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ASEAN and Japan established the ASEAN-Japan Cooperation on Sports at the first ASEAN Plus Japan Ministerial Meeting on Sports (1st AMMS+Japan) in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, in 2017. Sharing the same concerns on gender equality in sports, the ASEAN-Japan Cooperation agreed on developing the ASEAN-Japan Actions on Sports. The project’s main purpose is to promote women’s and girls’ participation in sports, including female athletes, coaches, and female leaders in sports organisations.

The first activity, “ASEAN-Japan Workshop on Promoting Gender Equality in Sports,” took place on 10 -13 August 2021. It was hosted by the Japanese Centre for Research on Women in Sport of Juntendo University, through collaboration with Japan Sports Agency, ASEAN Secretariat and UN Women. The four-day online workshop featured 60 sports professionals and youth from 10 ASEAN Member States, Japan and ASEAN Secretariat.

Through this event, ASEAN and Japan hope to strengthen their cooperation by promoting gender equality in and through sports, as well as to empower women and girls in ASEAN Member States through life skills and leadership training in sports.

Building on the legacy of the Tokyo 2020 Games, ASEAN appointed ten prominent athletes and sports officials as ASEAN Women in Sports Ambassadors. The ambassadors will use their influence to promote gender equality and women empowerment through sports, across the region and spread encouraging messages to the ASEAN Community. This initiative is part of the Japan-funded ASEAN #WeScore Campaign.

The appointed ASEAN Women in Sports Ambassadors are HRH Princess ‘Azemah Ni'matul Bolkiah (polo athlete from Brunei Darussalam), Sokha Pov (traditional martial arts athlete from Cambodia), Leani Ratri Oktila (Indonesian para-badminton athlete), Soulamphone Kerdla (head coach of Lao PDR’s national swimming team), Farah Ann Abdul Hadi (Malaysian gymnast), Soe Soe Myar (Myanmar taekwondo athlete and referee), Hidilyn Diaz (Filipino weightlifter), Amita Berthier (Singaporean fencer), Panikpak Wongpattanakit (Thailand’s taekwondo athlete) and Tuyet Van Chau (Vietnamese taekwondo athlete).

They will share their views on women empowerment in an upcoming talk show to be held at the ASEAN Secretariat on December 3, which coincides with the International Day of Persons with Disabilities and the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence annual campaign. The talk show will touch on issues such as gender equality and women’s leadership, safeguarding of women and girls in sports, promoting the rights of persons with disabilities through sports, as well as the impacts of COVID-19 on sports and how to address it.

Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Ekkaphab Phanthavong, along with Director Tomohiko Arai (International Affairs Division Japan Sports Agency SOMS Leader), Assistant Professor Aya Noguchi (Juntendo University's Faculty of Sports and Health Sciences), and Jamshed M. Kazi (UN Women Country Representative, Indonesia and Liaison to ASEAN) will take part in the event.

ASEAN #WeScore campaign forms part of the ASEAN-Japan Actions on Sports, a project under the ASEAN Plus Japan Senior Officials Meeting on Sports (SOMS+Japan) funded by the Government of Japan through the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund. Prior to the talk show, the ASEAN Secretariat will hold a Tribute to Tokyo 2020 ASEAN Olympic and Paralympic Medallists.

ASEAN #WeScore Campaign contributes to the implementation of ASEAN Work Plan on Sports 2021-2025 and is in line with ASEAN Vision 2025 and the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 5: Achieving Gender Equality and Empowering All Women and Girls//VOI-NK 

Threats and coercion by China towards Taiwan increase the need for the United States to help Taiwan maintain a credible self-defense, the top U.S. diplomat for Asia said on Thursday.

Assistant Secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink, speaking in Singapore during a visit to Southeast Asia, said the U.S. has a rock solid commitment to assist Taiwan.

"As the threat and coercion from the People's Republic of China increases, I think we need to respond as well in an appropriate way," Kritenbrink told reporters in Singapore, specifically citing support over self-defence and trade.

