Editor’s Note: Attempts to provoke bloc confrontation and create turbulence and tension will gain no support. Asian countries will never allow the region to be used as a chessboard for major power rivalry or a chess piece for major power confrontation.

1. COVID testing gets easier, and quicker across country

During a teleconference held by the State Council's Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism on Monday, Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan said that as China has entered a new stage of the fight against COVID-19 driven by Omicron, the sensitivity of epidemic monitoring and early warning systems should be further improved." In large cities, nucleic acid testing facilities should be available within 15 minutes of walking distance," Sun said. "The scope of and channels for (virus) monitoring should be further expanded."

Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, said on April 27 that it would set up about 10,000 free sampling stands across the city and test all residents for free every 48 hours. On April 30, Beijing said that all residents in the city should be tested at least weekly, while high-risk workers and those living in virus-affected areas would be tested more frequently. Hefei in Anhui province said on Tuesday that it would give a free test to all residents every five days. Unlike Hangzhou and Beijing, which are currently coping with cluster outbreaks, Hefei has registered no new local cases for nearly two weeks.

2. 'One country, two systems' best for HK

In the 1990s, the prevailing opinion among US officials was that the rest of China would follow the example of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in governance. The "one country, two systems" model, in the view of US policymakers, would help spread Hong Kong's system across the rest of China, beginning with big cities such as Guangzhou and Shanghai and spreading to other cities and finally the rural areas, in the next 10-15 years.

None of that happened.

Neither in Shanghai nor in Guangzhou, nor anywhere else, was there any pressure from the public to adopt the unique governance model of the SAR which has been in place since Hong Kong's return to the motherland in 1997. Those who had assumed "two systems" to be more consequential than "one country" were disappointed.

3. Shanghai records lowest daily tally since March 24, may need fight at community level ‘till June 8’

Shanghai's epidemic control has approached the light at the end of the tunnel as the mega-city has detected the lowest daily tally since March 24, and at least eight districts have basically cleared the coronavirus at the community level. 

Epidemiologists said the cheerful sign proves the efficacy of China's dynamic zero-COVID policy, but the hard-won fruits should be further consolidated to avoid resurgence.

"The outbreak in Shanghai has shown a good trend and the viral transmission risk has been effectively curbed… Daily new cases have seen an obvious fall and fewer positive cases were found in areas beyond quarantine facilities, where the epidemic risk has been effectively controlled," Shanghai health authorities said on Wednesday.

4. China to unveil timely measures to stabilize employment

China will see the number of new graduates from the country's universities and colleges in 2022 exceed 10 million for the first time, hitting a historic high. China will expand employment channels for college graduates through multiple measures such as using job-creation subsidies to encourage firms to increase hiring or helping graduates start their own businesses by offering loan support. Various online recruitment activities will be launched to provide adequate information to the graduates, training courses will be designed to enhance their skills, and targeted services will be offered to graduates experiencing difficulties.

5. China slams the U.S. for leaving unexploded bombs in Southeast Asia

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Wednesday slammed the United States for leaving tens of thousands of tonnes of unexploded bombs in Southeast Asian countries.

"During the Vietnam War, the United States used cluster bombs and bio-chemical weapons and committed heinous crimes in Southeast Asian countries including Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia," Zhao told a regular press briefing.

According to Cambodian media reports, a U.S.-made explosive device weighing almost one tonne and containing more than 500 kg of explosives was recently uncovered opposite the Royal Palace in the capital Phnom Penh. In April this year alone, at least five unexploded U.S. aerial bombs were discovered in Cambodia, each weighing more than 200 kilograms.

In response to a question on the topic, Zhao said that the United States released more than 15 million tonnes of bombs, landmines and shells in Vietnam, of which about 80,000 tonnes are unexploded and remain scattered over nearly 20 percent of the country's territory, which has killed more than 40,000 people and wounded more than 60,000 since the end of the Vietnam War.

Editor: Fan Wenwu