washington — Russia and China blocked a proposed consensus statement for the East Asia Summit drafted by Southeast Asian countries, mainly over objections to language on the contested South China Sea, a U.S. official told Reuters on Saturday.

A draft statement arrived at by consensus by the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations was put to the 18-nation East Asia Summit meeting in Laos on Thursday evening, the official said.

“ASEAN presented this final draft and said that, essentially, this was a take-it-or-leave-it draft,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

The United States, Japan, Australia, South Korea and India all said they could support it, the official said, adding: “The Russians and the Chinese said that they could not and would not proceed with a statement.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a news conference in Vientiane on Friday the final declaration had not been adopted because of “persistent attempts by the United States, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand to turn it into a purely political statement.”

China’s Washington embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The U.S. official said there were a couple of issues of contention, but the key one was how it referred to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), going further than in the previous 2023 EAS statement.

However, the official said, “there was certainly no language that was getting into the nitty gritty of any particular standoff, no language that was favoring any claimant over any other.”

China claims nearly all of the South China Sea and has stepped up pressure on rival claimants, including several ASEAN countries, notably the Philippines. ASEAN has spent years negotiating a Code of Conduct with Beijing for the strategic waterway, with some ASEAN states insisting it be based on UNCLOS.

China says it backs a code but does not recognize a 2016 arbitral ruling that said its claim to most of the South China Sea had no basis under UNCLOS, to which Beijing is a signatory.

According to a draft seen by Reuters, the proposed EAS statement contained an extra sub-clause over the 2023 approved statement, and this was not agreed to. It noted a 2023 U.N. resolution saying that UNCLOS “sets out the legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and seas must be carried out.”

Another sub-clause not agreed said the international environment, including “in the South China Sea, the Korean Peninsula, Myanmar, Ukraine and the Middle East … present challenges for the region.”

Chinese Premier Li Qiang told the summit Beijing was committed to UNCLOS and striving for an early conclusion of a Code of Conduct, while stressing its claims have solid historical and legal grounds.

“Relevant countries outside the region should respect and support the joint efforts of China and regional countries to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea, and truly play a constructive role for peace and stability in the region,” he said.
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PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Thirteen pregnant Philippine women accused of illegally acting as surrogate mothers in Cambodia after being recruited online could face prison terms after giving birth, a senior Interior Ministry official said Saturday. 

Interior Ministry Secretary of State Chou Bun Eng, who leads the country’s fight against human trafficking and sexual exploitation, said police found 24 foreign women, 20 Philippine and four Vietnamese, when they raided a villa in Kandal province, near the capital of Phnom Penh, on September 23. 

Thirteen of the Philippine women were found to be pregnant and were charged in court on October 1 under a provision in the law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation, she said. 

The law was updated in 2016 to ban commercial surrogacy after Cambodia became a popular destination for foreigners seeking women to give birth to their children. 

Developing countries have been popular for surrogacy because costs are much lower than in countries such as the United States and Australia, where surrogate services could cost around $150,000. 

The surrogacy business boomed in Cambodia after it was put under tight restrictions in neighboring Thailand, as well as in India and Nepal. 

In July 2017, a Cambodian court sentenced an Australian woman and two Cambodian associates to 1 1/2 years in prison for providing commercial surrogacy services. 

The new case is unusual because surrogates normally are employed in their own countries, not transported elsewhere. 

Cambodia already has a bad reputation for human trafficking, especially in connection with online scams in which foreigners recruited for work under false pretenses are kept in conditions of virtual slavery and help perpetrate criminal fraud online against targets in many countries. 

Details of the new surrogacy case remain murky, and officials have not made clear whether the women were arrested or whether anyone involved in organizing the scheme has been identified. 

Chou Bun Eng told The Associated Press that the business that recruited the surrogates was based in Thailand, and their food and accommodation in Cambodia were arranged from there. She said the authorities had not yet identified the business. 

She said the seven Philippine women and four Vietnamese women who were caught in the raid but who were not pregnant would be deported soon. 

