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May
Thai alliance signs pact aimed at ambitious reforms but not on royal insult law
Written by Nur Yasmin
An alliance led by Thailand's progressive Move Forward party on Monday signed an ambitious agreement to draft a new constitution, end monopolies and allow same-sex marriage, among other aims, but made no mention of a divisive royal insult law.
The opposition Move Forward and Pheu Thai parties dominated last week's election in a resounding defeat of conservative parties backed by a royalist military that has controlled government since a 2014 coup.
They are seeking to form a coalition government with six other parties, all of which signed the agreement on their objectives.
Move Forward's leader Pita Limjaroenrat said the pact was "about shared values and commonalities and shared agenda and accountability".
"All parties can propose their own policies but must not violate this agreement through ministries," he added in remarks made at a press conference after a day of negotiations.
The signing took place on the ninth anniversary of a military coup against a democratically elected government, which began a phase of military rule that the winners of the May 14 poll hope to end.
Move Forward was the surprise election winner, emerging with the most parliament seats with the help of young voters excited by an agenda that puts the party at odds with some conservative big business interests and institutions, including a plan to amend a lese-majeste law that punishes perceived insults of the monarchy with long jail sentences.
Other alliance members have expressed reservations, and Monday's agreement did not include a proposal to reform that law. But it affirmed the country's "status as a democracy under a constitutional monarchy framework, and the inviolable status of the monarch".
Pita said on Monday he did not think his party's independent attempt to push reform of lese majeste laws will put off the upper house, whose backing the coalition needs to appoint a prime minister and form a government.
"We have a team to explain how to amend it so it cannot be used as a political tool ... this will ease the concern of senators," he told reporters.
Separately, a royalist activist on Monday filed a complaint against Move Forward at the Election Commission over its plans to amend the law, arguing it would damage the monarchy.
The alliance's agreement includes most of Move Forward's flagship polices, such as a push for decentralisation of power and budget and to "cancel monopolies and support fair competition in trade in all industries".
It also takes aim at the military, calling for ending mandatory conscription and reform of the armed forces as well as the justice system and civil service.
Thailand's military has staged 13 coups since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932 and confrontation between the generals and civilian politicians and activists has been at the heart of recurring instability over the years.
The alliance will also seek reform of welfare and education, a balanced foreign policy and pursuit of laws to both control and endorse the use of cannabis, which Thailand legalised last year, despite confusion over regulations.
Pita is seeking to be prime minister at the head of the coalition but faces a challenge in winning the required support from more than half the combined lower and upper houses, which includes rivals with whom his party has clashed.
His alliance comprises 313 seats, but it needs backing from 376 legislators to vote Pita in. He will likely need to win over some of the 250 members of the conservative-leaning Senate, which was appointed by a junta and has often sided with army-backed parties. (Reuters)
May
Modi, Blinken meet Pacific Island leaders in Papua New Guinea
Written by Nur Yasmin
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a summit with Pacific Island leaders in Papua New Guinea on Monday, with the U.S. Secretary of State scheduled to also meet the leaders later in the day and sign a defence agreement with Papua New Guinea.
In his opening remarks to the summit, PNG Prime Minister James Marape said India was the leader of the Global South, a term used to refer to some low and middle income countries, adding "our people have been left behind".
Modi told the 14 leaders of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation that India would be a reliable partner to small island states amid difficulties caused by supply chain disruptions and climate change. India was committed to a free and open Indo Pacific, he said.
Earlier, Modi wrote on social media he had discussed "ways to augment cooperation in commerce, technology, healthcare and in addressing climate change" with PNG in a bilateral meeting with Marape on Monday.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to sign a Defence Cooperation Agreement between the United States and PNG, and also hold a Pacific Island leaders meeting in the afternoon.
Washington would provide $45 million in new funds as it partnered with PNG to strengthen economic and security cooperation, including protective equipment for the PNG defence force, climate change mitigation and tackling transnational crime and HIV/AIDS, the U.S. State Department said.
The United States Commander for the Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral John Aquino, on Monday attended a ceremony at PNG's Murray Barracks to present personal protective equipment to PNG's defence force, the PNG Post Courier reported.
Marape told media on Sunday the defence agreement would also see an increase in the U.S. military presence over the next decade.
Police Commissioner David Manning said there was a heavy police and military presence around the capital Port Moresby with roads blocked, and defence patrol boats in the water around the meeting venue, for the biggest assembly of international leaders in the country since a 2018 APEC summit.
