PHNOM PENH, Nov 13 (Reuters) – Joe Biden said on Sunday he was “incredibly pleased” with the turnout in the U.S. election after Democrats clinched control of the Senate, a major victory for the president as he looks to his next two years in office.
Speaking to reporters in Cambodia ahead of an East Asia Summit, Biden said the turnout was a reflection of the quality of candidates his party was fielding, after Senator Catherine Cortez Masto was projected to win re-election in Nevada, narrowly beating Republican challenger Adam Laxalt.
A Democratic victory in a Georgia runoff next month would then give the party outright majority control of a 51-49 Senate, while a Georgia defeat would still keep Democrats in charge of a 50-50 Senate, with Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris able to break tie votes. The additional seat would mean Democrats could spare a vote on key nominations and bills.
“We’re focusing now on Georgia. We feel good about where we are. And I know I’m a cockeyed optimist. I understand that,” Biden told reporters. “Again, I’m not surprised by the turnout. I’m incredibly pleased. And I think it’s a reflection of the quality of our candidates.”
Control of the House of Representatives has still not been decided. Biden acknowledged such a victory would be “a stretch” for the Democrats, but Republicans have fallen well short of predictions they would sweep to power in Washington.
Biden had framed the midterm election as a test of U.S. democracy at a time when hundreds of Republican candidates embraced former President Donald Trump’s false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.
U.S. President Joe Biden makes a statement about the U.S. midterm elections during his visit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia November 13, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Trump has repeatedly used his appeal among hard-right conservatives to influence candidates nominated by the Republican Party for congressional, gubernatorial and local races.
He has, however, been blamed for boosting candidates who were unable to appeal to a broad enough electorate, resulting in a lacklustre performance for the Republicans.
The results have also signalled exhaustion with the kind of chaos fomented by the Republican former president, raising questions about the viability of his possible 2024 White House run.
Laxalt, who lost in Nevada, was a former state attorney-general endorsed by Trump.
Biden told reporters the elections showed the Republican Party “is going to have to decide who they are”.
Some Republicans expressed discontent as they faced at least another two years in the minority. “The old party is dead. Time to bury it. Build something new,” Sen. Josh Hawley tweeted.
Reporting by Nandita Bose; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Ed Davies and William Mallard
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China staging unprecedented military drills around Taiwan
Follows visit by U.S. House Speaker Pelosi to Taipei
China says it will sanction Pelosi over ‘vicious’ actions
Pelosi, in Japan, joins PM Kishida in condemning China
TAIPEI, Aug 5 (Reuters) – China’s firing of missiles during military drills around Taiwan was an unjustified escalation, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, as Beijing said it would impose sanctions on House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi for visiting the island.
Diplomatic relations spiralled further downward on Friday, as China’s foreign ministry followed up by saying it would cancel dialogues between U.S. and Chinese military leaders, and suspend bilateral talks on climate and maritime safety. read more
Blinken said Washington has made it repeatedly clear to Beijing it does not seek a crisis, as diplomatic ructions continued over Pelosi’s visit this week to the self-governed island that Beijing regards as its sovereign territory.
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“There is no justification for this extreme, disproportionate and escalatory military response,” Blinken said, speaking at a news conference during the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Cambodia. He added, “now, they’ve taken dangerous acts to a new level”.
China launched its largest ever military drills in the seas and skies around Taiwan on Thursday, a day after Pelosi enraged Beijing by making a solidarity trip to the island, the highest-level U.S. visitor to Taiwan in 25 years. The live-fire drills are scheduled to continue until noon on Sunday.
On Friday, China’s military conducted air and sea drills to the north, southwest and east of Taiwan “to test the troops’ joint combat capabilities”, the Eastern Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said in a statement on its official Weibo account.
Blinken emphasised that the United States would not take actions to provoke a crisis, but it would continue to support regional allies and conduct standard air and maritime transit through the Taiwan Strait.
“We will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows,” he said.
The White House summoned Chinese ambassador Qin Gang on Thursday to condemn escalating actions against Taiwan, the Washington Post reported.
