VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $250 million loan for the Philippines to purchase COVID-19 vaccines, it said in a statement on Monday.

The ADB said the loan would allow the government to purchase 40 million additional COVID-19 vaccine doses for eligible children and booster shots for adults.

The Philippines is aiming to fully vaccinate at least 54 million people, or nearly half of its 110 million population, before the year ends.

To reach that target, it plans to hold a second three-day mass vaccination campaign from Dec. 15. It has so far fully immunised 39.2 million as of Dec. 7.

New daily cases in the Philippines have stayed below 1,000 since Nov. 24, a sharp decline from the more than 20,000 peak in late September that strained the fragile health system in the Southeast Asian archipelago.

The Philippines' improving COVID-19 situation has allowed it to gradually reopen the economy and tentatively resume in-person classes. (Reuters)

Australia signed a A$1 billion ($716.5 million) defence deal with South Korea on Monday, boosting Seoul's efforts to grow its military exports.

Under the terms of the deal, South Korean defence company Hanwha Corp (000880.KS) will build 30 self-propelled howitzers and 15 armoured ammunition resupply vehicles for Australia.

"It's an important further chapter in the defence industry story for Australia as we continue to build our sovereign capability and (South) Korea is an important partner in that journey," Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters in Canberra.

The deal positions Hanwha as a frontrunner for Australia's planned A$30 billion contract to build infantry fighting vehicles for its army.

Shares in Hanwha were up 3% following the announcement.

While the defence deal is the headline of South Korean President Moon Jae-in's four-day trip to Australia, both countries said they have also agreed to work closely to help ensure supplies of Australian critical minerals exports for South Korea's tech sector.

Western allies have in recent months moved to reduce their dependency on China amid heightened concern about Beijing's control over the critical minerals sector.

South Korea needs critical mineral supplies, having pledged to become a global battery manufacturing powerhouse by 2030 as part of its plan to be carbon neutral by 2050.

Australia supplies around 40% of South Korea's critical mineral imports, which are crucial for many of the components needed to drive the world's economies to net zero emissions by 2050. (Reuters)

The Biden administration will seek to bolster economic and security cooperation with Southeast Asia through a visit to the region next week by its top diplomat, as it works to forge a united front against China in the Indo-Pacific.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due in the Indonesian capital Jakarta on Monday and will also visit Malaysia and Thailand on his first Southeast Asia trip since President Joe Biden took office in January.

Southeast Asia has become a strategic battleground between the United States and China, the world's two largest economies. China claims most of the South China Sea, the vital trade route that links the region, and has turned up military and political pressure on self-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing considers its own.

Blinken will pursue Biden's aim of elevating engagement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to "unprecedented" levels, focusing on strengthening regional security infrastructure in the face of China's "bullying" and discussing the president's vision for an Indo-Pacific economic framework, the top U.S. diplomat for Asia, Daniel Kritenbrink, told reporters ahead of the trip. read more

The Biden administration sees Southeast Asia as vital to its efforts to push back against China's growing power, but the lack of a formal structure for economic engagement since former President Donald Trump quit a regional trade deal in 2017 has limited its ability to exert influence, while Beijing's only grows.

The administration has yet to spell out what exactly Biden's envisaged economic framework will entail, although Kritenbrink said it would focus on trade facilitation, the digital economy, supply chain resiliency, infrastructure, clean energy, and worker standards.

Analysts and diplomats said Blinken would likely seek to woo countries by dangling the prospect of hosting U.S. firms relocating production from China as part of efforts to secure sensitive supply chains and of development finance. But there was no sign of a willingness to offer the increased access to the U.S. market the region craves.

"There is a burden of proof on this administration to deliver an economic strategy that shows our allies and partners that we are committed to long-term economic engagement in the region," said Matthew Goodman, a regional economics expert at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"What's been rolled out so far has promise in that regard, but it needs to be fleshed out."

An Asian diplomat said the Biden administration had shown itself serious in its desire to step up engagement with Southeast Asia through a series of senior-level visits this year, Biden's participation in regional summits, and long-standing security cooperation.

"But they don't have a response to China on the economy," he said. "The Chinese are ahead of the game by 20 years. The U.S. needs to do something to help less-developed Southeast Asian countries. Sending aircraft carriers is not enough."

Senior Biden administration figures, including Indo-Pacific policymaker Kurt Campbell, are acutely aware of the need to compete more effectively economically in the region with China, but any move to rejoin the trade deal Trump quit would be politically fraught given pledges to rebuild a domestic economy critics say is threatened by such mechanisms.

Biden's plan could still be enticing, despite its limitations, Goodman said.

"If you’re Vietnam, or you’re Indonesia, or Thailand, you want to make a play for being the place where Apple could relocate its assembly capability," he said.

"So there's a lot in there that is interesting to these countries, but there's a lot more detail that needs to be provided before they are going to be persuaded." (Reuters)

The U.S. ambassador to the Solomon Islands has warned Pacific Islands against "aid that benefits one person, one party and one bank account" - remarks that come after the Solomons were beset with riots last month blamed in part on discontent with China.

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare was accused last week by the leader of the opposition in parliament of using money from a national development fund that comes from China to prop up his political strength. He has rejected graft allegations. read more

Sogavare has blamed foreign powers that opposed his 2019 decision to switch diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China for influencing anti-government protesters from Malaita province.

Under-developed Malaita has been historically at odds with Guadalcanal province, where the national government is based, and opposed the 2019 switch of ties. It has banned Chinese construction and companies, and in 2020 accepted a $25 million U.S. Aid program.

Malaita protesters last month sparked riots by residents of the capital Honiara, where there is discontent over foreign companies failing to provide local jobs. Large sections of Chinatown burnt down. read more

In her first public comments on the riots, U.S. ambassador to Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, Erin McKee said in a statement that the loss of life and destruction of property in Honiara was tragic and "should not have happened".

McKee said the U.S. aid project resulted from an exchange of letters between Sogavare and then U.S. vice president Mike Pence, and aid and defence officials travelled to the Solomon Islands in August 2019.

Solomon Islands broke relations with Taiwan and recognised China the next month. Delays to the U.S. project occurred after the switch. It has since commenced operations although the entry of U.S. Peace Corps volunteers is still being negotiated.

U.S. aid contractors worked in partnership with communities so they could build local infrastructure such as roads and maintain it "without outside help", the statement said.

"Do you want aid that benefits one person, one party, and one bank account? Or do you want assistance that empowers entire families, strengthens entire communities, and enriches entire nations?" she said.

"As democratic and independent states, you have a choice of who to partner with. And I believe that the choice is obvious."

The Chinese embassy, which opened in Honiara in September last year, said on its website hundreds of Chinese families were left homeless by the riots.

"Any attempt to sabotage the relationship is doomed to failure," it added.

Over 200 police and soldiers from Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Fiji are in Honiara at the request of Sogavare to maintain order. (Reuters)