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AP
8
ON THE COVER BUSINESS

READY 16 25
Jollibee puts its plans for fast-food Nintendo market cap soars past
dominance on the back burner Tokyo Disney operator in the

PLAYER ONE?
CLIFF VENZON Manila new stay-at-home world
RYO SAEKI/TAKEHIRO HASEGAWA Tokyo

JOHN GAPPER/JADA NAGUMO Tokyo 20 China’s Moutai ‘state liquor’ defies

national slump in alcohol sales
Sony CEO Kenichiro KENJI KAWASE Tokyo THROUGH THE LENS
Yoshida navigates the
22 Countries focus on national drives
26 The safety dance
coronavirus and activist over international cooperation in
vaccine race
attacks as he fights to NORIYUKI TAKADA/MINORU SATAKE
POLITICS & ECONOMY
restore the company
Tokyo/London

to its innovative prime 28

23

Courtesy of AnGes

Kosaku Mimura
COVID-19 in charts: Japan and
India opts for its own COVID-19 the Philippines dodge explosions
tests kits, rejecting those from China AKANE OKUTSU/MITSURU OBE Tokyo
KIRAN SHARMA New Delhi

32 Southeast Asia’s remittances suffer

Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida speaks 24 Toyota, Canon and others free a record hit as migrant labor dries up
at the CES technology conference their patents to fight the virus SHOTARO TANI Jakarta
in Las Vegas in January 2019. NIKKEI STAFF WRITERS Tokyo
(Photo by Getty Images)

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 ON THE COVER
FAST
FORWARD
The pioneering Walkman
defined music-listening for a
generation -- but Sony failed to
Reuters
adapt the device when Apple’s
iPod entered the scene.
8 Nikkei Inc. No reproduction without permission.
Sony spent
years stuck
on pause.
CEO Kenichiro
Yoshida got it
rolling again.
JOHN GAPPER Nikkei Asian Review editor-at-large
JADA NAGUMO Nikkei staff writer
TOKYO Before the novel coronavirus outbreak
began, Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida had many
reasons to be optimistic. Under his leadership the
electronics-to-entertainment conglomerate had
regained its momentum, and with it the respect
of its shareholders. Yoshida, a quiet and reflective
figure, had seen off an attack by the U.S. activist
hedge fund Third Point, and was preparing for
the launch of the next generation of its iconic
PlayStation games console.
As he readies for Sony’s full-year results
announcement on May 13, and to make its annual
strategy presentation to investors a few days later,
the world outside the company’s 20-story Tokyo
headquarters has changed.
Its shares sunk as four of its factories in China
were temporarily shut and its Hollywood studio
had to halt production. The initial shock has worn
9
 ON THE COVER

off, and the share price has partly recovered
from its March lows. Its video games have even
experienced a boost from people needing to be
entertained during lockdowns.
But, like other global companies, Sony must now
navigate an uncertain environment, not knowing
fully the long-term impact, or how drastically
its business will be disrupted. Its leader at a
crucial time is not a charismatic extrovert like his
predecessor Kazuo Hirai, but a cool strategist who
helped to steer its transformation as chief financial
officer before taking over as chief executive in 2018.
His task was always complex and challenging, but
COVID-19 has made it monumental.
“The entire way people work or enjoy
entertainment may change, but their motivations
and inspirations and desire for entertainment
will not. It is too early to tell what kind of change
[there will be] but we will have to adapt to the
new world,” he said in an interview with the
Nikkei Asian Review. “The value of creating
excellent content will remain, whatever the
method of delivery is.”
Until the pandemic, Sony’s revival
from disarray in 2012 at the end of
Sir Howard Stringer’s troubled era as
chief executive had been striking --
its shares rose more than sixfold
by January this year before
falling sharply on the
outbreak. Investors
Kenichiro Yoshida, 60,
has spent his entire
career at Sony.
cheered when Hirai and Yoshida sold weaker
brands, such as its Vaio laptops, and as they
curtailed their ambitions for the Xperia mobile
phones when it became clear that they would not
match Apple’s iPhone. They proved that Sony
would cut its losses when necessary.
But Yoshida does not simply want to keep
slimming Sony. He rejected pressure from Third
Point to spin off its image sensors business, which
in 2018 held 51% of the world’s market for image
sensors, including smartphone cameras. He sees
a long-term future for Sony businesses that have
little in common with entertainment, such as life
insurance and medical equipment, which helped
to compensate for its electronics losses at times of
strain. “In the past, we used diversity to survive.
I want diversity to be a strength,” he said.
Its success in sensors and in video gaming,
with the PlayStation 4 easily beating the Microsoft
Xbox in the race to sell more than 100 million
units, have allowed him the benefit of the doubt.
But with this year’s launch of the PlayStation 5
overshadowed by COVID-19, and the future of
music and television in flux, Yoshida cannot
rely on it indefinitely. To restore Sony’s
halo as the company that invented
devices from the Walkman to the
PlayStation, he must not simply
go slow and steady to please
shareholders.
Although Sony has
recovered financially, some question its future as
an innovative force. “It is sad to see how a once-
great company like Sony is going down and down
in hardware. I don’t want to sound negative, but
it is an orderly retreat,” said Chang Sea-jin, a
professor at the National University of Singapore
and author of “Sony vs. Samsung.” “Yoshida is
a financial guy running a company focused on
profits and market valuation, not a great engineer.”
‘A NEED FOR HUMILITY’ When people first
meet Yoshida, they are often surprised that
instead of an extrovert, effusive, globe-trotting
chief executive of a tech company, they find an
amiable and quizzical figure who devotes as
much time and energy to listening to others as
talking. Now 60, he joined Sony in 1983 and spent
his entire career there, mostly in analytical roles in
strategy and finance, working out how to expand
the company.
“We realized how much Japan urgently and
indispensably required a company like ours,
with technological spirit and a set of management
policies,” Sony’s founder Masaru Ibuka wrote in
its first prospectus in 1946. It was this combination
of innovation and rigor that led to Sony’s half-
century streak of creation, from Japan’s first
transistor radio in 1955 to the Trinitron color
television in 1968, the Walkman in 1979 and the
PlayStation in 1994. In 2018, Yoshida recalled
learning from Akio Morita, co-founder, “a sense
of management urgency, a need for humility and
the importance of a long-term view.”
Yoshida’s humility is expressed through
curiosity. “He came to me and said, ‘Let’s talk
about medical things,’ and we met for dinner,”
said Toru Katsumoto, who heads Sony’s medical
business and research and development, of their
first meeting. “I spoke about medical imaging
and tried to explain the technology as simply as
possible, but he had read a lot before we met.
The entire I was surprised and impressed. Once or twice
way people a month, we have a face-to-face meeting and we
work or enjoy exchange ideas freely.”
entertainment His enthusiasm for educating himself extends
to junior employees, even in a country that
may change, regards corporate hierarchy as sacrosanct. It
but their helps that he is comfortable talking without a
motivations group of executives around him -- he will often
and sit alone with visitors, throwing out questions.
“Some of the younger generation engineers who
inspirations know about the latest technologies will go to his
and desire for office to teach him. Yoshida-san did not do an
entertainment engineering major, but he actually knows a lot
about technology,” Katsumoto said.
will not Yoshida’s quieter approach and willingness
to rethink past expansionism has something in
common with a new generation of technology
leaders, including Sundar Pichai at Google and
Kenichiro Yoshida Satya Nadella at Microsoft. Benedict Evans, an
Sony CEO
independent internet and technology analyst,
sees other similarities in the way that Nadella

1994 PLAYSTATION 2001 EVILLA 2013 ALPHA7R

Sony’s entry into a console Launched in June 2001, the eVilla was not quite Although Sony had a successful imaging
1975 BETAMAX market then dominated a computer. It could play audio and video files, sensor business supplying other camera makers,
Sony pioneered several media formats -- some that became global by Nintendo was and for a $22 monthly subscription, offered its own devices struggled to break through
standards, like the CD and the 3.5-inch floppy disk, and some, a startling success. access to the internet. It was immediately clear with many professionals and enthusiasts. The compact, powerful A7
like the MiniDisc, that didn’t. However, its most iconic failure remains Betamax, Over the next decade, that it could not compete with PCs, and by and A7R mirrorless cameras changed that, forcing market leaders
which fell behind the competing standard, VHS. Sony kept investing in the the PlayStation would sell September it had been withdrawn. Buyers were Canon and Nikon to rush to develop their own competing products.
format despite its failure, and only ceased production in 2016. more than 100 million units. offered full refunds.
PLAYSTATION 4
The latest in Sony’s line of games consoles,
the PlayStation 4 was a critical and commercial
1979 WALKMAN VAIO MUSIC CLIP 1999 2000 PLAYSTATION 2 2006 MYLO success, selling more than 100 million units.
The pioneering portable Sony preempted the iPod by two years with the Music Clip, a portable The follow-up to the surprise success A hand-held device shaped The PlayStation 5 was announced in 2019, to be
music player was a digital music player. However, the player used an unpopular of the PlayStation cemented Sony’s like a games console, released in late 2020.
cultural phenomenon in proprietary file format that was quickly superseded by the MP3. place in the games the Mylo offered young But with gaming moving onto
the 1980s and 1990s, market. Sony sold consumers a portable way to use popular the cloud and mobile devices,
selling more than 200 AIBO 150 million units, messaging services, including Skype, AOL analysts question whether
million units. It cemented The mechanical dog that could walk, wave, and respond to spoken and users bought IM and Yahoo Messenger. It had no cellular the era of the console
the dominance of the cassette tape commands became a shorthand for Japan’s apparent lead in robotics. a collective 1.5 connection, and only ran on Wi-Fi. Three is coming to an end.
over vinyl, and paved the way for its Commercially, it was a failure, and Sony discontinued the line in 2006. billion games months after the Mylo was launched, Apple
digital equivalents decades later. In 2018, however, Sony launched its first new Aibo in over a decade. for the platform. CEO Steve Jobs announced the iPhone. Source photos by Getty Images

