VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr summoned China's ambassador on Tuesday to express his "serious concern" over China's actions in the South China Sea and the foreign ministry called on Beijing to stop its vessels' "aggressive activities".

The Philippine coastguard said on Monday a Chinese coastguard ship had directed a "military-grade laser" at one of its ships supporting a resupply mission to troops in the disputed waterway on Feb. 6, temporarily blinding its crew on the bridge.

The incident, which followed Marcos' state visit to China last month, has stoked long-running diplomatic tension between the Philippines and China over the latter's expansive claims in the South China Sea, which an international tribunal in The Hague invalidated in 2016.

Marcos relayed his concern "over the increasing frequency and intensity of actions by China against the Philippine Coast Guard and our Filipino fishermen", including its use of "military grade laser" against one of Manila's vessels, his office said in a statement.

"These acts of aggression by China are disturbing and disappointing," Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Teresita Daza said in a statement announcing the filing of the diplomatic protest, among the hundreds Manila has lodged against China.

In response, Ambassador Huang Xilian said he discussed with Marcos how to implement the consensus reached by the two countries on managing maritime differences during the Philippine leader's China visit.

China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, and the waters have become one of many flashpoints in the testy relationship between it and the United States - as well as a source of tension between it and some Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines.

The sea is rich in oil, gas and fish. About $3 trillion in ship-borne trade passes through it annually.

The United States, which supports the 2016 arbitration ruling, said on Monday it stood with the Philippines over the reported laser use.

In a tweet on Tuesday, Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Koshikawa Kazuhiko also expressed serious concerns about "dangerous behaviour" against Philippine vessels.

"All states should respect maritime order based on international law," Koshikawa said. "We firmly oppose any action that increase tensions"

The Philippine coastguard was supporting a navy mission to deliver food and supplies to troops on the Second Thomas Shoal, 105 nautical miles (195 km) off the Philippine province of Palawan, in the South China Sea.

Locally known as Ayungin, the shoal is home to a small Philippine military contingent on board a World War Two ship which was intentionally grounded on the shoal in 1999 to reinforce Manila's sovereignty claims in the Spratly archipelago. (Reuters)

Delegations from both the United States and China are set to attend a summit on the "responsible" use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the military this week in the Netherlands, the first of its kind.

Though it is not clear the 50 countries attending will agree to endorse even a weak statement of principles being drafted by the Netherlands and co-host South Korea, the conference comes as interest in AI more broadly is at all-time highs thanks to the launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT program two months ago.

Organizers did not invite the Russian Federation because of the conflict in Ukraine, which will be a major topic of discussion at the summit, which runs from Feb. 15 to 16 in The Hague.

"This is an idea for which the time has come," Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra told members of the foreign press in the run-up to the event. "We're taking the first step in articulating and working toward what responsible use of AI in the military will be."

The event may be an early step toward someday developing an international arms treaty on AI, though that is seen as far off.

Leading nations have so far been reluctant to agree any limitations on its use, for fear doing so might put them at a disadvantage.

Some 2,000 people including experts and academics are attending a conference alongside the summit, with discussion topics including killer drones and slaughter bots.

The U.S. Department of Defense will discuss where it sees potential for international cooperation at a presentation on Thursday.

A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the Netherlands referred to a position paper in which China underlined the need to avoid "strategic miscalculations" with AI and to ensure it does not accidentally escalate a conflict.

U.N. countries that belong to the 1983 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) have been discussing possible limitations on lethal autonomous weapons systems - which can kill without human intervention - since 2014.

Hoekstra said the summit will not replace that debate but will look at other aspects of military AI.

Examples include definition of terms, how AI could safely be used to accelerate decision-making in a military context, and how it could be used to identify legitimate targets.

"We are moving into a field that we do not know, for which we do not have guidelines, rules, frameworks, or agreements. But we will need them sooner rather than later," Hoekstra said. (Reuters)

Russia, locked in a decades-old territorial dispute with Tokyo over a chain of Pacific islands, on Tuesday accused Japan of engaging in Russophobia and mounting "vicious attacks" over the war in Ukraine.

Soviet troops seized the islands off the northern coast of Japan at the very end of World War Two. The unresolved clash over who has sovereignty over the chain - known in Russia as the Kuril Islands and in Japan as the Northern Territories - has prevented the two sides from signing a formal peace treaty.

Japan - which joined other allies in imposing sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine invasion - marks a Northern Territories Day commemoration every Feb. 7 to remind people of its claim.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the event this year "was marked by a particular intensity of Russophobia," citing statements by officials and what she called "aggressive actions" by far-right Japanese forces near Russian missions.

"We noted that this time the baseless territorial claims to the southern Kuril Islands were accompanied by vicious attacks against Russia in connection with the situation in Ukraine," she said in a statement. The Russian military has presence on the islands, which have a population of roughly 20,000.

Zakharova, reiterating Russia's long-standing position that it has sovereignty over the islands, accused Japan of rewriting history and ignoring post-war realities. Japan's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Japan tightened its Russia sanctions last month in the wake of missile attacks on Ukraine, adding goods to an export ban list and freezing the assets of Russian officials and entities. This prompted Moscow to warn of an unspecified impact on its relationship with Japan. (Reuters)

Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC (2330.TW) said on Tuesday its board had approved a plan of capital injection of up to $3.5 billion to TSMC Arizona.

TSMC in December tripled its planned investment at the Arizona chip plant, which began construction late last year, to $40 billion.

The company said the capital injection is part of the planned $40 billion spent.

The factory, among the largest foreign investments in U.S. history, will start production in 2024, using advanced 5 nm technology.

TSMC expects its Phoenix factories to create 13,000 high-tech jobs, including 4,500 under TSMC and the rest at suppliers. (Reuters)