The COVID-19 outbreak has wreaked havoc on the supply chains as governments in many countries impose lockdowns to curb the spread of the highly infectious novel coronavirus. Thankfully, China – the world’s second largest economy – had recently eased restrictions gradually all over the country and lifted the nearly three-month lockdown in Wuhan, where the COVID-19 pandemic started. This “phasal phenomenon” of COVID-19, where different countries experience the worst of the pandemic at different times, is something to be optimistic about as it allows countries such as Singapore to have supply lines from different countries at different points in time, said Professor Paul Teng, an adjunct senior fellow at the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies in RSIS.