China backs Indonesia to become vaccine hub of Southeast Asia

 

China supports Jakarta’s efforts to become the center for vaccine production in Southeast Asia, Indonesia Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investments Luhut Pandjaitan said after meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Indonesia has the strongest capacity for vaccine production in Southeast Asia, Wang said, according to a statement issued by Pandjaitan after the two held a discussion on Saturday. Wang will support China’s companies to step up cooperation, according to the statement. Volunteers in Indonesia’s city of Bandung, the capital of West Java province, are already taking part in trials for a vaccine being developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd. Southeast Asia’s biggest economy is also working on its own inoculation, called the Merah Putih vaccine, as it seeks to ensure there are enough doses for its 270 million population. The two ministers discussed developing three industrial zones in Indonesia’s Bintan, Batang and Semarang areas, and the participation of Chinese universities in researching herbal medicine in North Sumatra, according to the statement released yesterday.

Malaysia seizes six Chinese fishing vessels, detains 60 citizens

Malaysia’s maritime authority detained six Chinese fishing vessels and their crews for allegedly trespassing in waters off one of its southern states. The vessels, registered in Qinhuangdao, China, were believed to be sailing toward Mauritania in northwestern Africa to fish but had to stop and anchor off Johor state due to a malfunction, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency said in a statement Saturday evening. There were six captains and 54 crew members, all Chinese nationals and between the ages of 31 and 60, it said. All were arrested after failing to produce permits from authorities to conduct activities or anchor in Malaysian waters, the agency said. It added the vessels, which didn’t have any cargo, were seized.

Philippines, China foreign ministers reaffirm ties

The Philippines and China foreign ministers reaffirmed the “continuing vitality” of their countries’ relations amid recent tensions in the South China Sea. China Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosted Philippines counterpart Teodoro Locsin at a meeting in Tengchong City, in the southern province of Yunnan, on Saturday to discuss political and economic cooperation, according to a statement issued by Manila. Wang affirmed China’s commitment to support the Philippines’ infrastructure program, it said. “The two foreign ministers also engaged in a candid and in-depth exchange on regional security concerns, as well as issues of mutual interest in the context of Asean-China relations in which the Philippines acts as China coordinator,” the statement said. The meeting came weeks after Locsin said the Philippines won’t follow China’s policy of keeping the U.S. out of the South China Sea, and President Rodrigo Duterte’s remarks before the United Nations that the Philippines will “firmly reject attempts to undermine” a 2016 arbitral ruling in its favor in the maritime dispute.

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