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A Belgian prince has contracted <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword> after attending a party during lockdown in Spain, the country's royal palace says.<br /><br />Prince Joachim, 28, travelled from Belgium to Spain for an internship on 26 May, the palace said, the BBC reported on Saturday.<br /><br />Two days later, he went to a party in the southern city of Córdoba, before testing positive for COVID-19.<br /><br />Spanish reports suggest the prince, a nephew of Belgium's <keyword id="2458167" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="King-Philippe">King Philippe</keyword>, was among 27 people at the party.<br /><br />Under Córdoba's lockdown rules, a party of this size would be a breach of regulations, as gatherings of no more than 15 people are currently permitted.<br /><br />Spanish police have launched an investigation into the party. Those found to have flouted lockdown rules could be fined up to $11,100.<br /><br />Everyone who attended the party is said to be in quarantine. Prince Joachim, the youngest son of Princess Astrid and 10th in line to the Belgian throne, is said to have mild coronavirus symptoms.<br /><br />Rafaela Valenzuela, a representative of the Spanish government in Córdoba, condemned the party, calling those who attended "irresponsible".<br /><br />"I feel surprised and angry. An incident of this type stands out at a moment of national mourning for so many dead," she said.<br /><br />The party was first covered by Spanish newspaper <keyword id="1846826" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="El-Confidencial">El Confidencial</keyword>, which cited a document from the Andalucian authorities but did not name the prince.<br /><br />Belgian media have since confirmed with the palace that Prince Joachim was in Spain, where he remains.<br /><br />The prince is known to have a long-standing relationship with a Spanish woman, reported to be Victoria Ortiz.<br /><br />Spain is in the process of emerging from one of the strictest lockdowns in Europe. It outlined a four-stage plan on 4 May to start easing the lockdown, which saw children under 14 confined to their homes for six weeks.<br /><br />The country said it was moving to a second phase from 1 June for 70 per cent of Spaniards, leaving only major cities under tighter restrictions.<br /><br />Spain has among the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world. As of Saturday, the country had 239,228 infections and 27,125 deaths, according to a tally by <keyword id="210763" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Johns-Hopkins-University">Johns Hopkins University</keyword>.<br /><strong><br />SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/data-of-coronavirus-patients-state-wise-in-india/articleshow/74669748.cms">Coronavirus cases in India state wise</a><br /></strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/topic/coronavirus"><strong>Coronavirus News and Updates</strong></a>

