BEIJING (The Straits Times/ANN): Life has turned topsy-turvy for Pakistani medical student Zulkaif Ali, who now spends most of his days in bed. He is among foreigners whose governments have chosen not to evacuate its residents from Hubei province, and is growing ever more frustrated with what he calls a game of "diplomatic showmanship". "Indian embassy evacuated their citizens from China, shame on you Pakistan," wrote the third-year student at the Hubei University of Science and Technology. For Ghanaian Emmanuel Appiah, a postgraduate student at the Wuhan University of Technology, there's little to do but try to stay positive. To contain the diplomatic fallout from the outbreak, Beijing has to play to its domestic audience, said Professor Xu Guoqi from the University of Hong Kong.

Source: The Star February 07, 2020 06:33 UTC