China

Cordyceps, also known as caterpillar fungus or the Himalayan gold, is an expensive herbal medicine in China. An IPCSC report has accused Chinese soldiers of illegally entering Arunachal Pradesh in search of the fungus - mainly found in the Indian Himalayas and on the high altitude region of the plateau in southwestern China.

And it may not be wrong to say that China's increasing influence over Pakistan, especially in terms of economic linkages, has amplified its domain, pushing Islamabad into policy-level challenges and economic dependence on Western countries, notably the US, who are the rivals of China. The West, especially the US, believes that China's debt diplomacy has effectively surrounded and trapped Pakistan through its massive investments in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is an important part of Beijing's One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative.

"China and India have maintained communication through the diplomatic and military-to-military channels, and both countries are committed to upholding stability in the border areas. We stand ready to work with India in the direction toward steady and sound growth of China-India relations," he said in his speech at the 'Symposium on the International Situation and China's Foreign Relations'.

As has been widely reported, China did an about-face on its zero-Covid policy, lifting almost all controls because of mass protests in late November. But the protests were just the trigger. The underlying issue is that China's leaders have finally comprehended the magnitude of the devastating impact of the policy on the economy.

The NCOC said that the new variant may enter Pakistan after the ease in the coronavirus-related restrictions in China, which went through an abrupt shift in policies, The News reported. The country loosened its rules to curb the increasing Covid-19 cases since the pandemic began three years ago after protests broke out against its tough restrictions, The News reported.

As many as 248 million people, or nearly 18 per cent of the population, likely contracted the virus in the first 20 days of December, according to minutes from an internal meeting of China's National Health Commission held on Wednesday, confirmed with people involved in the discussions.

Some senior patients developed severe conditions after contracting the Omicron variant, but will recover from the infection after treatment, said Li Yanming, head of the department of respiratory and critical care medicine at the Beijing Hospital, whose patients admitted are mostly seniors, Xinhua News Agency reported.

According to South China Morning Post, Since Beijing's sudden U-turn on ending the zero-Covid policy more than two weeks ago, "Chinese officials and state media have struggled to put a positive spin on the decision". Hospitals in China are overwhelmed with patients after Covid controls were eased for the first-time last month, and then earlier this month.

Officials in Zhejiang province announced over the weekend that those who test positive for Covid could go to work, so long as they showed no symptoms. Then on Monday, Chongqing, one of China's largest cities and a major manufacturing hub, went one step further by allowing those with mild symptoms to return to the office without testing, Fortune reported.

The long-awaited resolution received the votes of the other 12 countries in the 15-member body on Wednesday and came 22 months after the overthrow of the democratically-elected government in Myanmar. It was proposed by Britain, which has responsibility for Myanmar in the Council, after prolonged discussions for a consensus, which it failed to get but softened it to avoid vetoes by Russia and China.