"We intend to live up to our obligations, our rock solid obligations and commitments," he added.

Kritenbrink also said he had spoken to counterparts in Malaysia about the country doing more to enforce laws it has in place to combat human trafficking and labour abuses.

"We believe Malaysia needs to do more ... to protect victims and crack down on traffickers," he said.

This year the U.S. State Department downgraded Malaysia to the worst ranking in its human trafficking watchlist. read more

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection has banned six Malaysian firms, including rubber glove makers and palm oil producers, in the last two years from selling their products to the United States after finding evidence of forced labour.

Kritenbrink said he had also spoken to Southeast Asian leaders about putting more pressure on the military junta in Myanmar, without going into specifics. (Reuters)

Australia's tally of people with the new Omicron variant of COVID-19 edged higher on Thursday, prompting state governments to bolster domestic border controls as health experts wait to learn more about the dangers posed by the strain.

The country's most populous state, New South Wales, reported its seventh case of the variant, a person who arrived on Nov. 23 from Doha, Qatar, and noted that the person had not been in southern Africa, suggesting they caught the virus on the flight.

While the Australian federal government has urged states to avoid a return to the stop-start lockdowns that have defined the country's virus response, health authorities urged caution until they knew more about Omicron's infectiousness and virulence.

"We know this virus is dangerous, it does come out in some different forms," New South Wales Health Minister Brad Hazzard told reporters.

"Don't take it lightly."

The state's capital, Sydney, Australia's largest city, came out of nearly four months of lockdown to contain a Delta outbreak in early October and has been gradually easing curbs as vaccination rates have risen.

But other state governments have been upping their restrictions on interstate arrivals. South Australia, which has no recorded Omicron cases, said it would make all people arriving from New South Wales take a COVID test.

The tourism-friendly island state of Tasmania said this week it would ban most overseas arrivals, at odds with federal government moves to allow vaccinated Australians entry into the country if they undertake home quarantine.

Australia has also delayed by two weeks its plan to reopen borders to skilled migrants and foreign students, while citizens returning from southern African countries must undertake two weeks of hotel quarantine.

Australia's closed international border and tough restrictions on domestic movement helped it avoid the high numbers of COVID-19 deaths recorded in many other countries, with about 212,000 cases and 2,000 deaths. (Reuters)

 Japan on Thursday reversed a ban on inbound flight reservations, revealing confusion between government agencies and the public over Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's strategy to keep out the Omicron coronavirus variant.

On Monday, Japan's aviation bureau told airlines not to accept new reservations for December because of Omicron, two cases of which have been found in the country, but the abrupt announcement provoked worries among those aiming to return for year-end holidays.

Kishida said the move caused confusion, and Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno added that the prime minister had asked the transport ministry, which oversees the airline industry, to keep in mind the needs of returning Japanese.

"I understand the transport ministry has cancelled its instruction for the blanket suspension of new reservations and asked airlines anew to give sufficient consideration to the needs of returning Japanese nationals," Matsuno told a regular news conference.

Airlines may take new reservations as long as the number of arrivals stays below a daily limit of 3,500, down from last month's figure of 5,000, a transport ministry official said.

On Monday, Kishida banned new foreign entrants to Japan, unwinding border opening measures that started last month. Later, the ban widened to foreign residents of Japan arriving from 10 nations in Africa, where Omicron was first identified.

The curbs on new flight reservations came to light on Wednesday.

On Thursday, transport minister Tetsuo Saito told reporters the aviation bureau had "responded speedily from the standpoint of emergency and prevention".

Later on Thursday, in a further tightening of rules, the Nikkei reported that the issuance of visas for special purposes, such as for athletes and musicians, was being temporarily suspended.

Earlier, the Japan Skating Federation said the prestigious figure skating Grand Prix final, a step on the road to the Winter Olympics that was scheduled for next week in the western city of Osaka, had been cancelled. (Reuters)