VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Vietnamese authorities have over the past week seized more than 600 kilograms of ivory smuggled from Africa, the government said on Monday.

Trade in ivory is illegal in Vietnam but wildlife trafficking remains widespread. Other items often found smuggled into the country include pangolin scales, rhino horns and tiger carcasses.

Customs authorities in the northern port city of Haiphong on Monday found nearly 130 kilograms of ivory hidden in a container of cow horns originated from Africa, the government said in a statement.

This followed the finding of nearly 500 kilograms of African ivory on Thursday last week at Lach Huyen Port in the city, the government said.

This has been the largest seizure of smuggled ivory in the country in more than four years. The authorities had in October 2018 seized more than eight tonnes of ivory and pangolin scales in one of the country's largest wildlife trafficking cases for years. (Reuters)

The Philippine Coast Guard has stepped up its presence in the disputed South China Sea by deploying additional vessels and conducting more sorties and overflights to protect maritime territory and the country's fishermen, its chief said on Monday.

Beijing's sweeping claims of sovereignty over the waterway have drawn repeated complaints from Manila, which has ramped up its rhetoric against reported Chinese construction activities and the "swarming" of Chinese vessels in the resource-rich waterway.

"We're making sure that the presence of coast guard vessels is felt by the fishermen in the area," Admiral Artemio Abu, Commandant of the Philippines Coast Guard (PCG), said in an interview.

Last month, PCG said it received a report that a Filipino fishing boat was forced by China's coast guard to leave the Second Thomas Shoal, known locally as Ayungin Shoal, which lies within the country's exclusive economic zone.

China's embassy in Manila did not respond when asked for comment about the incident at the time. China claims the reef as its territory.

"We are strengthening our presence," said Abu. The PCG chief was appointed by former President Rodrigo Duterte, who pursued warmer ties with Beijing, setting aside a longstanding territorial spat, in exchange for investment.

"At a moment's notice, the coast guard vessels we will be there because they are exclusively and primarily dedicated for that purpose," said Abu.

The 26,000-strong coast guard has 25 primary ships that can be used for deployment and patrols.

Beijing claims much of the South China Sea, where about $3 trillion in ship-borne trade passes annually, with the area becoming a flashpoint for Chinese and U.S. tensions around naval operations.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who succeeded Duterte, has vowed he would not lose an inch of territory to any foreign power, drawing cheers from advocates of a 2016 arbitral ruling invalidating China's claims in the South China Sea.

Since 2002, the Philippines has filed 200 diplomatic notes and protests against China's actions in the South China Sea.

Last month, Marcos met Chinese President Xi Jinping and the leaders reaffirmed that their countries would respect each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

But Marcos last week approved a U.S. request for expanded access to Philippine military bases, as Washington seeks to extend its security options as part of efforts to deter what it perceives as China's aggressive policies in the region.

The Pentagon also said separately the United States and the Philippines had "agreed to restart joint maritime patrols in the South China Sea to help address these challenges."

PCG's Abu said the coast guard's acquisition of more advanced vessels, including a 97-metre (318.24-ft) multi-role response vessel last year, had allowed it to increase the number and duration of trips in the South China Sea.

"We can stay there longer, farther and we can we can cover a bigger area now," said Abu. (Reuters)

A senior leader of the Kuomintang (KMT), Taiwan's main opposition party, will visit China this week and meet its top Taiwan policy-maker, the party said on Monday, amid continued military and political tensions between the two sides.

China has during the past three years ramped up pressure on Taiwan to accept Chinese sovereignty, including staging regular military drills near the democratically governed island. Taiwan's government rejects China's territorial claims.

The KMT said its deputy chairman, Andrew Hsia, would leave for China on Wednesday and meet Song Tao, the newly appointed head of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, in a rare high-level interaction between top politicians from Taiwan and China.

Hsia, a former Taiwanese diplomat and one-time head of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, and his delegation will "conduct exchanges and dialogue on the basis of equality and dignity", the KMT said.

They will "reflect Taiwan's latest public concerns about the security of the Taiwan Strait and expectations for regional peace and stability", the party added.

The Mainland Affairs Council said the KMT had informed it of the trip, adding that Taiwanese politicians who visit China should "reflect" the Taiwan people's insistence on maintaining democracy and peace and not enter into any authorised negotiations.

The KMT traditionally favours close ties with China, but strongly denies being pro-Beijing. China's Taiwan Affairs Office said it welcomed Hsia's visit.

Hsia visited China last August, on a trip condemned by Taiwan's government, shortly after Beijing staged war games near Taiwan to express anger at a visit to Taipei by then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

China has not spoken with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen's administration since she took office in 2016, believing she is a separatist, and has rebuffed frequent calls from Tsai for dialogue to resume.

The KMT has defended its outreach to China, saying lines of communication must be kept open.

The party's statement on Hsia's visit said that considering the current "stalemate" in relations across the Taiwan Strait, "it is natural not to sit idly by" and that the KMT would report on the trip to the government once back. (Reuters)

Deputy for the Protection of Women's Rights, Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection (PPPA), Ratna Susianawati, made assurance of continued state protection to women from the practice of abortion that has lately become rampant.

"The state has clearly regulated and is present to ensure that abortion is prohibited," Susianawati noted in a statement, here on Sunday.

"This is to protect and guarantee the right to life and survival for every human being, including fetuses, who have not yet been born," she affirmed.

However, Susianawati pointed out that abortion is allowed in special-case scenarios, such as life-threatening medical emergencies and pregnancies resulting from rape.

She noted that the PPPA Ministry highlighted the abortion case involving an eight-month pregnant woman from Banyuasin District, South Sumatra Province, who died of bleeding after an illegal abortion process was performed on her in a hotel room.

The police have arrested two suspects in the case.

"We are sorry for the death of a woman from Banyuasin District due to bleeding caused by an illegal abortion in a hotel room when she was eight months pregnant," she stated.

"This practice of illegal abortion not only threatens the life of the mother but also the fetus in the womb," she cautioned.

Susianawati said the prohibition on abortion has been regulated in Law Number 36 of 2009 Article 75, paragraph (1) concerning health, which states that everyone is prohibited from having an abortion.

"This rule illustrates that the state is present through statutory provisions made to protect and guarantee the right to life and survival of every creature, including unborn fetuses," she stated.

Paragraph (2) of the Health Law further stipulated that abortion can be done based on medical emergency indications detected at an early age of pregnancy.

These emergency indications include those that threaten the life of the mother and/or fetus who suffer from severe genetic diseases and/or congenital defects, as well as those that cannot be cured, thereby making it difficult for the baby to live outside the womb.

Moreover, abortion can be conducted in pregnancies resulting from rape that can cause psychological trauma to the victim.

Based on Article 194 of the law, anyone intentionally having an abortion not in accordance with the provisions referred to in Article 75, paragraph (2) will be subject to a maximum imprisonment of 10 years and be fined up to Rp1 billion. (Antaranews)