VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta. The Philippines urged China on Sunday to recall more than 200 Chinese boats it said had been spotted at a reef in the South China Sea, saying the presence of the vessels violated its maritime rights as it claims ownership of the area.

Authorities said the Philippines coast guard had reported that about 220 vessels, believed to be manned by Chinese maritime militia personnel, were seen moored at the Whitsun Reef, which Manila calls the Julian Felipe Reef, on March 7.

"We call on the Chinese to stop this incursion and immediately recall these boats violating our maritime rights and encroaching into our sovereign territory," Defence Minister Delfin Lorenzana said.

The Philippine military had conducted air and maritime patrols in the South China Sea to further validate the report, spokesman Marine Major General Edgard Arevalo said, but did not say when.

The military had submitted its findings to other government agencies, and they would be used as basis for taking "appropriate actions not limited to filing diplomatic protests", he said in a statement, without elaborating.

"The (Armed Forces of the Philippines) will not renege from our commitment to protect and defend our maritime interest within the bounds of the law," Arevalo said.

Chinese boats have fished near the reef for a long time, and recently, some have been sheltering in the area due to sea conditions, said China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying on Monday.

"I think this is very normal, and hope all sides can view this rationally," she said at a daily news conference.

Foreign minister Teodoro Locsin, asked whether he would file a diplomatic protest over the boats, told a journalist on Twitter: "Only if the generals tell me. In my watch, foreign policy is the fist in the iron glove of the armed forces."

The vessels are fishing boats believed to be manned by Chinese military-trained personnel, according to Philippines security officials.

The vessels' presence in the area raises concern about overfishing and the destruction of the marine environment, as well as risks to safe navigation, a Philippine cross-government task force said late on Saturday.

An international tribunal invalidated China's claim to 90% of the South China Sea in 2016, but Beijing does not recognise the ruling. China has built islands in the disputed waters in recent years, putting air strips on some of them.

Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei all claim parts of the sea.

In January, the Philippines protested at a new Chinese law allowing its coast guard to fire on foreign vessels, describing it as a "threat of war".

The United States has repeatedly denounced what it called China's attempts to bully neighbours with competing interests, while Beijing has criticised Washington for what it calls interference in its internal affairs.

The Whitsun Reef is within Manila's exclusive economic zone, the task force said, describing the site as "a large boomerang-shaped shallow coral reef at the northeast of Pagkakaisa Banks and Reefs".

The task force vowed to continue "to peacefully and proactively pursue its initiatives on environmental protection, food security and freedom of navigation" in the South China Sea. (Reuters)

Jakarta. Confidence in the safety of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine has taken a big hit in Spain, Germany, France and Italy as reports of rare blood clots have been linked to it and many countries briefly stopped using it, poll data showed on Monday.

The polling firm YouGov said it had already found in late February that Europeans were more hesitant about the AstraZeneca vaccine than about those from Pfizer Inc/BioNTech and Moderna Inc, and that the clot concerns had further damaged public perceptions of the AstraZeneca shot’s safety.

At least 13 European countries in the past two weeks stopped administering the AstraZeneca shot, co-developed with scientists at Oxford University, after reports of a small number of blood disorders.

Many resumed its use on Friday after the European Medicines Agency regulator said in a preliminary safety review on Thursday that the vaccine was safe and effective and not linked with a rise in the overall risk of blood clots.

EMA did not rule out a possible link, however, with rare cases of blood clots in the brain known as cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST).

YouGov’s poll - which covered about 8,000 people in seven European countries between March 12 and 18 - found that in France, Germany, Spain and Italy, people were now more likely to see the AstraZeneca vaccine as unsafe than as safe.

Some 55% of Germans say it is unsafe, while less than a third think it is safe, the poll showed. In France, where AstraZeneca’s COVID vaccine was already unpopular, 61% of people polled say they now see it as unsafe.

In Italy and Spain, most people previously felt the AstraZeneca vaccine was safe - at 54% and 59% respectively - but those rates have fallen to 36% and 38% respectively, in the latest poll.

The survey showed that only in Britain, where the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine has been used in a national rollout since January, have the blood clot concerns had little to no impact on public confidence. The majority of people polled in the UK - 77% - still say the shot is safe. Their trust in it is on a par with Pfizer’s 79% perceived safety rating.

YouGov also said there appeared to be no spillover concerns across the seven European countries polled for the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, both of which were seen as being as safe as in a poll three weeks ago. (Reuters)

Jakarta. New Zealand is set to announce on Monday whether it will open quarantine-free travel to Australians, but Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern indicated that such an arrangement may only be with some Australian states.

Ardern told state broadcaster TVNZ in an interview that initial country-to-country negotiations had turned to state-by-state discussions as the process was taking too long.

“We’ve said: ‘Look, let’s just move state-by-state’ because it’s actually just taking a bit too much work, a bit too difficult,” Ardern said.

“Let’s just operate as Australia has been operating with us. That’s helping to speed things up.”

Australia’s border has been mostly open to neighbouring New Zealanders since last October, with a few short suspensions when there were small coronavirus outbreaks in Auckland. But New Zealand has delayed returning the favour amid more frequent bursts of COVID-19 clusters across Australia.

Ardern did not give any details on when such a travel arrangement was expected, but local media have reported it may be operational by the end of April. The prime minister is expected to announce her decision in a post-Cabinet news conference later on Monday.

Pressure has been mounting on Ardern’s government to allow Australians entry as the country’s tourism sector struggles without international visitors. The opposition National Party is calling for quarantine-free travel with Australia to start immediately.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said earlier this month that a two-way travel arrangement was in New Zealand’s hands. (Reuters)

Jakarta. The Danish Red Cross has launched a catastrophe bond for volcano-related disasters with the support of several financial firms, the groups said on Monday, adding it was the first of its kind.

The $3 million bond will enable the disaster relief agency to get aid quickly to those suffering following the eruption of 10 named volcanoes, in Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Indonesia and Mexico.

Catastrophe bonds offer investors high yields, but do not pay out if a named catastrophe occurs. They typically cover areas prone to hurricanes and typhoons.

The Danish Red Cross worked with insurance group Howden, with risk modelling by Mitiga Solutions and blockchain technology from Replexus, the organisations said in a statement.

Initial investors include Plenum Investments, Schroder Investment Management and Solidum Partners. (Reuters)