Chinese Illegal poaching After the Philippines then Korea

A body of a South Korean coast guard officer is carried by his colleagues at a hospital

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A Chinese fishing boat captain stabbed two South Korean coast guard officers Monday, killing one and injuring the other, after his boat was stopped for illegally fishing in South Korean waters, officials said.

The Chinese captain pulled an unidentified weapon after officers from two coast guard ships boarded the fishing boat over suspicions that it was illegally operating in Yellow Sea waters rich in blue crabs, anchovies and croaker, coast guard spokesman Kim Dong-jin said.

A South Korean officer stabbed in the side was taken by helicopter to a hospital in the port city of Incheon but later died, Kim said. Also brought to the hospital were an officer stabbed in the abdomen, who was to undergo surgery, and the Chinese captain, who had minor injuries from the fight, he said.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry summoned China's ambassador in Seoul later Monday and lodged a strong protest over the fight.

2 weeks past, Chinese illegal fishermen captured in the Philippines for illegally poaching endangered sea green turtle and now detained in Palawan. The same incident happened year past and with court charges on progress when they pouched sea green turtle with the tag of the University of the Philippines in the West Philippines Sea near the Spratly Islands.

Last week in South Korea, Foreign Ministry officials said they asked the ambassador to make efforts to prevent illegal Chinese fishing from undermining bilateral ties.

Also last week, South Korean authorities raised fines levied on foreign fishing vessels caught operating in Seoul's self-declared exclusive economic zone, an apparent reflection of Seoul's impatience with a rising number of Chinese boats found fishing in the waters.

"Eradicating Chinese boats' illegal fishing in our waters is a most urgent task to safeguard our fishermen and fisheries resources," South Korea's Yonhap news agency said in a recent editorial. "The government should mobilize every possible means and continue the crackdown on illegal fishing."

Besides the captain, eight other Chinese fishermen on the boat were arrested and taken to Incheon, the coast guard said in a statement.

The coast guard says it has seized about 470 Chinese ships for illegal fishing in the Yellow Sea so far this year, up from 370 last year. The coast guard usually releases the ships after a fine is paid, though violence occasionally occurs.

Chinese fishing fleets have been going farther afield to feed growing domestic demand for seafood.

In 2008, one South Korean coast guard officer was killed and six others injured in a fight with Chinese fishermen in South Korean waters.

Last year, a collision between a Chinese fishing boat and Japanese coast guard vessels led to a diplomatic spat between the countries over disputed islands in the East China Sea.

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Philippines deemed Better-positioned than others to face Global Risks

THE GLOBAL economy faces continued risks -- particularly from a mild recession in Europe and slowing growth in China - but the Philippines and some other countries should be able to better weather these pressures with support from strong domestic demand, Barclays Capital said in its report for this month, titled: "Global outlook: a cautious step forward."

The Philippines is also one of the countries that "can afford" to ease monetary policy in order to prod economic activity in the face of a global slowdown, the investment banking unit of Barclays Bank PLC said in its separate The Emerging Markets Quarterly 2011 report, also for this month, titled: "Glass half full -- take a sip."

Both reports were released before European Union (EU) leaders meeting in Brussels announced on Friday that they had committed to stricter budget rules but failed to agree to enshrine such controls in a treaty.

"Prospects for avoiding either a double-dip recession or a catastrophe surrounding the euro area debt crisis have improved somewhat over the past couple of months," Barclays Capital noted.

At the same time, it said that while risks of a double-dip recession and "a disaster scenario" for the euro zone have subsided, "there are significant headwinds to growth both in developed and emerging market countries, and the solution to the euro area debt crisis will be bumpy and difficult."

Barclays Capital said failure by EU authorities to deal promptly with the region's debt crisis has already done some damage to their economies.

"We now believe that a mild recession has begun, with negative growth in Q4 and Q1 [2012], before stabilization next spring," it said.

But while "risks of a sharper or more extended contraction are significant" Barclays Capital said "a severe European recession is likely to be avoided, especially if there is progress toward a resolution of the crisis."

"With increasing confidence that the next move in growth is up in most of the world outside of the euro area and diminished risks of disaster in Europe, the probability of a global recession has declined significantly," it added.

At the same time, it clarified that risks to the global economy do not come from Europe alone.

"Europe is the dominant risk in markets today, but it is not the only one," the report read.

"We raise China not because it is the largest, but because it is likely to play out in the near future."

While it said a pronounced economic slowdown in China was "quite unlikely", a particularly weak 6.6% growth Barclays Capital has projected for the first quarter next year could intensify market doubts over the depth and duration of that giant's growth deceleration.

