Tag: Laos

Chinese premier hopes Japan, China can meet halfway, keep relations on right track

BEIJING (Reuters) -Chinese Premier Li Qiang said he hopes Japan can meet China halfway and keep bilateral relations on the right track, state media reported, as the two countries try to ease escalating tensions in the region. In talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Thursday on the sidelines of a conference of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Li also said he hoped China and Japan can continuously strengthen dialogue and cooperation, […]

Philippines calls for urgency from China, ASEAN in negotiating South China Sea code

By Panu Wongcha-um VIENTIANE, Laos (Reuters) -Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr pressed Southeast Asian leaders and China at a regional summit on Thursday to urgently speed up negotiations on a code of conduct for the South China Sea, while accusing Beijing of harassment and intimidation. Speaking in Laos to leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Marcos said substantive progress was necessary and all parties must “be earnestly […]

Blinken chides Beijing’s ‘escalating actions’ at sea, concerned over Taiwan

VIENTIANE (Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticised Beijing’s “escalating and unlawful actions” in the South China Sea at a summit on Saturday, while his Russian counterpart said Washington has stoked anxiety with its plan for a nuclear deterrence with ally Seoul for the Korean peninsula. Blinken singled out China over its coast guard’s hostile actions against U.S. defence treaty ally the Philippines in the South China Sea. But he also lauded the two […]

China’s foreign minister warns Philippines over US missile deployment

BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has warned the Philippines over the U.S. intermediate-range missile deployment, saying such a move could fuel regional tensions and spark an arms race. The United States deployed its Typhon missile system to the Philippines as part of joint military drills earlier this year. It was not fired during the exercises, a Philippine military official later said, without giving details on how long it would stay in the […]

North Korean delegation travelling to China, Vietnam and Laos

SEOUL, March 22, 2024 (AFP) – A North Korean ruling party delegation travelling to China, Vietnam and Laos has arrived in Beijing, Pyongyang’s state media said Friday. The delegation, led by alternate politburo member Kim Song Nam, was welcomed by a representative of the Chinese Communist Party at the airport on Thursday, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported, without specifying the exact nature of the trip. An earlier KCNA report said the delegation […]

Vietnam sentences nine to death for drug trafficking

HANOI, Jan 22, 2024 (AFP) – Vietnam sentenced nine people to death and two others to life in prison on Monday for their involvement in a cross-border drug trafficking ring, state media reported. The Southeast Asian country has some of the world’s toughest drug laws, and is notoriously secretive about its executions. At the end of a three-day trial, a court in central Nghe An province sentenced ringleader Tran Thi Mau, 56, and eight accomplices […]

Typhoon Noru tears across Vietnam, Laos

  Danang, Vietnam | AFP | by Tran Thi Minh Ha Typhoon Noru tore roofs from homes and caused power outages across central Vietnam Wednesday, with hundreds of thousands of people taking refuge, after the storm claimed at least 10 lives in the Philippines. In Danang, Vietnam’s third-largest city, high-rise buildings shook as the typhoon made landfall in the early hours of Wednesday, bringing winds of up to around 120 kilometres (75 miles) per hour, […]

Laos police net 55 million meth pills in Asia’s biggest drug bust: UN official

BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Laotian police have netted Asia’s biggest-ever single seizure of illegal drugs, finding 55 million methamphetamine pills in the back of a beer truck, a United Nations official confirmed Thursday. The 55.6 million meth tablets and 1.5 tonnes of crystal meth seized late Wednesday is a record for a single seizure in the region, UN Office of Drugs and Crime regional representative Jeremy Douglas said. “It is three times the meth tablets […]

Watch: ASEAN in Focus

NCR shifts to ECQ Aug. 6-20 Travel ban on India, 9 other nations extended to Aug. 15 Duterte, Austin renew PH-US alliance US Defense Secretary Austin says US security commitment to Philippines ‘ironclad’ Bangladesh evacuates 10,000 Rohingya from landslide-hit camps Thai hospitals short of beds as Covid cases due to Delta variant soar Cambodia imposes virus curbs along Thailand border over Delta fears Hero’s welcome for Philippines’ first Olympic gold medalist Pres. Duterte awards Hidilyn […]

Vietnamese woman is Laos’ first Covid-19 fatality

BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — A Vietnamese woman died from Covid-19 in Laos on Sunday, according to state-run media, marking the first death from the disease in the impoverished communist country. Reclusive, landlocked Laos had appeared to escape the brunt of the pandemic in 2020, but a community outbreak uncovered last month has sent the number of cases soaring — from 49 in early April to 1,302 in less than a month. Authorities confirmed Sunday that […]

Palace dismayed as PHL lags behind other ASEAN countries in internet speed

  (Eagle News) – Malacanang is very much dismayed that the country’s internet speed remains slow despite the deadline given by President Rodrigo Duterte that it has lagged behind many of its ASEAN neighbors. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that despite some improvements, in terms of increased contruction permits for telephone companies, the Philippines is still behind many of the ASEAN countries, including Myanmar and Laos, as the government pushed telcos to do better. “Narinig […]

Fewest virus cases in ASEAN: Lao PDR envoy explains how his country prevented COVID-19 spread

(Eagle News) — The Ambassador of Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) in Manila, His Excellency Songkane Luangmuninthone, talks about the situation of Filipinos in his country, and how Lao PDR had managed to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus in this interview by ASEAN in Focus anchor Alma Angeles. The Ambassador said that the virus lockdown in his country has already been lifted, and people can now go back to normal life. Lao PDR […]