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China-Australia tensions, Lee Kuan Yew’s warning, a Japanese sex pest: Asia’s most popular stories in 2020
- The top-read story this year was an in-depth look into how South Korea managed to contain its earliest Covid-19 outbreak without hard lockdowns
- A celebrity stalker in Japan, racism against Asian-Australians, and the India-China border row also grabbed readers’ interest
Reading Time:7 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
While it’s no surprise the coronavirus pandemic dominated attention this year, readers also kept an eye on China’s geopolitical activities and how Asia-Pacific countries sought to balance their ties with Beijing.
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Tensions spiked in many places, with Australia-China ties at their lowest in years, Indian and Chinese troops locked in a months-long border stand-off, and Manila saying it would call Washington for help if Beijing continued pushing its claims in the South China Sea.
Meanwhile, Tokyo jailed a celebrity stalker, while a stark warning made by Singapore’s late statesman Lee Kuan Yew resurfaced after four decades. Scroll on to find out readers’ favourite stories around the region in 2020.
WHAT LOCKDOWNS?
South Korea is currently experiencing a new wave of infections that’s deadlier than anything it’s seen all year, reinforcing the unpredictable nature of Covid-19.
But back in March, Seoul earned international plaudits for the way it handled its early outbreaks, which involved aggressive testing, hi-tech contact-tracing, quick isolation of potential cases and well-coordinated government agencies.
The coronavirus plan, which emphasised transparency and relied strongly on public cooperation, helped South Korea to largely avoid hardline measures at a time countries such as China and Italy were placing millions of their citizens under lockdown.
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