Belgian Prince contracts COVID-19 after lockdown party in Spain

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>AP Photo/Ng Han Guan</span></p><p class="caption">Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, shows the way to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte during a welcome ceremony outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, October 20, 2016.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has pursued two main policies during his six months in office: Embracing China and brutally cracking down on his country's drug trade.</p><p>Achieving the latter goal, however, may have to come at the expense of the former, as Chinese suppliers appear to be fueling the production and trafficking of methamphetamine and related drugs to and within the Philippines.</p><p>In Asia, China is the largest source of methamphetamine precursors.</p><p>Most of the world's seizures of raw ephedrine in 2014 took place in China, amounting to 31.6 tons, according to data <a href="http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/philippines-drugs-china/" target="_blank">cited</a> by Reuters. The Philippines was next with 510 kilograms, much of which likely came from China.</p><p>"Although the majority of [China's] precursor chemical production and export is intended for legitimate use, precursors are being diverted by transnational criminal organizations to produce illicit drugs," the US State Department said in a <a href="http://www.state.gov/j/inl/rls/nrcrpt/2016/vol1/253251.htm" target="_blank">report</a> issued this year.</p><p>China's location near drug-production areas in Southeast and Southwest Asia, its modern transportation infrastructure and coastal hubs, lax oversight of its sprawling industrial and pharmaceutical industries, and official corruption <a href="http://www.state.gov/j/inl/rls/nrcrpt/2016/vol1/253251.htm" target="_blank">all help</a> "make it an ideal source for precursor chemicals intended for illicit drug production."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Ezra Acayan</span></p><p class="caption">Members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) hold up plastic bags of crystal meth, known locally as "shabu," after they were seized following a police anti-drug operation, at a police station in Manila, Philippines, November 4, 2016.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The Philippines appears to more than just a destination for illicit Chinese narcotics however.</p><p>A <a href="http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/philippines-drugs-china/" target="_blank">Reuters investigation</a> published on December 16 queried officials from the Philippine National Police, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Department of Justice, finding what appeared to be an "entrenched and sophisticated system of trafficking" organized by small, close-knit Chinese groups that control the process "from the procurement of precursors in China to the production of the drug in the Philippines to its distribution by local gangs."</p><p>This involvement has been borne out by arrests Philippines authorities have made in recent months.</p><p>A bust in August <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/philippines-duterte-drug-war-chinese-relations-2016-9" target="_blank">recovered $82.7 million</a> worth of "shabu," a local name for methamphetamine, from a Manila warehouse reportedly belonging to a Chinese syndicate. A September <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/philippines-duterte-drug-war-chinese-relations-2016-9" target="_blank">raid on a pig farm-cum-drug lab</a> led to the arrests of seven Chinese citizens.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Major crystal-meth traffic routes and production areas in the Asia Pacific.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Nearly two-thirds of <a href="http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/philippines-drugs-china/" target="_blank">77 foreign nationals</a> arrested in the Philippines on meth-related charges from January 2015 to mid-August 2016 were Chinese, according to Reuters. Nearly <a href="http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/philippines-drugs-china/" target="_blank">one-quarter</a> were residents of Taiwan or Hong Kong.</p><p>Duterte has <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/philippines-duterte-drug-war-chinese-relations-2016-9" target="_blank">invoked China</a> in some of his broadsides against the drug trade, saying in July that "<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/philippines-duterte-drug-war-chinese-relations-2016-9" target="_blank">the big fish</a>" in the industry could be found in China.</p><p>And during Duterte's landmark trip to Beijing in October, he and Chinese President Xi Jinping <a href="http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/philippines-drugs-china/" target="_blank">agreed</a> to set up joint investigations of drug cases as well as to increase exchanges of intelligence and other resources to combat drug crime.</p><p>But Philippine officials are doubtful that any Chinese assistance will be forthcoming.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Erik De Castro</span></p><p class="caption">Philippine Drug Enforcement agents sort containers containing chemicals during the destruction of seized chemicals and lab equipment intended to make meth, also known as "shabu" in Valenzuela, Metro Manila, December 8, 2016.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>"I almost fell off my chair when I heard that China would be helping the Philippines with its drug problem," a Philippine Department of Justice official who has dealt with drug offenses for some time but with little cooperation from China <a href="http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/philippines-drugs-china/" target="_blank">told</a> Reuters.</p><p>"We are not aware of any high-profile drug cooperation between China and the Philippines since the president's visit to Beijing," Philippine National Police spokesman Dionardo Carlos <a href="http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/philippines-drugs-china/" target="_blank">said to</a> Reuters.