music from their own country in their own local language,” said CedarBough Saeji, an academic who studies K-pop fan culture.
“It shouldn’t be surprising that they also share their views on their own local political, social, and environmental issues,” added the assistant professor in East Asian languages and cultures at Indiana University Bloomington in the United States.
John Lie, a sociology professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who authored a book about K-pop, said the phenomenon was driven by fans seeking to show the genre is “not mere mindless entertainment” and is “rare in idol music.”
DISASTER RELIEF In Indonesia, K-pop fans mobilized quickly to raise nearly $100,000 in January for those affected by floods in South Kalimantan and a powerful earthquake on Sulawesi island that killed about 80 people and displaced more than 30,000.
With climate change expected to fuel extreme weather disasters including in Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago of 270 million, Arendeelle, a K-pop fan who helped initiate the recent fundraising effort, said she was prepared to do more.
“We care about the environment. We are inspired by our idols who have shown us their utmost concerns about society,” said Arendeelle, who goes by one name and is a coordinator of ELF Indonesia, the local fan club of K-pop group Super Junior.
Indonesian K-pop fans last year also helped boost an online campaign to highlight rapid deforestation in Papua, by sharing the #SavePapuanForest hashtag on social media and making it a trending topic on Twitter.
Such momentum is what Ms. Sarifah of Kpop4Planet seeks to spur in her push for more debate on climate change and its impacts.
“Deforestation is one of the reasons why these natural disasters happen,” she said. “It is relatable to all of us.”
Ms. Sarifah said she hoped EXO and other K-pop stars would lend their support to her green campaign.
“The K-pop fan movement is big and if our idols also help (on climate justice), it will become even bigger,” she added. — Beh Lih Yi/Thomson Reuters Foundation