10 Nikkei Inc. No reproduction without permission. 11


Reuters
Sony’s then-president, Nobuyuki
Idei, right, ties up a broadcast deal
with media tycoons including
Rupert Murdoch in 1997.
and Yoshida pleased investors: “A lot of what
Nadella did was capitulate and say, ‘This is where
we are now and this is what we are going to do,’
rather than chasing the glories of the past.”
Fellow executives insist that Yoshida is more
than a backroom thinker -- he spent seven years
outside the head office at its internet services arm
Sony Network Communications, taking it public
as its president in 2005. But more of his career has
been spent in strategy and finance under other
CEOs, including Nobuyuki Idei in the late 1990s.
Perhaps as a result, he has a clear philosophy
of leadership, including the need to consider all
angles before making difficult decisions.
A leader must “make necessary decisions
at necessary times and take responsibility for
the result. Unnecessary quick decisions are not
good. Any necessary decision is tough, and it is
very difficult to know it is objectively correct,”
Yoshida said. Alongside this responsibility, he
puts two other tasks -- “to lay out the direction
of the company, which includes its purpose and
direction as well as identity” and “to decide who
to entrust with what tasks and for how long.”
His approach is even appreciated by Third
Point, the hedge fund that has pressed him
to restructure Sony. Third Point is known for
attacking some CEOs aggressively, but it praised
“the thoughtful leadership of Yoshida-san” when
it took a $1.5 billion stake last June. Despite their
differences, this harmony has endured, helped by
his willingness to consider the fund’s proposals
12
ON THE COVER
in detail. “His attitude is not just ‘I’m doing this
because I’ve been forced to,’” says one person
close to Third Point. “They think he is a good
operator who wants to create value.”
READY PLAYER ONE If video games were still
in the vanguard of consumer electronics, Sony
would be in a powerful position. The PlayStation
4 has been a huge hit since its 2013 launch, with
cumulative sales exceeding 100 million units,
more than twice those of Microsoft’s Xbox; Sony’s
Marvel’s Spider-Man game for the platform has
The things sold 13 million units alone. While Nintendo’s
Switch is loved by casual gamers, hardcore
Sony did gaming enthusiasts remain Sony devotees.
... stopped
Sony also made its earnings from gaming
mattering. Half less cyclical by reducing financial dependence
of the products on launching and selling a new version of
PlayStation every six or seven years. In 2015, it
don’t exist and launched PlayStation Now, an online streaming
the other got service allowing users to pick from a collection
consumed into of more than 400 titles to play on their consoles
smartphones or PC for about $10 a month. PlayStation Plus,
another service on which users can access online
multiplayer games, has 38 million subscribers.
Its emphasis on recurring revenues has pleased
many investors. “Sony is the only Japanese
Benedict Evans
Independent electronics company to have surpassed its profit
technology analyst levels [from] before the Lehman crisis. Yoshida
knew the company had to become sustainable and
continuity in growth was valuable. That is why he
Prodigal Sony
Since hitting share price lows in 2012, Sony has seen a turnaround under Chief Executive
Kenichiro Yoshida, who refocused the company’s efforts away from the crowded
field of consumer electronics and toward intellectual property.
Tokyo Stock Exchange, monthly closing price (In yen)
12,000
8,000
4,000
0
May ‘05 ‘10 ‘15 Apr.
Reuters
2000 ‘20
Source: QUICK-FactSet
made ‘recurring’ a keyword,” said Masahiro Ono, From semiconductors
an analyst at Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities. to Spider-Man
“I believe this makes him a successful CEO.” Sony’s businesses are
In the long term, Sony faces the growth diverse, ranging from
entertainment to imaging
of cloud-based gaming over fifth-generation
sensors to financial
networks, and the launch of smartphone-based services. Its gaming
platforms such as Apple’s Arcade and Google’s division has become
a runaway success:
Stadia. But for now, streaming drawbacks such
Revenues have more than
as latency in multiplayer games gives consoles tripled, and now make up
an edge and bolsters its franchise. In February, more than a quarter of
Reuters
overall sales. But analysts
it predicted that games and network services will
warn the company’s
comprise 23% of revenues and 27% of operating traditional focus on
profit in its 2019 full-year results, which will be hardware may leave it
unprepared for the
announced on May 13. Shop assistants hold back crowds
Sony surprised many analysts last May by
advent of cloud gaming.
clamoring to buy the PlayStation 3
Breakdown of sales console in Tokyo in 2006.
announcing a cloud gaming tie-up with its main
(In percent)
gaming rival, Microsoft -- an acknowledgement
that the dominance of the console may be on FY2011 goes, is dwarfed by the smartphone. Sony’s
the wane. 100 million PS4 sales are tiny in comparison to
Sony’s interactive business has also gained
7.6 9.6
Apple’s installed base of 1.5 billion devices. Sony
13.3 10.5
from COVID-19, and the eagerness of people to Total was outsmarted by Apple first with the iPod
be entertained at home. Social distancing only 6.6 6.49 and then the iPhone, having failed to adapt the
trillion yen
encourages gamers to interact remotely with 10.1 22.4 Walkman for the internet era. It was an expensive
each other. It has responded with a Play at Home 19.8 strategic error that leaves Sony hoping somehow
initiative, including letting gamers download some to regain leadership in the post-smartphone era of
titles for free. “There is huge demand on the games FY2018 consumer technology.
side. ... It is vital for employees to feel that they do “The things Sony did that placed them on
3.9 5.6
good for society, and delivering content to homes every magazine cover stopped mattering. Half
14.4
is socially very important right now,” Yoshida said. of the products don’t exist and the other got
25.9
The pandemic has been less helpful for the Total consumed into smartphones,” said Evans. “The
9.0
planned launch of the PlayStation 5, scheduled for 8.93 world moved to software and they did not make
trillion yen
release during the 2020 year-end holiday season. 11.0 the leap. They own a studio and the world’s
The console will be compatible with ultrahigh- 17.3
biggest music publisher, but those have no
12.9
definition 8K displays and have a solid-state drive strategic leverage for hardware.”
to offer quick loading times. “The PS5 will likely be The irony for Sony is that it is increasingly
Mobile
very high-spec and users can anticipate a deeper successful in smartphones -- not as a brand,
Game and network
sense of immersion,” said Yoshiharu Izumi, a services but as a components maker. The fact that many
senior analyst as SBI Securities. But no matter how Imaging and sensing* devices have three or four cameras has raised
eagerly Sony gamers await the PS5, the pandemic Home entertainment demand for its CMOS (complementary metal-
and sound
makes an attention-grabbing launch harder. Movies
oxide-semiconductor) sensors so much that Sony
Sony’s bigger problem is that the games Music is investing more than $900 million to expand
console, no matter how well the PS5 launch Financial services capacity by building a new plant in Nagasaki
Other Prefecture. Sony estimated in February that its
*Includes semiconductors and sensors business would produce more than
devices
Source: Company
1 trillion yen in revenues in the 2019 financial
year, and only slightly less in operating profits
than its games business.
Aibo, Sony’s revolutionary
It was the sensors operation that attracted Third
-- but commercially Point to Sony last June, arguing that it was one of
unsuccessful -- robot dog. the most undervalued large-cap businesses in the
Nikkei Inc. No reproduction without permission. 13

world. The hedge fund wanted Sony to spin off
sensors into what it said could become a $35 billion
stand-alone business, and to focus on gaming,
music and films as an entertainment group.
Yoshida responded with a strategic review of its
assets, but decided last September to hold onto
sensors, instead selling off the remaining 5% stake
it held in fellow Japanese tech company Olympus.
“I greatly value an open dialogue with
shareholders. It is incredibly important as well as
useful for us as I carry out my duties,” Yoshida
said of Third Point. “Any proposal creates an
opportunity for us to rethink our business portfolio
[and] the demand to focus is very important.” But
he shows no inclination to succumb to short-term
demands from investors. “Management is very
operational, and investors are clearly financial.
They have a put option and can sell at any time.”
WONDER AND EXCITEMENT For a company
famed for consumer entertainment, Sony has
always taken a liberal view of its scope. It not only
14
ON THE COVER
Sony's giant image makes sensors for smartphones, but high-end
sensor business claims professional cameras and surgical microscopes. Its
financial services arm Sony Financial Holdings,
over which began by offering life insurance in 1981, has
a subsidiary that operates nursing homes. In 2013,
half
the global market
at the low point of its post-Lehman crisis, Sony
Financial contributed two-thirds of Sony’s profits.
Sony’s motto is “kando” -- making products
and services that create a sense of wonder and
Estimated
stand-alone value: excitement, and most of its consumer devices
are for entertainment. But it is clearly thinking
more broadly about the future. At the Consumer
$35 Electronics Show held in Las Vegas in January,
it unveiled a self-driving concept car that would
billion use its sensors to navigate. “The megatrend
after smartphones will be mobility, and we will
Source: Sony, Third Point contribute to its evolution from the perspective of
safety, security and entertainment,” Yoshida said.
PlayStation 4 sales have exceeded
100 million units, more than twice
those of Microsoft’s Xbox.
AP
Such diversity is more characteristic of a
Japanese conglomerate than a Western company,
and Yoshida emphasizes the financial value
of having a broad portfolio of products with
differing life cycles. “As well as entertainment, we
have businesses to support people, like medical
or life insurance. The time scale is long in medical
equipment, quite opposite from smartphones.
This diversity stabilizes the company.”
Diversity could also hold back Sony’s valuation.
“The big thing that Third Point keeps telling them
is that Sony is a great global company, but it is not
perceived in the way it should be,” said one person
Getty Images
close to the discussions. Hideki Yasuda, an analyst
at Ace Research Institute, agrees that perception
lags reality. “Yoshida’s accomplishment has been
huge and has contributed to growth, but investors
have not appreciated Sony’s strength. The point is
Sony displays its VR technology at the
to bridge the gap between the Sony that investors
$1.5
Consumer Electronics Show in 2019.
see and the transformed one,” he said.
Hirai and Yoshida worked to correct one of
billion While Third Point has pushed for it to spin off
Sony’s worst conglomerate weaknesses -- that
its hardware and entertainment arms were silos sensors, others have suggested it should exploit
that did not communicate with each other. the intense demand for film and television content
“Six or seven years ago, it was really siloed and Value of Sony stake from streaming services such as Netflix and Apple
we did not talk to the entertainment people -- the disclosed by activist TV+ by selling its studio -- the biggest independent
fund Third Point,
synergy did not happen. But we now have a real one still standing -- during what could be a price
once the company's
relationship,” Katsumoto said. “Jim Ryan [head of bubble. Yoshida demurs. “That is a financial way of
largest investor
games division Sony Interactive Entertainment] thinking,” he said. “Visual content is clearly a core
and Tony Vinciquerra [head of Sony Pictures Source: Third Point for a creative entertainment company. We need to
Entertainment] are partners, and even friends.” think about the long-term future of the business.”
Having restored investors’ trust, Yoshida prefers
to keep his options open in a changing world. As
its display at CES showed, he wants Sony to take a
Game on bigger share of the growing market for self-driving
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Sony was the clear leader in video games
with its then-peerless PlayStation console. But by 2008, its market share had fallen vehicles by selling packages of sensors, including
to around a third, eaten into by Nintendo and Microsoft. (In percent) crucial “lidar” vision sensors, to automakers.
Further into the future, he sees Sony sensors
100
and technology embedded in many devices.
Microsoft
80 “I sometimes think that the ‘internet of things’
is just a transition to the ‘intelligence of things.’”
60 Sony The impact of technology is now clouded by
Sega the outbreak of COVID-19, making it harder to
40 judge. But Sony’s medical products, and even
its life insurance business, might turn out to be
20 Nintendo* hidden strengths in the world after coronavirus.
Entertainment has a social value, but so does
0 keeping people healthy and secure. “Right now,
1998 2000 ‘02 ‘04 ‘06 ‘08 ‘10 ‘12 ‘14 ‘16 ‘18
what I can do is keep our employees safe,”
Figures may not add up to 100 due to rounding
Yoshida said. “It is the most important thing.”
*Including Nintendo Switch Source: IHS Markit
Nikkei Inc. No reproduction without permission. 15
 BUSINESS
MANILA Philippine fast-food king Tony Tan
COMPANY IN FOCUS Caktiong has always wanted to rule the world.
DOMINATION
“Since the start of Jollibee Foods 40 years ago,
I have always dreamed [for] it to be the largest
food company” on the planet, Tan Caktiong
ON HOLD
told shareholders in June 2018, explaining his
decision to buy struggling Denver, Colorado-based
hamburger chain Smashburger.
But after upping the ante in 2019 with the
purchase of California-based Coffee Bean & Tea
Leaf and going up against the likes of international
Jollibee’s quest for a global restaurant empire
powerhouses such as Starbucks and Dunkin’
Donuts, Tan Caktiong’s dreams have met with a
will have to wait until after the pandemic harsher reality.
Not only are both U.S. acquisitions still losing
money, but the coronavirus pandemic has blown a
gaping hole in Jollibee’s 2020 revenue forecasts.
Shares in Jollibee Foods have plunged 25% this
year, forcing the company to drastically rethink its
CLIFF VENZON Nikkei staff writer
global expansion plans.
“My biggest concern on Jollibee Foods
Corporation is that the COVID-19 situation
exacerbates things for Smashburger and CBTL
and pushes back their break-even periods versus
what management internally expects,” Renzo
Candano, analyst at Daiwa Securities, told the
Nikkei Asian Review.
Since January 2019, investors have wiped nearly
$4 billion from Jollibee’s market capitalization --
around 55% of the company’s value -- as the two
money-losing U.S. acquisitions squeezed profit
margins to an 18-year low, according to FactSet data.
Jollibee’s current market value of $3.2 billion
puts it in 18th on the list of the world’s largest
restaurant companies, according to FactSet, a far
cry from the top-five position Tan Caktiong wants.
Of key concern to investors was Jollibee’s
acquisition of loss-making Coffee Bean, which has
over a thousand outlets in 27 countries, for $330
million, and its 2018 decision to up its 40% stake in
struggling Smashburger to 100%.
The deal valued Smashburger at $210 million
and deepened Jollibee’s exposure in America’s
brutally competitive restaurant sector.
Jollibee had looked to turn those assets around
in 2021, but the pandemic has cast new doubts on
A culinary icon in the Philippines, those goals, with Coffee Bean and Smashburger
Jollibee was hoping to open 600 stores continuing to burn cash.
Cliff Venzon
this year, over half of them overseas.
Restaurant reservations and visits in many U.S.
But the coronavirus pandemic
has pushed those plans back. states started plummeting in February and fell
to zero in April, according to data compiled by
16 Nikkei Inc. No reproduction without permission.
Jollibee Foods OpenTable, a U.S. restaurant booking service.
In March alone the industry lost over 3 million
The largest fast-food
chain in the Philippines jobs and $25 billion in sales, according to the
National Restaurant Association, an industry lobby
Founded, main office
1978, Pasig, Philippines
group, which has called for a government rescue.
“This will make it even tougher for management
Revenue (2019) to get them [Smashburger and Coffee Bean] to
179.63 billion pesos
profitability,” Raymond Franco, vice president
(US$3.56 billion)*
and head of research at Manila brokerage Abacus
Key executive Securities, told Nikkei. “So, I think expansion plans
will be on hold for at least the next year or two.”
Tony Tan Caktiong, Chairman
Further trouble awaits at home, where a
*At current rates
lockdown by President Rodrigo Duterte across the
island of Luzon, the Philippines’ economic engine,
will likely throw the country into recession.
“There is strong correlation between Jollibee’s
revenues and profits and gross domestic product,”
Franco said. He expects up to $600 million in
system-wide sales losses for Jollibee during the
lockdown, and even a recovery in the second half
is “unlikely to offset a significant portion of the
lost sales.”
Pia Magalong, consumer analyst at Regina
Capital Development, a local brokerage, said
the consumer sector in the Philippines will be
especially hard hit.
“We are looking beyond 2020 before Jollibee
returns to normalcy,” said Magalong, adding that
she expects core earnings to be lower this year.
According to Magalong, people will continue
to observe physical distancing even after the
lockdown, posing a challenge for restaurants
hoping to see a pickup in foot traffic.
“I think we are seeing a shift in consumer
behavior -- more home cooking and food delivery,”
Jollibee Foods’ earnings growth slows amid expansion
(In billions of pesos)
System-wide sales* Net income
250 10
200 8
150 6
100 4
50 2
0 0
2015 ‘16 ‘17 ‘18 ‘19 2015 ‘16 ‘17 ‘18 ‘19
*Sales from franchised and company-owned stores Source: Jollibee Foods Corporation
17
 BUSINESS

