Tag: ASEAN IN FOCUS

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s speech in accepting ASEAN chairmanship for year 2017

  Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s speech in accepting ASEAN chairmanship for year 2017 Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen. Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, please accept my sincere congratulations on your successful chairmanship of the ASEAN throughout this year. You guided us with the timely motto of “Turning Vision into Reality for Dynamic ASEAN community.” You ably did your part in deepening integration to move us towards the realization of a rules-based people oriented, people-centered ASEAN community. In […]

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President Duterte accepts ASEAN 2017 chairmanship for the Philippines

  (Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday (September 8) accepted the Philippine chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit scheduled for next year, 2017, when ASEAN will be celebrating its 50th year. Duterte accepted the symbolical gavel of the ASEAN chairmanship for next year from Laos Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith during the closing ceremony of the ASEAN Summit and handover of the ASEAN chairmanship to the Philippines. ASEAN leaders gathered  in Vientiane for […]

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Closing remarks of Lao PDR Prime Minister at ASEAN closing ceremony and chairmanship handover to Phl

  Closing Remarks By H.E. Thongloun Sisoulith, Prime Minister of the Lao PDR  at the Closing Ceremony of the 28th and 29th ASEAN Summits and related Summits and Handing Over of ASEAN Chairmanship to the Republic of the Philippines 8 September 2016, National Convention Centre ——– Your Majesty, Excellencies,Heads of State and Government, Secretary-General of ASEAN, Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, The 28th and 29th ASEAN Summits and related Summits held under the theme […]

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Duterte meets with Russian Prime Minister Medyedev before ASEAN closing rites

  (Eagle News) — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte met with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of the Russian Federation on the final day of the 28th and 29th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summits and Related Summits in Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic on September 8, 2016. This was after the gala dinner where Duterte and Medyedev sat beside each other, instead of the earlier announced seating arrangement where Duterte and US President Barack Obama were […]

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U.N.’s Ban urges ASEAN to ratify Paris climate agreement

(Reuters) — United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, addressing the ASEAN summit on Wednesday (September 7) in the Laotian capital Vientiane, urged member countries to ratify the Paris agreement. In Paris last December, nearly 200 countries agreed on a binding global compact to slash greenhouse gases and keep global temperature increases to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius. While 180 countries have now signed the agreement, 55 nations – covering at least 55 percent of global emissions […]

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U.S. President forges closer ties with ASEAN allies in last meeting

  (Reuters) — U.S. President Barack Obama held a meeting with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders for the last time on Thursday (September 8) and reiterated U.S. commitment to rebalancing Asia. Obama became the first incumbent U.S. president to visit Laos this week for a series of meetings with the heads of state of the 10-nation regional bloc. “I’ve now met with leaders of ASEAN eight times, visited Southeast Asia more than any […]

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Malacañang says row between President Duterte and President Obama over

QUEZON CITY, Philippines (Eagle News) — Malacañang believes that the row between President Rodrigo Duterte and President Barack Obama is over. According to Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar, both presidents were able to speak with each other in the holding area before the start of the gala dinner for the heads of state in Laos. Andanar said that there were some changes made in the seating arrangement which resulted in President Duterte and President Obama […]

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Obama focuses on Asia security threats

by Jerome TAYLOR Nicholas PERRY VIENTIANE, Laos (AFP) — North Korea’s defiant missile testing and the South China Sea territorial row were among a barrage of security threats in focus Thursday as US President Barack Obama gathered with East Asian leaders in Laos. The annual event this year comes at a time of heightened tensions on a wide range of fronts across the region, with terrorism also a concern after deadly bomb blasts in Thailand […]

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Chinese coast guard involved in most South China Sea clashes – research

  * Chinese coast guard involved in two-thirds of incidents – CSIS * Coast guards not covered by expanding communications agreements * China now has largest coast guard fleet in the world (Adds Chinese Foreign Ministry comment)   By Greg Torode HONG KONG, Sept 7 (Reuters) – Increasingly assertive action by China’s coast guard ships in the South China Sea risks destabilising the region, according to the authors of new research tracking maritime law enforcement […]

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Duterte, Obama shake hands and chat after rift over insult

  (REUTERS)  U.S. President Barack Obama and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte shook hands and had a brief chat on Wednesday, officials said, easing a standoff after Duterte called Obama a “son of a bitch” ahead of a summit of Asian leaders in Laos. The presidents of the two longtime allies were due to hold talks on Tuesday but the White House canceled the meeting after Duterte’s insult. “I’m very happy that it happened,” Philippines’ foreign […]

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China under pressure at Asia summit over sea row

  by Martin Abbugao and Karl Malakunas VIENTIANE, Laos (AFP)  — Beijing came under pressure at an Asian summit Wednesday over its “illegal” island-building in the South China Sea, after the Philippines produced photos it said showed fresh construction activity at a flashpoint shoal. Any artificial island at Scarborough Shoal could be a game-changer in China’s quest to control the South China Sea and raises the risk of armed confrontation with the United States, security […]

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