USA

N. Korea rules out negotiations as Trump heads to Asia

North Korea ruled out talks and threatened to increase its nuclear arsenal in a fresh warning to Donald Trump's administration Saturday as the US President set off on a tour of Asia.Trump departed for his first presidential trip to Asia Friday, with tensions over North Korea's nuclear and missile threats looming large.

4 November 2017
0

What would Trump’s trip to Japan mean to ASEAN

The inaugural visit of US President Donald Trump to the Asia Pacific region will kick start with a visit to a close ally, Japan on November 5-7. On the agenda is his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

4 November 2017
0

US lawmakers proposed new sanctions on Myanmar military

US lawmakers proposed sanctions Friday against Myanmar's military, in some of the strongest efforts yet by Washington to pressure the Southeast Asian nation to end abusive treatment of its Rohingya Muslim minority.House Republicans and Democrats introduced legislation that would curtail assistance or cooperation with Myanmar's military and require the White House to identify senior military officials who would have US visa bans imposed or re-imposed against them.A bipartisan group i

4 November 2017
0

UN: Myanmar Rohingya must return as citizens

Myanmar must grant citizenship to the Rohingya to allow hundreds of thousands of people from the Muslim minority to return to Rakhine state from where they were driven by an army campaign, the UN refugee chief said Thursday."These people cannot remain stateless because this statelessness exposes them to discrimination and abuse, as has been the case in the past," said Filippo Grandi, the UN high commission for refugees.More than 600,000 Rohingya have fled Rakhine since late August d

3 November 2017
0

Duterte urges US to stop threats against North Korea

The US should stop threatening North Korea and instead assure leader Kim Jong-Un that there are no plans to oust him, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said ahead of his meeting with President Donald Trump next month.In a televised speech before leaving for Tokyo, Duterte said the US, Japan, China and South Korea should sit down with the North Korean leader to tackle the Pyongyang regime’s weapons development and missile tests.

30 October 2017
0

Indonesia's economy may beat expectations, finance minister says

Indonesia’s finance minister said Southeast Asia’s biggest economy could expand at a faster pace next year than initially forecast.Economic growth may potentially be boosted by a pickup in investment in 2018, Sri Mulyani Indrawati said in an interview in Jakarta Friday.

30 October 2017
0

Tillerson calls Myanmar army chief over Rohingya crisis

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged Myanmar's army chief Thursday to help end the violence in Rakhine state that has forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims to flee.In a phone call with Min Aung Hlaing, Tillerson expressed "concern about the continuing humanitarian crisis and reported atrocities in Rakhine", according to a statement by State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert.

27 October 2017
0

ASEAN's tactful approach on maritime dispute

During a recent high-level regional security dialogue in Manila, defence ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) released a joint declaration calling for a peaceful resolution to the South China Sea dispute.The dispute has been plaguing the region for long and has largely shaped the geopolitical landscape of Southeast Asia. Five trillion dollars’ worth of trade passes through its shipping lanes.

26 October 2017
0

Mattis and Pacific allies: N.Korea an 'unprecedented threat'

North Korea's weapons programmes pose "an unprecedented and grave threat" to the United States, South Korea and Japan, defence ministers from the three countries warned Tuesday.US Secretary of Defense James Mattis and his Asian counterparts vowed to step up diplomatic pressure on Pyongyang while enhancing military cooperation as they held security talks in the Philippines.Tension has been high on the divided Korean peninsula for months with Pyongyang staging its sixth nuclear t

24 October 2017
0