Several universities held protests at campuses against the signing of the Defence Cooperation Agreement, amid concern it would upset China. Marape has denied it would stop PNG working with China, an important trade partner.
China, a major provider of infrastructure to the Pacific Islands in recent years, signed a security pact with Solomon Islands last year, prompting concern from the United States and its allies over Beijing's intentions in a region covering vital sea lanes.
The U.S. defence agreement would boost PNG's defence infrastructure and capability after decades of neglect, the PNG government said earlier.
New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins told reporters in Port Moresby the defence agreement between the United States and PNG was "an extension of an existing relationship and it isn’t just about military presence but it’s also about development".
Blinken will also sign a Ship Riders Pact, allowing U.S. Coast Guard vessels with PNG officials aboard to patrol its exclusive economic zone, PNG's government said in a statement on Monday. (Reuters)
May
South Korea, Germany to sign information pact to boost defence cooperation
Written by Nur Yasmin
South Korea and Germany will soon sign an agreement aimed at protecting military secrets to boost defence cooperation, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Sunday as he met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Seoul.
The military information agreement will help "smoothly operate the defence industry supply chain", amid global economic and political instability, Yoon told a briefing.
South Korea, which recently pursued a similar information-sharing pact with Canada, has moved to expand its defence industry amid rising demand driven by the war in Ukraine and other global tensions, but has so far refused to provide weapons to Kyiv.
Yoon said respect for freedom as a universal value was "very vital" in the face of authoritarianism challenging democracy, unstable global supply chains and the war.
"From now, I expect South Korea and Germany will further expand reciprocal and future-oriented cooperation and strengthen the solidarity for peace and prosperity of Europe and Asia," Yoon said in opening remarks at the meeting with Scholz.
The two leaders also discussed deepening cooperation in production of semiconductors, among other areas.
Scholz, who is visiting South Korea after attending the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima, Japan, called North Korea's missile tests a sign of a "still dangerous situation" on the Korean peninsula.
"This is a threat to peace and security in this region," he said at a military base after a visit to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the Koreas.
Germany's history as a divided nation had been overcome, he said, but division persists on the Korean peninsula.
Both Scholz and Yoon left Japan on Sunday after joining the G7 summit. South Korea was invited as an observer.
G7 leaders signalled they would not back down from supporting Ukraine, and outlined a shared approach towards China, looking to "de-risk, not decouple" economic engagement with a country regarded as the factory of the world.
Yoon, who met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for the first time on the sidelines of the G7, said he was planning to provide mine-removing equipment and ambulances.
Yoon added that South Korea would "carefully review" a list of some non-lethal weapons requested by Zelenskiy.
South Korea signed an agreement with Ukraine on Wednesday on its plan to provide a $130 million financial aid package, a day after the visiting first lady of the war-hit country asked for military assistance.
South Korea, a major producer of artillery shells, has said it was not providing lethal weapons to Ukraine, citing its relations with Russia. (Reuters)
May
Biden invites Kishida, Yoon to meet in Washington
Written by Nur Yasmin
U.S. President Joe Biden invited his Japanese and South Korean counterparts for another meeting in Washington, following on from their trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) summit, a senior U.S. official said.
"The leaders discussed how to take their trilateral cooperation to new heights", including with new coordination in the face of North Korea's "illicit nuclear and missile threats", the White House said in a statement issued after the meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, on Sunday.
They also discussed cooperation in sharing North Korea's missile data in real time, according to a statement by Japan's foreign ministry.
Their discussions also touched on the Indo-Pacific, economic security, and engagement with the Pacific Islands, according to the statement.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met bilaterally earlier in the day, their third meeting this year, as the East Asian neighbours improve ties to counter regional security threats. read more
Biden commended Kishida and Yoon on their "courageous work to improve their bilateral ties", saying the trilateral partnership is stronger because of their efforts, the White House said.
After years of disputes concerning Japan's 1910-1945 occupation, relations between the two countries thawed earlier this year after Yoon announced a plan to compensate labourers who were forced to work during the war.
Kishida and Yoon have pledged closer ties, as they seek to counter increasing security threats from North Korea and an ascendant China. (Reuters)
May
Russia calls G7 summit incubator for anti-Russian and anti-Chinese 'hysteria'
Written by Nur Yasmin
Russia's Foreign Ministry on Sunday dismissed the G7 summit in Japan's Hiroshima as a "politicised" event that it said had pumped out anti-Russian and anti-Chinese statements and accused the forum of undermining global stability.
Moscow lashed out after the leaders of the world's richest democracies said they would not back down from supporting Ukraine, in a warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin as he claimed to have taken the eastern city of Bakhmut, something Kyiv denied.
