XI TO GIVE ADDRESS AT CHINA-AFRICA COVID-19 SUMMIT

President Xi Jinping will preside over a special summit on Africa and China's joint fight against COVID-19 on Wednesday and will deliver a keynote speech, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Tuesday.

The summit was jointly initiated by China, South Africa, the rotating presidency of the African Union, and Senegal, co-chair of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, and will be held via video link, Hua said.

Key leaders from African countries will attend the summit, she said, adding United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will also participate.

BEIJING CONDUCTS MASS TESTING

Beijing tightened measures to cope with the new cluster of local COVID-19 infections as the number of confirmed cases in the city rose to 79 from Thursday to Sunday and up to 100,000 social workers joined communities' epidemic control work.

The capital reported 36 new patients with COVID-19 on Sunday, the majority of whom worked at or had been to Xinfadi wholesale market in Beijing's southern Fengtai district. In addition to the confirmed cases, another seven are asymptomatic infections under medical observation.

Xu Hejian, a spokesman for the municipal government, said this outbreak is closely related to the Xinfadi market, and the government will employ the strictest investigation to find the source of the infection and curb the spread of the virus.

Nearly 8,000 people who run businesses or make purchases in Xinfadi had received nucleic acid tests by Sunday and have been transferred to isolation locations for centralized medical observation.

Up to 90,000 residents living in 21 communities near Xinfadi and Yuquandong-another market whose operations have been suspended due to the new COVID-19 infections in the capital-are receiving nucleic acid tests. All those communities are closed and under strict management.

Around 200,000 people had been to Xinfadi since May 30 based on a citywide data collection campaign. Those people will get nucleic acid tests and, meanwhile, must stay at home for self-observation.

"By 2 pm on Sunday, we had completed nucleic acid testing for 29,386 people who had visited the Xinfadi market in the past 14 days," said Gao Xiaojun, a spokesman for the Beijing Health Commission. "Out of all the samples, 12,973 came negative and the rest are awaiting results."

"Beijing will raise the prevention level of all communities by resuming temperature checks before entering and disinfection of public areas," said Xu Ying, an official at the city's antivirus leading work group. "Places for cultural events and entertainment will suspend operations," Xu added.

He said that on Monday, nearly 100,000 social workers were mobilized in 7,120 communities and villages in Beijing to help fight COVID-19.

Wang Guiqiang, head of the infectious diseases department at Peking University First Hospital, said the number of cases in Beijing might continue to increase based on the current situation, according to a report by chinanews.com on Monday.

"Some people's infections may not be detected yet. Thus, they might keep spreading the virus," he said. "The risk still exists, so we need to strengthen testing and screening."

The National Health Commission announced on Sunday that it had sent a team of experts to Beijing to guide COVID-19 prevention and control work. The team included the head of the commission, experts with experience in Wuhan and top experts in epidemiological investigation and environmental disinfection.

Facing the sudden increase in the number of local cases, the municipal education authority announced on Sunday that students who have resumed on-campus classes can choose to study at home if they wish. Students in their final year of junior high and senior high school will finish their classes 14 days in advance of the date of their final exams and study at home.

"We want to ensure the health and safety of every student," said Li Yi, a spokesman for the Beijing Education Commission. He said provision of online study materials will continue.

Students who study at school should wear masks at all times, including during classes, the commission said on Monday.

When students have outdoor activities and take part in sports, they can take off their masks while maintaining social distance, it said.

SAVING LIVES BEST WAY TO PROTECT HUMAN RIGHTS

China's measures to contain the novel coronavirus outbreak have prompted the international community to think afresh about the meaning of human rights. Due to their diverse histories, cultures and traditions, people of different countries may have different understandings of human rights. Yet the West, which has become used to dominating the global narrative on major issues, has always been skeptical about, even critical of, the human rights situation in non-Western countries, especially those in Asia.

To protect human lives from a pandemic, many countries have imposed stringent quarantine measures, with quite a few declaring a state of emergency, issuing stay-at-home orders, restricting the movement of people and vehicles, and banning religious gatherings and demonstrations.

When individuals' freedom disturbs the sociopolitical order, leading to heavy loss of lives−for example, during an epidemic outbreak−even the Western world demands that people give up some of their freedoms, and imposes unprecedented, draconian restrictive measures on individuals.