Representatives for the State Department did not immediately reply for a request for comment on China’s halting of talks or the report that Washington had summoned Beijing’s ambassador
China’s foreign ministry announced on Friday that it would impose sanctions on Pelosi and her immediate family in response to her “vicious” and “provocative” actions. read more
“Despite China’s serious concerns and firm opposition, Pelosi insisted on visiting Taiwan, seriously interfering in China’s internal affairs, undermining China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, trampling on the one-China policy, and threatening the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait,” a foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement. read more
The foreign ministry said it was also suspending co-operation on cross-border crime prevention and counter-narcotics, and cooperation on repatriation of illegal migrants.
Speaking in Japan, Pelosi said her trip to Asia was never about changing the regional status quo. read more
‘EVIL NEIGHBOUR’
About 10 Chinese navy ships and 20 military aircraft briefly crossed the Taiwan Strait median line on Friday morning, a Taiwan source briefed on the matter told Reuters. read more
Earlier, Taiwan’s defence ministry said the island’s military had dispatched aircraft and ships and deployed land-based missile systems to monitor the situation there.
On Thursday, China fired multiple missiles into waters surrounding Taiwan in an unprecedented escalation during live-fire exercises.
Japan’s defence ministry, which is tracking the exercises, first reported that as many as four of the missiles flew over Taiwan’s capital. It also said that five of nine missiles fired toward its territory landed in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), also a first, prompting a diplomatic protest by Tokyo.
Later, Taiwan’s defence ministry said the missiles were high in the atmosphere and constituted no threat. It gave no details of their flight paths, citing intelligence concerns.
Some Taipei residents, including Mayor Ko Wen-je, criticised the government for not putting out a missile alert, but one security expert said that could have been done to avoid stoking panic and playing into China’s hands.
“It counteracted the effect of the Chinese Communist Party’s psychological warfare,” said Mei Fu-shin, a U.S.-based analyst. “The shock and fear were not as great as they could have been.”
Asked to comment on the missiles, Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang did not directly respond, but referred to China as the “evil neighbour showing off her power at our door.” read more
“In my view, the larger threat is that China is doing a rehearsal for a blockade, demonstrating it can block Taiwan’s ports and airports, and prevent shipping,” said Bonnie Glaser, a Washington-based Asia security specialist at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
JAPAN’S WORRIES
Responding to the Chinese drills, President Tsai Ing-wen said Taiwan would not provoke conflicts but would firmly defend its sovereignty and national security.
Taiwan has been self-ruled since 1949, when Mao Zedong’s communists took power in Beijing after defeating Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang (KMT) nationalists in a civil war, prompting the KMT-led government to retreat to the island.
Beijing has said its relations with Taiwan are an internal matter. It says it reserves the right to bring Taiwan under Chinese control, by force if necessary.
In Tokyo, Pelosi addressed the diplomatic furore caused by the congressional delegation’s week-long trip to Asia, and most specifically to Taiwan.
“We have said from the start that our representation here is not about changing the status quo in Taiwan or the region,” she told a news conference after meeting Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
“I have informed speaker Pelosi that the fact China’s ballistic missiles had landed near Japanese waters including EEZ threaten our national safety and security and that Japan had strongly condemned such actions,” Kishida said.
China’s foreign ministry said it had summoned the ambassador for Japan and a Canadian diplomat in Beijing on Thursday over an “erroneous” Group of Seven (G7) nations statement on Taiwan, and also made complaints to EU envoys.
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Reporting by Yimou Lee and Sarah Wu in Taipei
Additional reporting by Elaine Lies and Tim Kelly in Tokyo, Greg Torode in Hong Kong, Ann Wang in Liuqiu Island; Susan Heavey in Washington;
Writing by Tony Munroe, Raju Gopalakrishnan, Simon Cameron-Moore and Frances Kerry
Editing by Mark Heinrich, Frances Kerry and Toby Chopra
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Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks at a meeting commemorating the 110th anniversary of Xinhai Revolution at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China October 9, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins/File Photo
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China will not ‘bully’ smaller countries – Xi
Duterte slams Chinese behaviour in South China Sea
Myanmar not represented at summit
BEIJING, Nov 22 (Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping told leaders of the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at a summit on Monday that Beijing would not “bully” its smaller regional neighbours, amid rising tension over the South China Sea.
