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Chinese boats keep up steady presence at Julian Felipe Reef, says US ship tracker - ABS-CBN News

Activity of fleet over the last two years defies commercial explanation, Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative says.

China has kept up a sustained presence around a disputed South China Sea reef for two years, according to a Washington-based think tank – despite Beijing’s claims that its vessels were only sheltering in the area. The Centre for Strategic and International Studies’ Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI), which tracked the vessels’ automatic identification system broadcasts, also identified 14 of the Chinese ships captured in photos and videos taken by Philippine coastguard patrols at Whitsun Reef. Whitsun is a V-shaped reef in a shallow coral region of the resource-rich Spratly Islands and is now at the centre of a deepening maritime row between Beijing and Manila. According to AMTI, the 14 ships, all from southern China’s Guangdong province, were first tracked patrolling Union Banks, which includes Whitsun Reef, in early 2019 and nine of them have broadcast AIS from Whitsun several times. “As with other known militia deployments, the behaviour of these vessels defies commercial explanation. Most have remained in the area for weeks, or even months, riding at anchor in clusters without engaging in any fishing activity,” AMTI said in a report on Wednesday. “Many are trawlers which, by definition, must move to fish. And blue skies have debunked the initial excuse from the Chinese embassy in Manila that they were riding out a storm.” Tension between China and the Philippines has intensified in recent months after Manila reported more than 200 Chinese vessels near Whitsun Reef in the disputed South China Sea in early March and 44 ships from the Chinese “maritime militia” were still there despite the good weather earlier this month. Beijing insisted that at the time these ships were civilian fishing boats taking shelter from bad weather and that they had “no plans” to stay there permanently, but the Philippine government has asked Beijing to withdraw the boats. Philippine foreign secretary Teodoro Locsin warned that Manila would lodge diplomatic protests every day until “the last one’s gone, like it should be by now if it’s really fishing”. The presence of the Chinese vessels deepens concern over whether Beijing is deploying maritime militia – fishing vessels in paramilitary service as required by Chinese law – to gain control over the contested waters.On Monday, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte broke his silence over the Whitsun dispute and said he was “not so much interested” in fishing but was prepared to send the military to “stake a claim” over oil and mineral resources in the South China Sea, even though “it will be bloody”. In the report, AMTI identified five out of the six Chinese vessels tied together at Whitsun Reef as members of the Yuemaobinyu fleet registered in the Bohe harbour in Maoming, Guangdong province. The Yuemaobinyu fleet caught international attention in 2019 when one of its boats, Yuemaobinyu 42212, rammed and sank a Philippine boat at Reed Bank, another disputed area in the South China Sea. The incident sparked demonstrations in Manila until Beijing gave assurances that the Chinese captain, who later issued an apology, would compensate the Philippines for the loss of the ship. China, Vietnam, the Philippines and Taiwan all have claims over the entire Union Banks, which includes Whitsun Reef that falls in the Philippine’s exclusive economic zone in the Spratly Islands and is about 320km (200 miles) west of the Philippine province of Palawan. Citing satellite imagery from Planet Labs, AMTI said Chinese vessels appeared to frequently bounce between Whitsun and other parts of Union Banks, such as the unoccupied Kennan Reef next to the Chinese base at Hughes. “The number of vessels at Whitsun has fluctuated over this period, but never entirely disappeared,” the report said, citing an incomplete count between February of last year and April 11, which showed a peak in November when a total of 196 vessels were visible at Union Banks, including 129 at Whitsun Reef. When the Philippine coastguard documented more than 200 vessels at Whitsun in early March, it also included some Chinese and Vietnamese coastguard and navy vessels as well as Vietnamese fishing boats. “But the vast majority are Chinese fishing vessels 50 metres or more in length, which distinguishes them from their smaller Vietnamese counterparts,” it said.  RELATED VIDEO

Coronavirus: More of Auckland Airport worker's COVID-19 contacts test negative as three new cases detected in MIQ - Newshub

New figures were released by the Ministry of Health on Thursday.

The seven-day rolling average of new cases at the border is one. Four previously reported cases have now recovered, with the total number of active cases in New Zealand now sitting at 80. Meanwhile the Ministry of Health has reclassified two previously reported cases as not cases. One of these is now deemed historic and considered not infectious, while the other is also deemed historic, and was recorded in the persons country of origin so isn't added to New Zealand's tally. "These reclassifications mean there is a net change of plus one to today's total number of confirmed cases, which is 2244." Another 5173 COVID-19 tests were completed on Wednesday.

Ghost chips? Govt evidence says Dutch company dumps surplus frozen fries in NZ - 1News

Europe has an oversupply of fries and wedges as Covid-19 lockdowns have meant less people are eating out.

The government has found evidence a Dutch company is dumping surplus frozen fries in New Zealand - but says it's not affecting the local industry. By Sally Murphy for rnz.co.nz Last year Potatoes New Zealand raised concerns about an increase in imports from Belgium and The Netherlands at low prices which were undercutting local growers and processors. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) launched an investigation into the dumping - and has just released its draft report. It contacted potato processing companies in Belgium and the Netherlands and asked them to fill out a survey. That information, alongside Customs data, found there was a spike in imports from the two countries in June and July last year - and one Dutch company, Lamb Weston, was in fact dumping product here. Europe has been left with an oversupply of frozen potato fries and wedges as Covid-19 lockdowns have meant less people are eating out. The MBIE report said dumping was likely to continue but concluded there was not a threat of material injury to the domestic industry as a result. Accordingly, it was likely that advice to the minister responsible would be to terminate the investigation. Findings frustrating for industry Potatoes NZ (PNZ) said it would review the report this week and meet with processors next week to determine its next move. Chief executive Chris Claridge said the findings were frustrating. "We're pleased the government agrees with the industry that dumping is occurring in the New Zealand market but we don't agree that it doesn't pose a material threat to the industry," Claridge said. PNZ would consult with the industry before making a further submission to the final report, he said. "Our contention has been the potential risk and that's what we're acting on - we saw a sharp, significant increase in frozen fry imports and we saw processors not issuing contracts to growers because they were worried about the marketplace being un-economic for them to operate in. "The threat still exists today and it's not going away because Covid isn't going away in Europe. We believe there is excess capacity and we have processors admitting to dumping, it's just the government doesn't see the level of material threat the same as the industry does." Interested parties had until 30 April to make further submissions to the investigation. MBIE said no final decision had been reached at this stage as the investigation was ongoing.