In a statement posted on Telegram, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the G7 had "irreversibly deteriorated" and that the forum had become "an 'incubator' where, under the leadership of the Anglo-Saxons, destructive initiatives that undermine global stability are prepared".
The statement accused the G7 of fanning anti-Russian and anti-Chinese "hysteria".
Russia used to be a member of the G7 club of industrialised democracies, which was previously known as the G8, until Moscow was excluded after its the annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region in 2014.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was present at the Hiroshima summit as a guest, an opportunity he used to encourage member nations to maintain arms supplies and diplomatic support for Kyiv amid its war with Russia, something Moscow still calls "a special military operation."
The summit gave Zelenskiy a chance to lobby for support from other attendees, like Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazil's Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who have remained uncommitted.
The Russian Foreign Ministry, in the same statement, accused the G7 of "flirting" with non-Western states in an effort to stymie the development of their ties with Moscow and Beijing.
It said it was convinced though that the forum was incapable of reflecting the interests of the Asia-Pacific region, South Asia, the Middle East, Africa or Latin America. (Reuters)
May
Biden will meet Zelenskiy, South Korea and Japan on Sunday
Written by Nur Yasmin
U.S. President Joe Biden will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday and also hold a joint meeting with the leaders of South Korea and Japan, according to a U.S. official.
The United States, South Korea and Japan will discuss deepening three-way ties between their countries, including military "interoperability," according to the senior Biden administration official who declined to be named briefing reporters.
The countries will also discuss the economic "coercion" they face from China, the person said.
The official said Washington hopes that Beijing will take away from the Group of 7 (G7) meetings in Japan that it should use its influence to stop Russia's war in Ukraine. (Reuters)
May
Australian PM backs G7 on 'de-risking' trade with China
Written by Nur Yasmin
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Sunday that he backed a Group of Seven (G7) joint statement out of Japan stressing the need to ease reliance on trade with China.
The G7 rich nations, which increasingly see China as a economic security threat, on Saturday issued a communique from the city of Hiroshima that referred to de-risking, not decoupling economic engagement with the world's second largest economy.
Addressing media in Hiroshima, Albanese, who attended a Quad leaders' meeting on the sidelines of the summit on Saturday, said according to an official transcript: "I support the G7 communiques about the international relations that we have there".
Albanese said Australia had "for some time" expressed concern about China's activity, pointing to the "chafing" of an Australian aircraft.
In May 2022, a Chinese fighter aircraft dangerously intercepted an Australian military plane in the South China Sea region, according to Australia's defence department.
"We've expressed concern in the past, we'll continue to do so," Albanese said.
"What we need to do is to make sure we work in a way that enhances the peace, security and stability in the region."
China, firmly opposing the G7 statement, has complained to summit organiser Japan, the Chinese foreign ministry has said.
The leaders of the United States, Japan, India and Australia - a group known as Quad - said in Hiroshima they sought a region "where no country dominates and no country is dominated", language that also appeared targeted at China.
Albanese's comments come amid a recent thaw in Australia-China relations, with China set to resume imports of Australian timber, and talks under way about a visit by the prime minister to Beijing.
Australia's main political opposition, the Liberal-National coalition, on Sunday urged Albanese to wait for confirmation on the lifting of trade sanctions before visiting China.
"That clarity should be there before the Prime Minister entertains a formal state visit to Beijing," Shadow Foreign Minister Simon Birmingham told ABC television. (Reuters)
May
South Korea's Yoon praises Japan's Kishida for his efforts to mend ties
Written by Nur Yasmin
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Sunday that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's expression of compassion for those who suffered as forced labourers under Japan's colonial rule had resonated with many South Koreans.
Yoon, meeting Kishida on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) summit in the Japanese city of Hiroshima, praised his leadership in seeking to respond to global challenges in security and the economy.
In Seoul earlier this month, Kishida said, "For me personally, my heart hurts when I think of the many people who endured terrible suffering and grief under the difficult circumstances of the time."
Sunday's meeting was the third between the two this year, marking a thaw in years of icy relations between the Asian neighbours. South Korea announced in early March a plan for its companies to compensate victims of forced labour under Japan's 1910-1945 colonisation of the Korean Peninsula.
Before their meeting on Sunday, Yoon and Kishida visited the Hiroshima Memorial Peace Park to pay their respects at a memorial for Koreans who died in the U.S. atomic bombings of Japan in 1945.
"I feel that our visit was important for both Japan and South Korean relations, as well as for us to pray for world peace," Kishida told Yoon of the first visit to the memorial by the leaders of both countries together.