Some Western experts say that in the post-pandemic world, the West will need to reevaluate the importance of cultural pluralism and collectivism including the social security system and strike a balance between national security and individuals' fundamental rights.

When people face a life-threatening virus, shouldn't the top priority of a government be to protect their lives, by balancing individual freedom with restrictive measures and medical services?

Sociopolitical order is established to guarantee liberty, and liberty is hard to achieve without a reasonable social order. Western and non-Western countries should try to reach a consensus on how best to protect lives and make human rights a shared value for humankind. And the international community should devote itself to building a community with a shared future for mankind by promoting dialogue and diversity.

In the fight against the coronavirus outbreak, the right to life and health should be paramount. Although many people believe life and health can be sacrificed for freedom, an individual's pursuit of liberty at the cost of the health and safety of the entire society is socially and morally unacceptable.

So, even if there is a conflict between individualism and collectivity, the right to life and health should be accorded the highest priority, in order to better protect human rights. To enjoy human rights, individuals are obliged to fulfill certain social responsibilities. As the cost of protecting human rights during an emergency is much higher than in normal times, it is necessary to carefully consider how best can human rights be protected amidst, say, a raging pandemic.

No country or society can claim to protect all human rights to the fullest extent. But meticulous, careful decision-making after considering all the pros and cons can help better protect human rights.

'DON'T BE ENEMIES OF HK PEOPLE': LAM WARNS AGAINST SMEARING NATIONAL SECURITY LAW

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Tuesday warned those who have smeared and demonized the proposed national security law, saying by doing so, they are making themselves enemies of Hong Kong people.

Without national security, effective governance and stability cannot be assured in Hong Kong, Lam said.

She said objections against the proposed law are unfounded, and that foreign administrations should accept the "constitutional and legitimate" right of the central government to enact such a law for Hong Kong, given how they put their national security safeguards in place, Lam said.

Speaking to reporters before the weekly Executive Council meeting, Lam said she has gained general support on the legislation during meetings with foreign consuls, chambers of commerce and other commercial organizations.

She also noted nearly 3 million Hong Kong residents have signed a petition to support the legislation after a 10-day signature campaign.

She pledged the special administrative region government will continue to listen to feedback and concern from various sectors over the national security legislation, and relay them to the central government.

Lam reiterated that even though the legislation is drafted under the mainland's legal system, it shares the same legal principles with Hong Kong's common law system, such as presumption of innocence and no double jeopardy.

She called on the public not to worry about future implementation of the law, stressing that it will be in strict accordance with legal principles, and the only objective of the law is to better protect Hong Kong and the country.

HUAWEI DELIVERS MEMO PROVING DISTORTION AND OMISSION

Lawyers for Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Co, claimed US authorities and HSBC are trying to use a case outline with omissions and distortions to mislead a Canadian court, which oversees Meng's extradition hearing.

The lawyers made the remarks in a memo, which was made public after a hearing in Vancouver to discuss the management of Meng's extradition case on Monday.

In the memo, Meng's lawyers said the allegations of "deliberate and/or reckless misstatements of fact and material omissions" in the official record of the case are so serious that extradition proceedings against Meng should be tossed.

TESTS PLANNED FOR XICHENG RESIDENTS NEAR PRODUCE MARKET

A Beijing municipal government official said Tuesday the city plans to roll out sweeping nucleic acid tests for residents living near a produce market in the capital's Xicheng district, after a market employee was confirmed to be infected with COVID-19 on Sunday.

Li Yi, deputy head of the district government, said at a news conference in Beijing that testing sites would be set up in the neighborhood to cover all residents, to facilitate epidemic control measures including home isolation or quarantine at designated sites.

The move came after local authorities on Sunday shuttered and disinfected the Guangwai Tiantao Honglian Produce Market, where an infected employee was found to have travelled to the Xinfadi produce market, a recent hotspot in southern Beijing.

Li said 62 market employees and nearby residents have been put in isolation and tested negative for the novel coronavirus. Seven residential communities near the market have been put on lockdown since 2 am, with volunteers designated to meet their needs for daily supplies.

People who have traveled near the Xinfadi market since May 30 were required to contact neighborhood authorities for testing and isolation, he added.

WHISTLEBLOWERS TO GET BETTER REWARDS

China's top emergency watchdog plans to boost rewards for whistleblowers who call out safety problems in their companies as the nation wages a three-year campaign to root out workplace hazards.