Beijing’s territorial claims over the sea clash with those of several Southeast Asian nations and have raised alarm from Washington to Tokyo.
But Xi said China would never seek hegemony nor take advantage of its size to coerce smaller countries, and would work with ASEAN to eliminate “interference”.
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“China was, is, and will always be a good neighbour, good friend, and good partner of ASEAN,” Chinse state media quoted Xi as saying.
China’s assertion of sovereignty over the South China Sea has set it against ASEAN members Vietnam and the Philippines, while Brunei, Taiwan and Malaysia also lay claim to parts.
The Philippines on Thursday condemned the actions of three Chinese coast guard vessels that it said blocked and used water cannon on resupply boats headed towards a Philippine-occupied atoll in the sea.
The United States on Friday called the Chinese actions “dangerous, provocative, and unjustified,” and warned that an armed attack on Philippine vessels would invoke U.S. mutual defence commitments. read more
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte told the summit hosted by Xi that he “abhors” the altercation and said the rule of law was the only way out of the dispute. He referred to a 2016 international arbitration ruling which found China’s maritime claim to the sea had no legal basis. read more
“This does not speak well of the relations between our nations,” said Duterte, who will leave office next year and has been criticised in the past for failing to condemn China’s conduct in the disputed waters.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
MYANMAR NO SHOW
Xi told the summit that China and ASEAN had “cast off the gloom of the Cold War” – when the region was wracked by superpower competition and conflicts such as the Vietnam War – and had jointly maintained regional stability.
China frequently criticises the United States for “Cold War thinking” when Washington engages its regional allies to push back against Beijing’s growing military and economic influence.
U.S. President Joe Biden joined ASEAN leaders for a virtual summit in October and pledged greater engagement with the region. read more
The summit was held without a representative from Myanmar, Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said on Monday. The reason for the non-attendance was not immediately clear, and a spokesperson for Myanmar’s military government did not answer calls seeking comment.
ASEAN sidelined Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing, who has led a bloody crackdown on dissent since seizing power on Feb. 1, from virtual summits last month over his failure to make inroads in implementing an agreed peace plan, in an unprecedented exclusion for the bloc.
Myanmar refused to send junior representation and blamed ASEAN for departing from its non-interference principle and caving to Western pressure.
China lobbied for Min to attend the summit, according to diplomatic sources. read more
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Reporting by Gabriel Crossley, Rozanna Latiff and Martin Petty; Editing by Stephen Coates
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Phu Quoc resort island is seen via the window of an airplane after the Vietnamese government eased the lockdown following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam May 8, 2020. Picture taken May 8, 2020. REUTERS/James Pearson
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HANOI, Nov 20 (Reuters) – Two hundred vaccinated foreign tourists arrived in Vietnam’s beach-fringed island of Phu Quoc on Saturday, the first wave of visitors to the country in nearly two years as it seeks to resurrect its pandemic-ravaged tourism economy.
Vietnam imposed tight border controls at the start of the pandemic in an effort to keep out COVID-19, with some initial success, but that harmed its burgeoning tourism sector, which typically accounts for about 10% of gross domestic product.
Vaccinated tourists now do not have to undergo mandatory two-week quarantine, according to the authorities, but are required to enjoy their holiday only inside the mega complex resort Vinpearl and will be tested twice during their trip.
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“This is the first and vital step to revive our tourism sector and to prepare for the full resumption next year,” Nguyen Trung Khanh, chairman of the country’s tourism administration said in statement.
“We want to offer tourists a new experience amid new normalcy which they can live fully in Phu Quoc and then live fully in Vietnam,” Khanh added.
The island’s authorities expect to welcome 400,000 domestic and international tourists to the end of this year.
