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Just seven of 116 SUCs offer medicine programs — lawmaker
House Minority Leader Rep. Marcelino Libanan (4PS Partylist) said that Congress should allot more funding to support "highly advanced" SUCs in establishing their own medical schools to subsidize the schooling of aspiring doctors......»»
Belle Corp sets PLC tender offer price at P0.85/share
Belle Corp and Premium Leisure Corp were both voluntarily suspended for the day yesterday after BEL disclosed details of its proposed tender offer to acquire PLC’s public float and eventually delist PLC from the exchange......»»
ASEAN Foreign Ministers Express Concern Over South China Sea Tensions
MANILA, Philippines - Foreign ministers of Southeast Asia's regional bloc ASEAN on Saturday expressed their concern over growing tensions in the South China Sea which they said could threaten regional peace and urged for peaceful dialogue among parties.'We closely follow with concern the recent developments in the South China Sea that may undermine peace, security, and stability in the region,' the bloc's top di.....»»
ASEAN Foreign Ministers Express Concern Over South China Sea Tensions
MANILA, Philippines - Foreign ministers of Southeast Asia's regional bloc ASEAN on Saturday expressed their concern over growing tensions in the South China Sea which they said could threaten regional peace and urged for peaceful dialogue among parties.'We closely follow with concern the recent developments in the South China Sea that may undermine peace, security, and stability in the region,' the bloc's top di.....»»
Analyst: Look out for BRICS
The government must not only monitor China’s actions in the West Philippine Sea but also the developing countries’ bloc of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, or BRICS. BRICS members are considered the emerging geopolitical rivals to the G7 group of advanced economies. UST Political Science professor Marlon Villarin said China wanted to resolve the conflict in the West Philippine Sea through economic, not legal, terms. “We should watch BRICS closely. This is an international alliance, particularly now that it has attracted new members which are backers of China,” Villarin said when he guested on the program “Hot Patatas” of DAILY TRIBUNE and Dyaryo Tirada Wednesday. Villarin said that despite China’s tactics in asserting its maritime claim, some nations maintain a soft approach to China, like the United Kingdom, because of its economic stakes in China, such as the minerals needed for solar power and electric batteries. “When it comes to technology, China has strong leverage. For example, minerals are used to produce solar power and electric batteries. So, we should ask about the reasons for not antagonizing China. Is the economic leverage successful in convincing some countries to keep their peace?” he said. Take down app The National Security Council, meanwhile, has called on the government to “seriously consider” banning the Chinese social media application TikTok among local security officials. Jonathan Malaya, assistant director general of the NSC, suggested in a news forum, noting that the council had yet to conduct a complete study on whether or not the TikTok app was being used by China in the Philippines to promote its propaganda. “We should seriously consider it for the security sector alone, not for the civilian agencies of government,” Malaya said. TikTok faces increasing limits and bans on a global scale. In the US, a looming ban is under review while a recent congressional hearing grilled TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew. Several countries across North America, Europe, and Asia have implemented some level of restriction on the app, mainly over privacy and cybersecurity concerns connected to its parent company, ByteDance, which has ties to the Chinese government. International government bodies, including the European Commission and NATO, have banned their staff from using TikTok on their corporate phones. “Maybe if there is a need to ban, it will not be for public school teachers, it will not be for civilians, but it will be for the armed personnel,” Malaya said. NSA to be consulted Malaya said there was a thorough discussion with National Security Adviser Eduardo Año on the matter. “We will need to study this very carefully, based on national security considerations. We will discuss this with the National Security Adviser if it will be proper for the Philippines to take this step,” he said. Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of the Philippines assured that measures are in place to protect the national security from internal and external threats. The post Analyst: Look out for BRICS appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
US, Chinese and Russian officials gather at Southeast Asia summit
US Vice President Kamala Harris, Chinese Premier Li Qiang, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will attend an East Asia summit in Indonesia on Thursday, offering an opportunity for direct, high-level diplomacy between the rivals. The 18-nation meeting will bring Washington and Beijing into contact a day after Premier Li Qiang warned major powers must manage their differences to avoid a "new Cold War", ahead of the G20 summit in New Delhi this week where Chinese President Xi Jinping will be absent. Interactions between the officials from the world's top two economies will be closely watched as they seek to control tensions that risk flaring anew over issues ranging from Taiwan to ties with Moscow and the competition for influence in the Pacific. "To keep differences under control, what is essential now is to oppose picking sides, to oppose bloc confrontation, and to oppose a new Cold War," Li told regional leaders on Tuesday. Harris held her own talks with Southeast Asian leaders on "the importance of upholding international law in the South China Sea", according to a statement from her office, the disputed waterway where Chinese claims have angered several Southeast Asian nations. Thursday's summit will be the first time top US and Russian officials have sat around the same table in almost two months after US and European officials condemned Lavrov at a July ministerial meeting over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It comes as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced $1 billion in new assistance to Ukraine in a surprise visit to Kyiv on Wednesday. