East Asia spans countries including China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. This archive gathers reported milestones from the region — covering public health, environmental efforts, technology, and social progress. Each entry highlights specific, verifiable developments worth knowing about.
All retail outlets across the country are required to charge customers for the use of plastic bags. The new requirement is an attempt by the government to reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in the country’s rivers, forests, streams and, ultimately, surrounding oceans.
“Even though the numbers are still small, you can see a future for this animal,” said senior conservation officer Philip Lo Yik-fui of Hong Kong-based Kadoorie Conservation China, which was driving efforts to protect the gibbons and expand their habitat.
South Korea’s capital, Seoul, is purchasing 700 electric taxis. This subsidy is worth 18.2 million won (around $15,000) per EV, far more than the 12.7 million ($10,300) subsidy for buying an EV for personal use.
In several of the patients the virus cleared up entirely, leading the authors to conclude that plasma “can serve as a promising rescue option” for severe COVID-19 cases.
Patients who were given the medicine in Shenzhen turned negative for the virus after a median of four days after becoming positive, compared with a median of 11 days for those who were not treated with the drug.
The City University of Hong Kong researchers say that a single rain droplet can briefly generate 140 volts, enough to briefly power 100 small lightbulbs.
In 2019, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) stated that by the end of 2020 single-use plastic bags would be banned in all of China’s major cities. By the end of 2022, the plastic bag ban was to be extended to all cities and towns. As the world’s most populous nation and second-largest economy, this became the most significant plastic bag ban in history.
The ban will be applied at 332 conservation sites along the river. It will be extended to cover the main river course and key tributaries by January 1 next year.
The city of Yokohama near Tokyo began issuing certificates recognizing the partnerships of sexual minority and common-law couples on Monday.
Hong Kong’s voters have delivered an unprecedented landslide for pro-democracy candidates in local elections, in a powerful show of solidarity with the city’s protest movement and rebuke to the government over its handling of the crisis.
