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The latest in ASEAN
News from around Southeast Asia
- Reuters
Japan plans $75 billion investment across Indo-Pacific to counter China
Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday announced a new plan to promote an open and free Indo-Pacific, promising billions of dollars in investment to help economies across the region in everything from industry to disaster prevention. The plan he announced in New Delhi is seen as Tokyo's bid to forge stronger ties with countries in South and Southeast Asia to counter China's growing assertiveness there. Kishida also said Japan wanted Russia's invasion of Ukraine to end as soon as possib
- Reuters
Japan's Kishida to announce new Indo-Pacific plan, seek India's support
Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will on Monday announce a new plan for an open and free Indo-Pacific in New Delhi and seek India's support to partner with Tokyo to check China's growing influence across the region. Under the plan, which will be announced during Kishida's two-day visit to India, Japan will increase support to emerging economies, especially in the region, Japanese officials said.
- Reuters
SpaceX, Netflix, Boeing to join "biggest-ever" US business mission to Vietnam
SpaceX, Netflix and Boeing are among the companies joining the "biggest-ever" U.S. business mission to Vietnam next week to discuss investment and sales opportunities in the booming Southeast Asian nation, the organiser said. More than 50 companies, including defence, pharmaceutical and tech firms, will participate in the mission organised by the US-ASEAN Business Council, an industry body, according to a list seen by Reuters. Vietnam, with a population of 100 million people, also has a rapidl
- Associated Press
UN envoy: Wide resistance to Myanmar military's repression
Widespread popular resistance to brutal repression by Myanmar’s military shows no sign of abating across much of the country, and with both sides intent on winning by force “there is no prospect for a negotiated settlement,” the U.N. special envoy to the conflict-wracked nation said Thursday. In a grim assessment, Noeleen Heyzer told the 193-member U.N. General Assembly that the impact of the military’s February 2021 takeover of the country has been “devastating,” with violence continuing “at a
- Reuters
Singapore to work with Indonesia, ASEAN, UN to push Myanmar peace plan - PM
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Thursday the city-state would work with Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries, as well as partners like the United Nations, to push Myanmar's military rulers to implement a stalled peace plan. He was speaking after meeting visiting Indonesian President Joko Widodo. Lee said the leaders regretted the lack of progress on a peace plan led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Myanmar, which has been gripped by violence an
- Associated Press
EU eyes more naval visits in disputed South China Sea
The European Union wants to step up its naval visits and possibly engage in joint military training exercises to promote freedom of navigation and respect for international law in the disputed South China Sea, an EU official said Wednesday. EU special envoy to the Indo-Pacific region Richard Tibbels said the 27-nation bloc is also ready to provide satellite surveillance to help countries like the Philippines respond to natural disasters and protect their interests, as tensions pitting China aga
- Associated Press
Activists urge UN Security Council to refer Myanmar to court
Human rights activists urged the U.N. Security Council on Monday to refer Myanmar's military rulers to the International Criminal Court and urged neighboring Southeast Asian countries to support the opposition pro-democracy movement. The leaders of two women’s rights organizations spoke to reporters ahead of a closed council meeting on Myanmar. Members heard briefings by U.N. special envoy for Myanmar Noeleen Heyzer and Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, whose country chairs the 10-me
- AFP News
China lifts sweeping visa curbs on foreigners
China will once again start issuing a range of visas to foreigners as of Wednesday, the country's foreign ministry said, in a major easing of travel restrictions in place since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.Beijing announced in late December that inbound travellers to the country would no longer need to quarantine from January 8, but kept in place visa restrictions on foreigners.
- Reuters
Malaysia's Anwar says ASEAN must be tougher in bid to resolve Myanmar crisis
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said during a visit to the Philippines that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) must prove it is "relevant" in helping to resolve the crisis in Myanmar. In a pre-recorded interview with Philippine news channel ANC aired on Friday, Anwar said that ASEAN, which is leading diplomatic efforts to bring peace, needed to be more assertive and noted that his country was shouldering 200,000 displaced people from Myanmar. "We can't see this as a pure
- Associated Press
Malaysia's Anwar urges ASEAN to speak up on Myanmar violence
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim urged the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to speak up and hold Myanmar's military leaders accountable for blatant human rights violations, but said the country should remain in the regional bloc. Anwar, who took office in November, has become one of the most vocal critics in ASEAN of Myanmar's military, which seized power from the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021. In a visit to the Philippines, he discussed the Myanmar