Follow Southern China Morning Post - ASEAN Diplomacy, filter it, and define how you want to receive the news (via Email, RSS, Telegram, WhatsApp etc.) https://follow.it/scmp24 Wed, 22 Sep 2021 05:01:10 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFHk1x7SKmHlW11cWWor9YPv Malaysia welcomes China’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) free-trade pact that groups Malaysia and 10 other countries, the official news agency Bernama has reported.The Malaysian Ministry of International Trade and Industry said in a statement to Bernama, dated Sunday, that it was “encouraged” by Beijing’s interest in the free-trade deal, and that negotiations with China could start in 2022 at the earliest.“With the ongoing domestic efforts…]]> Mon, 20 Sep 2021 16:04:29 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFHk1x7SKmHlW11cWWor9YPv https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFHtGeMFTEAIw-T5HJgy6HUf Australia’s acquisition of at least eight nuclear-powered submarines as part of a new, trilateral defence pact with the United States and Britain has prompted soul-searching in New Delhi about how India should react.New Delhi has not officially responded to the Aukus partnership that will see Australia ramping up its deterrence capabilities, at a time when the US and its allies are seeking to counter China’s rising influence in the region.Shekhar Sinha, a retired vice-admiral and former…]]> Mon, 20 Sep 2021 14:30:15 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFHtGeMFTEAIw-T5HJgy6HUf https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFFw4mXhbXxZ0KCY3L745TL_ Last week, when the newly appointed Taliban foreign minister called the ministry staffers for a briefing, a female desk officer hoped she would be able to retain her job and return to work. The desk officer, who did not want to be named, had served in the previous Afghanistan government for three years and was expecting to be posted overseas this year. But the Taliban takeover left her and other women colleagues worrying about the future of their careers. On Thursday, all hopes were dashed…]]> Sun, 19 Sep 2021 13:00:27 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFFw4mXhbXxZ0KCY3L745TL_ https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFEtUQqTHHXTLCejEQ2Mq9rY Malaysia on Saturday joined Indonesia in expressing concern that a new security pact involving Australia, the US and Britain could provoke a nuclear arms race in the Indo-Pacific region.Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison called his Malaysian counterpart Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Friday to explain that the formation of the tripartite group – known as AUKUS – was to help it acquire nuclear-powered submarines, according to a statement from the Malaysian government.Ismail Sabri told Morrison he…]]> Sat, 18 Sep 2021 17:34:49 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFEtUQqTHHXTLCejEQ2Mq9rY https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFF593tlEQsYoKCY3L745TL_ Australia said it would not be willing to negotiate China’s application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) unless Beijing removes retaliatory tariffs on Australian goods, as other member countries also flagged caution over Beijing’s application to join the mega trade bloc.Beijing’s new trade minister Wang Wentao on Thursday lodged a long-awaited application to join the 11-member CPTPP with member country New Zealand’s trade minister Damien…]]> Sat, 18 Sep 2021 06:15:21 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFF593tlEQsYoKCY3L745TL_ https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFGMZPJIsQt9VSlmFkX7M1Jw France recalled its ambassadors from the United States and Australia on Friday, a stunning development in the deepening fallout over Washington’s new security alliance with Canberra and London.Announced on Wednesday, the new pact, known as “Aukus”, includes an agreement to help Australia secure a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, effectively nullifying a 2016 commitment Canberra had made to buy conventional vessels from France.France warns new Aukus alliance threatens security partnerships…]]> Fri, 17 Sep 2021 22:57:03 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFGMZPJIsQt9VSlmFkX7M1Jw https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFEgG8C93Frn3OT5HJgy6HUf The European Union announced details of its long-awaited Indo-Pacific strategy on Thursday, at an event that was completely overshadowed by a new US-backed security alliance aimed at countering China.The strategy calls for the EU to increase its naval presence in the region through port calls and freedom of navigation exercises in a bid to “promote an open and rules-based regional security architecture”.But at a press conference in Brussels, top EU diplomat Josep Borrell was instead peppered…]]> Thu, 16 Sep 2021 18:18:06 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFEgG8C93Frn3OT5HJgy6HUf https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFEgG8C93Frn3CejEQ2Mq9rY Australia’s plan to build eight nuclear-powered submarines under an Indo-Pacific security pact with the United States and Britain has delivered a jolt to the regional security status quo, analysts said, reinforcing hard power capabilities missing from existing agreements.It is also likely to prompt calls to give greater force to existing defence alliances and security groupings that critics have described as having ambiguous functions and aims that do not reflect the changing balance of power…]]> Thu, 16 Sep 2021 15:00:23 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFEgG8C93Frn3CejEQ2Mq9rY https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFFjY-uvFsvhFCejEQ2Mq9rY Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday extended an “open invitation” for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, after announcing a series of hi-tech military purchases spurred by Beijing’s growing strength and joining a new alliance with the United States and Britain.Morrison said he remained ready to hold discussions with Xi, despite high-level talks being frozen and growing tensions between the two countries. Canberra’s decision to boost its military arsenal amid already…]]> Thu, 16 Sep 2021 06:30:45 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFFjY-uvFsvhFCejEQ2Mq9rY https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFFwobs80TS7zV1cWWor9YPv Ahead of a virtual leaders meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on Thursday, Russia and India appear poised to set aside their differences on Afghanistan and cooperate to safeguard the region’s stability and security.The potential realignment of alliances involving two of the security grouping’s members comes as Beijing is expected to push for a consensus at the summit on dealing with the Taliban, so it can urge the international community to ease sanctions on the Islamist…]]> Wed, 15 Sep 2021 