i have a good wife here. learning the language. keep me a little but you need to interrupt so i want to do their story. for margaret. you're watching d.w. news asia coming up today yet mars democracy in peril again the military has declared a one year state of emergency election abnormalities the country's main political party led by alexander sujit has called for protests against the coup. plus china threatens to retaliate after britain extends residency rights for potentially millions of hong kong ors what happens next.

i'm melissa chan welcome to news asia history is real windy for myanmar just one decade after its democratic transition the military has seized power in a coup complete with taking over the airwaves and has declared recent elections knoll the national league for democracy on some soup cheese party and the main political entity has called for citizens to take to the streets the story on the ground is changing hour by hour and is very volatile. joining us is journalist dave going to bomb in kuala lumpur to walk us through what is happening day not too long ago you were formerly based in myanmar this is a fast moving story but how serious is this political crisis and why is the military moving at this particular time. it when you look at why the military is moving at this particular time point the fingers at the commander in chief of the

army senior general min long he's approaching retirement age 65 later this year mandatory retirement age and it's no secret that he's had his eyes on the presidency but with the elections in november where the nationally for them ocracy won more than 80 percent of the a valuable seats there really seemed to be no way for him to legitimately get there any time soon now they were bringing up accusations of widespread election fraud just a week ago which the elections commission rejected there were rumblings that there might be of things seem like they might damp down a little bit that's the kind of impression we're getting over the weekend and then this today but why now really seemed like he was going to have to move now or have an even more difficult time doing it later the new parliament that was set to take office based on those november elections the lower house was set to take seat today so if he was going to make a move clearly in their mind it was this would be the most opportune time for them to try to do it of course now they're trying to justify what they're doing which so

much of the world is rejecting. now she has lost quite a bit of global goodwill because of her position on the country's military action against the ranges and she's tonight it was a genocide against that minority group will that translate into national committee less willing to support democratic causes. well if you look at it and look at the statements coming out particularly from the west it clearly seems like the west coolly wants to stay behind this democratic process that was moving forward for the last 10 years until today but here's you know the u.s. talked about taking action the real question is what sort of actions are they going to take are they going to go back to economic sanctions which me m.r. was under for decades when it was under military rule the military military rule that ended entirety 10 years ago and was loosely transitioning out of that over the last 10 years because there's been a lot of concern that those sanctions really didn't do anything that change what

was going on with the military in the way they handle the country and all it was doing was punishing the common people and leaving so much of the population in total poverty so the question is do they really want to take those kind of economic sanctions again got it now where do the people of myanmar stand on this do most people savor the military or the national league for democracy clearly the overwhelming majority of the population favors on in the nationally for democracy yes the army does have some supporters on this but they're clearly in the minority the question really that's going to come up here is how strong a stand publicly will people want to take i mean when you look at it this is a country that under its decades of military dictatorship public demonstrations in some cases were not only put down violently but in some cases put down with deadly force so the real question here is how public and how strong the public will show its support for the n l d and the situation dave always

a pleasure to talk to you to talk with you also the british government has moved forward with its offer to many people in hong kong its former colony for a pathway to citizenship 1st with a visa for those with what's called a british national overseas passport b n o he. has this report. up until last summer looms wife and his 2 young children had never set foot in england now they've left their jobs their home and their loved ones back in hong kong to start a new life here in the u.k. . my parents they support communist. they will live if. that means i have to live my mother but i have no choice i have no choice because of my children i have to raise them i have to wear them low the truth they do have the right to live by the. law says he's long been concerned about democratic

freedoms in hong kong but it was beijing's decision last year to impose a sweeping national security law which proved the final straw. but we don't have freedom to speak we are just asking for something we already we should have we we are having before we start to think there is no future in hong kong hundreds of thousands of hong kong as are expected to follow you and his family of the next few years a leap of faith made possible by new u.k. visa scheme it's open to those born before the british handover of hong kong to china in 1997 as well as their dependence you know for some 5000000 hong kong as a pathway to citizenship. following it's a lifeline but the true test is still to come activists say there isn't enough infrastructure in place to support the arrivals and questions remain if the integration officials admit this is a work in progress clearly there are going to be some challenges there's

a lot of work going on to make sure all of the essential things are in place around housing around how to settle and integrate and you know if children go get children in schools that something's that everything you would expect in terms of and i you bring people to settle china has slammed these are all for accusing the british government of meddling in internal affairs while others in the u.k. say the scheme doesn't go far enough i welcome the government in providing a safe lifeboat to many hong kong ors but i do feel that those who are not eligible like me are a bit left out of the scheme that this is active in the pro-democracy movement if you add hong kong after the security deal was introduced like many activists he was born after $997.00 and isn't eligible for the visa without his parents here alone his savings are running out and now so to this is tourist visa he'll soon have to leave the u.k.

