With North Korea border shut, China warns citizens to keep away, or else

SINGAPORE/SEOUL (Reuters) - Chinese authorities have told people to stay away from the border with North Korea, which has banned people from China to keep out the coronavirus, or risk being shot by North Korean guards, residents of the area said.
FILE PHOTO: North Korean fishermen are seen behind a Chinese flag fluttering from the Broken Bridge as the sun sets over the Yalu River between the North Korean town of Sinuiju and Dandong in Liaoning province, China, November 19, 2017. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj/File Photo
Residents said the warning came in a printed notice that Chinese authorities in the area issued this week, the latest indication of how seriously North Korea takes the threat of the virus.
Close allies China and North Korea share a 1,400-km (880-mile) frontier that is especially porous in winter, when rivers separating the countries freeze, allowing people to cross.
Residents of the Chinese cities of Jian and Baishan were warned that people who get too close to the border might be shot, according to three people who received the notice, which was reviewed by Reuters.
“We’re told that we may get killed if we get too close to the border area,” said one restaurant owner in Jian, which is separated from North Korea by the Yalu River, declining to be identified given the sensitivity of the matter.
Residents are prohibited from fishing, grazing livestock or throwing rubbish near the river, according to the notice issued this week.
North Korea asked China to tighten border controls to avoid its citizens getting shot and killed as North Korea had raised its coronavirus threat assessment to its highest level, it said.
“The public security organs will monitor the border 24 hours a day and anyone found will face administrative detention” by Chinese police, authorities said in the notice, which was seen by Reuters.
“Violators will be shot,” it said, meaning by North Korean guards.
A Jian propaganda official, who declined to be identified, confirmed by telephone that the city’s border control office issued a similar warning in a text message.
“During the epidemic prevention period, any activities including fishing on the Yalu River or shouting to North Koreans across the river are strictly prohibited,” the office said in the message, although it stopped short of warning of shots.
The official said the wording on such messages may have gone too far in some areas. Reuters could not reach city officials in Baishan. It was not clear if other cities issued such warnings.
China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
ENTRY BANS Isolated and impoverished North Korea has imposed strict entry bans during past global epidemics, including a 2014 ebola outbreak.
North Korea has not reported any coronavirus cases, but experts say its measures in recent weeks go beyond those it took previously.
North Korea moved quickly to restrict travel and trade from China, where the coronavirus emerged late last year.
The coronavirus has infected more than 80,000 and killed more than 3,000 in China and is rapidly spreading around the world.
Most flights and trains in and out of North Korea have been restricted, foreign diplomats in Pyongyang were quarantined for a month, and authorities have cracked down on cross-border smuggling.
South Korea, separated from the North by the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), has reported nearly 6,000 cases.
FILE PHOTO: Chinese men fish as watchtowers are seen on the North Korean side of the Yalu River just north of Dandong, in China's Liaoning province, November 20, 2017. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj/File PhotoIn January, North Korea told travel agencies that it was closing its borders to travelers from China, Reuters reported, cutting off one of its few sources of external revenue.
It is unclear how much trade continues, but sources who work near the border have said much of the official and unofficial trade was affected. Activists who work with North Korean refugees trying to leave through China said the border lockdown has made an already dangerous journey nearly impossible.
“At the border crossings, personnel in charge of inspection and quarantine are discharging their duty in a responsible manner to completely keep the virus from spreading to the country,” the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency reported last month.

Reporting by Keith Zhai in Singapore and Josh Smith in Seoul; Editing by Tony Munroe, Robert Birsel

2020/21 UEFA Nations League draw: England with Belgium, Germany & Spain together

With the help of celebrity attendees such as Rafael van der Vaart, Philippe Senderos, and David Seaman, the draw for the 2020/21 UEFA Nations League is complete.
Taking place in Amsterdam, England saw a friendly draw, avoiding the likes of France, Spain, Germany, and Italy as the Three Lions were placed in Group 2 alongside Iceland, Denmark, and Belgium. Group 4 seems the most difficult off the bat, with Spain and Germany as well as Pot 1 members Switzerland. Poor Ukraine.
The format this time around has been tweaked to balance out team numbers and change rewards for good performance from Euro 2020 qualification to a path towards 2022 World Cup qualification. Here’s a rundown of how it works:

The group stage will take place between September 2020 and March 2021.