"We think it is a bit early to feel confident that anxiety about the Chinese slowdown has peaked…," the report read.

In the face of "a mild recession in Europe and a soft landing in China," Barclays Capital said "growth in India, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines will likely hold up better, given their domestic demand" as compared to others in Asia and the Pacific.

The Philippine government reported late last month that gross domestic product growth slowed to 3.2% in the third quarter from 7.3% in the same period last year, supported by a particularly strong 7.1% annual growth in household spending.

But the 3.6% GDP growth in the nine months to September had all but put the government's 4.5%-5.4% full-year outlook this year out of reach.

Barclays Capital added that while inflation in so-called "emerging markets" is expected to ease next year, due largely to base effect, and monetary policy bias has shifted from controlling inflation to prodding growth, "we expect only China, India, Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand to cut rates next year."

In its last monetary policy review for the year last Dec. 1, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas maintained policy rates at 4.5% and 6.5% for overnight borrowing and lending, respectively -- the fifth consecutive time it had done so -- but has signaled that it would be ready to ease its policy stance next year should the economy slow further and if inflation remains manageable.

Inflation rate has averaged 4.5% in the 11 months to November, still within the 3%-5% target range and just below the revised 4.53% forecast for the entire year.

Overall, faced with improved prospects for the global economy, Barclays Capital said, "We think it is time for investors to dip their toes in the water and begin to re-engage in measured and careful risk-taking.

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Philippines becoming International Healthcare Hub

By: Charles E. Buban

Philippine Daily Inquirer

Medical or wellness tourism is a term involving people who travel to a different country to receive treatment for a particular health condition or in other cases pursue activities that maintain or enhance their personal health and well-being to enjoy much lower cost of care, higher quality of care if not different care than they could get at their home country.

It is a huge global business—projected to reach $100 billion (₱4.32 trillion) by 2012.

From this figure, a total of $1.3 billion (₱56.2 billion) went to the Philippines from 2006 to 2010, thanks to foreign tourists and balikbayans who chose to get their healthcare and wellness services here.

Expensive medical treatment costs, as well as limited healthcare coverage in countries such as the United States and a number of countries in Europe, along with capacity constraints in these countries' healthcare facilities, are driving their citizens to seek elsewhere for more accessible, affordable and comparable medical and wellness services.

The Philippines wanted to grab a bigger share that is now being enjoyed by countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

During the 1st Philippine Global Healthcare Forum at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute, Health Secretary Enrique Ona acknowledged that the country already boasts world-class medical infrastructure and facilities (in fact, the top three tertiary hospitals located in Metro Manila even added hotel-quality facilities) as well as highly skilled and compassionate doctors, nurses and medical personnel.

Another advantage the secretary cited was the fact that the Philippines has the added competitive advantage of having English-speaking medical personnel.

Convened by HealthCORE, a private corporation specializing in healthcare research and communications and the official Philippine representative of National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers of India, the 1st Philippine Global Healthcare Forum discussed and exchanged information on how the Philippines, with the help of India, can develop into an international healthcare hub.

Medical tourism capital

India is regarded as the medical tourism capital of the world, offering the latest technological advances, experienced and expert physicians and surgeons and world-class patient care.

During the forum, India's Dr. Sanjiv Malik said the Philippines becoming a regional giant is something that is very achievable as the country already has a caring people.

"Your Filipino nurses, doctors and healthcare professionals give the highest level of caring and compassion to patients—it's in your DNA. What you need to do next is to modify your present healthcare practices and systems to conform with international benchmarks. When you do that, you are already on your way to providing the best healthcare to your people and to becoming an international healthcare hub," he advised.

He related that when India improved its international healthcare services, its entire healthcare sector also improved.

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"India was able to upgrade its healthcare system to international standards. As a result, both overseas patients and Indian patients are now receiving international quality health services and medical treatments at prices that are affordable to them," Malik said.

India and the Philippines are now working together under a memorandum of understanding to exchange knowledge, expertise and training in various areas of healthcare and medicine for their mutual benefit.

These areas include medical education, public health, hospital management, health tourism, drugs and pharmaceutical products, medical consumable products, medical equipment, communicable disease control and surveillance, and traditional and alternative medicine.

A much-improved medical tourism, forum guests acknowledged, will have immediate effect in improving the country's economy, much like the business process outsourcing industry is doing at the moment, while retaining its medical talents in the country and reducing the brain drain and its social and economic costs.

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