The reward for a single whistleblower could be over 300,000 yuan ($42,000), and measures to protect them will be enhanced, according to a draft guideline released by the Ministry of Emergency Management last week.

Currently, whistleblowers are eligible for rewards of 15 percent of the administrative fines imposed for safety hazards or illegal production activities they report.

The minimum reward, payable to both whistleblowers and members of the public who report a breach, is 3,000 yuan, and the maximum 300,000 yuan, with the amount to be paid once the safety breach they report is verified.

The recent draft guideline said the rewards given to whistleblowers will be increased, though no percentage will be set at the national level on how much more they should get. Provincial-level emergency management and finance authorities will be authorized to decide the percentage based on local conditions.

It also said additional "special rewards" will be offered if casualties are avoided thanks to the actions of whistleblowers, adding that rewards should be included in local governments' budgets.

While making the personal information of whistleblowers confidential and strictly controlling access to it, the draft guideline also vows to crack down on companies who take revenge on them.

The initiative will be of great significance in helping curb major accidents, the ministry said in a news release.

"The reports from inside whistleblowers can be detailed and accurate with high credibility, which could help supervisory authorities find illegal activities in a timely manner and carry out law enforcement in a precise manner," it said.

It also said that because whistleblowers risk retaliation, "ample rewards" and strict protection of their rights and interests could encourage more insiders to report breaches.

The draft guideline was unveiled as the nation continues a three-year campaign to "remove safety hazards at the root" and effectively curb major workplace accidents.

Launched by the Work Safety Committee of the State Council, the country's Cabinet, in April, the campaign will cover nine major sectors, including coal mines, hazardous chemicals, industrial parks and urban construction.

While promoting awareness of work safety, efforts will also be made to further improve the country's safety management mechanism to clarify the responsibilities of local governments, supervising authorities and enterprises.

The campaign also vows to establish public risk control and screening systems for hazards while introducing more laws, regulations and compulsory work safety standards, as well as revising current ones.

DISEASE CONTROL MEASURES ENHANCED

Many regions across the country have started taking strengthened epidemic prevention and control measures, after three provinces reported confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases related to patients with the infectious disease in Beijing.

Baoding, a city in Hebei province about 140 kilometers southwest of Beijing, required communities and villages to carry out strict access control measures. The local government announced the city was in "wartime emergency mode" on Saturday.

Public spaces in the city, such as shopping malls and office buildings, are required to limit the number of people in order to prevent mass gatherings.

The province confirmed three COVID-19 cases and one asymptomatic case on Sunday, while Liaoning province confirmed two on Saturday.

All six have had close contacts with locally transmitted cases confirmed in Beijing, according to local health authorities.

Sichuan province reported a suspected case on Sunday, whose husband is a COVID-19 patient confirmed in Beijing on Saturday. She returned to Yaan's Shimian county from the capital on June 9, the provincial health commission reported.

The four cases reported in Hebei are from a family in Anxin county, which belongs to Xiongan New Area.

The family had a store at Beijing's Xinfadi wholesale market, which had been closed because local cases in Beijing in recent days had visited or are related to the market.

Seven cities in Hebei have released emergency notices warning people who had been to Beijing, especially the markets that were found to be related to confirmed cases, to take measures to avert possible virus transmission.

Tangshan required that people who had been to Xinfadi market and Jingshen seafood market since May 30 report their health condition to their local government and receive nucleic acid testing.

In Bayannuur, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, all passengers that returned from medium or high-risk regions in Beijing such as Xicheng, Fengtai and Fangshan districts since Saturday morning, will be under a 14-day quarantine and receive nucleic acid testing and antibody detection.

The Letai office building in Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei, sent out a notice on Monday to require all visitors, including people working there and others, to wear face masks and show their health QR code on entry.

"We need to be careful and take the measures thoroughly because Beijing is too close to us and there's a high mobility of people," said Wang Jing, a property supervisor at the building.

She added that the prevention measures were eased since Hebei lowered its public health emergency response from the highest level to the second-highest level at the end of April. "But the wearing of face masks and temperature checks haven't been stopped."

Many schools in Hebei have canceled the resumption of classes for primary students from grade one to grade three, which was scheduled on Monday.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often. - John Henry Newman