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japanese PM Fumio Kishida, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Canada's Justin Trudeau, and Australian PM Anthony Albanese will attend the summit, as well as leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. G20 host Modi addressed ASEAN leaders on Thursday morning, telling them it is essential to "build a post-Covid rules-based world order" and make collective efforts to ensure a "free and open Indo-Pacific", using another term for the Asia-Pacific region. Thursday's talks come several months after Blinken traveled to Beijing, the first visit by the top US diplomat in nearly five years, where he met Xi as well as former foreign minister Qin Gang. - 'Broken' - The meeting was not expected to be a fiery affair despite the differences between the major powers, according to a Southeast Asian diplomat who will attend. "They will state their positions, these meetings are not tense. Especially at the leaders' level where some degree of decorum will be observed." The group will issue a negotiated joint statement after the summit. While the gathering can bring major players together, its ability to help resolve a range of regional and global disputes is limited, experts say. "It's a sign of the ASEAN convening power but lately we can say that the East Asia summit is broken. It has been turned into a forum for talking points," said Aaron Connelly, senior fellow at Singapore-based think tank IISS. While Thursday's meeting will be more geopolitical in scope, big powers used earlier talks in Jakarta to shore up alliances and lobby the Southeast Asian bloc. Li traveled on a Chinese-funded high-speed train project between the capital Jakarta and the Javan city of Bandung with a senior Indonesian minister on Wednesday. Harris held separate meetings with Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. -- both ASEAN members -- on the sidelines of the summit. "The Vice President reaffirmed the United States' ironclad alliance commitment to the Philippines, and highlighted the role the US-Philippines alliance plays in ensuring a free, open, and prosperous Indo-Pacific," her office said in a statement. South Korea's Yoon reportedly pushed for the bloc to counter North Korea's nuclear threats, calling for any military cooperation with the country to stop. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will also give an address on the sidelines of the summit later on Thursday. ASEAN members are holding bilateral meetings with India, Australia, and the UN on Thursday. The post US, Chinese and Russian officials gather at Southeast Asia summit appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Biden widens web of US alliances faced with China, Russia, Trump
With a historic three-way summit with Japan and South Korea, President Joe Biden has further deepened the web of US partnerships in a determined signal to adversaries despite question marks on the political climate at home. Since Biden took office in 2021, NATO has expanded and mostly closed ranks over Russia's invasion of Ukraine -- and, in clear if unstated responses to an assertive China, the United States forged a new three-way defense pact with Australia and Britain and ramped up work through the four-way Quad involving Australia, India and Japan. The United States already has security alliances with Japan and South Korea, together the bases for some 84,500 troops, but will now also plan three-way, multi-year military exercises across all domains along with real-time information-sharing and a crisis hotline. Jon Alterman, a senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that alliances were "baked" into the mindset of Biden, who was a senator at the end of the Cold War. Partnerships can increase other countries' faith in the direction of the United States, Alterman added. "This administration believes deeply in the centrality -- not the importance, the centrality -- of partnerships," he said. "The challenge is, all of our partners remember the previous administration, they look at the polling numbers, and they have absolutely no confidence in where the US is going to be in two years' time, five years' time or 10 years' time," he said. Previous president Donald Trump loudly questioned the value of alliances, insisting that countries such as Germany and South Korea were not paying enough for the US troop presence and scoffing at NATO's commitments of mutual defense to all allies. Trump is again seeking the White House and recent opinion polls have also shown softening support for US military assistance to Ukraine, which has totaled $43 billion since Russia's attack. Asked about Trump at a news conference with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Camp David presidential retreat, Biden said that his predecessor's "America First policy, walking away from the rest of the world, has made us weaker, not stronger." "America is strong with our allies and our alliances, and that's why we will endure," Biden said. Tougher task in Asia Whereas in Europe the United States has led a common defense for decades under NATO, in Asia -- seen by Biden as the critical region -- Washington has navigated individual alliances with Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia and Thailand. One reason for the hodgepodge has been historical animosity between Japan and South Korea, with the Camp David summit until recently unthinkable. Yoon has turned the page by resolving a dispute over Japan's wartime forced labor of Koreans. Yoon, Kishida and Biden said they shared the same vision of a "rules-based international order" -- a nod to China's muscle-flexing in Asia but also to Ukraine, of which Japan and South Korea have been prominent