Author: Bayu Nisrina

People’s Republic of China Ambassador to ASEAN Hou Yanqi led a China-ASEAN Media Salon at the Chinese Mission to ASEAN in Jakarta on Friday, Aug. 18. In a press briefing, Ambassador Hou discussed the progress of China-ASEAN cooperation in various fields, as well as expectations for the upcoming leaders’ meetings on East Asia Cooperation. She opened the meeting by expressing her support for Indonesia as the ASEAN chair this year and stated that she expects continuous cooperation and a deepened relationship between China and member countries, which she hopes will be further discussed at the summit planned for September. In…

The opening ceremony of ASEAN Sports Day 2023 was held on the beach in Kep this morning, in the presence of Bou Chum Serey, Undersecretary of State of the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports, and Som Piseth, Governor of Kep Province, including the sports delegation and many stakeholders. On that occasion, Serey said that the ASEAN Sports Day 2023 is organised in accordance with the five-year plan of ASEAN member countries to support the “A person plays at least one sport for life” movement on 15km cycling, 5km running, and rhythmic exercise with about 1,294 participants in collaboration with…

Berlin (25/7 – 16.67) The table is set for the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast to remain a geopolitical hotspot. Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO), eastern Tajikistan, is the home to the Pamir Mountains, also called “the roof of the world”, whose sharp mountain ranges and deep valleys resemble a lunar landscape. A far-flung frontier, situated in a troubled neighborhood, next to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, GBAO is a geopolitical treasure tethered to exterior interests: the authoritarian central Tajik government in Dushanbe, Chinese economic and military interests, and Russia, which historically frames the Pamirs as a part of its…

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday inaugurated a P25.2-billion road project in Zamboanga Sibugay province, which is seen to improve connectivity in Mindanao and boost the economic growth in the region. The President led the inauguration of the Improving Growth Corridors in Mindanao Road Sector Project in Alicia town in Zamboanga Sibugay. The project, which is funded through an official development assistance loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), involves the construction or improvement of 151.60 kilometers of roads and 34 bridges with a total length of 3,374.87 linear meters in Zamboanga Peninsula and Tawi-Tawi. In Zamboanga Peninsula, the projects…

Belitung (ANTARA) – The government of Belitung district, Bangka Belitung Islands province, will promote dozens of local micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) at an ASEAN blue economy ministerial-level forum scheduled on July 1–4, 2023. “We will involve a limited number of Belitung’s MSME actors at the upcoming ASEAN Blue Economy Forum,” deputy head of Belitung district, Isyak Meirobie, said in Tanjung Pandan on Monday after chairing the final meeting on the preparations for the forum. The international forum would provide an opportunity to local MSMEs to showcase and market their products, he added. “So, we will prepare a designated…

WASHINGTON – Japan, the United States and the Philippines are considering holding the first trilateral talks of their security advisors in Tokyo this week to address China’s intensifying military activities in the Indo-Pacific region, diplomatic sources said. Under the new three-way security scheme, Takeo Akiba, secretary general of Japan’s National Security Secretariat, and his U.S. and Philippine counterparts, Jake Sullivan and Eduardo Ano, are expected to attend the planned talks on June 16, according to the sources. The talks would reflect their deepening cooperation following the first joint drills by three countries’ coast guards earlier in the month off Manila…

Global food insecurity affected more people in 2022 than in 2019, according to the World Bank (WB), due to the COVID-19 outbreak, climate change, geopolitical conflicts, and supply chain disruptions, which sent food prices soaring. A total of 345 million people in 82 countries were affected by global food insecurity in 2022, higher compared to 135 million people in 53 countries in 2019. The international financial institution also noted that the severe drought caused by the El Nino phenomenon and climate change has increased the threat of crop failure and hunger for people living in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and…

Two Perikatan Nasional (PN) MPs from PAS said those who practice the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) lifestyle should be considered as having mental health problems. PAS Pasir Salak MP Jamaluddin Yahya stood up to ask his colleague PAS Kapar MP Dr Halimah Ali if she agrees that the LGBT group should be added as having mental health problems. “Kapar do you agree with Pasir Salak, Pasir Salak wants to suggest that LGBT group should also be included as mental health problems,” Jamaluddin said during the debate on the Bill to amend the Mental Health Act 2001 in Parliament…

The ruling Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) keeps a strict hold on the media, with the government owning most of the mainstream outlets, including the national TV and radio networks. “Laos is a ‘black hole’ from which little news emerges,” says Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The law allows foreign media to set up bureaus only on condition that they submit their output for review by officials. The government considers natural disasters and major investment projects with countries like Thailand, Vietnam and China as “taboo” subjects for the media, says the Southeast Asian Press Alliance, a press freedom NGO. Privately-owned, entertainment-based…

SINGAPORE – Singaporeans living overseas will be able to vote by post in the upcoming presidential election, after Parliament passed laws on Monday to ease voting for them and seniors in nursing homes here. The amendments passed also updated rules around election advertising to increase transparency, such as by requiring such content to carry the full names of not only those who paid for but also those who approved such messages. The changes come after General Election 2020, which was held during the Covid-19 pandemic and highlighted two key issues in the election landscape, said Minister-in-charge of the Public Service Chan Chun…