There are no guaranteed World Cup places handed out in the Nations League, but there is a slight boost to one’s chances for a solid performance. Of all the group winners who do not qualify directly for a World Cup place through traditional means, the top two will earn a spot in a 12-team playoff alongside 10 other teams from World Cup qualifying.

Any team that finishes top of its group will be promoted to the next League. Any team that finishes bottom of its group will be relegated to the previous League.

Group winners from League A will be placed in a semifinals draw, with the semis and finals to be played in early June 2021 within a “host nation” selected from the four remaining countries. The finals are essentially just for FIFA seeding, with little else on the line other than the trophy.

Teams that were meant to be relegated in the inaugural Nations League were not actually relegated thanks to the reshuffling that saw uneven numbers of teams wiped out to avoid countries still having to play occasional friendlies. The reshuffling now sees an even 12 countries in all of the top three leagues, with the remaining seven in League D.
League A:
Group 1 – Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Bosnia & HerzegovinaGroup 2 – England, Belgium, Iceland, DenmarkGroup 3 – Portugal, France, Croatia, SwedenGroup 4 – Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Ukraine
League B:
Group 1 – Romania, Northern Ireland, Norway, Austria,Group 2 – Israel, Slovakia, Scotland, Czech RepublicGroup 3 – Hungary, Turkey, Serbia, RussiaGroup 4 – Bulgaria, Republic of Ireland, Finland, Wales
League C:
Group 1 – Azerbaijan, Luxembourg, Cyprus, MontenegroGroup 2 – Armenia, Estonia, North Macedonia, GeorgiaGroup 3 – Moldova, Slovenia, Kosovo, GreeceGroup 4 – Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Belarus, Albania
League D:
Group 1 – Malta, Andorra, Latvia, Faroe IslandsGroup 2 – San Marino, Liechtenstein, Gibraltar
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Belgium Boss Roberto Martinez Provides Positive Injury Update on Real Madrid's Eden Hazard

© VIRGINIE LEFOUR/GettyImages SOCCER RED DEVILS TRAINING MONDAY ​Belgium head coach Roberto Martinez has revealed that he has 'no doubts' that Real Madrid forward Eden Hazard will overcome his ankle injury in time to feature at this summer's European Championship.
Following his move from Chelsea, Hazard has struggled with injuries, making just 15 appearances in all competitions so far this campaign.
Most recently, the 29-year-old suffered an ankle fracture during his side's shock 1-0 defeat to Levante, just one league game after he made his comeback from another injury, which had kept him sidelined since the end of November.
© Quality Sport Images/GettyImages Eden Hazard

As a result of his latest injury setback, Hazard is expected to fly out to Dallas in the United States on Wednesday before ​undergoing surgery on his fractured ankle on Thursday.

Belgium boss Martinez has now commented on his star man's injury situation, insisting that he is 'sure' Hazard will recover in time to play for the national team at Euro 2020. Speaking at the draw for the UEFA Nations League group stage, he revealed, as quoted by ​Marca: "I have no doubt he'll be there.
"The recovery deadlines are impossible to determine because you have to see the operation and determine the deadlines from there.
© Soccrates Images/GettyImages Roberto Martinez

"The first two weeks are important, but knowing Eden and how he's worked on other small injuries he has had, we are sure that we will have him with us [at Euro 2020]. We'll see him in ​Real Madrid's shirt before the national team's shirt."

With ​Hazard due to undergo surgery on Thursday, Martinez further added that the player is calm. To that end, he also explained that although he has suffered yet another injury, Hazard will return with an even greater desire to succeed.
© Eric Alonso/GettyImages Eden Hazard "Eden is very calm and very positive. Real Madrid's medical team are very happy with the idea of having the surgery and from here, we have to go step by step.
"What we have to do is make him come back even stronger and more eager to win more matches with Real Madrid and the national team, which I am sure will be the case."