non-Western supporters. China denounced the Camp David initiative, with state media saying the United States was raising tensions by creating a "mini-NATO," although there was no three-way mutual defense promise. Shihoko Goto, acting director of the Asia program at the Wilson Center, doubted that the three countries were even aspiring to collective self-defense but said their new cooperation was part of an "interweaving" with existing alliance arrangements. "As a single thread it may be weak, but because it is going to be part of that fabric and making it into a multi-layered approach, it would actually be really strong," she said. Risks await Biden has also moved bilaterally with countries concerned about Russia and China. He has said he plans to travel shortly to boost ties with Vietnam, whose tensions with Beijing run deep. But one of his big bets, India, has stood firm on its historic refusal to join alliances and is also taking part this week in a summit with Russia and China of the BRICS bloc of emerging economies. Trump is not the only wild card for the future. In South Korea, Yoon is only allowed a single term, which ends in 2027. "If an ultra-leftist South Korean president and an ultra-right wing Japanese leader are elected in their next cycles, or even if Trump or someone like him wins in the US, then any one of them could derail all the meaningful, hard work the three countries are putting in right now," said Duyeon Kim, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. The post Biden widens web of US alliances faced with China, Russia, Trump appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
‘Strong enough now’: BRICS nations eye global geopolitical shift
Leaders of the BRICS emerging economies, which account for about a quarter of the world's wealth, meet in Johannesburg this week looking to widen the bloc's influence and push for a shift in global geopolitics. South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to host China's President Xi Jinping, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for the annual three-day summit starting on Tuesday. Russian President Vladimir Putin also will join remotely. Putin decided against attending in person as he is the target of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant that South Africa is in theory bound to enforce if he sets foot in the country. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will travel to Johannesburg instead. Representing billions of people across three continents, with economies undergoing varying levels of growth, the BRICS share one thing in common -- disdain for a world order they see as serving the interests of rich Western powers. "The traditional global governing system has become dysfunctional, deficient and missing in action," Chen Xiaodong, the Chinese ambassador to Pretoria said at a briefing on Friday, adding the BRICS are "increasingly becoming a staunch force in defending international justice". There is growing interest in the bloc -- at least 40 countries have expressed interest in joining and 23 of those have formally submitted applications to become BRICS members. 'Polarized world' Anil Sooklal, South Africa's ambassador-at-large for Asia and the BRICS, told AFP on Friday that one of the reasons countries are lining up to join is "the very polarised world we live in, that has been further polarised by the Russia-Ukraine crisis, and where countries are being forced to take sides". "Countries in the South don't want to be told who to support, how to behave, and how to conduct their sovereign affairs. They are strong enough now to assert their respective positions," added Sooklal. The BRICS have raised hope for countries looking to restructure the global "architecture", he said. "The major markets are now in the Global South... but we are still on the margins in terms of global decision-making." Lebogang Legodi, the international politics lecturer at the University of Limpopo, agrees that many states keen on joining the group "are seeing BRICS as an alternative to the current hegemony" in world affairs. Around 50 other leaders will attend a "friends of BRICS" program during the summit, which will be held at a convention center in the heart of Johannesburg's Sandton, historically referred to as the richest square mile on the continent. This year's gathering is themed "BRICS and Africa: Partnership for mutually accelerated growth, sustainable development, and inclusive multilateralism". It comes at "a critical inflection point," said Steven Gruzd of the Africa-Russia Africa project at the South African Institute of International Affairs. "The current multilateral system is under strain," he said. A decision on expanding the BRICS membership is expected at the end of the summit, according to Sooklal. An upbeat Ramaphosa told a meeting of the ruling ANC party in Johannesburg on Saturday that "we are going to have a fantastic BRICS summit". He said the presence of so many heads of state "goes to show the influence and the impact that South Africa" has in the world. But experts closely watching the BRICS aren't very optimistic about the meeting's outcomes. "I don't think this summit will yield those dramatic results because the power is still with Western countries. China is rising, but is not the dominant power yet," said SAIIA's Gruzd. Formally launched in 2009, the BRICS now account for 23 percent of global GDP and 42 percent of the world's population. The combined bloc represents more than 16 percent of the world's trade. The post ‘Strong enough now’: BRICS nations eye global geopolitical shift appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Bongbong’s foreign policy: More like ‘Macoy’ than ‘Digong’
