Myanmar's shadow government of ousted lawmakers has welcomed a call by Southeast Asian leaders for an end to "military violence" after their crisis talks in Jakarta with junta leader Min Aung Hlaing.The general attended a high-level summit Saturday with leaders from the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to discuss Myanmar's mounting crisis.Since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a 1 February coup, Myanmar has been in an uproar

China's President Xi Jinping will attend United States (US) President Joe Biden's virtual climate summit this week, Beijing said Wednesday, as the world's top polluting nations seek rare common ground despite wider political tensions.Biden has invited 40 world leaders including Xi and Russia's Vladimir Putin to the meet starting on Earth Day, meant to mark Washington's return to the front lines of the fight against climate change after former president Donald Trump di

India will produce more than one billion more COVID vaccine doses by the end of next year in an initiative launched Friday with the United States (US), Japan and Australia, challenging China as the four leaders held their first-ever joint summit.US President Joe Biden, who has vowed to reinvigorate alliances in the face of growing worries about China, met virtually with the three nations' prime ministers as they pledged together to defend a "free and open" Indo-Pacific region.&

United States (US) President Donald Trump took part Friday in an Asia-Pacific summit as he pushes on with challenges to his election loss, a day after Xi Jinping used the forum to hail China's growing economic clout.The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gathering, held online this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, brings together 21 Pacific Rim countries, accounting for about 60 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP).Beijing has become the main driving force behind th

Washington's top diplomat urged Southeast Asia on Thursday to cut ties with Chinese companies helping build islands in the South China Sea, weeks after the United States (US) blacklisted two dozen firms working in the disputed waters.Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's comments came at a regional Asian summit overshadowed by the US-China rivalry over a range of issues, from trade to the coronavirus.Tensions are also simmering over the South China Sea, with the US last month sanctioning

US-China rivalry is set to dominate discussions as the foreign ministers of 10 Southeast Asian countries begin an online summit Wednesday, with Washington's top diplomat ready to take aim at Beijing's "bullying" in the South China Sea.The summit comes just days after China launched ballistic missiles in the flashpoint waters as part of live-fire exercises and as Washington and Beijing clash over a range of issues from trade to the coronavirus.Ministers will be joined by Un

Southeast Asian leaders warned Friday the virus pandemic had swept away years of economic gains and was hindering negotiations over the flashpoint South China Sea as they met online for a delayed summit.Vietnam, the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), had wanted to use the summit to inject momentum into talks on a sprawling China-backed trade pact.But the immediate focus for the 10-member bloc was the crippling cost of the coronavirus, which has ravaged the ec

Malaysia will this week host a summit of Muslim leaders billed as a forum to look at the Islamic world's problems, but it will be closely watched for Middle East power plays and their stance on China's Uighur minority.Leaders from Iran, Turkey, and Qatar will be among hundreds of delegates attending the three-day event set to discuss myriad challenges faced by Muslims.The summit has been pushed by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who has long championed greater solidarity

The US-China rivalry is set to be sharpened at a Bangkok summit starting Wednesday, where Washington's top diplomat will insist his nation remains a key Asia-Pacific power in the face of Beijing's military machinations in contested seas and airspace.Foreign ministers from 10 Southeast Asian countries are meeting in the Thai capital this week.They will be joined by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his Chinese and Russian counterparts, with old flashpoints in the disputed South C

The third meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un on the world's last Cold War frontier checked off all boxes for a spectacular blockbuster – the suspense, the theatrics, and the climax – but was far from a normal summit.No formal communique was issued, leaving observers to interpret the two sides' individual pronouncements, whether by the leaders themselves or through statements and media.