'Love you beyond description': Bindi shares touching post for Steve Irwin's birthday

Bindi Irwin, Terri Irwin and Robert Irwin with meerkats. (Photo: Animal Planet)

The family of Steve Irwin, the wildlife expert who died in 2006, shared heartfelt tributes to him on what would have been his 58th birthday.

His daughter, Bindi Irwin, addressed her Instagram post to her dad, sharing how she was spending the day in his honor: She went on a hike with her brother, Robert, to their dad's favorite mountains and watched one of his documentaries with her fiance, Chandler Powell.

"Dad, Today is your birthday," she wrote. "I had an extra strong cup of tea just how you liked it. I hugged Mum for you and told her how much we love her. Robert and I went on a hike through the mountains you cherished. I watched one of your documentaries with Chandler and shared stories about you. I walked through your office in the zoo and smiled at our old family photographs."

The zookeeper and television personality died after a stringray struck him in the heart in 2006. 

"Today and every day I miss you and love you beyond description," Bindi finished the caption. "You’re always with me."

Bindi's mother, Terri, shared a series of photos of Steve with his family on Twitter to honor her late husband.

"Today would’ve been Steve’s 58th birthday," she wrote in the Tweet. "While my heart aches missing him every day, I’m determined to celebrate what he loved the most. He was happiest spending time @AustraliaZoo w/ @BindiIrwin & @RobertIrwin. He was my best friend, best dad, & built the best Zoo. I love you."

And Robert Irwin also shared a photo on Instagram with the caption: "Family always." 

Bindi Irwin and family: To celebrate late father on Steve Irwin Day at the Australia Zoo

'Spitting image of Steve': Robert Irwin turns heads with photo that looks just like late dad

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Fed’s Move Puts Global Stimulus Baton Back in China’s Hands