The 13 pregnant women have been placed under care at a hospital in Phnom Penh, said Chou Bun Eng. She added that after they give birth, they could be prosecuted on charges that could land them in prison for two to five years. 

She said that Cambodia considered the women not to have been victimized but rather offenders who conspired with the organizers to act as surrogates and then sell the babies for money. Her assertion could not be verified, as the women could not be contacted, and it is not known if they have lawyers. 

The Philippine Embassy in Cambodia, in response to a local news account of the affair, issued a statement Wednesday confirming most of the details related to what it called the “rescue of 20 Filipino women.” 

“The Philippine Embassy ensured that all 20 Filipinos were interviewed in the presence of an Embassy representative and an interpreter in every step of the investigation process,” it said. 
…

beijing — China said Saturday it would issue special bonds to help its sputtering economy, signaling a spending spree to bolster banks, shore up the property market and ease local government debt as part of one of its biggest support packages in years.

The plan is part of a series of actions undertaken by Beijing to draw a line under a years-long property sector crisis and chronically low consumption that has plagued the world’s second-biggest economy.

Beijing’s planned special bonds are aimed at boosting the capital available to banks — part of a push to get them lending in the hopes of firing up sluggish consumer spending.

China is also preparing to allow local governments to borrow more to fund the acquisition of unused land for development, aimed at pulling the property market out of a prolonged slump.

No figures were provided on the planned special bonds announced at a highly anticipated news conference by Finance Minister Lan Fo’an and other officials, following a series of steps launched in recent weeks that have included interest rate cuts and liquidity for banks.

But Lan said China still has room “to issue debts and increase the deficit” to fund the new measures.

Officials have been battling to reverse China’s slowdown and achieve a growth target of five percent this year — enviable for many Western countries but a far cry from the double-digit expansion that for years boosted the Asian giant.

On Saturday, Lan said Beijing was “accelerating the use of additional treasury bonds, and ultra-long-term special treasury bonds are also being issued for use.”

“In the next three months, a total of 2.3 trillion yuan of special bond funds can be arranged for use in various places,” he added.

On top of that, Beijing also plans to “issue special government bonds to support large state-owned commercial banks,” Lan said, although he did not say how much.

Chinese authorities have been urging commercial banks to lend more and lower mortgage rates — measures that would put more cash into the pockets of consumers.

Beijing’s bonds would therefore offer banks help to shore up their capital, giving them greater leeway to lend more.

Bonds for buildings

And local governments will be issued special bonds enabling them to acquire unused and idle land for development, Vice Finance Minister Liao Min said, in action that could prop up the housing market.

The move would “help ease liquidity and debt pressures on local governments and real estate companies,” he explained.

Beijing will also encourage the acquisition of existing commercial properties to be used as affordable housing.

However, analysts expressed frustration that Beijing had refrained from putting a number on further fiscal stimulus.

“The key messages are that … the central government has the capacity to issue more bonds and raise fiscal deficit, and… the central government plans to issue more bonds to help local governments to pay their debt,” Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, said.

Beijing was likely “still working on the minute details of the fiscal stimulus,” Heron Lim at Moody’s Analytics told AFP.

“In the meantime, investors might be taking a step back until they are absolutely certain of the direction fiscal policy is taking.”

‘Lack of forward guidance’

China’s economic uncertainty is also fueling a vicious cycle that has kept consumption stubbornly low.

Julian Evans-Pritchard, head of China economics at Capital Economics, said that “notably absent was any mention of large-scale handouts to consumers” on Saturday.

“The lack of forward guidance on the scale of next year’s budget deficit means it is still difficult to judge how large and long-lasting the fiscal boost will be,” he pointed out.

Chinese policymakers have in the last weeks unveiled a string of stimulus measures including a suite of rate cuts and a loosening of rules on buying homes, but economists said that more action is needed to pull the economy out of its slump for good.

Earlier Saturday, China’s top banks said they would cut lower interest rates on existing mortgages from October 25, state media said, following a government call for the action.