Other Vietnamese destinations such as the UNESCO world heritage site Hoi An and Danang beach are also welcoming international tourists back.
The move follows similar steps taken by neighbouring Thailand, which hosted vaccinated foreign tourist for quarantine-free holiday earlier this month.
Foreign arrivals to Vietnam slumped from 18 million in 2019, when tourism revenue was $31 billion, or nearly 12% of its gross domestic product, to 3.8 million last year.
Vietnam, which has inoculated more than half of its 98 million people, is seeking to resume international commercial flights from January next year and eyeing a full tourism reopening from June.
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Editing by Michael Perry
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U.S. concerned by China’s “coercive and proactive actions” across Taiwan Strait
China’s Premier Li says upholding peace in South China Sea in everyone’s interest
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Oct 27 (Reuters) – President Joe Biden said on Wednesday the United States would stand with Southeast Asian allies in defending freedom of the seas, democracy and human rights and backed efforts to hold the Myanmar junta accountable to its commitments to peace.
Southeast Asia has become a strategic battleground between the United States and China, which controls most of the South China Sea and has turned up military and political pressure on fiercely democratic Taiwan, a self-ruled island it considers its own.
Australia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed on Wednesday at a virtual regional summit to establish a “comprehensive strategic partnership”, a sign of Canberra’s ambition to play a bigger role in the region.
Biden joined Southeast Asian leaders in rebuking Myanmar’s junta as the summit opened on Tuesday without a representative from the country following its top general’s exclusion for ignoring peace proposals.
“In Myanmar, we must address the tragedy caused by the military coup which is increasingly undermining regional stability,” Biden said on Wednesday.
“The United States stands for the people of Myanmar and calls for military regime to end the violence, release all political prisoners and return to the path of democracy.”
He also said the United States was deeply concerned by “China’s coercive and proactive actions” across the Taiwan Strait, a waterway linking the island and the mainland.
Tensions between Taiwan and China have escalated in recent weeks as Beijing raises military and political pressure.
That has included repeated missions by Chinese warplanes in Taiwan’s air defence identification zone, or ADIZ, which covers a broader area than Taiwan’s territorial air space which Taiwan monitors and patrols to give it more time to respond to any threats.
China has never renounced the use of force to ensure eventual unification with Taiwan.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told the summit upholding peace, stability, freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea was in everyone’s interest.
“The South China Sea is our common home,” he said.
REGIONAL ECONOMIC FRAMEWORK
Biden also said he would speak out for “human rights in Xinjiang and Tibet (and) the rights of the people of Hong Kong”.
China denies human rights abuses in farwestern Xinjiang and the Himalayan region of Tibet. It also denies meddling with freedoms in the former British colony of Hong Kong.
Biden also announced discussions with partners in the IndoPacific region would start to develop a framework “that will position all of our economies for the future”.
“We look forward to working together with digital economy standards on infrastructure and regional connectivity, on supply chain resilience and anti-corruption and worker standards and so much more,” he said
Critics of U.S. strategy for the region point to its lack of an economic component after former President Donald Trump withdrew from the trade deal now known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership in 2017.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters he had stressed in Wednesday’s meetings his country’s resolute stance on “urgent regional situations”, including the East and South China Seas, North Korea and Myanmar.
“I also mentioned human rights situations in Hong Kong and Xinjiang, as well as the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan strait,” he said.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Australia-ASEAN pact would strengthen diplomatic and security ties and promised Canberra would “back it with substance”.
“This milestone underscores Australia’s commitment to ASEAN’s central role in the Indo-Pacific and positions our partnership for the future,” he said in a joint statement with Foreign Minister Marise Payne.
Brunei, serving as chair of ASEAN, said the agreement “marked a new chapter in relations.”
After the announcement, Australia said it would invest $154 million in projects in Southeast Asia on health and energy security, counter-terrorism, fighting transnational crime, plus hundreds of scholarships.
China has sought a similar agreement with ASEAN. Premier Li met ASEAN leaders on Tuesday, and the bloc’s leaders will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in November at a virtual summit, two diplomatic sources told Reuters.
