Philippines' leading scholar on China, security studies dies of COVID-19
MANILA, Philippines (2nd update 2:22 p.m.) — The latest fatality from the coronavirus disease in the country is political science professor Aileen Baviera, a respected China studies scholar.
Baviera succumbed to severe pneumonia caused by COVID-19, according to a post of the University of the Philippines Diliman. She passed away early Saturday morning at San Lazaro Hospital in Manila. She was 60.
A former dean of the UP Asian Center, Baviera was one of the few eminent women in her field and a defender of the Philippines' rights in the South China Sea. Her academic interests included contemporary China studies, China-Southeast Asia relations and territorial and maritime disputes.
She was also the founder of think tank Asia Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation.
The academic and foreign policy studies community mourned the death of one of the country’s foremost sinologist.
“What a loss for Asian studies,” Lyle Morris, senior policy analyst at US-based think tank RAND Corporation, tweeted.
Lawyer Tony La Viña of Ateneo de Manila University called Baviera an "intellectual giant... irreplaceable in expertise on national and regional security on China."
The Philippines has reported at least 230 COVID-19 infections, including 18 fatalities. — with Gaea Cabico
Editor's Note: An earlier version of this article reported that Dr. Baviera was 61. This has been corrected. She was 60.
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