“Except for second mortgages in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and some other regions, the interest rates on other eligible mortgages will be adjusted” to no less than 30 basis points below the prime lending rate, the central bank’s benchmark rate for mortgages, state broadcaster CCTV said.

CCTV reported that major banks, including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China and China Construction Bank had announced that they would make the adjustments “in batches.”

The People’s Bank of China last month requested that commercial banks lower such rates by October 31.

Beijing also last month slashed interest on one-year loans to financial institutions, cut the amount of cash lenders must keep on hand and pushed to lower rates on existing mortgages.

And the central bank this week boosted support for markets by opening up tens of billions of dollars in liquidity for firms to buy stocks. 
…

washington — As China pursues tit-for-tat actions against the European Union in response to tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, Beijing’s drive for global dominance in the automotive sector continues unabated.

Over the past year, companies such as EV giant BYD and others have made inroads in markets from Southeast Asia to Latin America and Africa, even as they face tariffs of up to 100% in Canada and the United States, and up to 45% in the European Union.

Chinese EV companies have announced plans to invest millions to build new factories in Thailand and Brazil, and they have opened showrooms in Zambia, Kenya and South Africa.

And while most Chinese EV makers say they will continue to sell cars in Europe and not boost prices to offset the tariffs, analysts say it makes sense that they are equally focused, if not more so, on markets in the developing world as well.

Ryan Berg, director of the Americas program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the EV market is like a balloon that is fully blown up.

“When countries like the U.S., the EU, Canada and others squeeze [the balloon], the air is going to go elsewhere. Well, the air right now is going to go to the developing world countries that haven’t put the tariffs on Chinese cars in the first place,” Berg said.

Bangkok, Brazil and Ethiopia

In Thailand, companies such as Great Wall and BYD are leading the way. BYD opened a production facility in Thailand in July and its company chairman, Wang Chuanfu, said BYD has already captured 40% of the market for EVs. Earlier this year, Great Wall became the first Chinese EV company to mass-produce electric vehicles overseas through its production facilities in Thailand.

In addition to Thailand, BYD has also captured a large market share in Singapore and Malaysia. According to government statistics, the EV behemoth ranked as Singapore’s second-most popular car brand by sales in the first half of 2024. BYD ranked among the top 10 car brands in Malaysia when compared with all registered vehicles, following BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

In Latin America, BYD plans to launch a partnership with Uber that aims to bring 100,000 Chinese-made EVs to Uber drivers globally. In addition, BYD is planning a new auto factory in eastern Brazil to come online in 2025. Both BYD and Great Wall have local R&D, production and sales centers in Brazil.

John Helveston, an assistant professor in engineering management at George Washington University, said from a business perspective, it makes sense for Chinese EV companies to move to markets where there is more room for profit.

“I mean, just like we have Toyota and GM and Ford and Volkswagen … these companies like BYD very much are also global companies,” Helveston told VOA. “They want to expand just like any other successful business.”

Paul Nantulya, a China specialist at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University in Washington, said Africa provides huge market opportunities for Chinese EV companies.

That opportunity, however, comes with its challenges. As in other countries, there is still a lack of infrastructure for EVs in Africa such as charging stations.

Nantulya, who attended the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), said Beijing and Africa are building long-term relationships, particularly when it comes to green energy and EV sectors.

About “122 green energy projects have been implemented since the last FOCAC, so between 2021 and 2024, 122 green energy projects have been implemented across the African continent across 40 countries. So, the demand is huge, and it is steady,” he told VOA.

“Chinese state-owned enterprises that are in this sector have been making a very, very aggressive push in developing economies … you know, the uptick of that technology in Africa is extremely high,” he said.

In March, China partnered with Ethiopia to announce an ambitious plan to shift toward electric mobility. The plan aims to introduce nearly half a million electric vehicles in Ethiopia over the next decade.

Mutual benefits

All three analysts said Beijing’s penetration of global markets is boosted by the economic benefits that China offers in exchange. For example, Helveston said, many countries are willing to “leverage market access” in exchange for improved infrastructure and technology.