Morrison sought to reassure ASEAN that a trilateral security pact agreed last month between the United States, Britain and Australia, under which Australia will get access to nuclear-powered submarines, would not be a threat to the region.
Reporting by Ain Bandial in Bandar Seri Begawan and Tom Allard in Sydney; Additional reporting by Stanley Widianto in Jakarta; Kiyoshi Takenaka in Tokyo, Colin Packham in Canberra, David Brunnstrom in Washington and Neil Jerome Morales in Manila; Writing by Martin Petty and Nick Macfie; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore, Jon Boyle and Sonya Hepinstall
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Malaysia backs chair’s call on Myanmar representation
U.S. security advisor meets Myanmar shadow govt
Myanmar rejects ASEAN exclusion move
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Oct 26 (Reuters) – A Southeast Asian summit started on Tuesday without military-ruled Myanmar, after its junta refused to send a representative following its leader’s exclusion for ignoring a peace roadmap agreed six months ago.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had said it would accept a non-political representative from Myanmar, but the junta said on Monday it would only agree to its leader or a minister attending.
Myanmar’s absence was not mentioned by either Brunei, the ASEAN chair, or the 10-member bloc’s secretary-general, at the opening of the virtual meeting.
ASEAN decided to sideline from the summit junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, who led a Feb. 1 coup against an elected government, for his failure to cease hostilities, allow humanitarian access and start dialogue with opponents, as agreed with ASEAN in April.
After Tuesday’s leaders meeting, Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said on Twitter he fully supported Brunei’s decision on Myanmar’s representation, while Thai counterpart Prayuth Chan-ocha said ASEAN’s dealings with Myanmar were crucial for its reputation and a test of its resolve.
“ASEAN’s constructive role in addressing this situation is of paramount importance and our action on this matter shall have a bearing on ASEAN’s credibility in the eyes of the international community,” Prayuth said, according to his office.
The sidelining of Min Aung Hlaing was a huge insult to the junta and a rare, bold step by a regional grouping known for its code of non-interference and engagement.
Myanmar’s military, which ruled the country for 49 of the past 60 years, objected strongly, accusing ASEAN of departing from its norms and of allowing itself to be influenced by other countries, including the United States.
ASEAN made the call days after its special envoy Erywan Yusof said he would not be given access to all parties in the country, including ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is charged with multiple crimes.
‘TRUST ASEAN’
Prayuth, a former coup leader in Thailand, urged Myanmar to follow its commitments and for Erywan to visit soon and make an “important first step in the process of confidence-building”.
Prayuth “expressed hope that Myanmar will trust ASEAN in helping Myanmar to achieve peace and harmony, as well as to return to the democratic process.”
Myanmar security forces have killed more than 1,000 civilians and detained thousands more, subjecting many to torture and beatings, according to United Nations envoys, who say the army’s excessive use of force has displaced tens of thousands of people.
Myanmar has rejected that as biased and exaggerated by unreliable sources and says the conflict is being stoked by “terrorists” allied with a shadow National Unity Government (NUG).
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met on Monday with representatives of the NUG, an alliance of pro-democracy groups, local militias and ethnic minority armies formed after the coup. read more
ASEAN leaders were due also to collectively meet leaders of the United States, China and South Korea.
U.S. President Joe Biden will attend a joint session of the ASEAN summit by video link.
Michael Vatikiotis, Asia Director of the Geneva-based Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, said Myanmar’s junta “probably cares about being frozen out of the summit”, although it has a history of enduring international isolation.
“The question now is whether regional leaders will agree to engage with the parallel National Unity Government more formally, as the U.S. and EU has started to do,” he said.
Reporting Ain Bandial in Bandar Seri Begawan; Additional reporting by Tom Allard, A. Ananthalakshmi in Kuala Lumpur, Panu Wongcha-um in Bangkok; Writing by Kay Johnson and Martin Petty; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore
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BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Oct 16 (Reuters) – Southeast Asian countries will invite a non-political representative from Myanmar to a regional summit this month, delivering an unprecedented snub to the military leader who led a coup against an elected civilian government in February.
