Singapore, May 23,2021 (AFP): A top security conference in Singapore that was to be attended by US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga was cancelled earlier this week due to the coronavirus.
The Shangri-La Dialogue was scheduled to be an in-person event from June 4 to 5, and was also set to welcome ministers and senior military officials from around the world.
But the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the think tank that organises the annual forum, said it had become unviable . Unfortunately the global Covid-19 situation has recently deteriorated, in part because of the rise of infectious new Covid variants, it said in a statement.
SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): The Shangri-La Dialogue scheduled for June 4 to 5 in the Republic has been cancelled, the organisers announced on Thursday (May 20).
Restrictions reimposed as virus resurges in much of Asia
PTI
Taipei (Taiwan) |
Updated on
May 19, 2021
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Though not as bad as in India or parts of Europe, this shows that the virus remains resilient, despite strict use of mask, case tracing, mass testing and vaccinations
Taxi drivers are starved for customers, weddings are suddenly cancelled, schools are closed, and restaurant services restricted across much of Asia as the coronavirus makes a resurgence in countries where it had seemed to be well under control. Sparsely populated Mongolia has seen its death toll soar from 15 to 233, while Taiwan, considered a major success in battling the virus, has recorded more than 1,000 cases since last week and placed over 600,000 people in two-week medical isolation.