Despite being dismissed as a spoiled brat and a weakling by both his father and the man he succeeded, Rodrigo Duterte, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in his first year in office, stood up to China and showed he is more like the older Marcos than Duterte. Always underestimated, Marcos Jr., observers noted, spent much of his political career surrounded by powerful women, including former First Lady Imelda Marcos and his sister, Senator Imee Marcos. But this shouldn’t fool one into thinking that he is not his own man. Only days after winning last year’s presidential elections, he asserted his independence by denying top allies, including running mate Sara Duterte, key cabinet positions. He also showed his own distinct approach on the foreign policy front by holding cordial meetings with diplomats from both traditional and regional partners. While emphasizing his preference for a diplomatic engagement with China, Marcos Jr., notes the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, reiterated the finality of the arbitral tribunal ruling in the South China Sea, and made clear he “will not compromise it in any way,” calling the country’s sovereignty “sacred.” “Taking into consideration the widespread skepticism towards Beijing among Filipinos and within the country’s defense establishment, Marcos Jr. adopted a calibrated assertiveness towards China while welcoming pragmatic cooperation on the economic front,” AMTI said. The perceived wisdom on the younger Marcos’s foreign policy, according to AMTI, is that he is nothing but a mild-mannered version of Duterte. In fact, he was the only candidate during the elections who publicly backed full continuity in the country’s Beijing-friendly policies. He barely mentioned the treaty alliance with the United States, emphasizing his preference for a diplomatic engagement. “Whatever we do, we can’t go to war… we don’t want to go to war with China,” he was quoted to have said. A year into office, however, it is obvious the younger Marcos was advocating a centrist position in the territorial dispute. It was, according to one analyst, a middle-of-the-road decision aimed at appeasing both superpowers, China and the United States. Indeed, it was a balancing act complicated by both internal and external factors. While Duterte was reluctant to confront China over the South China Sea, Marcos Jr. has adopted tougher rhetoric, showing a better appreciation of how the Philippines should position itself given the very uncertain strategic environment it is facing. He is said to have been able to forge closer relations with Washington because his family already has long-standing ties with Beijing which affords him a degree of capital. A year into office, however, it was obvious the younger Marcos was advocating a centrist position in the territorial dispute As AMTI related, the Marcos connection to Beijing goes deep, stretching back to the height of the Cold War period when his father formalized bilateral relations with Maoist China. As the then-announced successor, Bongbong even personally met Chairman Mao, who warmly welcomed the princeling and his family to Zhongnanhai. The Marcoses maintained those linkages even after their ouster from power in Malacañang, albeit on a sub-national level. As overlords of the northern province of Ilocos Norte, the Marcos dynasty continued to welcome trade and diplomatic relations with their Chinese counterparts under the emerging Maritime Silk Road Initiative. Despite the growing Chinese coercive actions against the Philippine Coast Guard and Filipino fishermen in the West Philippine Sea, Marcos Jr. welcomed continued economic engagement with China under his “Friend to all, enemy to none” policy first espoused by Duterte during his pivot to Beijing. Balancing act Compared to former presidents before him, Marcos Jr.’s foreign policy is truly a balancing act not much different from his father’s. Ferdinand Marcos Sr. (1965-1986), during his presidency, pursued a foreign policy that sought to balance relations with both the United States and other countries, including those in the Soviet Bloc. He declared martial law in 1972, and this had implications for the country’s foreign relations. The Philippines’ relationship with the US was close, but during his time, Marcos also sought to strengthen ties with our Asian neighbors. Corazon Aquino (1986-1992) focused on restoring democracy and human rights in the Philippines after the end of the Marcos dictatorship. She sought to rebuild relations with other countries that had been strained during Marcos’s rule. Her administration also emphasized diplomatic engagement with ASEAN countries and the international community. Fidel V. Ramos (1992-1998) prioritized economic diplomacy and focused on attracting foreign investment to boost the Philippine economy. He worked to strengthen relationships with ASEAN and APEC countries and fostered ties with the US, Japan, and other regional partners. Joseph Estrada (1998-2001) emphasized national sovereignty and non-interference in domestic affairs. He pursued good relations with ASEAN nations but was criticized for a more inward-looking approach to foreign affairs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (2001-2010) focused on economic diplomacy and sought to improve the Philippines’ standing in the international community. She maintained strong ties with the US and also expanded engagement with China. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III (2010-2016) emphasized upholding the rule of law in the region and advocating for the Philippines’ territorial claims in the South China Sea. He strengthened relations with traditional allies like the US and worked to foster closer ties with other Asian countries. While Bongbong Marcos is not his father, the legacy of the former Filipino strongman hangs over his administration. This legacy of pragmatism is also reinforced in the sentiments of the defense establishment and the broader Filipino public who want the government to take a tougher stance against China. Unlike Duterte, the younger Marcos has shown in his first year in office that he is adopting a more calibrated foreign policy combining elements of pragmatism and assertiveness towards a major power like China while seeking to leverage Philippine ties with the United States. The post Bongbong’s foreign policy: More like ‘Macoy’ than ‘Digong’ appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Blinken rallies SE Asia against ‘coercion’ in swipe at China