The decision taken by foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at an emergency meeting on Friday night, marks a rare bold step for the consensus-driven bloc, which has traditionally favoured a policy of engagement and non-interference.
Singapore’s foreign ministry said on Saturday the move to exclude junta chief Min Aung Hlaing was a “difficult but necessary decision to uphold ASEAN’s credibility”.
The statement went on to cite the lack of progress made on a roadmap to restore peace in Myanmar that the junta had agreed to with ASEAN in April.
More than 1,000 civilians have been killed by Myanmar security forces and thousands arrested, according to the United Nations, amid a crackdown on strikes and protests which has derailed the country’s tentative democracy and prompted international condemnation.
The junta says those estimates of the death toll are exaggerated.
ASEAN’s current chair Brunei said a non-political figure from Myanmar would be invited to the Oct. 26-28 summit, after no consensus was reached for a political representative to attend.
“As there had been insufficient progress… as well as concerns over Myanmar’s commitment, in particular on establishing constructive dialogue among all concerned parties, some ASEAN Member States recommended that ASEAN give space to Myanmar to restore its internal affairs and return to normalcy,” Brunei said in a statement.
It did not mention Min Aung Hlaing or name who would be invited in his stead.
Brunei said some member states had received requests from Myanmar’s National Unity Government, formed by opponents of the junta, to attend the summit.
‘JUSTIFIED DOWNGRADE’
ASEAN has faced increasing international pressure to take a tougher stand against Myanmar, having been criticised in the past for its ineffectiveness in dealing with leaders accused of rights abuses, subverting democracy and intimidating political opponents.
A U.S. State Department official told reporters on Friday that it was “perfectly appropriate and in fact completely justified” for ASEAN to downgrade Myanmar’s participation at the coming summit.
Singapore in its statement urged Myanmar to cooperate with ASEAN’s envoy, Brunei’s second foreign affairs minister Erywan Yusof.
Erywan has delayed a long-planned visit to the country in recent weeks and has asked to meet all parties in Myanmar, including deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was detained in the coup.
Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said this week Erywan would be welcome in Myanmar, but would not be allowed to meet Suu Kyi because she is charged with crimes.
Reporting by Ain Bandial; Additional reporting by Aradhana Aravindan in Singapore and Simon Lewis in Washington; Writing by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by William Mallard & Simon Cameron-Moore
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A bird flies near the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) secretariat building, ahead of the ASEAN leaders’ meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, April 23, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan
Myanmar junta criticised for reneging on ASEAN commitment
Credibility risk if ASEAN relents on Myanmar – Philippines
Indonesia, Malaysia, S’pore indicate favour exclusion – sources
Myanmar junta chides countries, U.N. for “double standards”
Oct 14 (Reuters) – Southeast Asian foreign ministers will discuss excluding Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing from an upcoming summit at a meeting on Friday, sources told Reuters, as pressure builds on the ruling military to comply with an agreed peace roadmap.
The meeting comes as the junta ruled out allowing a regional envoy, Brunei’s second foreign affairs minister, Erywan Yusof, to meet deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is on trial on multiple charges since her elected government was overthrown in a Feb. 1 coup.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed on a five-point consensus with Min Aung Hlaing in April, but several members of the bloc have criticised the junta’s failure to implement the plan, which includes dialogue among all parties, humanitarian access and an end to hostilities.
Friday’s previously unscheduled virtual meeting will be hosted by ASEAN chair Brunei, according to multiple sources based in ASEAN member countries, including diplomats and government officials.
Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia had indicated that they were in favour of excluding Min Aung Hlaing from the Oct. 26-28 virtual summit, but were pushing for a consensus among nine ASEAN states, three of the sources said. Myanmar is the 10th ASEAN member.
A spokesman for Thailand’s foreign ministry confirmed a meeting would be held on Friday.
Philippine Foreign Minister Teodoro Locsin on Thursday voiced support for excluding Min Aung Hlaing from future summits, adding that ASEAN could no longer afford to take a neutral stance on Myanmar.