(Bloomberg) -- The biggest shock to the world economy since the financial crisis is stoking expectations that China will ramp up stimulus with interest rate cuts, cash injections and more support for struggling companies.
Until now policy makers in Beijing have focused on containing the virus and avoiding the kind of all-out splurge stimulus that marked previous economic crises. Record levels of debt have kept the policy response disciplined along with the reality that rate cuts don’t fix supply chains.
There’s also been an urgent push to get banks lending to smaller and medium sized companies.
© Bloomberg Yield gap between China and U.S. government bonds expanded to widest since 2015 Yet the Federal Reserve’s emergency rate cut gives the People’s Bank of China a window to loosen without triggering capital outflows or a weakened yuan.
S&P Joins Those Who See China Growing Slower than 5% in 2020
Their options include trimming requirements on the amount of cash banks need to hold as reserves.
The PBOC will likely continue to trim the interest rate of one-year medium-term loans in March, lowering it by another 10 basis points, according to 28 analysts and traders in a Bloomberg survey conducted Wednesday. That would be after a cut in the rate of the same size last month, and could then lead to a 10 basis point reduction in the de facto benchmark loan prime rate, they said.
Officials have also said they’re reviewing the benchmark deposit rate, a move that could lower banks’ funding costs. On the fiscal side, a bigger deficit and more bond sales are likely to shore up infrastructure spending.
“Long gone are the days where changes in the Fed policy stance alone could steer global growth,” said Frederic Neumann, Hong Kong-based co-head of Asian economics research at HSBC Holdings Plc. “With challenges like the coronavirus outbreak it requires both China and the U.S. to deliver a punchy stimulus.”
Signs that factories and workers are returning to full production and consumers are spending again as the virus infection rates stabilize may mean the worst is over in China.
What Bloomberg’s Economists SayThe PBOC is now focused on increasing support for the virus-stricken economy. The PBOC is clearly going in the same direction as the Fed -- and we expect it to guide market rates down in the days ahead.
David Qu, Economist
For the full note click here
Yet it’s also clear that if China wants to meet an expected growth target for this year of around 6%, more stimulus will be needed. Even a lower target will still require a mix of tax cuts, spending and lower rates.
While there are signs that progress is being made on getting the nation back to work, the process is slow and may take many weeks yet to complete.
Other economists continue to lower their China growth forecasts. The Paris-based OECD this week slashed its global outlook and warned a recession is possible.
Virus Pushes Global Economy Toward First Contraction Since 2009
While total debt has soared over the past decade, central government borrowing remains low and the PBOC has probably more room for maneuver than any other major central bank.
As well as trying to help companies across the nation, the central bank and regulators are attempting to aid businesses in Hubei, where all economic activity is still basically stopped as many people are not allowed to leave their houses. Banks were told to lend more to firms in Hubei and other affected regions, reduce the cost of lending, and refrain from withdrawing loans, especially from small firms.
The PBOC has also kept liquidity plentiful and lowered interest rates of its medium-term loans to lift market sentiment.
Not EnoughLocal authorities have been allowed to sell about 1.8 trillion yuan of special bonds to expedite infrastructure investment. Targeted cuts to taxation and social security premiums were offered to virus-hit companies to avoid massive layoffs.
Some worry that may not be enough.
“The problem with all these is that they cannot control the virus,” said Hao Hong, chief strategist at Bocom International. “And we don’t know whether people going back to work en-masse could make the virus relapse, even though it’s largely brought under control in China.”
Ding Shuang, chief Greater China and North Asia economist at Standard Chartered Plc said near term measures may include an easing up on the war on debt by allowing credit to expand faster than nominal growth or by lowering money market interest rates and reserve ratio requirements for banks.
Given China accounts for over 30% of world growth, any extra stimulus will be felt globally too.
“The size of China’s economy in today’s world means it will always have an impact,” said Howie Lee, an economist at OCBC Bank in Singapore.
(Update to add survey results on policy rate outlook in the sixth paragraph)
--With assistance from Tian Chen, Xize Kang, Heng Xie, Jing Zhao, Yuling Yang, Wenjin Lv, Shuqin Ding, Helen Sun and Ling Zeng.
To contact the reporters on this story: Enda Curran in hong kong at ecurran8@bloomberg.net;Yinan Zhao in Beijing at yzhao300@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeffrey Black at jblack25@bloomberg.net, James Mayger
For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