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed unity Friday with Southeast Asian nations against "coercion", in a thinly veiled reference to Beijing, as host Indonesia warned at talks that the region should not become a proxy for global rivalries. Blinken met foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Jakarta at a gathering that also brought the top diplomats of China and Russia, the two main adversaries to the United States. A day after his latest talks with China on managing tensions between the two powers, Blinken made a clear if unstated allusion to concerns shared with many in the region over Beijing. "We share a vision of the Indo-Pacific that is free, open, prosperous, secure, connected and resilient," Blinken told ASEAN foreign ministers, using another term for the Asia region. "That means a region where countries are free to choose their own paths and their own partners, where problems are dealt with openly -- not through coercion," he said. "We must uphold the freedom of navigation in the South and East China Seas and maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait." Friction has been rising for years between Beijing and Southeast Asian nations, particularly Vietnam and the Philippines, over China's sweeping claims to much of the South China Sea. Maritime incidents have been on the rise and tensions have also soared over Taiwan, the self-governing democracy which Beijing claims and has not ruled out seizing by force. But host Indonesia warned that ASEAN cannot become a proxy, as tensions flare not only between the United States and China but over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "The Indo-Pacific must not be another battleground," Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi told ministers of the 18-nation East Asia Summit, which includes the United States, China and Russia, as well as Japan, India and Australia. Managing tensions The annual closed-door talks have often been a raucous affair as big powers clash, but the United States and China have been working to prevent disagreements from spiraling out of control. Blinken met Thursday evening for more than an hour and a half with China's foreign policy supremo Wang Yi, less than a month after the top US diplomat paid a rare visit to Beijing. He told Wang that Washington would hold hackers "accountable" after a breach of US government email accounts was blamed on Chinese state-backed actors, a US official said. Wang urged Washington to "work with China in the same direction" to improve ties and stop interfering in China's affairs, according to a statement on Friday by the foreign ministry in Beijing. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong held her own meeting with Wang on Thursday and said she had urged Beijing to "navigate our differences wisely" and provide "transparency" on a controversial policing pact with Solomon Islands. Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi also met Friday with Wang, where Tokyo and Beijing traded barbs over the former's plan to discharge treated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant. US shuns Russia While the United States has sought to increase communication with China, Blinken shunned Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. It was first time Blinken and Lavrov were in the same room since a Group of 20 meeting in March in New Delhi, where they spoke briefly on the sidelines. US officials say Russia has no real interest in diplomacy to end the war in Ukraine, with Western powers instead ramping up military support to Kyiv. The US approach has caused unease in parts of the developing world, with countries including India and South Africa refusing to rally behind condemnation of Russia. Meeting with ASEAN, Blinken called for a "just and lasting peace to Russia's war of aggression" in Ukraine. In an interview with Indonesian media this week, Lavrov said the war in Ukraine would not end until Western nations gave up their efforts to "defeat" Russia. Pressure on Myanmar ASEAN talks have been dominated by the crisis in Myanmar. The bloc refused to invite the country's military junta, which seized power in February 2021. With Myanmar's chair at the table conspicuously empty, Blinken urged more pressure. "In Myanmar, we must press the military regime to stop the violence, to implement ASEAN's five-point consensus, to support a return to democratic governance," Blinken said. ASEAN reached a five-point peace plan two years ago with the junta, which has yet to implement it. Myanmar's neighbor Thailand has broken with the bloc by pursuing engagement with the junta, although its foreign minister said he also was able to see deposed elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Sunday. Singapore Minister of Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan told reporters at the end of meetings Friday that ASEAN members "encourage all channels of communication to be open". The post Blinken rallies SE Asia against ‘coercion’ in swipe at China appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Divided ASEAN condemns Myanmar violence again, supports five-point plan
ASEAN foreign ministers on Thursday condemned violence in Myanmar again and repeated support for a peace plan ignored by its junta rulers, as the divided bloc struggled to find unity over the protracted crisis. Myanmar has been ravaged by deadly violence since a military coup ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's government in February 2021, unleashing a bloody crackdown on dissent. A joint communique finally arrived late Thursday, more than a day after a two-day Association of Southeast Asian Nations ministerial meeting ended as the fractured group wrangled over its content and wording. It said a five-point plan agreed with Myanmar's junta two years ago -- which they have failed to implement -- remained the bloc's best hope of solving the crisis, despite Thailand launching a separate track to ASEAN efforts in recent months. "We... reaffirmed our united position that the five-point consensus remains