tasted international success by opening A Smashburger outlet in

Jollibee Foods’ global presence
outlets in countries with large Filipino Manhattan: Jollibee is yet to turn
Number of Jollibee stores, subsidiaries and affiliate stores communities, especially in the U.S. and around the American burger chain
(As of February 2020) Canada that it took over in 2018.
the Middle East, but that expansion has
Kuwait
U.K. Bahrain South Korea continued across Asia with the acquisition
Oman Hong Kong U.S.
of China’s Yonghe King and Highlands for a reason,” Franco said. “My view

Cliff Venzon
Italy China
Macao Coffee and Pho24 in Vietnam. is that Jollibee doesn’t need another
Saudi Vietnam Jollibee’s flagship brand outsells all headache at this point and management
Arabia India Guam
1,000 American rivals at home. Together with is still smarting from the huge hit to the
Qatar Brunei its sister brands that include Red Ribbon share price after acquiring CBTL.”
500
UAE Malaysia Bakeshop, Greenwich Pizza and the local Jollibee did not respond to a request
Burger King franchise, today Jollibee and drive-thru business channels.” earlier this year with a $600 million bond for comment from Nikkei, but in an
Indonesia 100
Singapore controls over half of the Philippines’ $5 Some analysts also argue that while issue, the first time it had tapped capital April 7 report to the stock exchange,
billion fast-food market. the virus has wreaked havoc on the markets since its initial public offering Tanmantiong said Jollibee was hoping
In the Philippines Still, despite dominating the domestic food service industry generally, the in 1993. customer loyalty would help restore
0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 quick-service restaurant sector, Jollibee current crisis could also present buying Abacus Securities’ Franco noted that business once the pandemic recedes.
Jollibee
has struggled to shield itself against opportunities. while the opportunity for cheap assets “We believe that our consumers
Mang Inasal the pandemic. Jollibee has previously stated that it was “plausible,” the case for major new will continue patronizing strongly our
Chowking One potential bright spot is China, wants to have six brands in the U.S., and acquisitions in the U.S. remained weak. products and services, once constraints
Red Ribbon
where Jollibee is back on its feet after that the company remains on the hunt for “Any asset that might become available related to the control of the COVID-19 are
Greenwich
CBTL temporarily closing 107 of its 342 stores affordable assets that it can grow. at a cheaper price will probably be cheap lifted,” Tanmantiong said.
Burger King at the height of the epidemic there in “If Jollibee’s management is still in
Highlands Coffee
February, according to a report to the acquisition mode, which might be the
PHO24 1 Coffee Bean locations end of 2018;
Panda Express Philippine Stock Exchange made in April. case, now might actually be a good time
1 Smashburger locations outside U.S. not reflected
Jollibee Foods’ share price falls despite expansion (In Philippine pesos) 8
Source: Jollibee press releases And while dine-in services at most U.S. for acquisitions because the COVID-19
7 9
outlets have been suspended, Jollibee has situation may lower the valuations of 400 1 2 3 10
6
moved quickly to capitalize on the surge some restaurant brands on the market,” 5 11
300
in demand for home delivery. 4 12
Magalong said. “I don’t think this trend greater organic store expansion than in Daiwa’s Candano said.
200
will end after the lockdown is lifted.” the Philippines. “While the COVID-19 pandemic has While much of the attention on Jollibee’s
Already, Jollibee’s net income fell While meeting that target might have brought unprecedented disruption to U.S. operations has focused on the $540 100
21.7% to 6.43 billion pesos ($127 million) calmed some critics, Franco believes our operations in the Philippines and million outlay for Smashburger and Coffee 0
last year partly on losses from its U.S. Jollibee had no choice but to preserve other parts of the world, we are already Bean, Jollibee’s foray into Mexican concept Dec. Mar. June Sept. Dec. Mar. June Sept. Dec. Apr.
2017 ‘18 ‘19 ‘20
assets. Excluding valuation gains from liquidity amid the crisis. planning for the full restoration of dining in 2018 shows that the company is
the acquisition of Coffee Bean, recurring For Jollibee’s founder, who is the son our operations,” Jollibee CEO Ernesto also prepared to grow smaller businesses. 2018
earnings fell 51%, according to Daiwa’s of poor immigrants from China’s Fujian Tanmantiong, the founder’s younger After paying $12.4 million for a 47% 1 Feb. 13 Jollibee takes control of Smashburger, bringing stake to 85% from 40%
estimates. Province, overcoming the pandemic brother, told the stock exchange. stake in Tortas Frontera, a restaurant 2 Dec. 14 Jollibee becomes 100% owner of Smashburger
Overall sales, meanwhile, rose 14.9% to looms as one of the biggest challenges of “We expect growth to resume even if founded by celebrity chef Rick Bayless, 2019
243.79 billion pesos after absorbing Coffee his career. gradually, driven by our delivery, take out Tan Caktiong and Bayless launched the 3 July 24 Jollibee announces deal to buy Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf for $350 million
Bean onto its books. As of February, Starting out on just a dream in 1975, Tortazo restaurant in Chicago in January 2020
the company had 3,317 stores in the Tan Caktiong founded Jollibee as an ice with plans to add another in New York 4 Jan. 16 Jollibee announces $600 million bond sale, first time to tap capital market since
Philippines and 2,664 abroad. cream parlor in downtown Manila. next year. 1993 IPO
In a further sign of its downbeat In the nearly five decades since, he has Analysts also point to Jollibee’s decision 5 Feb. 10 Jollibee shuts down a third of China stores as coronavirus spreads
prospects for this year, Jollibee has slashed turned it into an unlikely phenomenon in 2018 not to engage in a bidding war for 6 18 Jollibee says 2019 income fell 14% (unaudited income)
its capital expenditures to 5 billion pesos that has captivated Filipino tastes -- and British sandwich and coffee chain Pret A 7 Mar. 12 Duterte announces lockdown of Metro Manila
Jollibee founder
from a record spending program of 14 baffled foreigners -- with an idiosyncratic and Chairman Manger -- which was eventually sold to 8 16 Duterte announces lockdown of vital Luzon Island until April 12
billion pesos. mixes such as sweet-sauce spaghetti Tony Tan Caktiong. JAB Holdings for $2 billion, twice amount 9 26 U.S. officially becomes epicenter of the new coronavirus
Jollibee had planned to open 600 stores studded with hot dog pieces and Jollibee said it was prepared to pay -- as 10 Apr. 6 Duterte extends Luzon lockdown to April 30
this year, more than half of them overseas, chunks of ham and hamburgers a sign that Tan Caktiong has been able to 11 7 Jollibee declares 62 centavo per share cash dividend, explains COVID-19 impact
Keiicihro Asahara

a move that would have made 2020 the enhanced with sweet show restraint. on business
first year in the company’s history when ketchup-mayo dressing. Overall, said Candano, Jollibee has a 12 24 Duterte extends lockdown of Manila and nearby areas to May 15
its international business generated Tan Caktiong first healthy balance sheet, which it shored up Source: QUICK-FactSet

18 Nikkei Inc. No reproduction without permission. 19


Spirited defiance
As China’s alcohol makers struggle during the coronavirus,
Kweichow Moutai’s sales of ‘baijiu’ soar with the help of brand recognition
KENJI KAWASE Nikkei Asian Review chief business news correspondent
TOKYO The coronavirus has paralyzed
the Chinese economy and cut down on so-
cializing and drinking at restaurants and
bars, but one of the country’s most famous
spirit brands has made merry regardless.
Kweichow Moutai, a state-owned
distiller that makes the sorghum-based
hard liquor baijiu, bucked the downtrend
with a 13% year-on-year rise in sales
for the January to March quarter. Its net
profit climbed 17% to 13.09 billion yuan
($1.85 billion).
20
BUSINESS
Kweichow Moutai, a distiller of
baijiu, a sorghum-based liquor, has
bucked the sharp downturn
in China’s alcoholic drinks industry,
partly due to its image as the
“state liquor.”
The latest figures continue a streak of
stellar growth for the company, which is
based from the underdeveloped south-
western province of Guizhou.
Kweichow Moutai’s shares, listed in
Shanghai, have risen 7% this year until
the end of April, compared with an 6%
decline for the Shanghai Composite Index.
Despite governance concerns, Kweichow
Moutai has become one of the most valu-
able companies in the global spirits indus-
try, with a market capitalization of 1.59
Reuters
trillion yuan, or $225 billion, far surpass-
ing better-known competitors like Diageo,
at around $80 billion.
The scale of its success is all the more
apparent when compared with some of its
Chinese peers. Rival baijiu maker Sichuan
Swellfun, more familiar to Chinese con-
sumers by its brand name, Shuijingfang,
saw sales drop 22% and net profit fall 13%
from the same period last year. Swellfun’s
operating cash flow shrank 67%, while
Moutai’s jumped 94% to 2.3 billion yuan.
Other Chinese drink makers also had
a devastating first quarter. Zhejiang
Guyuelongshan Shaoxing Wine, which
makes huangjiu, a pale yellow rice wine,
saw sales fall 42%. Its peer Shanghai
Jinfeng Wine said the pandemic “basically
brought social dining to a halt” as it was
dragged to a net loss in the first quarter.
It was a similar story for the coun-
try’s top two brewers, China Resources
Beer and Tsingtao Brewery, where turn-
over during the first two months of the
year dropped more than 20%. The coun-
try’s total beer production in the first
three months slid 33.8% to 5.495 million
kiloliters.
What makes Moutai different has a lot
to do with its brand image as the “state
liquor.” It has long been served at state
banquets, including one hosted in 1972 by
Premier Zhou Enlai at the Great Hall of the
People in Beijing to entertain visiting U.S.
President Richard Nixon.
Later, bottles of the spirit became prized
gifts and a target for speculators, though it
suffered at the height of the anti-corruption
campaign by President Xi Jinping.
“KCMT [Moutai] benefited from its
brand, which enjoys widespread recog-
nition in China,” said Kevin Sun of CCB
International Securities, after the compa-
ny’s quarterly earnings announcement
was made. “As its competitors struggle,
we expect [Moutai] to maintain momen-
tum throughout the remainder [of 2020], a
year fraught with uncertainty.”
The analyst at the Hong Kong-based unit
of China Construction Bank maintained the
stock’s outperform rating, raising its target
Nikkei Inc. No reproduction without permission.
price to 1,381.30 yuan from 1,207.00 yuan.
Moutai shares closed at 1,279.13 yuan the
day after the earnings announcement.
Mark Yuan, an equity analyst at Jefferies
Hong Kong, maintained a buy rating with
a target price of 1,480 yuan. “We expect
there is little impact from COVID-19 on
its growth, given the underlying demand
growth is much higher than its supply
growth,” he said. Reflecting the general
market view, he expects “resilient growth
to continue in the rest of the year.”
Anson Chan at Daiwa Capital Markets
in Hong Kong, however, has doubts,
pointing to a fall in customer deposits on
its balance sheet to 6.9 billion yuan as of
the end of March, almost 40% lower than
Getty Images
a year ago. “We see risk in Moutai’s reve-
nue growth in the near term, due to order
book weakness, as indicated in the decline
in customer deposits,” she said, keeping a
Moutai was served at a famous hold rating on the company’s shares.
1972 banquet when Chinese What could be more worrying, espe-
Premier Zhou Enlai hosted U.S. cially for non-Chinese investors, is Moutai’s
President Richard Nixon.
governance structure. The company’s con-
trolling shareholder is Kweichow Moutai
Group, which owns 58% of its shares.
The parent, in turn, is 100% owned by the
Guizhou provincial government, which is
controlled by the Communist Party.
As its competitors Early in March, the company’s board
struggle, we expect said it had received a recommendation to
[Moutai] to maintain appoint Gao Weidong as its new chairman,
in accordance with the provincial govern-
momentum ment’s directive. The 47-year-old Gao is a
throughout the party member and a technocrat who rose
remainder [of 2020], through the local bureaucracy. He has
no experience in the company or in the
a year fraught with distillery business. He was most recently
uncertainty the head of the province’s transportation
department.
Back in December, Kweichow Moutai
Kevin Sun Group suddenly transferred 4% of
CCB International Securities Kweichow Moutai’s shares to the Guizhou
government free of charge. Applying the
share price then, the transaction would
have been worth about 60 billion yuan.
The move, according to the listed com-
pany’s filing, was based on a “claim made
through relevant notice” from the finan-
cially troubled provincial government.
21