China Opens a Coronavirus Bond Spigot, and Companies Rush In

The coronavirus epidemic has sparked a bond bonanza in China, with financial institutions and companies rushing to sell debt at low interest rates.
Since early February, more than 150 Chinese companies, including manufacturers, airlines and property developers, have collectively raised over 237 billion yuan ($34 billion) by selling so-called coronavirus bonds, which devote a portion of their proceeds to “epidemic prevention and control” efforts within the country.
The pace of issuance has picked up as more companies have found they can borrow money cheaply this way. Average coupon rates on the new securities—which mostly range from 1.6% to 6%—have in many cases been lower than yields on comparable outstanding debt from the same issuers, according to Wind Info., a data provider.
State-owned banks have been the main buyers of the virus bonds, according to market observers.
“They are buying the debt that other investors don’t want to touch, helping to push down the yields,” said Jason Tan, a research analyst covering Chinese financial institutions at debt-research firm CreditSights.
A man’s temperature is taken inside the Shanghai Stock Exchange building in late February. Photo: aly song/Reuters In essence, state-owned lenders’ acceptance of lower interest rates amounts to a backdoor subsidy for Chinese companies, including many private enterprises. Purchasing the bonds enables banks to channel more liquidity to businesses that are reeling from deep sales declines, supply chain disruptions and other interruptions caused by the coronavirus epidemic. Despite their label, most of the coronavirus bonds’ proceeds are being used to refinance companies’ existing debt, which is helping them avoid defaults.
Anti-epidemic bonds accounted for about 20% to 30% of total nonfinancial yuan bond issuance in February, according to a research report from Hua Chuang Securities, a domestic brokerage.
As of Wednesday, 80,270 cases of the Covid-19 disease had been reported in mainland China since late last year. Of those, 49,856 people have recovered and 2,981 have died. Newly released Chinese economic data already points to a deep slump, and many businesses are facing labor shortages or can’t manufacture or sell their goods because factories are closed and logistics networks are jammed up.
In early February, when the spread of the pneumonia-causing respiratory virus was accelerating in China, the country’s financial regulators said they would ease the way for affected companies to issue bonds. They pledged to grant faster approvals and greenlight the issuance of more corporate debt.
Coronavirus and trade tensions are testing the stability of global supply chains. While that’s pushed some businesses to consider loosening their ties with China, WSJ explains why leaving the “factory of the world” is easier said than done. Photo: China Daily via Reuters Days later, a national supervisory organization that oversees China’s bond markets said companies in Hubei province, or in industries heavily hit by the epidemic, could get fast-track approval for what they called anti-epidemic bonds. Businesses nationwide that are involved in efforts to contain the epidemic—or that plan to use at least 10% of the funds raised to do so—would also qualify.
This prompted a flurry of companies to sell short-dated and long-term bonds. Many of them are using the bulk of the funds for general purposes or to pay down outstanding debt; they say they intend to use some proceeds to fund activities like mask manufacturing, disinfectant purchases, or making donations to hard-hit communities.
Huarong Xiangjiang Bank Corp., a small bank in the south-central Chinese province of Hunan, in February raised 200 million yuan by selling a one-year bond. It said it plans to make small loans to local hospitals and pharmaceutical companies. Even Hengfeng Bank Co., a troubled regional lender that last year received a government bailout, raised 1 billion yuan by selling an anti-epidemic bond.
For coronavirus corporate bonds with a domestic credit rating of AA+, a category that many Chinese industrial companies fall into, coupons have on average been about 0.3 percentage point lower than comparable outstanding debt, said Zhang Shuncheng, a Shanghai-based analyst at Fitch Ratings. Fitch doesn’t currently rate onshore Chinese debt.
BOE Technology Group Co., an Apple Inc. supplier that is a major producer of liquid-crystal display screens, last week raised 2 billion yuan from a sale of three-year bonds with a 3.64% coupon.
The Beijing-based company said in a prospectus that it plans to use 300 million yuan to support a production plant in Wuhan, the epidemic’s epicenter, and new construction at the site. The rest of the money raised would go to its subsidiaries in other parts of the country.
Shenzhen Airlines, a domestic carrier, raised 2.3 billion yuan from bond sales that will help it refund money to people whose flights were canceled, purchase epidemic prevention materials as well as cover its fuel costs, employee salaries and other maintenance charges.
While the vast majority of coronavirus bonds have been sold within mainland China, global banks last week helped facilitate a sale of similar of “Covid notes” offshore.
The Macau branch of Bank of China Ltd. raised 4 billion Hong Kong dollars ($513.2 million) from a sale of two-year bonds that were priced to yield 1.95% and a smaller sum in Macau’s currency. It said it planned to use the proceeds to help fund projects that would benefit small and medium-size enterprises in the semiautonomous city that have been negatively affected by the coronavirus epidemic. Banks bought more than 80% of the notes, according to one of the underwriters.

—Zhou Wei and Serena Ng

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Coronavirus spread from China. Now, China doesn’t want the world spreading it back.

Then Wang, a 31-year-old waitress who had been working in the northern Italian city of Bergamo, came home to Qingtian county, west of the city of Wenzhou.

She had developed a cough, headache and diarrhea about a week before the flight, but nevertheless went to Milan and boarded a plane for Moscow, settling into seat 22F. Traveling with five others from the same restaurant, she changed planes in Moscow and took off for Shanghai. This time, she sat in an aisle seat.

When Wang, whom authorities have identified only by her family name, arrived in China, she was immediately put into quarantine. On Sunday, she tested positive for the novel coronavirus that causes the disease named covid-19. Seven others who worked in the Bergamo restaurant and flew back home were diagnosed this week, the Qingtian government said on its WeChat social media account.

