Top Asian News 4:54 p.m. GMT

Chinese executives get 'pre-test' injections in vaccine race

BEIJING (AP) — In the global race to make a coronavirus vaccine, a state-owned Chinese company is boasting that its employees, including top executives, received experimental shots even before the government approved testing in people. “Giving a helping hand in forging the sword of victory,” reads an online post from SinoPharm with pictures of company leaders it says helped “pre-test” its vaccine. Whether it’s viewed as heroic sacrifice or a violation of international ethical norms, the claim underscores the enormous stakes as China competes with U.S. and British companies to be the first with a vaccine to help end the pandemic — a feat that would be both a scientific and political triumph.

Barr says US now overly reliant on Chinese goods, services

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has become overly reliant on Chinese goods and services, including face masks, medical gowns and other protective equipment designed to curb the spread of the coronavirus, Attorney General William Barr said Thursday. He also accused hackers linked to the Chinese government of targeting American universities and businesses to steal research related to vaccine development, leveling the allegation against Beijing hours after Western agencies made similar claims against Russia. Barr's address at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is part of a full-court press by the Trump administration to denounce China. President Donald Trump is trying to fend off criticism of his handling of the coronavirus and the U.S.

As Trump attacks, China sees a worrying trend for its future

BEIJING (AP) — On Monday, it was the South China Sea. On Tuesday, it was Hong Kong. On Wednesday, Huawei and human rights. The Trump administration appears to be accelerating a push to define China as a strategic threat, a worrying trend for the country's leaders as the ambitions of a rising economic and military power collide with America's. A senior official accused the U.S. this week of using the Hong Kong issue to try to obstruct China's development. Vice Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang told U.S. Ambassador Terry Branstad in a meeting in Beijing that threats of U.S. sanctions and the withdrawal of special trading privileges for Hong Kong are not about democracy and freedom in the semi-autonomous territory but an attempt to contain China.

India virus cases surge nearly 32,700, beach state shut anew

NEW DELHI (AP) — India's virus cases surged another 32,695 as of Thursday, taking the nation closer to 1 million and forcing a new lockdown in the popular western beach state of Goa two weeks after it was reopened to tourists. The new confirmed cases took the national total to 968,876. The Health Ministry also reported a record number of 606 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking total fatalities up to 24,915. The actual numbers, like elsewhere in the world, are thought to be far higher due to a number of reasons including limited testing. The Indian Medical Association, a voluntary organization of Indian doctors, said 99 doctors have died and another 1,302 are infected with the coronavirus.

Tourists facing restrictions amid fears of new virus spikes

MADRID (AP) — From the palm-fringed beaches of southern India to the bar-lined streets of a Spanish island and the rolling hills of Ireland, restaurants, pubs and clubs are emerging as frontlines in efforts to prevent the re-emergence of the coronavirus. With Europe’s summer vacation season kicking into high gear for millions weary of months of lockdown, scenes of drunken British and German tourists on Spain’s Mallorca island ignoring social distancing rules and reports of American visitors flouting quarantine measures in Ireland are raising fears of a resurgence of infections in countries that have battled for months to flatten the COVID-19 curve.

Asia Today: Australian virus hot spot adds hospital beds

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia’s coronavirus hot spot, Victoria state, moved to increase available hospital beds Thursday and reported a record 317 new infections. The government had planned to restore hospitals to normal medical services by the end of July before infections began to rise in recent weeks. Instead, the Victoria government responded to the latest spike by reducing non-urgent surgeries allowed in hospitals to increase beds available for COVID-19 patients, Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said. Two men in their 80s died in Victoria in the last 24 hours, bringing the national virus death toll to 113. Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said the full impact of a six-week lockdown in Australia’s second-largest city, Melbourne, was not yet apparent because it was only a week old.

Minorities under attack as PM pushes 'tolerant' Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — It’s been a tough month for religious minorities in Pakistan, and observers warn of even tougher times ahead as Prime Minister Imran Khan vacillates between trying to forge a pluralistic nation and his conservative Islamic beliefs. A Christian was gunned down because he rented in a Muslim neighborhood in northwest Peshawar, not far from the border with Afghanistan. Another Christian, pastor Haroon Sadiq Cheeda, his wife and 12-year-old son were beaten by their Muslim neighbors in eastern Punjab and told to leave their village. The attackers screamed “you are infidels." An opposition politician was charged this week with blasphemy after declaring all religions were equal.

Floods, landslides kill at least 213 in South Asia

NEW DELHI (AP) — Floods and landslides triggered by heavy monsoon rains have killed at least 213 people across South Asia over the past month, officials said Thursday. More than 1 million people have been marooned in Nepal, Bangladesh and India and hundreds of thousands have fled their homes for higher ground. Indian officials said floods and mudslides killed 16 more people in the country's northeast, raising the death toll in the country to 93. Nepal reported at least 117 deaths over the past month and Bangladesh reported three. Rains caused the Brahmaputra River, which flows through Tibet, India and Bangladesh, to burst its banks in India's Assam state late last month, inundating large swathes of the state, triggering mudslides and displacing about 3.6 million people, officials said.

Indonesia jails 2 police in acid attack on graft official

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — An Indonesian court on Thursday sentenced two elite police officers to 18 months and two years in prison for attacking a senior anti-corruption investigator with acid, in a verdict slammed by rights groups and anti-graft activists. Novel Baswedan, a leading investigator at the Corruption Eradication Commission, known by its Indonesian abbreviation KPK, was almost blinded when two men on a motorbike threw acid at him as he left dawn prayers at a mosque in April 2017. The attack drew condemnation across Indonesia, which suffers from endemic corruption. KPK, seen as one of the few effective institutions in the nation of more than 270 million people, is frequently under legislative attack by lawmakers who want to reduce its powers.

Bangladeshi hospital owner arrested over fake virus tests

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Security officials in Bangladesh have arrested the owner of two hospitals that issued thousands of fake coronavirus test reports as he attempted to flee the country to India, officials said Thursday. Mohammed Shahed, a member of the governing party who regularly appeared on TV talk shows, was arrested Wednesday by the Rapid Action Battalion near the Indian border after a nine-day manhunt. Shahed is chairman of the Regent Group and owner of two Regent hospitals in the capital, Dhaka. Abdul Baten, a commissioner of the Detective Branch in Dhaka, said Shahed admitted after his arrest that his hospitals did not have proper equipment to conduct coronavirus tests.