China lawmakers gather as doubts swirl over pandemic safety

BEIJING (AP) — China is convening its biggest political gathering of the year and President Donald Trump has said he is considering meeting with world leaders in June as doubts simmer over how safe is safe enough with the pandemic still not under control.

From meatpacking plants in Colorado to garment factories in Bangladesh, workers are concerned over risks they face as they return to work after shutdowns. The safety questions apply even at the highest levels of the political spectrum.

Trump tweeted that having leaders of the Group of Seven major economies fly in next month for a summit at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland would be a “great sign to all" of things returning to normal.

In March, the president canceled the meeting because of the coronavirus pandemic, saying leaders would confer by video conference instead. The District of Columbia remains under stay-at-home orders at least through June 8, though Maryland began relaxing the restrictions last week. At the same time, leaders of the G-7 member nations are in some cases still grappling with the virus in their own countries or in various states of reopening their economies.

Trump's proposal for meeting around the original date of June 10-12 drew an ambiguous response from Japan, where the chief government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, said he viewed the tweet as “an expression of the President’s intention to normalize the global economy quickly.”

Suga said such details are still being studied by the U.S. as host nation and that Tokyo was in discussions with Washington.

China's communist leadership is taking extensive precautions to prevent any infections as it opens its National People’s Congress on Friday and a parallel meeting of advisers on Thursday. The meetings in Beijing were...