ASEAN IN FOCUS

Vietnam property tycoon on trial in $12.5 billion fraud case

HO CHI MINH CITY, March 5, 2024 (AFP) – A top Vietnamese property tycoon went on trial Tuesday along with dozens of others, accused of embezzling $12.5 billion in the country’s biggest ever fraud case. Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, is said to have swindled the cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over the course of a decade, leaving unsuspecting investors out of pocket. Eighty-five others are also on trial […]

Four rescued after Malaysian coast guard helicopter crashes

KUALA LUMPUR, March 5, 2024 (AFP) – Four people were rescued after a Malaysian coast guard helicopter crashed in the Strait of Malacca on Tuesday, the aviation regulator said. The helicopter was on a training flight when it plunged into water near Angsa island, the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia said without giving a cause. “A total of four persons including pilots were onboard and there were no fatalities reported. All survivors were rescued by […]

Australia sets up $1.3 bn fund to grow trade with ASEAN

MELBOURNE, March 5, 2024 (AFP) – Australia unveiled plans to ramp up investment in Southeast Asia on Tuesday, setting aside US$1.3 billion to bolster trade in a region of rising economic might. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the funding as leaders from the 10-nation ASEAN forum met in Melbourne for a three-day summit. “The government I lead has made it clear. More than any other region, Southeast Asia is where Australia’s future lies,” Albanese told […]

Philippine Coast Guard says its ship damaged in collision with Chinese vessel

  MANILA, March 5, 2024 (AFP) – The Philippine Coast Guard said one of its ships was damaged Tuesday in a collision with a China Coast Guard vessel during a resupply mission to Filipino troops on a remote outpost in the South China Sea. It is the latest incident in waters around Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands where the countries have contesting maritime claims. Chinese coast guard and other vessels undertook “dangerous manoeuvres […]

Philippines hopes to launch EU free trade negotiations ‘very soon’

MELBOURNE, March 4, 2024 (AFP) – The Philippines hopes to launch formal free trade agreement negotiations with the European Union “very soon”, Foreign Minister Enrique Manalo told AFP in an interview Monday. The Southeast Asian nation, which depends heavily on trade with China, wants to expand its economic relations with other countries to achieve greater “resiliency”, the minister said. “We’re hoping… to very soon begin free trade negotiations with the EU,” Manalo said. The Philippines […]

ASEAN-Australia summit to decry ‘threat or use of force’ in region

By Steven TRASK MELBOURNE, March 4, 2024 (AFP) – Leaders from Southeast Asian nations and Australia gathered in Melbourne on Monday are expected to denounce the “threat or use of force” to settle disputes in the region, a collective swipe at China. “We strive for a region where sovereignty and territorial integrity is respected,” a draft joint ASEAN-Australia statement obtained by AFP read. “We strive for a region where differences are managed through respectful dialogue, […]

Philippines foreign minister urges China: ‘stop harassing us’

MELBOURNE, March 4, 2024 (AFP) – Philippine foreign minister Enrique Manalo told AFP on Monday that his country wants to solve maritime disputes with China peacefully — but delivered a simple message to Beijing: “stop harassing us”. Speaking on the sidelines of an ASEAN-Australia summit in Melbourne, Manalo defended his government’s policy of publicising Chinese manoeuvres in contested maritime territory — including the recent passage of warships near Scarborough Shoal. “It’s merely trying to inform […]

Myanmar now a ‘never-ending’ nightmare: UN

GENEVA, March 1, 2024 (AFP) – Three years of military rule in Myanmar have inflicted unbearable cruelty, leaving people trapped in an unending nightmare as the conflict spreads, the UN human rights chief said Friday. The junta is crushing all forms of dissent with total impunity, Volker Turk told the UN Human Rights Council, urging the United Nations’ top rights body and countries to focus on preventing further atrocities. “The human rights situation in Myanmar […]

Faulty warnings, deforestation turned Philippine rains ‘deadly’: study

MANILA, March 1, 2024 (AFP) – Faulty warning systems, poverty and deforestation of mountains in the southern Philippines turned recent unseasonably heavy rains into deadly disasters, scientists said in a report Friday. More than 100 people were killed in landslides and floods in January and February on the country’s second-largest island of Mindanao as the northeast monsoon and a low pressure trough brought downpours. A study by the World Weather Attribution group found the unsually […]