but with kofi travel restrictions in place around the world he and others like him a finding that doors of firmly closed. as we always say during protests no matter we go up or down we go together i hope that those who are eligible for be a know will think about those who are not and bear in mind that some are still struggling to find a safe place to settle me that douglas nor little know when they'll go back to hong kong. you know was hopeful that his children's futures and now secure but for douglas even the next few weeks are unclear. we have hong kong activist nathan la with us he lives and works in exile in the u.k. nathan beijing is not happy about this and has threatened to retaliate what realistically can it do well for now beijing.

not recognising the n.o.'s of the home government follows these practices so we can see if there are just a little bit inconvenienced attitude or wanting to use of you know trouble because of they have to use our whole point of say our passports to leave the border in hong kong but i think in general there are very limited retaliation measures that beijing people boy so on our. student observing how the situation or escalate the most possible retaliation will be. doing something on the notion of double nationality and i don't think it will come anytime soon. that's very interesting so beijing will have to be creative if it wants to do something now on the british front what else would you like to see the government do there. affidavit limitation of the national security law actually the british government has imposed a lot of measures counter measures through at least if you were issued off

a home call in could do they offer a piano. thing and i should have been treated with hong kong so i think of all but now the next step would be settling to the officials in china in hong kong what we're sponsible to do hear more isolation and also being very vigilant towards that if you trade off the chinese from this policy of the u.k. and of higher scrutiny to the state and to price i think these are very much needed measures to protect democracy on the one hand and on the other sewage so that they are holding china accountable for their human rights violation. now i was just thinking about what beijing could do what china could do in terms of putting pressure on people heading to the u.k. there's been some disturbing sinister stories of what appears to be plainclothes intelligence or police officers actually watching at the hong kong airport gate as people depart for flights and that's police state activity will we see more of this

kind of thing. up to a few people all have considered u.k. and they have also. complained cold. of cease patrolling in the airport looking very suspicious i think this is another signal that the hong kong government has been. growing measures to increase its surveillance on on these people and the states is a say no that city's freedom is once the tour it is so for me definitely there will be a lot more suffering both on people not only on india but also in our daily life you know of digital communication and everyone is introducing real name seemed carts circus and also a lot of other measures to really. impose more surveillance on people and this is of very boring trends and what is your sense in terms of the actual number of

people who will likely shop and u.k. over the next few years so if all 3000000 eligible and all of us and asked them asian from the u.k. government. 102200000 people coming to the u.k. in the 1st year this is actually coherence to my summation because. you have to consider when you think of immigration and where anna made of a pandemic it really. of the way involve people. with a lot thank you so much for joining us. thank you so much. that's it for today there's more on our website www dot com ford slash asia we leave you with pictures of global protests against the military coup in myanmar thanks for watching and see tomorrow.

the fight against the corona virus pandemic. has the rate of infection been developing what does the latest research say. information and contacts. on a virus update. on t w. it's going to succeed us like a bunch of the queen because we want to see if germany was made the last few years have been quite over earlier. on where it is the moment when it comes to be as on

the whole so was in the us version is perhaps the biggest guns a new hobby of mine i'm going to work for it i love to be a computer better person i recall that when you've been to the giving to realize it because of the another way of living are you ready to meet the servant and told me right just do it. 12 months have passed since the 1st kobe 900 cases emerged in germany meanwhile the virus has claimed more than 56000 lives here more than 2000000 have been infected and the number keeps climbing over the past year we've had to adjust our day to day lives to a new reality that we could hardly have imagined before. it's been a whole year since the prospect of a family holiday has become a remote possibility even impossible. a year of keeping our distance from friends

colleagues even our own families. and every day we witness the consequences of the pandemic restaurants shattered in a city's deserted public life has come to a standstill. welcome to a cove united special i want to johnsonville and good to have you with us 5608 that's how many new coronavirus cases were registered in germany over the past 24 hours no big deal we've had worse now imagine hearing a german saying that a year ago on thinkable but 12 months of this pandemic have changed us here's how it started. jeremy 1st came across 1000 here at the offices of this automotive supplier in bavaria it's where 33 year old employee caught the novel virus from a coworker who had traveled to germany from china he became patient number one.

german officials were quick to assure the public the country was taking the virus seriously but that there was also no cause for alarm. health minister yang spawn told the public there's no need for exaggerated concern and. if this kind orange the world health organization echoed this with calls for simple measures like more hand washing self protection is still the best possible way we can go about this but infections spread to every region in germany contact tracing became impossible. germany's hold on the virus gave way to the free spread of covert 19 and. then just 6 weeks after the 1st case was discovered in germany announced the closing of schools by the end of march a nationwide lockdown meant the workplace and the school day had to compete for

attention in homes across the country. the bulk of people in germany seemed to take the restrictions in stride and agree with them with the budding spring germany slowly started opening up again. but by the start of me nearly 7000 people in germany had died. meanwhile elsewhere in europe the numbers range from more than 24000 to over 28000 deaths. in comparison with many european neighbors germany appeared to have weathered the height of the crisis fairly well. many people enjoyed the warm summer months. but then fall arrived and cases began to rise again. by november a so-called lockdown light was in place despite both calls for stricter measures.