The joint visit symbolises efforts by both leaders to face the painful past and heal from it, Yoon's spokesperson Lee Do-woon told a briefing.
"It also means the two countries, along with their ally the U.S., will collectively respond to nuclear threats in the northeast Asia region and the world," Lee said.
As many as 100,000 Koreans suffered in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, half of them dying that year. About 43,000 returned to South Korea and 2,000 went to the North, according to the Korea Atomic Bombs Victim Association. (Reuters)a
May
East Timor heads to the polls in parliamentary election
Written by Nur Yasmin
East Timorese voters headed to the polls on Sunday in a parliamentary election that analysts said would likely see two resistance-era figures battle to be prime minister.
Sunday's poll is the country's fifth parliamentary election since East Timor gained full independence in 2002 following decades-long occupation by Indonesia.
José Maria Vasconcelos, who has been prime minister since 2018, is backed a four-party coalition led by the Revolutionary Front for an Independent Timor-Leste (FRETILIN). Analysts do not expect him to be appointed as PM again.
Seventeen parties are competing in the election but two, the National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT), led by independence hero Xanana Gusmao, and FRETILIN, led by resistance figure Mari Alkatiri, are expected to dominate.
The next PM is expected to be Gustmao or Alkatiri, depending whose party wins.
East Timor has in recent years grappled with diversifying its oil- and gas-dependent economy.
"Xanana Gusmao has been in the opposition for the past three years and is trying to get back into power," Michael Leach of Australia's Swinburne University said of the country's former president and prime minister.
"CNRT and FRETILIN will certainly be the two largest parties," he said.
Some polls showed CNRT ahead. Leach said the victory of Jose Ramos Horta in last year's presidential election was seen as paving a way for CNRT's return to power.
The party with a parliamentary majority will nominate the next prime minister.
The new parliament will take office on June 12. (Reuters)
May
US to sign strategic pacts with two Pacific states, hopes for third in weeks
Written by Nur Yasmin
The United States will sign new strategic pacts with the Pacific island states of Palau and Micronesia early next week and hopes to do so with the Marshall islands in coming weeks, the U.S. presidential envoy negotiating the deals said.
Joseph Yun told Reuters the Palau agreement would be formally signed in the presence of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. in Papua New Guinea on Monday, while the Micronesia pact would be signed on Tuesday in Micronesia.
Yun initialed the agreements, part of U.S. efforts to shore up support among Pacific island states to counter competition from China, during visits to Micronesia and Palau in the past week. As anticipated, he was unable to conclude the deal with the Marshall Islands.
"We have made progress over my three-day visit to Marshall Islands and we hope to sign an agreement with the Marshall Islands in the coming weeks," he said.
Washington first reached what are known as Compact of Free Association (COFA) accords with the three island states in the 1980s, under which it retains responsibility for their defense and provides economic assistance while gaining exclusive access to huge strategic swathes of the Pacific in return.
Renewing them has become a key part of U.S. efforts to push back against China's bid to expand its influence in the Pacific. Chinese diplomats have been courting the region and China's construction and mining companies have expanded their business in many Pacific island nations.
U.S. President Joe Biden had been due to attend the signing ceremonies in Port Moresby, but on Tuesday called off what was to have been a brief stopover there due to the U.S. debt-ceiling crisis.
Blinken will take his place and also sign bilateral defense and maritime security agreements with PNG and meet with leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum. Biden's national security adviser said on Wednesday the president would arrange another summit of Pacific island leaders this year after the disappointment caused by his cancellation.
Yun said Micronesia preferred to formalize its agreement on home territory. Earlier he said both Palau and Micronesia would sign their COFAs in PNG.
The Marshall Islands' COFA is due to expire this year. Yun gave no reason for the hold-up in renewing that, but a parliamentary election is expected there in November.
Yun called the deals "strategically important."
"We've achieved two out of three," he said. "Compacts are very important for the United States. It defines the relationship between us and northern half of the Pacific."
Yun said last month "topline" agreements would provide the three COFA states with a total of about $6.5 billion over 20 years.
Last year, more than 100 arms-control, environmental and other activist groups urged the Biden administration to formally apologize to the Marshall Islands for the impact of massive U.S. nuclear testing there and to provide fair compensation.
Marshall Islanders are still plagued by health and environmental effects of the 67 U.S. nuclear bomb tests from 1946 to 1958, which included "Castle Bravo" at Bikini Atoll in 1954 - the largest U.S. bomb ever detonated. (Reuters)