This is China’s new coronavirus challenge.

Having largely contained the virus at home — the number of new infections reported each day has fallen to barely 100, almost all in Hubei province — China now faces the prospect of imported infections as the outbreak rages beyond its borders.

China thought that once it had contained the epidemic, that would be the end of it, said Zhang Wenhong, director of the department of infectious diseases at Shanghai Huashan Hospital, affiliated with Fudan University. But now, more cases are emerging abroad than in China — and they’re starting to come back.

“This is a bad sign and very worrisome,” Zhang told China News. “It will bring difficulties to China’s outbreak control.”

China’s Communist Party appears mindful that other governments might lack the techno-authoritarian tools to shut down the spread like it did. Authorities are taking measures to prevent people who have traveled to new hotspots — South Korea, Iran, northern Italy and Japan — from bringing the disease back.

The southern province of Guangdong, a manufacturing and export hub that borders Hong Kong, and the financial center of Shanghai have stipulated that all travelers arriving from severely affected countries must quarantine themselves for 14 days.

Beijing, which already has a 14-day quarantine rule for all arrivals, explicitly singled out the four hotspot countries during a briefing this week. Two of the three new cases confirmed in Beijing on Tuesday were imported, one from Iran and the other from Italy.

Zhejiang is particularly at risk of cases from Italy because the Wenzhou area has historical trading links with the European country, which has more than 2,200 cases and dozens of deaths. There are about 200,000 Chinese from Wenzhou and Qingtian living in Italy, most working in the restaurant business, the Zhejiang Daily reported this week.

During the initial phase of the outbreak, Chinese citizens living in Italy donated 10,000 masks, 300 protective suits and 240 pairs of goggles to Wenzhou residents.

As the epidemic evolves, Wenzhou residents are returning the favor. The Wenzhou Eyewear Industry Association sent boxes of protective glasses to Italy this week — with “Wenzhou per Italia” and a picture of the Leaning Tower of Pisa on the boxes.

Likewise, the western province of Ningxia, home to many members of the Hui Muslim minority, appears susceptible to imported cases from Iran. Last week, two people returned from Iran to Ningxia with the virus, while Beijing found two people who had been in contact with one of the Ningxia patients were also infected.

Chinese officials are in an awkward situation. Early in the outbreak, China’s Foreign Ministry lashed the United States for “overreacting” and “sparking panic” when Washington warned travelers against visiting China and evacuated its consulate in Wuhan.

Now, Zhejiang authorities are telling their citizens abroad to “minimize” travel. Traveling is the easiest way for infections to be transmitted, so staying home is the “best form of protection,” the Qingtian local government said in a notice to overseas Chinese.

“For the sake of your family’s health and safety, please strengthen your precautions, carefully decide on your travel plans and minimize mobility,” it posted on its WeChat account.

But in Beijing, central authorities have been encouraging people abroad to come home, saying it “attaches great importance to the health of Chinese citizens” in countries such as South Korea, Japan, Italy and Iran.

“If the situation in those countries worsens, the Chinese government will take further actions to help bring them back to China,” China Daily quoted Cui Aimin, director general of the Foreign Ministry’s Department of Consular Affairs, as saying.

Concerned that its citizens will catch the coronavirus abroad, China has started evacuating people from virus-stricken areas.

Two planes arrived in Hangzhou from Milan this week, and China sent two charter planes to Iran to collect citizens, since direct commercial flights have been canceled. The first arrived Wednesday in the city of Lanzhou, near Ningxia province.

Priority was given to students stranded in the holy city of Qom, where the coronavirus infections are the most serious in the country, the Global Times reported. The remainder were employees or businesspeople.

“Ninety percent of the Chinese I know in Iran want to go home now,” a Chinese man living in Tehran, named as Lao Qi, told the Global Times. “They are worried about the rapid development of the epidemic in Iran and the lack of strong anti-epidemic measures by the local government and the lack of awareness among the Iranian public,” he said.

Tiffany Liang and Wang Yuan contributed to this report.