as well as protests against them. but the mini lockdown didn't work cases rosetta larning rates with more and more patients needing intensive care. by the christmas holidays restrictions have been tightened again and after the new year schools and shops remain shut. the latest extension of germany's lockdown will continue through february 14th. a more i'm joined by a man who must she's an infectious disease expert at the bavarian health and food safety authority and she's been involved in analyzing the new coronavirus right from the start 21st of most here in germany good to have you with us please tell me when did you know what we were dealing with. it was the very beginning of last year's january when a colleague of mine sent me the link to the w.-h.

. report on. cases of unknown origin in. china and he asked the man what do you think about these cases are we going to expect something really big here in new sas maybe and i said well no i don't think so definitely not wrong us it took a while for the rest of the population and authorities to revise the views and i remember that i was flying from munich airport in late march so much much later than those 1st cases emerged still before the lockdown though and the security team there was tested positive and we were all there without masks i mean dealing with that situation a year ago it was known in by doing right. well every outbreak in the city is kind of learning by doing the whites that said it because. it's because every outbreak is different you have to adapt your methods you have to adapt the measure

is you implement to stop the outbreak. yes it's always unique situation but of course last year was very special very unique and it was also very exhausting. and still it's still it's ongoing and even a year into the pandemic now when and the 2nd year already we still find it hard to say where a person got infected and that's significant why is it so difficult. well with as you sat with the ongoing virus transmission and we have observed really intense virus transmission in circulation for several months now it's really hard to trace back infection chains.

why is that say because on the one hand. it takes some time and efforts to reconstruct transmission genes. well. the public health authorities have been working at the limits for some time now and their priority is to. prevent forwards transmission meaning that to prevent further spread of covet 90. and also many cases do not know. where they got the virus from them there are also some cases we do not want to say where it comes from yeah and all of that makes it more difficult and on top of that of course now we have the variants that said to be even more infectious than the original virus so it still feels

a little bit like learning by doing how has the pandemic changed your life. well. in many ways of course it was a very challenging year for me professionally and i have 2 kids it was those who went through to my private life very challenging with home schooling me cetera but also what i would say i have never been so thankful for all these brilliant work scientists do all over the world to develop a vaccine that's in fact is against a novel virus within 12 months or even less than 12 months it's just brilliant and . what i want to say is that if you get the chance to. get your covered shots when it's your turn to get the vaccination for your own protection

and also. the trajectory of the valet human beings right that's certainly a new chapter in the pandemic vaccination melbourne from the bavarian health and food safety authority thank you so much for your time thank you money. and it's time now for your questions over to our science correspondent derrick williams. when will we get back to normal life as we know it and lift it until the end of 2919. i decided to answer this on air because i've asked the question so often and by pretty much everyone and you know what i can't give you an answer no one can i can only guess and you know what else no one can see the future so what all the experts out there predict is just guessing too though some guesses are of course more informed than others so so

that's. here's my best guess it's based on 2 factors that should be clear to all of us by now the 1st is that the only way to return to some kind of normal is through vaccination the 2nd is that means worldwide vaccination until we're all protected we all remain in danger the current flock of variance has revealed how quickly this pathogen can cross borders and the longer we leave it in wide circulation even if it's in other countries the higher the chance it'll mutate into a variant that can do an end run around vaccines so banks and nation programs have to be fast and they have to be global i see it as a numbers game how much vaccine can we make how quickly to reach herd immunity

everywhere which many experts say is around 70 percent of humanity that's around 5 and a half 1000000000 fully vaccinated people since many vaccines require 2 doses let's call it 10000000000 doses for this back of the envelope prediction i added up what makers of different back scenes currently in use are now claiming they can produce in 2021 which as far as i can tell is around 8000000000 doses so not enough to round the corner globally by the end of this year granted those numbers change constantly but there's still no question it will also take time to distribute those billions of dollars so right now i just can't see a return to something approaching global pretend demick norms for at least a year and and probably a lot longer though individual nations with high backs and nation rates things will

likely grow more relaxed before that maybe as early as this summer. best gets. there and william is there and he'll be back to answer more of your questions tomorrow but now let's examine the team thanks for watching.

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this is the news live from. the class and the year long state of emergency civilian government officials including de facto leader. have been detained as international leaders urge the military to restore democracy. also on the program the german government meets with facts manufacturers of meat.