our main reference to address the political crisis in Myanmar," it said. "We strongly condemned acts of violence, including air strikes, artillery shelling, and destruction of public facilities and urged all parties involved to take concrete action to immediately halt indiscriminate violence (and) denounce any escalation." It asked all sides of the Myanmar conflict to "create a conducive environment for the delivery of humanitarian assistance and inclusive national dialogue." ASEAN chair Indonesia had on Wednesday urged a political solution to the crisis at two-day foreign minister talks. But more than two years after the coup, the divided 10-member bloc's peace efforts remain fruitless, as the junta ignores international criticism and refuses to engage with its opponents. A Southeast Asian diplomat attending the meetings told AFP on condition of anonymity the delay was because they were "working on the language on Myanmar". An early draft seen by AFP on Tuesday had left a section on Myanmar blank. The diplomat said some countries wanted outright re-engagement with the junta, while others said the five-point plan that aims to end the violence and renew talks must remain the basis for re-engagement. This confirmed the "deep divisions within ASEAN on the Myanmar issue", the diplomat added. Thai dialogue track Thailand has made its own initiative to speak directly with the Myanmar junta and other actors in the conflict. Last month, Bangkok hosted the junta's foreign minister for controversial "informal talks" that further split the bloc. Then on Wednesday, on the second day of ASEAN talks, Thailand's top diplomat announced that he met last week with Suu Kyi -- who has been detained since the coup, and jailed by a junta court for a total of 33 years. Don Pramudwinai said he met the Nobel laureate on Sunday in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw and that she was in "good health" and "encouraged dialogue". Don "freely discussed what he wanted" with Suu Kyi, junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said in an audio statement posted by the military's information team Thursday, adding that her health was "good". On Thursday, Don told reporters: "It has been two years now, (and) not much improvement. So there must be re-engagement with Myanmar." 'Safe, stable, prosperous' Indonesia has said any other efforts must support ASEAN's existing five-point peace plan. Malaysian Foreign Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir told reporters that all members were working towards the "same issue", which was ensuring that Southeast Asia was "a region that is safe, stable and prosperous". Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said Jakarta had engaged in "quiet diplomacy" with all sides of the conflict, and in its seven months as chair had held more than 110 engagements concerning Myanmar. But analysts said Thailand was taking the lead on the crisis, undercutting ASEAN efforts and shifting the centre of negotiation to Bangkok. A Thai foreign ministry official declined to comment on Indonesia's work as ASEAN chair. The post Divided ASEAN condemns Myanmar violence again, supports five-point plan appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Myanmar crisis to top agenda at ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting
ASEAN foreign ministers will gather in Indonesia on Tuesday for talks set to be dominated by the crisis in Myanmar, with the regional bloc divided over how or whether to reengage with the coup-wracked country's ruling junta. The two-day Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting will be followed by talks with Beijing, Washington, and other powers where top US diplomat Antony Blinken will seek to push back on China's assertiveness in the South China Sea. ASEAN has long been decried as a toothless talking shop, and it remains split over diplomatic attempts to resolve the Myanmar crisis. The country has been ravaged by deadly violence since a military coup deposed Aung San Suu Kyi's government more than two years ago and unleashed a bloody crackdown on dissent. A Southeast Asian diplomat told AFP that "extra efforts" were being made in the days before the meeting to unite the group around the issue. However, the official was "not too optimistic" that would happen given that a "few members have different perspectives on how to approach the problem", they said. Myanmar remains an ASEAN member but has been barred from high-level meetings over the junta's failure to implement a five-point plan, agreed two years ago, to end the violence and restart negotiations to resolve the crisis. ASEAN efforts to kick-start the plan's execution have been fruitless, as the junta ignores international criticism and refuses to engage with its opponents. Thailand, meanwhile, hosted the junta's foreign minister for controversial "informal talks" last month, deepening the divisions between the ASEAN members that attended and abstained. 'Clearer' plan The bloc's initiatives are limited by its charter principles of consensus and noninterference, but analysts say the meeting could push members to do more. "It is hoped there will be a clearer implementation plan on what will ASEAN do going forward," Lina Alexandra of Jakarta-based think tank the Centre for Strategic and International Studies told AFP. The meeting would be a "crucial" opportunity for Indonesia as ASEAN chair to unite the regional bloc after the Thailand talks, she said. On Thursday, an ASEAN-plus-three ministerial meeting with Japan, South Korea, and China will take place ahead of an 18-nation East Asia Summit foreign ministers' meeting on Friday, which will also include Washington and Beijing. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is expected to attend the latter meeting, again putting him in the same room as US Secretary of State Blinken after a brief March meeting as Moscow's Ukraine invasion grinds on. Beijing's actions in the dispute-rife South China Sea will also be high on the agenda, Daniel Kritenbrink, the top US diplomat for East Asia, told reporters Saturday. China has made sweeping claims in the strategic waterway despite protests from ASEAN members Vietnam and the Philippines, as well as other nations who argue for unimpeded freedom of navigation and that their own territorial claims be respected. The United States and ASEAN will seek to "push back on behavior that runs counter to that vision and to those principles, including the many irresponsible acts that we've seen carried out by China over the last several years", Kritenbrink said. The post Myanmar crisis to top agenda at ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Geopolitical implications of NATO-Plus