National priorities
Coordinated global efforts for a COVID-19 vaccine take
a back seat as countries pour money into company research
NORIYUKI TAKADA and MINORU SATAKE Nikkei staff writers
TOKYO/LONDON Countries around the
world are shoveling huge sums at drug
companies to aid development, clinical
trials and mass production of COVID-19
vaccines, overshadowing coordinated
global efforts.
The U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research
and Development Authority has poured
$1.2 billion into the hunt since early
March, when the pandemic began to gain
momentum in America. The office was
created in 2006 under the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services to help
protect the nation from bioterrorism and
other threats.
BARDA is investing in not only the
vaccines themselves, but also their supply
chains, so that they can quickly be distrib-
uted to the public once approved. It has
jointly committed more than $1 billion
22
BUSINESS
Countries are investing in coronavirus
vaccine research that would prioritize
Reuters
domestic supplies.
with Johnson & Johnson to develop capac-
ity for a billion-plus doses.
Biotechnology company Moderna has
announced a BARDA award of up to
$483 million for its vaccine candidate. The
agency is believed to have committed to
buying the product in quantity even be-
fore efficacy is established.
The U.S. aims to have hundreds of
millions of doses available by January,
according to Anthony Fauci, who heads
the National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases and sits on the White
House coronavirus task force.
“You don’t wait until you get an answer
before you start manufacturing,” he has
said. “You, at risk, proactively, start mak-
ing it, assuming it’s going to work.”
Other countries are also ramping up
support for vaccine development. In
Nikkei Inc. No reproduction without permission.
China, three companies and research
institutes are believed to be receiving
government support to fund, plan clinical
trials for and produce vaccine candidates.
The country has prioritized proving their
effectiveness over safety, allowing devel-
opment to move quickly.
One of the trio, CanSino Biologics, has
become the first player in the world to
enter second-phase clinical trials, which
gauge efficacy. The goal is to commercial-
ize a vaccine by the end of the year -- a feat
that could boost China’s diplomatic clout.
The U.K. has announced 20 million
pounds ($25 million) for Oxford University
to aid its vaccine project. A recently an-
nounced partnership by the university and
AstraZeneca aims to churn out 100 million
doses by year-end and prioritize supply to
the U.K.
The European Union has also stepped
up, offering 80 million euros ($88 million)
to a key German vaccine maker in a likely
attempt to ensure that the company priori-
tizes the bloc over the U.S.
But the EU lacks a single agency run-
ning point on vaccine development, pos-
sibly slowing efforts there.
“Currently, Europe has no BARDA
equivalent, meaning that the EU has lim-
ited vaccine manufacturing capabilities
and countries are independently respon-
sible for stockpiling medical supplies and
medications,” wrote Paul Hudson, CEO of
France’s Sanofi, in a commentary piece on
Fortune magazine’s website. “This leads
to competition for scarce resources. We
can do better; I’ve called for the creation of
a European BARDA equivalent to help us
build regional capacities.”
The Japan Agency for Medical Research
and Development has extended assistance
to vaccine developers, though it is limited
in size and scope. With no guarantee of
foreign-made vaccines quickly reaching
Japanese shores, the country will likely
need to help domestic developers increase
their production capabilities as well.
Additional reporting by Taisei Hoyama
in Washington.
Make in India,
COVID-style
New Delhi rejects China test
kits, boosts domestic output
KIRAN SHARMA Nikkei staff writer
NEW DELHI India is ramping up domes-
tic production of coronavirus testing kits
as questions are raised about the accuracy
of rapid antibody kits supplied by Chinese
manufacturers.
The government hopes the move,
which involves halting all testing using the
Chinese products, will enable it to double
testing capacity to 100,000 per day.
“We will have indigenous production
of good-quality antibody kits, and also
the [RT-PCR] kits for detection of the
virus. I think all this is going to come in
the next couple of weeks,” Health Minister
Harsh Vardhan said on April 30 in an
online meeting with civil society and
nongovernmental organizations.
Domestic production will also help to
meet the target of conducting 100,000 tests
a day by May 31, Vardhan said at another
event.
The RT-PCR, or reverse transcription
polymerase chain reaction, a molecular
probe that authorities call the “gold stan-
Reuters
dard” test to detect the virus, is conducted
by examining a sample from a nasal or
throat swab. The results take up to eight
hours to come back.
Among the local companies authorized
by the Central Drugs Standard Control
A doctor uses a nasal swab to
test a girl for the coronavirus
in Ahmedabad, India, on April 30.
The government authorized several
domestic companies to make test
kits after finding problems with
Chinese products.
Organization to develop test kits are
Mylab, Medsource Ozone Biomedicals,
Voxtur Bio and Alpine Biomedicals.
The change comes amid reliability con-
cerns about the kits supplied by Chinese
manufacturers Guangzhou Wondfo Biotech
and Zhuhai Livzon Diagnostics.
The Indian Council of Medical Research
on April 27 told local governments to
stop using tests made by the two Chinese
companies and return them to suppliers,
after it found that results from the kits
showed wide variation, “despite early
promise of good performance for surveil-
lance purposes.”
Ji Rong, a spokesperson for the Chinese
Embassy in India, slammed the decision,
saying, “It is unfair and irresponsible for
certain individuals to label Chinese prod-
ucts as ‘faulty’ and look at issues with
preemptive prejudice.”
The Indian government, meanwhile,
continues to stress that the RT-PCR test is
the most reliable method to check for the
virus. Such tests are being conducted at
nearly 400 government and private labo-
ratories across the country. When India’s
first coronavirus case came to light -- on
Jan. 30 -- only one lab performed that test.
As of the end of April, India had tested
more than 830,200 samples, confirming
33,610 cases of coronavirus, including
1,075 deaths. The nationwide lockdown,
which is scheduled to remain in force until
Read more at asia.nikkei.com
May 17, has helped slow the spread of
the disease.
“We have progressively scaled up [test-
ing],” Lav Agarwal, joint secretary at the
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,
told a media briefing on April 30. “From
a few hundred per day, we have come to
the level where 58,686 tests had been done
in the country [on April 29], with 49,800
RT-PCR tests on an average, per day, in the
last five days.”
Experts, however, say India, a country
of over 1.3 billion, must do much more on
the testing front.
The country needs to do about 2 million
tests a day if it is to get the level of con-
fidence seen in the U.S., said Raghuram
Rajan, former head of India’s central bank,
in a video call on April 30 with Rahul
Gandhi, leader of the country’s main oppo-
sition force, the Indian National Congress.
“Clearly, we are nowhere near that.”
Rajan said, stressing the need for mass
testing.
Archana Jyoti, a New Delhi-based
health columnist, pointed out that India is
doing only about 600 tests per million peo-
ple. “Obviously, the country needs to scale
up testing. But at the same time, the health
infrastructure must be strengthened,” she
said, noting that more tests could lead to
additional positive cases, which would
require having sufficient medical facilities
in place.
23

Photos by Reuters
Patently
generous
Toyota and Canon among
companies freeing their
patents to fight the virus
NIKKEI STAFF WRITERS
TOKYO About 20 Japanese companies,
including Toyota Motor and Canon, will
release patents and other intellectual
property held in Japan and overseas for
free to help fight the new coronavirus,
Nikkei has learned.
The goal is to make it easier for busi-
nesses and research organizations to de-
velop medical devices as well as testing
and treatment technologies. The hope is
that it will lead to a faster resolution of the
crisis, which threatens to seriously affect
the global economy.
The idea was initially proposed by
professor Fumihiko Matsuda, head of
the Center for Genomic Medicine at the
Graduate School of Medicine at Kyoto
University. Nissan Motor, Honda Motor,
Shimadzu, Ajinomoto Group and Tokyo-
based SRL, a member of the Miraca Group,
will also participate.
Organizers will continue to call on a
wide range of companies to join the initia-
24
BUSINESS
tive. The group’s office will be located at
GenoConcierge Kyoto, a startup launched
out of Kyoto University.
All patents, utility model rights, de-
sign rights and copyrights owned by
each company will, in principle, be made
free of charge as long as they are used for
fighting the coronavirus. The companies
will not exercise their exclusive intel-
lectual property rights until the World
Health Organization declares the global
pandemic has ended. Several hundred
thousand patents are expected to be
opened via the cooperative effort.
One notable item among patents that
will be released by Toyota is technology
that can collect respiratory data from
coronavirus patients without coming into
physical contact with them. It was orig-
inally developed for use in nursing care
robots. If doctors can more safely monitor
patients’ breathing, then they can deter-
mine if they have pneumonia. The compa-
ny’s production technology, which limits
inventory and costs to the bare minimum,
is likely to be a plus in making diagnostic
machinery and pharmaceutical products.
Shimadzu’s small-scale X-ray equip-
ment, meanwhile, is also likely to attract
attention. The lungs of patients with
COVID-19 often leave distinctive shapes
in X-ray images. The company’s smaller
devices will help hospitals flooded with
the infected to take images more effi-
ciently. That would help in determining
the severity of each case, along with key
determinations such as the best timing for
Hundreds of thousands of patents
are expected to be released.
About 20 Japanese companies are
cooperating with the initiative.
medical intervention.
Patents have many benefits for com-
panies and research organizations. Usu-
ally other companies that want to use a
patent negotiate with the holder, but that
often takes one to two years because of
internal decision-making processes at the
owning company. But under the coopera-
tive arrangement, patents that will be re-
leased can be used immediately and free
of charge, thus bypassing extended negoti-
ations. Opening up the patents also avoids
the risk that other companies would not be
able to use the desired patent because of
a failure to reach an agreement on condi-
tions such as usage fees.
Ideally, the new arrangement will help
smooth the development of testing kits,
machines to diagnose the medical condi-
tion of patients, devices to remotely trans-
mit information, alcohol-based sanitizers
and other medical products.
Companies that release their patents
will not receive any direct benefit, but a
faster end to the coronavirus pandemic
would help minimize the impact of the
economic downturn it has brought about.
The organizers of the initiative created
a way for each company to easily partic-
ipate so as to increase the effectiveness
of freeing up the patents by drastically
streamlining the amount of time it would
normally take. Organizers simplified
procedures so that companies need only
download documents from a dedicated
website, sign them and upload them back
in order to join.
‘Social distancing’ stocks jump
Nintendo is among the companies driving Japan’s
market rebound in the new stay-at-home world
RYO SAEKI and TAKEHIRO HASEGAWA Nikkei staff writers
TOKYO Companies poised to benefit
from the changes wrought by the corona-
virus pandemic have emerged as drivers
of a budding recovery in Japan’s stock
market.
The Nikkei Stock Average rose 422
points, or 2%, on April 30 to close above
20,000 for the first time in nearly two
months and recover more than 20% from
a low plumbed in March.
As expectations build for reopening
locked-down economies around the world,
investors are hunting for companies able
to respond to the demands of a new era
of living with the virus. Three key themes
in this search are “no contact,” “at home”
and “medical.”
“Now that people have learned the
advantages of not going into the work-
place or to the hospital, their behavior
will fundamentally change,” said Hiroshi
Matsumoto, head of Japan investment at
Pictet Asset Management in Tokyo.
Companies that support telework or
serve homebound consumers have ridden
this trend to higher valuations. With a re-
cent surge, video game maker Nintendo’s
market capitalization surpassed that of
Tokyo Disney Resort operator Oriental
Land, a leader in the pandemic-ravaged
entertainment sector. Shares of the com-
pany behind escapist hit Animal Crossing
are up around 1.5% since the end of last
year, compared with a 14.6% decline by
A Nintendo store in Tokyo:
The video game company’s
market valuation has leapt.
the Nikkei average.
In the U.S. stock market, Netflix and
Microsoft are going strong. In Europe,
Germany-based meal kit delivery ser-
vice HelloFresh and British online grocer
Ocado have soared.
Remote services are going mainstream.
M3, the Japanese operator of a medical
news platform for physicians around the
world, remains in its record-high range
and is up 18% compared with the end of
last year. Medley, a Tokyo-based medical
records software developer that went pub-
lic in December, has seen its price more
than double.
With demand high for telemedicine,
U.S.-based Teladoc Health and China’s
Alibaba Health Information Technology
Nikkei Inc. No reproduction without permission.
have seen their stock prices double since
the end of last year. U.S.-based online
study help platform Chegg and Chinese
tutoring service provider GSX Techedu are
soaring. Peloton Interactive, the American
company behind the indoor-workout plat-
form, has trended higher.
Among health-related stocks, Chugai
Pharmaceutical, which has announced
plans for a clinical trial using its Actemra
arthritis medication to treat patients with
coronavirus-induced pneumonia, is up
27% compared with the end of last year.
“Awareness of public health will grow
across the world, and the medical field
will expand further,” said Tetsuro Ii, pres-
ident of Tokyo-based Commons Asset
Management.
That said, the pandemic threatens
to create a fierce struggle for corporate
survival in a low-growth world. In the
U.S., investor money is concentrating in
tech giants like Google, Amazon.com,
Microsoft and Facebook.
“As businesses and people refrain
from active behavior, the global poten-
tial growth rate stands lower than be-
fore the coronavirus outbreak,” said
Mari Iwashita, chief market economist at
Daiwa Securities.
Reuters
25
 THROUGH THE LENS