“We can continue keeping them (Myanmar) at a distance but… if we relent in any way, our credibility as a real regional organisation disappears,” Locsin said in an interview with Australian think-tank Lowy Institute.
“What’s that? We’re a bunch of guys who always agree with each other on the worthless things, things that don’t count in the world.”
The U.S. State Department said Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed Myanmar, also known as Burma, with Erywan on Wednesday.
It said the two “expressed concern over the violence and deteriorating crisis in Burma and emphasized the urgency for the Burmese military regime to cease the violence, release all those unjustly detained, and restore multi-party democracy and Burma’s democratic transition.”
It said they also reaffirmed the need to hold the Myanmar government accountable to the five-point consensus and facilitate a meaningful visit by Erywan, to include engagements with all stakeholders.
Myanmar junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun did not respond to calls seeking comment. Brunei’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
ENVOY VISIT STALLED
Myanmar, with a long history of military dictatorship and international sanctions over systematic human rights abuses, has been ASEAN’s trickiest issue since the group was formed in 1967, testing the limits of its unity and policy of non-interference in each others’ affairs.
More than 1,100 people have been killed since Myanmar’s coup, according to the United Nations, many during a crackdown by security forces on pro-democracy strikes and protests, during which thousands have been arrested.
Erywan last week confirmed some members had been “deep in discussions” about not inviting Min Aung Hlaing.
A long-planned visit by Erywan to Myanmar has been delayed in recent weeks. Earlier this week, he said he was in consultations with parties in Myanmar, did not take sides or political positions and looked forward to a visit.
Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun, in written remarks dated Wednesday, said the military would not block Erywan from visiting but would not allow him to meet Suu Kyi, because she is charged with crimes. read more
Reporting by Rozanna Latiff in Kuala Lumpur and Tom Allard in Jakarta; Additional reporting by Ain Bandial in Bandar Seri Begawan, Panu Wongcha-um in Bangkok and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Writing by Martin Petty and Rozanna Latiff; Editing by William Mallard and Nick Macfie
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STUNG TRENG, Cambodia, Sept 20 (Reuters) – Researchers are collecting samples from bats in northern Cambodia in a bid to understand the coronavirus pandemic, returning to a region where a very similar virus was found in the animals a decade ago.
Two samples from horseshoe bats were collected in 2010 in Stung Treng province near Laos and kept in freezers at the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge (IPC) in Phnom Penh.
Tests done on them last year revealed a close relative to the coronavirus that has killed more than 4.6 million people worldwide.
An eight-member IPC research team has been collecting samples from bats and logging their species, sex, age and other details for a week. Similar research is going on in the Philippines. read more
“We hope that the result from this study can help the world to have a better understanding about COVID-19,” field coordinator Thavry Hoem told Reuters, as she held a net to catch bats.
Host species such as bats typically display no symptoms of pathogens, but these can be devastating if transmitted to humans or other animals.
Dr. Veasna Duong, Head of Virology at the IPC, said his institute had made four such trips in the past two years, hoping for clues about the origin and evolution of the bat-borne virus.
“We want to find out whether the virus is still there and … to know how the virus has evolved,” he told Reuters.
Deadly viruses originating from bats include Ebola and other coronaviruses such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).
But Veasna Duong said humans were responsible for the devastation caused by COVID-19, due to interference and destruction of natural habitats.
“If we try to be near wildlife, the chances of getting the virus carried by wildlife are more than normal. The chances of the virus transforming to infect humans are also more,” he said.
The French-funded project also aims to look at how the wildlife trade could be playing a part, said Julia Guillebaud, a research engineer at the IPC’s virology unit.
“(The project) aims to provide new knowledge on wild meat trade chains in Cambodia, document the diversity of betacoronaviruses circulating through these chains, and develop a flexible and integrated early-detection system of viral spill-over events,” Gillebaud said.
Reportin by Cindy Liu in Stung Treng and Prak Chan Thul in Phnom Penh; Editing by Martin Petty and Andrew Heavens
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