It is hard, even next to impossible, to remain neutral in our global war-prone situation today. This article is an attempt, as much as possible, to present a neutral geopolitical analysis. Events are cited here not to support one side or the other but as facts with deep geopolitical implications. As mentioned often in this column, the polarization of nations into two opposing sides always precedes a world war. The formation of the Allies and the Axis was the precursor for both World Wars I and II. Today, rapid polarization in both economic and military areas is happening at a dizzying pace — a preview of World War III which will be five- to ten-fold as big and intense as the previous world wars due to the advent of new sophisticated weapons that make the old weapons obsolete. All of a sudden, invincible carrier fleets will be vulnerable to multiple hypersonic missile attacks. Powerful lasers can now take out satellites, paralyzing entire military and commercial systems. There are dozens of game-changers, some of them still secret. The rise of NATO-Plus has increased the chances of World War III. Right now, it is germinating rapidly. The US Congress wants India in NATO-Plus. India is what Ukraine is to Russia, namely, the enemy in the backyard, threatening the nation’s “existential existence.” India, the ancient arch-enemy of China, welcomes this move. It will be effortless for the US to court India into NATO-Plus. India is forging a deal with the US to buy 30 killer drones. The proximity of India to China is of extreme geopolitical concern to both US-NATO-Plus and China and even Russia. Ironically, India is a major importer of Russian energy, which may be preempted if it joins NATO-Plus. In fact, Russia is in a predicament. It is being paid in Indian currency which is piling up unused in Indian banks, due to sanctions. Right now, the US is taking inventory of “non-NATO allies,” whom they can court into NATO-Plus. The campaign for NATO-Plus is gathering momentum with five members as of this writing — Japan, Australia, South Korea, Israel and New Zealand. Remember that more than half of NATO’s power lies with the US. NATO-Plus is a US initiative. China is rattled by this turn of events, warning that it would plunge the Indo-Pacific into war. This is true, but remember, this was partly in reaction to China’s earlier belligerence and aggressive moves in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. NATO-Plus will naturally intensify the ongoing cooperation between China and Russia, exchanging more armaments and high-level talks on cooperation and mutual defense protocols. China and Russia are part of a multinational bloc similar to NATO. Since early 2022, Putin and Xi have been forging “a sweeping long-term agreement that challenges the United States as a global power” (The New Yorker, Feb. 2022). The possibility of the Philippines joining NATO-Plus cannot be discounted. The catalyst may be a US-China war in Taiwan and/or the South China Sea. If China retaliates against US killer drones emanating from the EDCA bases, this will enhance the chances of the Philippines joining NATO-Plus. However, massive collateral damage to Filipino civilians around the EDCA bases, when push comes to shove, may derail present mutual defense agreements with the US. To stay neutral is the dilemma of PBBM, the Philippines being the rope in a US-China tug-of-war. If he leans heavily toward the US, especially in a US-China war in Taiwan and/or the SCS, China can stop its much-needed trade with the Philippines. On the side of economic alliances, the US is worried about the current expansion of the China-Russia-led BRICS economic bloc “which received membership applications from 19 countries ahead of a June summit, potentially expanding the group’s influence throughout the Middle East and Africa.” (Fox News, undated). Their primary goal is to destroy the US dollar. In the interest of peace in the Asia Pacific, it is better if NATO-Plus fails because otherwise, it would result in a frenzy of purchases of deadly new state-of-the-art weapons by eager warriors that would plunge the region into war — which is happening now in Europe and the Middle East. eastwindreplyctr@gmail.com The post Geopolitical implications of NATO-Plus appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Opportunity cost
While the Senate bides its time on the Maharlika Investment Fund or MIF Bill, the immense opportunity for the economy is being missed. In the several roadshows that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and his economic team held abroad, the investment vehicle proved to be highly anticipated until the investors are told that the law creating the MIF remains mired in deliberations in Congress. Then the inquiry either stops or shifts to another topic. Investors are not philanthropists and they will grab the first chance to maximize profit or they look elsewhere. Had there been a law, the inflow of capital would have been immediate since global funds are focusing on the region to grow their money as most parts of the world remain clouded by slow economic momentum. Southeast Asia is considered the engine of growth in the post-pandemic global economy and the Philippines has the fastest growth rate in the region. Add to the equation the easing investment processes of which the MIF should have been part and the enthusiasm of the President to invite businesses into the country. National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon, at the