The safety
dance
Performers wearing protective
face shields perform at the Erawan
Shrine in Bangkok on May 4. The
previous day, some restaurants,
parks and barbershops were
allowed to reopen as the
government started relaxing
COVID-19 restrictions.
Photo by Akira Kodaka

26 27
 POLITICS & ECONOMY
THE
ASIA INSIGHT
BIG PICTURE
Our deep dive into the COVID-19 data shows that
Japan, India and the Philippines are at key junctures
AKANE OKUTSU and MITSURU OBE Nikkei staff writers
TOKYO The Philippines and India have victory, they need more sustainable long-
imposed some of the strictest coronavirus term battle plans.
containment measures in Asia. Japan has This is one of the takeaways from the
taken a far less draconian approach, under Nikkei Asian Review’s dive into the deep
a loose state of emergency. But in a way, pool of data generated in a crisis that
these very different countries stand at a has touched virtually every corner of the
similar point in the fight against this dev- world. From Google mobility tracking to
astating pandemic. simple trends in tests, cases and deaths,
At least according to the official fig- we compiled the numbers to gain a firmer
ures, their infections and deaths are well grasp of the situation.
below those in the U.S. and hardest-hit Some countries -- New Zealand,
European countries. Yet, short of a clear Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia -- have
28
Number of daily confirmed COVID-19 cases
India Singapore Indonesia
Greater China South Korea
2,400
315 (Mar. 16) 15,152 (Feb. 13)
2,000
252 (Mar. 29) 24 (Mar. 23)
1,600
1,200
Illustration by Michael Tsang
800
New Zealand, Vietnam, Thailand 400
and Malaysia have recently
0
gambled on gingerly restarting 1 3 5 7 9 11 13
their economies, despite the risk of Apr.
a new wave of infections.
Source: World Health Organization, Taiwan Centers for Disease Control
the call: While daily new cases dropped to
about 200 at the end of April, less than a
third of the peak of 743 on April 12, that is
not enough.
Malaysia, before it reopened much
of the economy on May 4, had not seen
a triple-digit increase since April 17.
Thailand, which eased its lockdown on
May 3, had gone days with fewer than
10. Vietnam put up a two-week streak of
zeros, with a couple of exceptions.
Now Abe is counting on Japan’s 127 mil-
lion people to help “flatten the curve” fur-
ther. For although the country has avoided
the grimmest scenarios, limiting the health
ministry’s death total to 510 as of May 4, it
has the region’s highest median age -- 48.6
-- in a pandemic that threatens the elderly
and infirm the most. The nation logged
double-digit deaths on all but a handful of
gambled on gingerly restarting their econ- days in the second half of April.
omies in recent days, despite the risk of “Having successfully bent the curve,
a new wave of infections. Japan’s Prime the challenge for the Abe administration
Minister Shinzo Abe made a different bet may now be reducing the number of new
on May 4, extending the emergency until infections to a sustainable level, ensuring
the end of May to try to eradicate the virus. that the medical system has the resources
Abe did say he would cut the emer- to manage the outbreak until therapeutics
gency short if conditions improve enough, or a vaccine are developed,” Tobias Harris,
but the extension is still another blow to an Japan analyst at Teneo Intelligence, wrote
economy the International Monetary Fund in a note on May 1. “The government
already expects will contract 5.2% in 2020. needs more time to implement a system
The data tells the story of why he made that will enable it to detect and contain
Philippines Japan Malaysia
Thailand Vietnam Taiwan
813 (Feb. 29)
27 (Mar. 20)
15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 30
new case clusters, essential for resuming
normal social and economic activities.”
Google’s data shows the Japanese public
has been fairly cooperative so far, though
not to the point of reducing contact by 80%
as the government originally hoped.
The U.S. tech company has released
movement data from scores of countries,
covering six categories: retail and recre-
ation, grocery stores and pharmacies, parks,
transit stations, workplaces and residential
areas. Activity on April 17, a Friday, was
compared to median Friday traffic between
Jan. 3 and Feb. 6, before the crisis fully ex-
ploded out of China.
The Nikkei Asian Review averaged the
Nikkei Inc. No reproduction without permission.
figures for the six categories to gauge so-
cial distancing efforts in key economies.
In Japan’s case, the average was down by
Peak
13.83%, largely thanks to a 46% decrease
in traffic through transit stations and 31%
drop in retail and recreation activity.
But Japan’s social distancing pales in
comparison to the Philippines and India,
which saw average declines of 50.83% and
47.83% respectively. Malaysia was just
behind at 47.50%, followed by Singapore
at 36.16%, amid the city-state’s struggle
to control big clusters in migrant worker
dormitories.
The Philippines, land of President
Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, has taken
a decidedly less deadly but similarly enthu-
siastic approach to enforcing its lockdown.
Over 30,000 people have been arrested for
violating the orders, according to reports.
Since mid-March, residents on the main
island of Luzon have been barred from
leaving home except for essential outings
for food or medicine. Only one household
member is allowed out at a time and they
must carry a permit to pass street-corner
checkpoints manned by the police and the
military. The restrictions are expected to
last at least until May 15.
India on May 1 extended the “world’s
largest lockdown” to May 17. Large seg-
ments of the economy remain shut down
and anyone caught flouting the rules can
face imprisonment.
“India didn’t wait for the problem to
Tokyo’s famous Shibuya
crossing, pictured
on May 2, is far less
crowded than usual.
Arisa Moriyama
29
 POLITICS & ECONOMY

Changes in public mobility (April 17 compared to baseline, in percent) [escalate],” Prime Minister Narendra Taiwan’s government worked with mes- Scope of COVID-19 testing
Modi said on April 14, about three weeks saging app provider Line and smartphone 0 5 10 15 20 25

s s,
ie re
into the lockdown. “Rather, we attempted maker HTC to develop an app that checks

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Tr
Had India not adopted a holistic and in- South Korea 619,881
Philippines –79 –56 –53 –85 –71 39 –50.83
tegrated approach, taking quick and de- use of big data and health IDs to ensure fair Malaysia 154,203
India –85 –43 –60 –65 –65 31 –47.83 cisive action, the situation in India today distribution of surgical masks. Vietnam 261,004
Malaysia –81 –44 –59 –80 –61 40 –47.50 would have been completely different.” South Korea has been using data from Taiwan 62,844
Singapore –60 –17 –57 –65 –65 47 –36.16 Indeed, India has logged 40,000-plus cellphones, credit card transactions and Japan 164,255
Thailand –49 –19 –48 –62 –33 21 –31.66 total cases and over 1,500 deaths -- serious even security camera footage to track the
Thailand 66,371 Total
Vietnam –51 –30 –35 –54 –25 18 –29.50 but not staggering numbers in a country movements of people found to be infected.
Philippines 93,387
Indonesia –38 –23 –35 –58 –35 18 –28.50 of 1.3 billion. The Philippines has detected This information is shared with the public
Japan –31 4 –1 –46 –23 14 –13.83 around 9,000 infections, with about 600 so that others can avoid at-risk locations. India 830,201
Tests per 1,000 people
Hong Kong –23 –1 –10 –37 –21 18 –12.33 deaths. Both nations may be helped by Seoul seems to have learned from the Indonesia 72,351
their youth, with a median age of 24 in the Middle East respiratory syndrome crisis in
South Korea –23 –7 –19 –20 –6 9 –11.00 As of May 1 Source: Our World in Data
Philippines and 28 in India. On the other 2015. Back then, the authorities initially re-
Taiwan –8 2 2 –15 3 3 –2.16
hand, the Philippines’ relatively high mor- fused to reveal the hospitals where MERS Number of infections per million people
Baseline is median value for corresponding day of week tality rate among confirmed coronavirus patients were treated, in the name of
during five-week period from Jan. 3 to Feb. 6, 2020 Source: Google 0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000
patients suggests its medical services are avoiding panic. Throughout the outbreak,
severely strained: 6.7% as of April 29, ver- which killed 35, the government was criti- Singapore 2,673.52
Deaths in proportion to population and confirmed cases
sus 3.2% in India and 2.9% in Japan. cized for a lack of transparency. South Korea 209.97
Deaths per 100,000 people Fatality rate (In percent) The fact that daily cases are still ris- After MERS, the government revised Malaysia 183.68

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0 2 4 6 8 10 ing in India and just plateauing in the a law to allow testing by private enti- Japan 111.39
Philippines also raises the question of how ties, which “enabled a fast response” to Philippines 74.94
Philippines
much even the tightest lockdowns can the new coronavirus, according to Kim China 58.32
South Korea
achieve in densely populated countries. Myoung-jung, associate fellow at the NLI Thailand 42.32
China
With so many variables -- population, Research Institute. Indonesia 35.72
Malaysia economic development, medical resources And this time, a virtuous circle of trust India 23.95
Japan -- one containment approach will never fit appears to have developed between Taiwan 18.01
Indonesia all. Still, as governments scramble to leave President Moon Jae-in’s government and Vietnam 2.77
Singapore this crisis behind, success stories could the public, as illustrated by the landslide As of April 30
Source: Our World in Data
Thailand light the way. win by Moon’s Democrats in the recent par-
India South Korea has limited daily cases liamentary vote. Kim noted that decades of
Taiwan to low double or single digits for weeks. tensions with North Korea have also made
Taiwan has also fared well: Its highest citizens more “willing to compromise their positive cases, and some degree of social guidelines on May 6, but the government
As of April 29 Source: Johns Hopkins University
single-day count in April was 22, and it information to protect the country.” distancing. He stressed that border restric- is implementing an “everyday quarantine”
has gone days with zero or only imported Nevertheless, epidemiologists warn tions alone are “not effective in the long -- safeguards that will remain indefinitely.
Number of COVID-19 deaths recorded per day infections. Both have seen their outbreaks that no place is immune to a COVID-19 term.” The key is to “test and isolate.” People will be advised to wear masks at
India Philippines Japan Indonesia South Korea peter out even though the Google data comeback. By some estimates, up to half of Hiroshi Nishiura, an expert advising indoor gatherings and try to stay 2 meters
Greater China Singapore Malaysia Thailand shows only an 11% decline in activity for all infected individuals are asymptomatic. Japan’s government, agrees that “lives are apart, among other advice.
100 South Korea and 2% for Taiwan. They can spread the virus without know- not going to be the same right away” once On May 4, the prime minister said at a
Upward revision of South Korea’s testing campaign has ing they have it. the state of emergency eventually ends, meeting that South Koreans must learn to
80 Wuhan’s death toll
been one of the more aggressive, checking So as countries look to get back to busi- perhaps not for a year. live with the virus as part of public life.
to 1,290 on April 17
60 12 people per 1,000 residents, versus just 1 ness, experts stress that a new set of long- Taiwan, for its part, still requires face But as cases decline and people yearn
in Japan. Taiwan has not tested nearly as haul measures will be needed. masks on public transportation and bans for normalcy, experts see a danger of com-
40
much. Its ratio is closer to Japan’s -- 2.6 per Kenji Shibuya, director of the Institute eating and drinking on high-speed rail- placency. Kim said “it remains to be seen
20 1,000 people. But two things South Korea of Population Health at King’s College ways. Temperature checks and hand san- how much the citizens comply.”
0
and Taiwan have in common are effective London, advises maintaining three types itizing have become part of the standard
1 5 10 15 20 25 30 use of technology and a widespread will- of defenses after relaxing restrictions: bor- restaurant experience. Additional reporting by Cheng Ting-Fang,
April Source: World Health Organization ingness to sacrifice privacy. der controls, PCR testing and isolation of South Korea relaxed its social distancing Lauly Li and Steven Borowiec.

