These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
Get up to speed with what’s happening in the fastest growing region in the world.
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China officially applies to join CPTPP trade pact
Beijing has applied to join an Asia-Pacific trade pact once pushed by the US as a way to isolate China and solidify American dominance in the region.
China submitted the formal application letter to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to New Zealand, according to a statement late on Thursday (Spet 16) in Beijing.
Commerce Minister Wang Wentao had a follow-up call with his counterpart Damien O’Connor, as New Zealand is the depositary nation for the agreement.
The application is certain to spark a reaction from Washington, where a number of lawmakers had already expressed concern about China’s efforts to join.
However, there’s no sign the administration of President Joe Biden is interested in rejoining the deal.
The original deal was envisioned by the US as an economic bloc to counterbalance China’s growing power, with then-President Barack Obama saying in 2016 that the US, not China, should write the regional rules of trade. - Straits Times
Klang Valley registers highest number of Covid-19 deaths
A total 346 new Covid-19 deaths were reported to the Health Ministry on Sept 16, raising the country's death toll to 22,355.
According to the ministry's CovidNow portal, the highest number of deaths were registered in the Klang Valley (97) (including 94 in Selangor and three in Kuala Lumpur), followed by Kedah (82), Johor (59), Sabah (47), Penang (30), Sarawak (14), Melaka (four), Terengganu (four), Kelantan (three), Perak (three), and Perlis (three).
No deaths were logged in Putrajaya, Labuan, Negri Sembilan and Pahang.
The country's seven-day average of daily actual deaths stood at 107 as of 11.59pm yesterday (Sept 16), compared with 133 the day before. - New Straits Times
Oct 1 reopening up in air
The Public Health Ministry on Thursday addressed concerns raised by academics over the government's plan to reopen the country to vaccinated foreign tourists starting next month.
The plan is in line with the pledge which Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha made in June to welcome vaccinated tourists within 120 days. However, some critics, including academics, have said the government may be acting too early.
Commenting on issues surrounding the plan, Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul yesterday said medical experts and the Department of Disease Control (DDC) must decide whether the country is ready to reopen.
"The matter cannot be rushed as information on the pandemic situation and risks must be thoroughly addressed," Mr Anutin said, adding the government is ready to lend its full support.
"We cannot order [the reopening] yet because we must investigate academic information and make an assessment."
The degree of the severity of the Covid-19 situation in countries which prospective foreigners may depart from must be taken into account, he said, adding the DDC will make an assessment and present it for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration's (CCSA) consideration. - Bangkok Post
PH updates ‘Red, Yellow, Green’ list
The Philippine government has released an updated roster of “red, yellow, and green” states and territories, Malacanang said on Friday.
This, after the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) approved the revised list of considered “red, yellow, and green” countries, jurisdictions, or territories, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said.
“This new classification shall take effect on September 19, 2021 until September 30, 2021,” Roque, who also serves as IATF-EID spokesperson, said in a press statement.
Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Serbia and Slovenia have been included in the red list.
Travel restrictions have been imposed on travelers from “high risk” countries that are under the red list.
Inbound passengers, regardless of their vaccination status, coming from or who have been to "red" nations are barred from entering the Philippines. - Philippine News Agency
Frontline forces work hard to combat the pandemic
With the mission of acting as a shield against the pandemic, thousands of police officers in southern Vinh Long Province have worked hard day and night with the military and the health sector in performing tasks on the frontlines of the COVID-19 fight.
Since the new COVID-19 wave emerged in Vietnam in late April, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Nui has been sent to checkpoints to maintain social security and order while preventing the spread of the disease.
Nui is head of the COVID-19 checkpoint in Ward No 8, Vinh Long City. He is among more than 1,500 personnel working at 300 supervision stations and patrol teams at quarantine centres in Vinh Long Province.
Nui said during the battle, many officers and soldiers have put aside their own needs and concerns to successfully complete their assigned tasks.
"Everyone is aware that they have to fulfil the assigned tasks, especially the prevention and fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, to protect people and also to protect ourselves and our families,” Nui said. - Vietnam News
Impact of C-19 on tourism is devastating
More than 527 tourism businesses closed operations in the first seven months of 2021 out of a total of 9,467 companies and an additional 3,389 suspended their activities due to the Covid-19 crisis in the Kingdom, highlighting the devastation the pandemic has caused.
Tourism Ministry spokesman Top Sopheak told Khmer Times that the suspended businesses include karaoke, hotels, restaurants, massage parlours, land transport companies, bars, beer gardens, tour operators and travel agencies.
Koh Kong provincial Industry Office director Ra Sou told Khmer Times yesterday: “When the (Covid-19) cases decrease, they will start to operate their businesses in order to serve the local tourists and those who are coming to travel in Koh Kong,” he said.
Tourism Minister Thong Khon said that the global crisis of pandemic has had a devastating effect on the world society and economy, especially tourism, since the end of 2019. - Khmer Times
'Almost half' of Yangon's hotels have closed amid collapse of tourism industry, says junta official
Almost half of Yangon’s hotels have shut down amid a near total collapse of Myanmar’s tourism industry, according to figures provided by an official from the junta’s tourism ministry.
The devastation to the industry has been caused by the combined impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the military’s February 1 coup.
Of the 483 hotels registered in the former capital, 225 have now ceased operations, said Nyo Aye, the director of the ministry’s Yangon office.
Tourism businesses in many parts of the world are looking tentatively towards a recovery amid vaccine rollouts, while Thailand and Vietnam have announced pilot programs to welcome vaccinated travellers.
But the instability and nationwide conflict sparked by the coup has extinguished hopes that Myanmar will be able to follow in the footsteps of its regional neighbours.
Nyo Aye, who made no mention of the military’s power grab in his assessment of the problem, said the hotel closures would only be temporary.
“Almost half of the hotels had to take a break as the operation costs were high and there were no guests. They’re going to open again once guests come back in,” he told Myanmar Now.
Those hotels that have remained open have done so by downsizing and slashing costs while providing quarantine services for people returning to Myanmar on relief flights, he said.
Of the roughly 3,000 tour operators based in Yangon, all but seven have shut down their businesses, he added. - Myanmar NOW
Door-to-door vaccinations are part of efforts to expedite inoculation
President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has stated that door-to-door vaccinations for people in Aceh Province were part of the efforts to expedite the national vaccination campaign.
“Today, I am in Aceh along with the chief of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) to ensure that the door-to-door vaccination activities are accelerated,” Jokowi remarked while reviewing door-to-door vaccinations at Lambroe Bileu Village, Kuta Baro Sub-district, Aceh Besar District, on Thursday.
The head of state noted that door-to-door vaccinations were part of the efforts to provide direct inoculation services to the people of Aceh.
“Vaccination is one of the keys to stemming the spread of COVID-19. We hope that by accelerating vaccination, we can contain the spread (of COVID-19),” he stated.
With increasingly more number of people receiving the COVID-19 vaccination, the nation is expected to be well-protected against COVID-19, he noted.
Some 72 thousand people, including 42 students and Islamic boarding school students in Aceh, were vaccinated on Thursday.
In the course of the visit to Aceh, Jokowi also held a dialog with local residents and distributed books among children in the village.
Shortly after reviewing the vaccination of people in Lambroe Bileu, President Jokowi and his entourage observed the vaccination of students of the Istiqamatuddin Darul Mu’arrif Islamic boarding school. - AntaraNews.Com