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FILE PHOTO: Philippine Marines fold a Philippine national flag during a flag retreat at the BRP Sierra Madre, a marooned transport ship in the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, part of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, Mar 29, 2014. (Reuters/Erik De Castro) - 

The Philippines' defence chief said on Sunday (Nov 21) a military resupply mission for the country's troops stationed on an atoll in the South China Sea will resume this week, after it was aborted last week when it was blocked by the Chinese coast guard.

Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said he had instructed the military to send its resupply vessels back to the Philippines-occupied Second Thomas Shoal, and that China "will not interfere" this time.

On Thursday, the Philippines condemned "in strongest terms" actions of three Chinese coast guard vessels that it said blocked and used water cannon on resupply boats headed toward Second Thomas Shoal, which is locally known as Ayungin Shoal.

The United States called the Chinese actions "dangerous, provocative, and unjustified", and warned that an armed attack on Philippine vessels would invoke US mutual defence commitments.

"The Chinese will not interfere per my conversation with the Chinese ambassador (Huang Xilian)," said Lorenzana.

Lorenzana said he and Huang had been talking "since the evening of the 16th while the incident was happening until yesterday, Nov 20".

The Chinese embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.

There will be no navy or coast guard escorts for the Philippines' resupply boats when they sail back to Second Thomas Shoal, Lorenzana said.

"They (China) have no right to impede, prevent or harass our ships within our EEZ (exclusive economic zone), whether we are fishing or bringing supplies to our detachment in the Sierra Madre (navy ship) in Ayungin Shoal," he said.

The chief of the Philippine military's Western Command, Vice Admiral Ramil Roberto Enriquez, meanwhile said the number of Chinese coast guard vessels in Second Thomas Shoal had gone down to two as of Saturday night from three on Tuesday.

He said the Chinese maritime militia vessels had also left the shoal. China has denied operating a militia.

There were 19 vessels near Second Thomas Shoal recently and 45 near Thitu Island, another Philippines-occupied area, according to National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon//CNA

People sit at an outdoor cafe on a street decorated with Christmas lights in Vienna, Austria, on Nov 20, 2021. (Photo: AP/Vadim Ghirda) - 

Austrians were enjoying a last day out in coffeehouses and at Christmas markets on Sunday (Nov 21) before the government imposes a nationwide lockdown to combat a growing fourth wave of COVID-19 infections.

The measures, which take effect Monday and are expected to last for a maximum of 20 days but will be reevaluated after 10 days, require people to stay home apart from basic reasons like getting groceries, going to the doctor and exercising.

Restaurants and most shops will close, and larger events will be cancelled. Schools and nurseries will remain open, but parents are encouraged to keep their children at home.

Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg also announced Friday that Austria will introduce a vaccine mandate as of Feb 1. The details of how the mandate will work are not yet clear.

In an interview published Sunday in the newspaper Kurier, Schallenberg said it’s “sad” the government had to resort to a mandate in order to ensure that enough people get vaccinated.

Just under 66 per cent of Austria’s 8.9 million population are fully vaccinated, one of the lowest rates in Western Europe.

Of the impending lockdown, Schallenberg said he and other officials had hoped this summer that such restrictions would no longer be necessary, and that it was a tough decision to impose a new lockdown also on vaccinated people.

“That people’s freedoms need to be restricted again is, believe me, also difficult for me to bear,” he said.

The new measures, especially the vaccine mandate, have been met with fierce opposition among some in the country. A Saturday protest in the capital city of Vienna drew 40,000 people, according to police, including members of far-right parties and groups.

On Saturday, Austria reported 15,297 new infections, after a week in which daily cases topped 10,000. Hospitals, especially those in the hardest hit regions of Salzburg and Upper Austria, are overwhelmed as the number of coronavirus patients rises in intensive care units//CNA

File photo. A pulse oximeter is placed on the hand of a COVID-19 patient at the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Sotiria hospital, in Athens, Greece, on Nov 12, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Giorgos Moutafis) - 

Britain called on Sunday (Nov 21) for international action on the issue of medical devices such as oximeters that work better on people with lighter skin, saying the disparities may have cost lives of ethnic minority patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said he had commissioned a review of the issue after learning that oximeters, which measure blood oxygen levels and are key to assessing COVID-19 patients, give less accurate readings for patients with darker skin.