</p><h2>'I will kill you if I see you outside'</h2><p>Duterte has framed use of shabu as a danger to his country (though usage rates he cites <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/philippines-rodrigo-duterte-drug-violence-vigilante-killings-2016-10" target="_blank">don't stand up to scrutiny</a>), but so far his criticism of Beijing for its response, or lack thereof, to its drug industry has paled in comparison to the Philippine president's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/philippines-rodrigo-duterte-drug-violence-vigilante-killings-2016-10" target="_blank">eviscerations of his own countrymen</a> involved in the drug trade.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Erik De Castro</span></p><p class="caption">Nora Acielo, 47, lies dead after she was gunned down by unidentified men while she was escorting her two children to school in Manila, Philippines, December 8, 2016.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Broader geopolitical concerns may be behind his seeming reluctance to target China with the same vitriol he has flung at drug users and pushers in the Philippines, as well as at the US and human-rights organizations that have criticized his bloody crackdown, which has claimed more than 6,000 lives and led to the arrests of many thousands more since he took office six months ago.</p><p>While Duterte's administration has not been hesitant to paint with a broad brush when staking out domestic lawbreakers, it was much more nuanced with defending Chinese officials from Reuters detailing of Chinese involvement in drug production and trafficking.</p><p>"Many of those running the drug trade are Chinese triads, which are criminal syndicates. These are not government officials," a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-duterte-defends-china-says-unfair-to-blame-beijing-for-philippines-drug-problem-2016-12" target="_blank">statement</a> from Duterte's office, issued in mid-December, read.</p><p>"It is not fair to blame all of China and her people for the drug problem perpetuated by some of its nationals," the statement <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-duterte-defends-china-says-unfair-to-blame-beijing-for-philippines-drug-problem-2016-12" target="_blank">said</a>. "Not all Chinese are related to drugs."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Damir Sagolj</span></p><p class="caption">Inmates sleep inside Quezon City Jail in Manila, Philippines, October 19, 2016.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Duterte's stance is likely of a piece with the rhetorical and political pivot he's tried to make to world powers other than the US since he took office, a major part of which has been his efforts to reconcile with China. These efforts have had a material element.</p><p>A US senator, dismayed by the mounting body count in Duterte's drug war, put a hold on the sale of 26,000 rifles from the US to Philippine police, prompting <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-philippines-duterte-rails-at-us-monkeys-for-halting-gun-sale-2016-11" target="_blank">an outburst from Duterte</a>, and the US recently decided to <a href="http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/philippines-drugs-china/" target="_blank">shift $5 million</a> in funding for Philippine <keyword id="6355470" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Law">law</keyword> enforcement away from drug-control programs.</p><p>China has reportedly offered $14 million in small arms and fast boats to support the Philippines' drug war and fight against terrorism. Beijing has also made a $5oo million long-term soft loan for other equipment.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Damir Sagolj/File Photo</span></p><p class="caption">Armed security forces take a part in a drug raid, in Manila, Philippines, October 7, 2016.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The $14 million is minuscule compared to the <a href="http://thediplomat.com/2016/12/whats-the-deal-with-china-philippines-military-ties/" target="_blank">more than $120 million</a> in military aid supplied to Manila by Washington in 2016. But that amount and the $50 million soft loan illustrate the marked reversal in Chinese-Philippine relations, which less than a year ago were <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-china-offers-14-million-arms-package-to-the-philippines-manilas-defense-minister-2016-12" target="_blank">colored by a bitter dispute</a> over Beijing's territorial claims in the South China Sea.</p><p>Duterte's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/philippines-rodrigo-duterte-drug-violence-vigilante-killings-2016-10" target="_blank">excoriations</a> of his country's drug users has vastly outstripped his criticism of China, which appears to be a driving force behind the scourge he claims to want to wipe out.</p><p>"I will make it a must, a mandate that all of you affected by drugs, do not leave your homes," Duterte <a href="http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/848238/duterte-to-drug-users-stay-home-or-ill-kill-you-if-i-see-you" target="_blank">said</a> at the end of November. "If you go out, you sons of bitches, I will kill you if I see you outside."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/rodrigo-duterte-congratulates-donald-trump-victory-philippines-president-election-barack-obama-crackdown-2016-11">Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte congratulates Trump on a 'well-deserved victory'</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="ExNDVuNzE6sAYHmHTIEVRycm96baVWBE" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

There's one aspect of the Philippine drug war that Rodrigo Duterte doesn't seem interested in fighting

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Belgian Prince contracts COVID-19 after lockdown party in Spain

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There's one aspect of the Philippine drug war that Rodrigo Duterte doesn't seem interested in fighting

Christopher Woody

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