latest Senate public hearing on the MIF, said if the fund with an initial P150 billion to P200 billion capital, were invested, it would have a 10-year average return of 6.51 percent. The seed capital would not even be a worry since the investment vehicle concept would have bigger sovereign or investment funds joining the projects where the MIF would place its bet. De Leon said the expected return would be higher than the inflation forecast of two to four percent. The reason for the dissenters such as the Makabayan House bloc to throw all the roadblocks to stop the MIF is that it will prove President Marcos right that the fund will fuel stronger economic growth and thus marginalize the opposition similar to what had happened to the yellow cabal during the previous term. The discredited opponents of former President Rodrigo Duterte had to shift their political color to pink hoping that this will change their political fortune to no avail. To the opportunists, the victory of the current administration and the people who voted them into power would mean their eventual extinction. The Supreme Court exposed the efforts of the detractors to stop the MIF at all cost after it junked the Makabayan bloc petition to stop President Marcos from giving priority to the bill and the House to take back the MIF measure that it transmitted to the Senate. President Marcos said that the bill is in the process of being perfected. The High Tribunal similarly explained the subject is not ripe for adjudication since the law has yet to be passed. The members of the radical elements in Congress, however, do not share the breadth of the logic of either the President or the Supreme Court as it continued to insist that MIF is unconstitutional while it remains a proposal. Unfortunately, some of the senators are in league with the obstructionists and are also doing their best to frustrate the creation of the MIF. When the election period comes around it would be best for voters to repudiate the self-serving hindrance to the nation’s progress. The post Opportunity cost appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
ASEAN vows action on human traffickers operating online
Southeast Asian nations vowed Wednesday tougher action on human trafficking as criminals increasingly use social media and other online platforms to recruit and exploit victims. International alarm is growing over internet scams in the region that are often staffed by trafficking victims tricked or coerced into promoting bogus crypto investments. Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar have emerged as "countries of destination" for victims, according to the International Organization for Migration. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations regional bloc, which is meeting in Indonesia this week, adopted a declaration pledging to "strengthen cooperation and coordination" to catch traffickers and identify victims. ASEAN said criminals increasingly "use and abuse" social media and other online platforms to profile, recruit and exploit victims as well as launder the proceeds of the crime. Among other things, the member countries agreed to boost the capacity of law enforcement and other agencies to investigate, collect data and evidence of trafficking, exchange information and conduct joint operations. "I'd like to emphasize that the crime of human trafficking must be completely eradicated from the upstream to downstream," Indonesian President Joko Widodo said Monday, ahead of the 9-11 May summit on the tropical island of Flores. The IOM has said most people trafficked into these illegal online operations came from around Asia -- including from Vietnam, India and Bangladesh -- but some were from as far away as Brazil and Kenya. Victims tended to be "middle-class graduates who have limited employment opportunities" at home, Itayi Viriri, IOM regional spokesman for Asia Pacific, told AFP in February. The scam centers were involved in online gambling, cryptocurrency, online money lending and romance applications, Viriri said. Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud MD said Tuesday traffickers posing as job recruiters would face heavy punishment. "Based on our inspection, they would usually send the people in a large number of 100 or 200 people without proper documents," Mahfud said. In the past year, Indonesia has rescued more than a thousand of its nationals working in online scams in Myanmar and Cambodia. Philippine authorities recently rescued over a thousand people from several Asian nations who were trafficked into the country and also forced to run online scams. The post ASEAN vows action on human traffickers operating online appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
UK seeks entry to Asia-Pacific free trade bloc
London---Britain will apply to join a massive 11-nation free-trade bloc of Asia-Pacific countries, it announced Saturday, weeks after leaving the European single market with its departure from the EU......»»
Xinhua Asia-Pacific news summary at 1600 GMT, Nov. 15
HANOI -- The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement was signed among its 15 participating countries Sunday, launching the world's biggest free trade bloc. Participating.....»»
Philippines beats India for back-to-back wins in women’s Asia ice hockey tiff
The Philippine women’s ice hockey team picked up where they left off after their opening win in the 2024 IIHF Women’s Asia and Oceania Cup with a 7-0 shutout of India at the Bishkek Arena in Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday......»»
Survey shows Cha-cha still unpopular with Filipinos — Senate leaders
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said that the findings of the survey by private pollster Pulse Asia, which was released on Wednesday, show that Charter change is an "unpopular move.".....»»
88% of Pinoys oppose Cha-cha – Pulse Asia
Public opinion on Charter change, which last year was roughly divided among Filipinos, is now largely skewed toward those opposed to changing the country’s Constitution, a survey conducted by Pulse Asia showed......»»