"This is systemic across the world. This is about a racial bias in some medical instruments. It's unintentional but it exists and oximeters are a really good example of that," Javid said during an interview with the BBC.

Asked whether people may have died of COVID-19 as a result of the flaw, Javid said: "I think possibly yes. I don't have the full facts."

He said the reason for the discrepancies was that a lot of medical devices, drugs, procedures and textbooks were put together in white majority countries.

"I want to make sure that we do something about it but not just in the UK. This is an international issue so I'm going to work with my counterparts across the world to change this," said Javid.

He said he had already spoken about the issue to his US counterpart, who was as interested in it as he was.

Javid said he had become aware of the problem after looking into why, in Britain, people from black and other minority ethnic backgrounds had been disproportionately affected by COVID-19.

He said that at the height of the early stages of the pandemic, a third of admissions for COVID-19 into intensive care units were for ethnic minority patients, which was double their representation in the general population//CNA

China has downgraded diplomatic ties with Lithuania after Taiwan established a de facto embassy in Vilnius. (File photo: AFP/PETRAS MALUKAS) - 

China downgraded its diplomatic ties with Lithuania on Sunday (Nov 21), expressing strong dissatisfaction with the Baltic State after Taiwan opened a de facto embassy there, escalating a row that has sucked in Washington.

China views self-ruled and democratically governed Taiwan as its territory with no right to the trappings of a state and has stepped up pressure on countries to downgrade or sever their relations with the island, even non-official ones.

Lithuania expressed regret over China's move but defended its right to expand cooperation with Taiwan, while respecting Beijing's "One China" policy, and said its foreign minister would go to Washington to discuss trade and investment projects.

Taiwan, meanwhile, reported that two Chinese nuclear-capable H-6 bombers had flown to the south of the island on Sunday, part of a pattern of what Taipei views as military harassment designed to pressure the government.

Beijing had already expressed its anger this summer with Lithuania - which has formal relations with China and not Taiwan - after it allowed the island to open an office in the country using the name Taiwan. China recalled its ambassador in August.

Other Taiwan offices in Europe and the United States use the name of the city Taipei, avoiding reference to the island itself. However, the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania finally opened on Thursday.

China's Foreign Ministry said in a brusque statement that Lithuania had ignored China's "solemn stance" and the basic norms of international relations.

Beijing said relations would be downgraded to the level of charge d'affaires, a rung below ambassador.

The move "undermined China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and grossly interfered in China's internal affairs", creating a "bad precedent internationally", it said.

"We urge the Lithuanian side to correct its mistakes immediately and not to underestimate the Chinese people's firm determination and staunch resolve to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity," China's foreign ministry said.

No matter what Taiwan does, it cannot change the fact that it is part of China, it said.

Lithuania's Prime Minsiter Ingrida Simonyte said on Sunday that the opening of the representative office, which does not have a formal diplomatic status, should not have come as a surprise to anyone.

"Our government's programme says Lithuania wants a more intense economic, cultural and scientific relationship with Taiwan," she said. "I want to emphasise that this step does not mean any conflict or disagreement with the 'One China' policy."

The prime minister of Lithuania's larger EU neighbour Poland said on Sunday that it supported the stance taken by Vilnius.

Taiwan says it is an independent country called the Republic of China, its official name, and that the People's Republic of China has never ruled it and has no right to speak for it.

Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council denounced China's "rudeness and arrogance", saying Beijing had no right to comment on something that was not an internal Chinese affair and purely a matter between Taiwan and Lithuania.

Taiwan has been heartened by growing international support in the face of China's military and diplomatic pressure, especially from the United States and some of its allies.

Washington rejects attempts by other countries to interfere in Lithuania's relationship with Taiwan, US Under Secretary of State Uzra Zeya told a news conference in Vilnius on Friday.

Lithuania Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis will go to Washington on Tuesday where he expects to discuss the opening of the US market to Lithuanian goods and developing common investment projects, the ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

Landsbergis will meet US Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Jose W Fernandez "to discuss possibilities to expand and deepen mutually beneficial economic ties", it said.

Washington has offered Vilnius support to withstand Chinese pressure and Lithuania will sign a US$600 million export credit agreement with the US Export-Import Bank on Wednesday.

Only 15 countries have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

Taipei could lose another ally to Beijing after the Honduran presidential election later this month, where a candidate backed by main opposition parties is leading in opinion polls.

If elected, Xiomara Castro has vowed to establish official relations with China//CNA