30 Nikkei Inc. No reproduction without permission. 31


No work means no
money to send home
Southeast Asia in on pace to see record declines
in remittances as pandemic shutdowns cut migrant pay
SHOTARO TANI Nikkei staff writer
JAKARTA The coronavirus pandemic has
already disrupted the lives of poor people
across Southeast Asia. Now it is dealing a
further blow by cutting a vital source of in-
come to the region -- remittances.
In a recent report, the World Bank said
that global remittances for this year are
projected to fall by the widest margin in
history, as migrant workers suffer wage
cuts and job losses. Remittance flows to
the East Asia and Pacific region, which in-
cludes Southeast Asia, is set to fall by 13%
32
POLITICS & ECONOMY
this year from $147 billion in 2019.
“The slowdown is expected to be driven
by declining inflows from the United States,
the largest source of remittances to the re-
gion,” the international institution said.
“Several remittance-dependent countries ...
could see households at risk as remittance
incomes decline over this period.”
The Philippines is expected to feel the
pinch the most as remittances are equiva-
lent to 9.9% of its gross domestic product.
The country received $35.1 billion
Photos by Reuters
A remittance counter in Makati City
in Manila: Filipinos are expected to
suffer the most from a fall in
remittances from overseas as the
coronavirus pandemic leads to job
losses and pay cuts.
last year in remittances. The five largest
countries in the region -- the Philippines,
Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam
-- received a combined $72.5 billion.
Data for 2018, the latest year that reflects
bilateral flows, shows that the Philippines
received just over a third of its total remit-
tances from the U.S.
According to the Philippines’ Depart-
ment of Labor and Employment, “a total
of 89,436 overseas foreign workers were
either displaced or on a no-work, no-pay
status due to lockdowns and slowdown of
businesses in host countries.”
The U.S. also accounts for half of remit-
tances to Vietnam, the second-largest re-
cipient of fund flows from overseas among
the five major Southeast Asian nations.
For Vietnam, remittances accounted
for 6.5% of the country’s GDP.
Indonesia is likely to see a huge cut
in remittances from the Middle East, a
region that has been hit by a sharp de-
cline in oil prices. Remittances from Gulf
Cooperation Council states account for
43% of Indonesia’s total.
“My aunt informed our family that
money transfer for February will be late,”
said Ayra Ardhani, a college student in
Pontianak, the capital of the Indonesian
province of West Kalimantan.
Her aunt works as a nurse at a hospital
in Oman. Ardhani said that even though
her aunt’s workload has increased because
“so many people are visiting [the] hospital
due to the COVID-19 panic,” the hospital
was late in paying her.
“I’m directly affected because her
money transfers also cover my college
tuition, which should be paid by early
March,” Ardhani said.
In another report, the World Bank high-
lighted the importance of remittances to
Asia. “In several countries across the re-
gion, over three-quarters of poor house-
holds rely on remittances to complement
their own earnings ... a substantial share
of households in East Asian and Pacific
In several countries
across the region,
over three-quarters
of poor households
rely on remittances
to complement their
own earnings
The World Bank
countries could be at risk of seeing this im-
portant source of income decline during
this period.”
COVID-19 is also proving to be a prob-
lem for migrant workers in Southeast
Asian countries like Singapore.
From early April, the city-state shut
down all workplaces except those for es-
sential services. At the same time, an infec-
tion spike in migrant worker dormitories
has meant that most migrant workers have
been quarantined and cannot work.
“How can I send money home? I’m not
working,” said a Bangladeshi construction
Migrant workers wait to be
transported to a medical facility
from their dormitory in Singapore
on April 27.
Nikkei Inc. No reproduction without permission.
Indonesia could see a huge drop in
remittances from the Middle East,
which has been hit by a sharp
decline in oil prices.
worker in his 20s.
He usually sends home 700 to 900
Singapore dollars ($490 to $630), the ma-
jority of his monthly income, but that has
now become impossible.
The Singaporean government has said
it would work with employers to en-
sure that foreign workers are paid, but
the Bangladeshi man is worried that the
wage support may not be enough for him
to send any money to his family.
He normally visits a branch of a
Bangladeshi bank to transfer money home.
But Bangladesh, too, has been in lock-
down, which has made it difficult for his
family to receive any money he may send.
Neighboring Malaysia has around 3
million migrant workers, of whom nearly
half are in irregular jobs. They work in so-
called 3D jobs -- “dirty, dangerous and dif-
ficult” -- that locals often shun.
World Bank data shows that Malaysia
sends more remittances than Singapore
-- $9 billion in 2018. Around a third goes
to Indonesia and another quarter to
the Philippines.
“The outlook for remittance remains
as uncertain,” the World Bank said. “In
the past, remittances have been counter-
cyclical, where workers send more money
home in times of crisis and hardship back
home. This time, however, the pandemic
has affected all countries, creating addi-
tional uncertainties.”
Additional reporting by Kentaro Iwamoto in
Singapore and Ismi Damayanti in Jakarta.
33

Time for a new school
year in Japan?
Coronavirus disruptions rekindle the debate over
a permanent September start to the academic calendar
AKANE OKUTSU and RURIKA IMAHASHI Nikkei staff writers
TOKYO April marks the start of the
school year in Japan. But this could soon
become history.
The closure of schools due to the coro-
navirus has rekindled talk of moving the
start of the academic year to September,
which would make it easier for Japanese
to study overseas and for universities to
attract foreign students. The idea is attract-
ing some powerful advocates.
Education Minister Koichi Hagiuda
said on April 28 that his ministry is “con-
ducting simulations” for revising the April
start of the school year “as one option.” He
also said he needs to coordinate with other
34
POLITICS & ECONOMY
ministries, since any revision would “need
to be observed by society” as a whole.
Corporations, for example, would have
to adjust their recruitment calendar and
practices.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe chimed in
the day after Hagiuda’s comments.
“With such a big change happening, I
would like to consider a wide range of op-
tions,” he said on April 29. He noted that
some have voiced the need for caution
because a change in the school calendar
would greatly affect children, parents and
society as a whole.
Political support for this change has
been growing. On April 27, the Democratic
Party for the People held a working group
meeting for the first time on the topic. It
intends to work with other opposition par-
ties on proposals to submit to the govern-
ment. The smaller Japan Innovation Party
compiled its own proposals the same day.
Such a change could be a catalyst for
a “paradigm shift” in Japanese society,
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike said in a video
posted online April 28 as the education
minister’s comments. She noted that the
shift would change the schedule for ev-
erything from preschool to job hunting for
university students.
Calling a September start the “global
standard,” Koike argued that it would help
attract foreign students -- something that
has been an issue for Japanese schools.
“There would be some confusion, but
things are already confused now,” she said.
Calls for change are growing louder.
Also on April 28, a group of 17 prefec-
tural governors on urged the government
to adopt the September start, saying that
“now is the time to think boldly.”
Miyagi Prefecture Gov. Yoshihiro Murai
told reporters the day before that a perma-
nent shift would “boost globalization.” He
called the idea “one option” to a problem
that has cropped up now that the virus
has closed public schools and the country
finds itself behind the e-learning curve --
students are falling behind.
Japan’s public schools have been closed
since the beginning of March and are ex-
pected to remain so until sometime after
the government lifts the state of emer-
gency that it declared on April 7.
In the meantime, only 5% of public
schools are holding online classes, accord-
ing to an education ministry survey made
in mid-April.
Hagiuda is considered an advocate
for a September start to the school year.
At the April 28 news conference he said:
“The issues have already been sorted out
at the Ministry of Education, Culture,
Sports, Science and Technology. In a glo-
balized society, it may be easier to accept
international students.”
He noted that it is imperative for the
national government, local governments,
educators and the leaders of Japanese in-
dustry to speak with one voice.
“The only way to secure opportunities
Karina Nooka
Students keep their distance as
they attend a ceremony to mark
the start of the school year at an
elementary school in Saitama
Prefecture, north of Tokyo,
on April 8.
for children to learn,” he said, “is to move
[the start of the school year] to September.”
As things stand now, many public
school teachers are simply giving assign-
ments to their homebound students, who
are on their own to complete them.
There are concerns that this arrange-
ment will lead to unequal outcomes and
that students with few resources will be at
a disadvantage when they take the coun-
try’s competitive entrance exams.
“School days are precious for students,”
12th graders wrote on a website called
Spring Once Again, “and events that we
were looking forward to have been can-
celed as we stay at home.” The site is part
of a campaign advocating for a move
to September.
The 12th graders also suggested that a
revised enrollment date would solve con-
fusion over university entrance exam and
application procedures. The campaign
had over 2,300 signatures as of April 26,
according to a Twitter post.
“Changing the academic year to start
in September also makes sense [when
it comes to accepting] more foreign stu-
dents,” said Masato Kamikubo, a professor
at Ritsumeikan University, who pointed
out that the government has been trying to
increase the number of international stu-
dents in Japan.
In addition, Kamikubo said, the coun-
try’s academic year has prevented many
Japanese students from studying abroad.
In 2011 the University of Tokyo pushed
for a September start to the academic year,
Nikkei Inc. No reproduction without permission.
Reuters
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike is pushing
for school years to start in
September, noting that this could
be a catalyst for a “paradigm shift”
in Japanese society.
hoping to align its calendar with those in
the U.S., the U.K. and many other countries.
At the time, the university said the April
start hindered its efforts to attract foreign
students and professors.
Strong opposition from Japanese indus-
try, which did not want to interrupt its tra-
ditional recruitment efforts, helped put an
end to the debate at the time.
In Japan, spring graduations and the
start of a new school year have been part
of life since the Meiji era (1868-1912). Op-
position to shifting this calendar remains,
and laws would need to be revised.
But Kamikubo said business will be
more open to the idea this time around.
“Companies have come to realize that
Japanese employment practices, like the
simultaneous recruiting of new graduates
and lifetime employment, are not sustain-
able,” he said. “Rather, the new academic
year would give companies more oppor-
tunities to gain global talent.”
He warns that if Japan misses this op-
portunity there will be no second chance,
and the country would pay a huge price.
“While the world is becoming more
united, Japan will be left behind and will
lose in the global competition for out-
standing human resources, unless it can
change now,” he said.
35
 OPINION

Another pandemic
democratic institutions in Southeast Asia. This is Prayuth Chan-ocha, formerly head of a military
why it is crucial that any additional powers given government, has been granted sweeping powers
to regional leaders are subject to strict oversight that extend to shutting borders, banning social

danger: power grabs and constitutional limits.