17:00:16 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFFwobs80TS7zV1cWWor9YPv https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFGumkqmeXsU46CY3L745TL_ Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday lashed out at the idea of expanding the US-led Five Eyes intelligence alliance to include South Korea, berating it as an “outdated” by-product of the Cold War era. Wang made the remarks after his talks with South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong in Seoul, and as a draft US House bill calls on President Joe Biden’s administration to consider expanding the alliance that comprises the United States, Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand. …]]> Wed, 15 Sep 2021 07:45:38 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFGumkqmeXsU46CY3L745TL_ https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFEnYLZUQySmHSejEQ2Mq9rY Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday sought to emphasise that bilateral ties with China remained on an even keel after holding talks with the visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.Wang’s two-day visit to the city state was the third stop in a tour of the region that has already taken in Cambodia and Vietnam.The Chinese diplomat is due to arrive in South Korea later on Tuesday.“We reaffirmed the long-standing ties between our countries, and had a productive and candid…]]> Tue, 14 Sep 2021 14:57:09 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFEnYLZUQySmHSejEQ2Mq9rY https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFFw03y-puTlx11cWWor9YPv Officials from the United States, South Korea and Japan will hold a meeting on North Korea next week in Tokyo, South Korea’s foreign ministry confirmed on Friday.The three countries have been discussing ways to break a stand-off with North Korea over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, which have drawn international sanctions.Noh Kyu-duk, Seoul’s special representative for Korean peninsula peace and security affairs, will travel to Japan on Sunday for a three-day visit, the…]]> Sat, 11 Sep 2021 03:49:47 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFFw03y-puTlx11cWWor9YPv https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFGNDEERN2Q5rF1cWWor9YPv China is lobbying the Australian government for its support to join a multilateral regional trade pact – despite the two nations being in a worsening geopolitical dispute that’s spilled over into economic reprisals.“China’s accession to the CPTPP would yield large economic benefits,” Beijing’s embassy in Canberra wrote in a submission to an Australian parliamentary inquiry into broadening the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).“China is committed to…]]> Fri, 10 Sep 2021 05:12:24 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFGNDEERN2Q5rF1cWWor9YPv https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFE6AwJawaW2ZyejEQ2Mq9rY Myanmar’s shadow government, formed by opponents of military rule, called for a revolt against the junta on Tuesday, setting out a strategy that included action by armed militias and ethnic forces and urging bureaucrats to leave their posts.Duwa Lashi La, the acting president of the National Unity Government (NUG), said in a speech that the shadow government, which is made up of members in exile or in hiding, was declaring a state of emergency.How technology reshaped Asia’s protest…]]> Tue, 07 Sep 2021 08:15:20 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFE6AwJawaW2ZyejEQ2Mq9rY https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFHIXZVR3PxbsHn9ye8UNv30 When Indonesia’s foreign minister Retno Marsudi met her American counterpart Antony Blinken in Washington last month, she remarked that Jakarta had entered a “new era of bilateral relations” with the United States.This indication of closer ties comes after Retno and Blinken launched a “strategic dialogue” between their countries that resuscitates the US-Indonesia strategic partnership that was agreed on in 2015, only to be largely abandoned during the Trump administration.Since then, China has…]]> Sun, 05 Sep 2021 11:00:09 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFHIXZVR3PxbsHn9ye8UNv30 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFHtaZ8j80BBGF1cWWor9YPv A competition designed to promote unity among China’s ethnic groups became embroiled in controversy in June after some participants wore traditional Islamic clothing to the event. The headscarves of female competitors sparked online complaints about Islamic extremism and led the competition’s organisers to launch an investigation.It also prompted Xi Wuyi, a Marxist scholar at the state-backed Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and an outspoken critic of Islam’s growing influence in China, to…]]> Sat, 04 Sep 2021 01:00:10 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFHtaZ8j80BBGF1cWWor9YPv https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFEkd-adcBnKB11cWWor9YPv As the Taliban looks to China for help in rebuilding Afghanistan after the United States completed its troop withdrawal on Tuesday, analysts warn there is no guarantee the group can deliver on its promises to protect foreign nationals.While the Taliban has been vocal in courting China’s involvement in Afghanistan’s post-US future – calling it a “welcome friend” and guaranteeing the safety of Chinese nationals in recent interviews with This Week in Asia – experts say the group is riven by…]]> Tue, 31 Aug 2021 17:30:17 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFEkd-adcBnKB11cWWor9YPv https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFHDAfWmOhq1d-T5HJgy6HUf Qatar has played a central role in the evacuation of Afghans after the Taliban takeover.An estimated 40 per cent of the more than 110,000 evacuees flown out from Kabul by the United States and its allies over the past few weeks have passed through Qatar’s Al-Udeid airbase before flying on to third countries, including Germany.Qatar itself airlifted 1,500 people on the request of international organisations and secured safe passage to the airport for 3,000 people, with the Qatari ambassador…]]> Tue, 31 Aug 2021 13:00:21 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFHDAfWmOhq1d-T5HJgy6HUf https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFF_tynCgdM2FyejEQ2Mq9rY The military-to-military relationship between South Korea and China is now “back on the right track”, according to South Korea’s vice-defence minister, who on Thursday confirmed Seoul would return the remains of 109 Chinese soldiers killed during the Korean war.Park Jae-min described the repatriation of remains – the eighth time this has happened since a pledge made by Seoul in 2014 – as an ongoing goodwill effort that has continued despite the Covid-19 pandemic.The Chinese remains will be…]]> Fri, 27 Aug 2021 01:00:13 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/iy4bXBWAUFF_tynCgdM2FyejEQ2Mq9rY