QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani authorities on Wednesday postponed a polio vaccination campaign in the country's restive southern Balochistan province after health workers boycotted it to oppose a proposed privatization of hospitals.
Authorities on Monday launched the final nationwide polio vaccination campaign for the year, aiming to protect 45 million children. According to the World Health Organization, Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan remain the only two countries where the potentially fatal, paralyzing virus has not been eradicated.
Anwarul Haq of the National Emergency Operation Center for Polio Eradication, said the polio vaccination campaign in Balochistan was delayed until Dec. 30 for “better preparedness." He provided no further details.
However, other health and government officials said the campaign in Balochistan was postponed after health workers refused to join it and demanded that the government stop plans to privatize state-run hospitals where they work.
Representatives of health workers have also urged the government not to employ unqualified workers to carry out the campaign.
Restive Balochistan has reported the highest number of polio cases, with 26 out of the nationwide 63 confirmed cases since January. The campaign continue until Dec. 22 in other areas in Pakistan.
Pakistan regularly launches campaigns against polio despite attacks on the workers and police assigned to the inoculation drives. Militants falsely claim the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children.
More than 200 polio workers and police assigned for their protection have been killed since the 1990s, according to health officials and authorities.
A police officer stands guard as a health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child, in Peshawar, Pakistan, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)
A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a slum area in Lahore, Pakistan, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
MACAO (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday began a three-day visit to Macao to mark the 25th anniversary of the casino city’s return to Chinese rule.
Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, were welcomed at the airport by a lavish ceremony with lion and dragon dances. Xi told reporters that Macao, a former Portuguese colony of 687,000 people, is “the pearl in the motherland’s palm.”
“I believe that as long as we fully leverage the institutional advantages of ‘one country, two systems,' dare to strive hard, and have the courage to innovate, Macao will certainly create an even better tomorrow,” he said.
Like neighboring financial hub Hong Kong, Beijing has ruled Macao under the “one country, two systems” principle that allows the cities to retain their own Western-style legal and economic systems. Macao is the only city in China where casino gambling is legal.
Since the 1999 handover from Portugal to China, Macao has transformed from a monopoly-driven casino hub into the world’s biggest gambling center that's been flooded by tourists, mainly from mainland China.
Over the years, violent crimes linked to organized crime were brought to heel. Older residents generally considered their fortunes have improved under Chinese rule, pointing to better welfare and annual cash handouts backed by huge gaming tax reserves.
But following huge anti-government protests in 2019 in nearby Hong Kong, authorities have further tightened control in the city although political activism there did not pose the same threat to Beijing.
A vigil commemorating China’s bloody 1989 military crackdown on the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests was banned. Pro-democracy figures were barred from joining the legislative election in 2021. Last year, the city toughened its national security law and vocal political dissent has largely been silenced.
China's leadership is more concerned about diversifying Macao's economy, which has been heavily reliant on the gaming and tourism sectors.
Its incoming leader Sam Hou Fai, who was elected by about 400 Beijing loyalists in October, said the economic diversification is a key issue. The former top judge promised to accelerate plans to boost tourism and other sectors such as traditional medicines, finance, tech, exhibitions and commerce.
However, the city remains reliant on the gambling industry for revenues to support welfare programs and other goals laid out by Beijing, analysts say.
Xi will attend the inauguration ceremony of the new government on Friday and is expected to lay out his expectations for the city.
China has helped promote Macao's development by designating a special zone on neighboring Hengqin island in Zhuhai city that Macao and mainland Chinese authorities will jointly run.
Security has tightened during Xi's visit, including a ban on flying drones between Dec.14-22.
Leung reported from Hong Kong.
China's President Xi Jinping, center left, and his wife Peng Liyuan alight from their aircraft after arriving at the airport in Macao, China, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, ahead of celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of the casino city’s return to Chinese rule. (Eduardo Leal/Pool Photo via AP)
China's President Xi Jinping, center right, shakes hands with outgoing Macao Chief Executive Ho Iat-seng as he arrives at the airport in Macao, China, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, ahead of celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of the casino city’s return to Chinese rule. (Eduardo Leal/Pool Photo via AP)
China's President Xi Jinping, left, and his wife Peng Liyuan, right, arrive at the airport in Macao, China, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, ahead of celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of the casino city’s return to Chinese rule. (Eduardo Leal/Pool Photo via AP)
China's President Xi Jinping, center, greets children waving the flags of China and Macao, as his wife Peng Liyuan, right, looks on upon arrival at the airport in Macao, China, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, ahead of celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of the casino city’s return to Chinese rule. (Eduardo Leal/Pool Photo via AP)
China's President Xi Jinping speaks upon his arrival at the airport in Macao, China, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, ahead of celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of the casino city’s return to Chinese rule. (Eduardo Leal/Pool Photo via AP)