Southeast Asian leaders are reshaping national
The threat of authoritarian reversion is acute
among fledgling democracies, where
institutional checks and balances are fragile,
gatherings and, crucially, controlling information
on the pandemic.
The new legal powers could undermine efforts
by the opposition to curb the power of the junta

Thailand Government House/Reuters

especially during national crises. In the
politics at the expense of hard-fought freedoms Philippines, which has one of the highest
numbers of confirmed coronavirus cases in
Southeast Asia, right-wing populist President
Rodrigo Duterte seamlessly secured sweeping
powers and a multibillion-dollar subsidy program
RICHARD HEYDARIAN from a largely pliant legislature.
During the six-week-long lockdown across the
under a new constitution, further strengthening
Prayuth’s hold on Thai society. Equipped with a
massive $58 billion stimulus program, the Thai
prime minister could secure the support of tens
of millions of citizens reeling from the economic
slowdown and travel restrictions through cash
handouts and targeted subsidies.
For his part, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun

W
ith the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging
Southeast Asian nations, the region’s
leaders have found a unique pretext to
consolidate power and muzzle critics. In a climate
of fear and uncertainty, authoritarian-leaning
figures from the Philippines and Thailand to
Richard Heydarian is an Cambodia and Malaysia have used the need for
Philippines’ capital region, Duterte was given
the authority to, among other things, direct the
operations of strategic private establishments
and crack down on any source of what the
government deems “disinformation.” Journalists
and an independent-minded city mayor who
questioned some aspects of the lockdown faced
subpoenas from law enforcement agencies
Sen, who already rules with no opposition
allowed, has won powers to monitor and control
both traditional and social media, tightening his
Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha
grip on the overall distribution of information in has been granted sweeping powers
the name of national security. that extend to controlling information
In Malaysia, critics fear that new Prime Minister on the pandemic.
Muhyiddin Yassin, a member of the old guard
and known for his reactionary policies, could

Asia-based academic, unity to achieve unprecedented legal powers and shortly after Duterte won his new powers. leverage new powers to roll back the hard-earned
columnist and author silence the opposition. Authoritarian leaders in Thailand and democratic gains of the opposition in recent
of “The Rise of Duterte:
A Populist Revolt Against
The public health crisis is not only precipitating Cambodia, meanwhile, have used emergency years. Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has
Elite Democracy” and “The an economic depression, but could also lead to powers for full consolidation of power. Under called on the Malaysian parliament to vet new
the systematic erosion of basic freedoms and an emergency degree, Thai Prime Minister resources and powers given to the government
Indo-Pacific: Trump, China
and the New Struggle for to ensure democratic transparency.
Global Mastery.” What we see across the region is a pattern of
growing restrictions on the flow of information;
a hardening crackdown on independent voices;
and increased marginalization of opposition and
democratic forces. Meanwhile, authoritarian and
populist leaders now oversee large-scale stimulus
programs that can be leveraged for political
patronage and to strengthen their base as
economic distress and political uncertainty grow.
Critics such as Brad Adams, Asia director
at Human Rights Watch, have argued that the
vagueness of the new measures in a country like
Cambodia, where the ruling party controls all key
branches of the state, allows the prime minister
to “assert absolute power over all aspects of civil,
political, social and economic life -- all without
any time limits or checks on abuses of power.”
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen
has control over both traditional
and social media.
AP
“
Authoritarian-leaning leaders should not be
given a free pass in the name of addressing an
As successful urgent crisis. Instead, new emergency powers
models such should be subjected to democratic checks and
balances. For instance, governments should
as Taiwan and provide regular updates on how new resources
South Korea and powers are being used to combat the
have shown, pandemic, allowing thorough scrutiny by the
other branches of the state, independent media
participatory and civil society groups.
democracy … Civil society groups and the opposition should
is essential combine critical collaboration working cautiously
with the government to check its excesses with
to instituting proactive vigilance, especially when faced with
sustainable wily authoritarians.
and inclusive As successful models such as Taiwan and South
Korea have shown, participatory democracy
measures -- private-public collaboration, transparent
to combat governance and robust levels of trust between
the festering citizens and rulers -- is essential to instituting
sustainable and inclusive measures to combat the
pandemic festering pandemic.
” Otherwise, even if regional states manage
to contain the outbreak in coming months,
emergency powers may have allowed a coterie of
authoritarian leaders to reshape national politics
for the foreseeable future at the expense of hard-

fought freedoms.

36 Nikkei Inc. No reproduction without permission. 37

 OPINION
Virus gives China a
Solomon Islands to give them advice about how
to beat the virus.
It was a remarkable display of both China’s
Pacific island opening enormous capacity and confidence, and the
ability of its system to rapidly change course.
Only weeks earlier, China appeared to be on its
Beijing is using health care aid to improve knees as the virus spread throughout the country
from its epicenter in Wuhan. Now, Beijing was
relations in the strategically significant region giving lessons to its neighbors.
As COVID-19 barrels toward the Pacific,
China’s moves are a potent reminder of its soft
power and capabilities in a region that is fast
forming into a fault line for geopolitical tension in
the South Pacific. In the age of the coronavirus,
public health and politics are joined together as
never before.
JONATHAN PRYKE This is not China’s first foray into health care in
RICHARD McGREGOR the Pacific islands. In July 2018, Chinese military
hospital ship the Peace Ark laid anchor in the
W
idyllic Port Vila harbor to launch a week of free
hen it comes to helping the Pacific medical services for the citizens of Vanuatu, a
islands fight the spread of the new small island nation in the South Pacific.
coronavirus, China has been quick The ship’s 300 beds and eight operating
out of the blocks. In early March, when it was theaters dwarfed the capacity of the country’s
confident that it had tamed the spread of the largest hospital. By the end of its mission, the
Jonathan Pryke is a fellow
at the Lowy Institute in
virus, and new infections were beginning to fall, Peace Ark had provided consultations and
Sydney.
Beijing convened a videoconference with most treatments for 4,700 people, around 10% of the
of the ministers from Papua New Guinea and the capital city’s population. This was only one stop
Richard McGregor is a
fellow at the Lowy Institute
in Sydney.
The Peace Ark, a Chinese
military hospital ship,
launched free medical
Reuters
services for the citizens of
Vanuatu in July 2018.
38
on the 205-day Mission Harmony that included
four Pacific nations.
Now, Pacific nations are already trying to turn
what are usually considered to be vulnerabilities,
their small size and remoteness, into strengths
to keep COVID-19 at bay. For weeks, they have
restricted entry and some have gone further,
closing their borders altogether.
More than 200 cases have been identified in
such places as Guam, French Polynesia, Fiji and
Papua New Guinea, and many more are expected.
Health systems in much of the region are
already dealing with severe and acute diseases,
such as dengue, malaria, tuberculosis and
Reuters
diabetes, and will not be able to cope. There are
only a handful of ventilators and intensive-care-
unit beds in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea’s
capital, with a population of more than 350,000.
Even if COVID-19 had not made it to the
Pacific, the economic cost for a region so
dependent on the outside world through
aid, tourism and migration would have been
devastating. Budgets across the Pacific will be
wrecked and large swaths of the population will
lose their jobs.
Given their economic fragility, these
governments cannot draw on the same firepower
as Australia, China, Japan and other regional
nations. The Pacific islands will need significant
fiscal injections to keep their economies afloat,
and fast, which is where the geopolitical rivalry
comes in.
While much attention has been focused on
Beijing’s high-profile efforts to send masks and
ventilators to countries like Spain and Italy, its
work in the Pacific is a reminder that the Chinese
are active in every hemisphere.
Scott Morrison, Australia’s prime minister, has
tried to put the Pacific nations on the global
coronavirus map, raising their plight on the first
hookup of G-20 leaders in late March.
Australia has already provided medical
materials and expertise and is reviewing its
aid program to take account of the changed
circumstances. But generally, Australia’s resources
in the region are stretched.
Over the past 15 years China has dramatically
scaled up its footprint in the Pacific. Chinese
cranes and state-owned engineering companies
are at work in every major city. Chinese trade
stores are in every major town. China is now the
Nikkei Inc. No reproduction without permission.
“
third-largest aid donor in the region, eclipsing
Japan and the U.S. but still far behind Australia
and New Zealand, and it is fast becoming the China’s moves
region’s most important trading partner. Taiwan are a potent
is also a player, in an effort to retain a diplomatic reminder of its
foothold in the Pacific that Beijing has managed
to almost completely nullify. soft power and
The scale and intensity of Chinese engagement capabilities in
have rattled Australia and its allies, who fear a region that
China will try to use its newfound leverage, such
as diplomacy, debt, aid and trade, to gain what is fast forming
might the biggest prize, a military base in the into a fault line
region. While a long shot, since the Pacific nations for geopolitical
are not interested and Australia seems resolute in
preventing it, the strategic return on investment tension
that China could get in the region is appealing.
The benefit of a port for China may be
questionable. The logistics of maintaining
”
supply routes alone would be challenging but it
would have a profound psychological impact on
Australia. It would accelerate a military buildup
and confirm its worst fears about Chinese soft
aid -- that it is aimed at smoothing the path to
a hard-power presence in the Pacific that would
challenge the U.S. and its allies, like Australia,
head-on.
Many commentators have suggested that the
coronavirus will turn nations inward. Nationalism A Chinese construction
will trump globalization, so the argument goes. project in Port Moresby,
But the early skirmishes in the Pacific tell a Papua New Guinea, in
2018. Chinese state
different story, of a renewed fight for influence, engineering companies
albeit on a battleground that is being cleared, and are at work in major cities
remade, by a once-in-a-century pandemic. across the Pacific.
39

T Don’t make
he battle against the coronavirus
has proved a challenge for
democratic nations as American
and European leaders have pushed for
unprecedented measures to contain the
outbreak while pushing up against the
limits of their authority.
Meanwhile, Communist Party-ruled
China quickly put severe measures into
place, sometimes at the expense of liberty
and private rights. This has led to claims
that authoritarian governments are more
successful at dealing with the pandemic.
But that is not true. Nondemocratic
countries have suffered higher mortality
rates than democracies in recorded
epidemics since 1960, an analysis by The
Economist magazine found, with curbs
on public information a possible factor.
Even today, authoritarian regimes in
Russia and Iran are struggling to contain
the virus. While the initial responses
by the U.S. and Europe were far from
perfect, we should not disregard the
strengths of a free and open democracy.
The problem is that these strengths are
no longer as pronounced. Nationalism
and populism have accelerated around
the world over the virus, pushing many
leaders into a more authoritarian and
exclusionary brand of politics.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor
Orban, who openly advocates illiberal
democracy, has been granted sweeping
powers under an indefinite state of
emergency declared in response to the
coronavirus. Philippine President Rodrigo
Duterte reportedly gave the military
and the police the green light to shoot
civilians who violate lockdown orders.
As of early May 5, there were 84
countries with emergency declarations
over the virus, according to the
International Center for Not-for-Profit
Law. Thirty had measures that impact
expression, and 111 that affect assembly.
While limiting some actions and rights
may be necessary in an emergency, we
must not accept restrictions that go too
far or accept the current state of affairs
as a new normal.
40
NIKKEI EDITORIAL
First” ideology. The European Union is
strongly divided on the economy and
democracy
other issues.
The trend extends beyond world
leaders. The publics at the very heart of
a casualty democracies are growing self-interested
and exclusionary, triggering crime,
of virus war bullying and false rumors in the midst of
the crisis.
Asians now face racism in the U.S. and
Europe over misconceptions that they
spread the virus, while Hindu nationalists
in India blame Muslims. The world is sorely
Checks and balances missing a sense of unity, despite facing an
more essential than ever enemy that threatens all of humanity.
in age of nationalism Even before the coronavirus, there
was concern in the world about
and populism “Westlessness” -- the decline of
American and European societies
that until now had been beacons of
democratic ideals. Further deterioration
in the rule of law, human rights
Globalization and international protections and multilateralism is not
cooperation, advocated by democratic ideal. We need to not only defeat
states, are under threat as well. COVID-19, but also protect the
U.S. President Donald Trump has principles and foundations of democracy.
suspended some immigration and Balancing authority and human
threatened funding to the World Health rights in a pandemic is no easy task.
Organization under his “America Governments seeking expanded powers
therefore must provide clear constraints
and time limits as well as strong legal
and scientific justifications.
The public also must be more vigilant
about abuses. Otherwise, the world will be
left dealing with negative consequences
even after the outbreak ends.
The use of the latest technology to
track the public is now spreading into
democracies as well. Some people
want automatic tracking of those
under quarantine, for example. So it is
important to create laws and regulations
to keep the internet -- long symbolic of a
Reuters
free and open society -- from becoming
an amplifier for autocrats.
When too much of the public has
lost tolerance and self-restraint, it is
Philippine President Rodrigo impossible to rebuild a healthy society
Duterte reportedly gave
the military and the police
and international order. It is important for
the green light to shoot civilians each and every individual to acknowledge
who violate lockdown orders. the responsibility they have.
Nikkei Inc. No reproduction without permission.
 LIFE & ARTS
Courtesy of Hsu Shih-kai
Abducted by China, a Hong Kong
bookseller starts again in Taiwan
Lam Wing-kee, who jumped bail in 2016, defies Beijing’s curbs
on free speech by resuscitating Causeway Bay Books
CYBIL CHOU Contributing writer
TAIPEI In 2015, Lam Wing-kee was managing Causeway Bay
Books, a bookstore he had founded in Hong Kong that sold,
alongside serious works, some gossipy titles prohibited by the
Chinese authorities. Between October and December of that
year, he and four associates were abducted by China’s Central
Case Examination Group, set up to prosecute those felt to be
against the mainland’s ruling Communist Party.
They were put into custody for months. Lam and his associates
believed their abduction was linked to the intended publication
of a book that disclosed the secretive personal relationships of
Chinese leader Xi Jinping and other sensitive material.
The abductions were part of Chinese efforts under Xi to rein
in press freedom in Hong Kong. In 2013, 73-year-old publisher
Yiu Man-tin, who was working on a book about Xi, was
detained and sentenced to 10 years for “smuggling ordinary
goods.” In 2014, two editors at magazines that featured
loosely sourced articles about Chinese political leaders were
also imprisoned, before being convicted of “operating an
illegal business” and sentenced in 2016.
“I didn’t expect myself to be China’s next target,” Lam
Wing-kee tells the Nikkei Asian Review.
After eight months of detention in China, the slender and
42
bespectacled Lam jumped bail in June 2016 while on a visit
to Hong Kong to retrieve a computer database. Now, aged
64, when he could be retiring, he has started all over again in
Taiwan -- new life, new bookshop.
Life in Hong Kong after jumping bail was very difficult for
Lam. “Whenever I went out alone, I shielded my face with
masks and was always alert for potential stalkers coming from
any direction,” he says. “Sometimes I had to cut short my
strolls, knowing someone nearby was following me.”
Despite this, he joined public protests at home and also
testified at a U.S. congressional hearing in 2017, pleading for
China to release fellow abductee Gui Min-hai, publisher Yiu
Man-tin and Taiwanese activist Lee Ming-che.
But constant fear of being sent back to China overwhelmed
him and when the Hong Kong government proposed a bill
Right: Members of pro-democracy group Demosisto,
from left, Agnes Chow Ting, Joshua Wong
and Oscar Lai march in Hong Kong on June 17,
2016 to protest Lam’s abduction.
Far right: Lam’s supporters gather outside
Causeway Bay Books the following day.
Reuters
Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kee’s life took a
dramatic turn in 2015, when he was abducted by
Chinese agents. “I didn’t expect myself to be China’s
next target,” says Lam, pictured here in Taipei in 2019.
Lam at a protest march in
Hong Kong in June 2016.
that would allow people to be extradited to the mainland in
February 2019, sparking last year’s six-month-long protests, he
decided to flee to Taiwan.
He does not plan to muddle along or retire but is devoting all
his energy to resuscitating Causeway Bay Books in Taipei. “The
bookstore is symbolic in defying Chinese authoritarian rule while
underpinning democracy in Taiwan,” Lam says. He hopes to turn
it into a supportive hub for the increasing number of Hong Kong
immigrants, including hundreds of young protesters, fleeing to
Taiwan in fear of being prosecuted.
Planned since 2017, Lam’s new store has been marred by
interference. A Hong Kong financial sponsor pulled out of
the project as he and his wife, who had businesses in China,
were both investigated. Meanwhile, a Taiwanese man secretly
sold the sponsor list to a China-backed newspaper in Hong
Kong. Assuming Lam was ignorant of his plot, the man later
approached him several times to offer funding to co-launch the
bookstore, which Lam rejected as “poison laced with sugar.”
The bookstore finally gained momentum after a crowdfunding
campaign in Taipei that raised nearly $200,000 in late 2019.
But days before the store’s opening on April 25, Lam received
a letter from a lawyer representing a newly registered bookstore
that accused him of registering a similar name to compete unfairly
in the book business, while also infringing on its trademark. He
was also attacked by masked men throwing red paint. They were
later arrested but soon released on bail with petty fines -- an
Nikkei Inc. No reproduction without permission.
outcome that worries Lam and has been criticized by many in
Taiwan as encouraging such acts of violence.
“It’s ridiculous that a tiny bookstore could be a target of
threat,” says Lam. “The intimidation comes in the form of red
paint today, but what if it turns into knives, guns and blood
tomorrow?” He says he suspects Chinese Communists are
behind these two incidents.
If all goes well, the 700-sq.-foot shop will stock over 10,000
books, including many intensively researched, thought-
provoking academic titles on greater China, Xinjiang, Tibet
and elsewhere in Asia. Others range from weighty tomes on
Marxism and schools of Western thought to highbrow world
politics, culture, economics and European arts and literature.
There is little place for the stories on scandals or the colorful
private lives of Chinese officials ubiquitous at Hong Kong’s
newsstands and popular in his old bookstore.
“Understanding China’s 5,000 years of autocratic
traditions and comparing them with the Western democratic
developments will prepare ourselves to deal with China,” Lam
says in strong Cantonese-accented Mandarin. “It’s pivotal given
its ingrained political and cultural heritages will still impact Hong
Kong, Taiwan, Xinjiang and Tibet for many years to come.”
The bookstore also plans to attract children, hoping to
inspire their love of books from a young age.
“We used to tell a bedtime story every day for our boy since
he was very little. It turned out that 10 minutes a day can go
AP
43
 LIFE & ARTS
Courtesy of Hsu Shih-kai
AP
Lam hangs a work of calligraphy that reads “Freedom” Despite feeling nostalgic for cha chaan teng (tea
at his bookstore’s opening in Taipei on April 25. It is a restaurants) and luncheon meat with egg noodles back
gift from Tiananmen Square protest leader Wang Dan. in Hong Kong, Lam’s chance of a homecoming is slim.
a long way,” says Lam, a father of two, describing how some In a cafe in Taipei, Lam sports a relaxed posture and easy
excellent titles on hard topics he sourced went missing as his grin barely seen in his earlier TV appearances. But he becomes
son grew older. He knew that his son “stole” them but felt guarded and serious when approached by a stranger.
pleased about the astute taste for books his son cultivated. Trauma left by his experience in China has come back to
But in Taiwan, he finds it alarming that the younger haunt him. “I had this recurring nightmare three times -- that
generation is either ignorant of or indifferent toward China group of men that abducted me in China rushed toward me,
and how its systems function, despite their country being handcuffed me and dragged me into a seven-seater. ... It is
under perpetual Chinese threat. Certain Taiwanese bookstores horrifying,” he says.
operating across the Strait self-censor, removing titles that may Despite feeling nostalgic for cha chaan teng (tea restaurants)
spark China’s ire. and luncheon meat with egg noodles back in Hong Kong, his
As many independent bookstores in Taiwan have closed due chance of a homecoming is slim.
to the rise of online competitors, e-books and promotional “Lam can return to Hong Kong should he wish to, but the
campaigns by large chains, Lam, a veteran in the book city is no longer a safe place for him,” says Sang Pu, a solicitor
business of over 30 years, remains upbeat about his project. and political commentator in Hong Kong. Despite withdrawing
“All too often, bookstores are deemed merely as venues the controversial extradition bill, says Sang, the Hong Kong
where commodities are traded,” he says. “If booksellers government has invoked and will invoke regulations to further
struggle for survival, it’s because they fail to identify the unique clamp down on dissidents like Lam.
values bookstores can offer.” He is confident he can gauge While Lam has severed contact with his former bookstore
readers’ appetites, claiming that over 90% of the books he associates for safety’s sake, he knows Lee Bo, the bookstore’s
sourced from Guangdong sold during bumper years. shareholder who was abducted from a Hong Kong warehouse,
can now travel freely to China, although his phones are
The Taipei coffee shop where Lam was attacked tapped. Two other associates are known to be barred from
with red paint on April 21. returning to Hong Kong.
He was saddened by a Chinese court’s recent 10-year
sentence for Gui Min-hai for “illegally providing intelligence
overseas” and by the arrest of Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy
Lai in February over his role in a pro-democracy protest last year.
“It’s absurd,” says Lam. Between Gui’s two-year detention
and apprehension shortly after his release, “what intelligence
could he obtain and share with foreign countries?”
While Lam is not upbeat about the city’s outlook given its
small area, proximity to China and lack of military capability, he
urges Hong Kong not to give up hope.
“Our fight for freedom and democracy must go on even
from outside of the city,” he says. “But don’t expect a
revolution to bear fruit in merely one or two years. Be ready to
AP
fight for 20 or 30 years.”
44
W Street food
hen I step out of my building
in the middle of Bangkok
these days, there are few cars
in the usually congested thoroughfare.
Passersby wear face masks and stay
a respectful distance from each other
-- a feat that would be impossible in
the usual throng of students and office
workers in this neighborhood.
But the biggest change is what I don’t
see. Gone is the fried-chicken lady who
would slip some crispy chicken skin and
an extra pouch of nam jin (chili sauce) in
my order. Gone too is the “uncle” who
always greeted me with a toothy grin and
warm cheer whether or not I was buying
his skewers of juicy grilled pork.
These street-food vendors and many
others have disappeared from the
sidewalks of Bangkok since the onset
of the novel coronavirus. Customers
have vanished, curfews have cut into
their business hours and nobody knows
what tomorrow will bring. Many of the
stallholders have returned to their
homes in the provinces for the duration
of the national lockdown. A few are
sticking it out, though, and stand as
inspiration for others.
“I don’t know what to do,” says
Bangkok native Pim Chana, the most
popular rad na (noodles and gravy)
vendor in the Ruam Sab Market in
the central district of Asok. Pim’s stall
proclaims that she has been featured
on television, but there is no air of
glamour as she steps out to reflect
on the emergency.
“I have to keep selling because I have
responsibilities,” she says as she takes off
her face mask -- keeping a table’s width
away from me. “I’m on my own and don’t
have any family to support me.”
Looking around the nearly empty
market, Pim says she is determined to
keep cooking, even though sales have
plunged. “Normally, I have 250 to 300
customers a day,” she says. “Now it’s
less than a third of that.” Some loyal
customers are still buying. “But it isn’t
as happee as before” she adds, using a
TEA LEAVES
spirit in
Bangkok’s
lockdown
VINCENT VICHIT-VADAKAN
Hiroko Oshima
popular word that the Thai language has
borrowed from English.
Despite the hard times, Pim has not
compromised on quality. She simmers
her meat-packed gravy with the same
care as always, and ensures that all the
ingredients are fresh. Many options are
available, but the regulars’ favorite is the
flat crispy egg noodles, softening in a
glistening sauce.
Pim says she tried selling through
the delivery platform GrabFood, but
complains that the company’s minimum
30% commission was unaffordable. So
she is relying on walk-in customers and
direct orders. “At least I can still make
a little bit of an income,” she sighs. “It’s
better than not making anything at all.”
Some vendors are more upbeat.
Amara Seetongdee, better known as
“Mae Am” (Mother Am), opened her
eponymous pad thai shop “30-plus years
ago.” She prides herself on sourcing
fresh ingredients from the nearby Khlong
Nikkei Inc. No reproduction without permission.
Toei market, and on her original recipe
for Thailand’s national dish.
“We make all our products from
scratch,” Mae Am says with a hint
of pride. Old-school garnishes like
banana blossom and small bouquets
of pennywort leaves are served with
every order.
Speaking through her daughter-in-
law Clare, whose husband Bas works
in the shop with his mother, Mae Am
says the COVID-19 crisis has changed
many things -- including the way food is
served to customers. “We have to sell
through take-away and deliveries now,
and have started using Grab, Line Man
and Wongnai,” she notes, referencing
popular delivery apps.
While the apps take a hefty cut, she
sees their service as a convenience for
her customers during these difficult
times. But she misses the usual flow of
people. “We like to serve our pad thai
fresh and hot from the wok,” she says.
“We like to see people enjoy our food.”
Her day starts at 6 a.m. and ends well
after the stall’s 8 p.m. closing time. The
staff serve all day, and when there is a
lull, the shopkeeper makes traditional
desserts like bua loy (rice-flour balls in
coconut milk) and -- my personal favorite
-- the silkiest durian sticky rice in town,
served faintly warm. “I enjoy my working
day,” she says. “I don’t feel tired and my
heart is happy when I work.”
She says sales have been steady and
she has gained new customers through
the delivery apps. Bangkok’s street
vendors have long been under pressure
from gentrification and regulation, and it
is unclear how many will reopen when the
capital returns to normal. But she sees a
silver lining to the crisis.
“Local people are working together
and helping each other,” she says.
Characteristically, so is Mother Am, who
is quietly donating meals to medical
workers and others in need.
Vincent Vichit-Vadakan is a Bangkok-based
writer.
45