Chinese companies have built roads, trains, schools and hospitals in some of the poorest countries in the world, and developing countries see “automotive trade [as] just building on top of those relationships that have already been there a while,” he said. “It’s a very transactional relationship.”

CSIS’s Berg said countries in Latin America “have been really keen to court Chinese investment in technological industries like the EV industry.” He noted that Latin American countries see the EV industry as “reliable” and “plentiful in terms of job opportunities.”

Nantulya added that Chinese technology is seen as a way to help African countries address energy challenges such as blackouts.

“When you look at it from the African perspective, [China’s presence] is helping them diversify their energy grids, which is a significant issue. It’s also contributing to improving their energy mix,” Nantulya said.

China has taken a proactive approach by building large infrastructure projects in developing countries, whereas the United States has not yet undertaken projects of similar scale, he said.

“I think that we’re looking at some pretty big shifts in, let’s say, 10 years from now with what the global situation might be. … A lot of these countries might be much more comfortable working with China than the U.S.,” Helveston said.

Washington, however, is not sitting back. At the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in 2022, the United States committed to $55 billion in pledges over three years that included investments in renewable energy infrastructure, clean energy and efforts to mitigate climate change.

Berg said geopolitics also is a motivating factor in Beijing’s push into developing countries in South America.

“They are in their geopolitical competition with [the United States], engaging in reciprocity … showing that they can be extremely active in some ways and especially in the economic domain in our neighborhood,” he said.
…

Seoul, South Korea — North Korea on Friday accused South Korea of sending drones to drop anti-regime leaflets over Pyongyang, an accusation that Seoul immediately denied.

According to the state-run Korean Central News Agency, North Korea’s foreign ministry said South Korean drones have entered Pyongyang at night on three occasions since October 3, scattering “numerous” leaflets.

The ministry called the alleged incursion a “grave political and military provocation” that requires retaliation, warning that the situation could lead to an armed conflict or even war.

South Korea’s military denied involvement, stating it did not send any drones but that it would investigate whether private groups may have launched the leaflets, reported the South’s Yonhap news agency.

In recent months, North Korea has launched thousands of trash-filled balloons into South Korea as retaliation against activists who float anti-Pyongyang leaflets northward across the border.

While South Korean activists have recently employed more advanced types of balloons to send leaflets into North Korea, there are no known reports of them using drones.

The leaflets often criticize North Korea’s human rights abuses or mock its leader Kim Jong Un and are sometimes accompanied by valuable items like dollar bills or USB drives.

North Korea is governed by a third-generation hereditary dictatorship that views virtually all outside information as an existential threat.

In the past, North Korea has used the leaflets as a justification to ramp up cross-border tensions.

When the North began sending waste-filled balloons to the South in May, some analysts cautioned that Kim may be preparing to conduct a more serious cross-border confrontation.

In one particularly provocative move, North Korea in late 2022 sent five small reconnaissance drones across the border, with one making it all the way to the northern edge of the capital, Seoul.

In response, South Korea’s military said it sent a drone into North Korea on a reconnaissance mission. There have been no subsequent reports that South Korea’s military has flown drones into the North.
…

VIENTIANE, LAOS — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Friday warned China against military provocations toward Taiwan, following Beijing’s strong reaction to an annual speech by the leader of the self-ruled democracy.

“I can tell you that with regard to the so-called Ten Ten speech, which is a regular exercise, China should not use it in any fashion as a pretext for provocative actions,” Blinken told reporters during a press conference in Vientiane, Laos. 

He was referring to October 10, known as Double Ten Day, when Taiwan celebrates the founding of the Republic of China in 1912, just months after an uprising that began on October 10, 1911.

The People’s Republic of China celebrates its national day on October 1, marking the founding of the country in 1949. 

China has continued to ramp up its military threats against Taiwan, following President Lai Ching-te’s Thursday speech, which rejected China’s claim of sovereignty over the island.

Blinken was in Vientiane for meetings with leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and participated in the East Asia Summit. 

He said there is a strong desire among all ASEAN countries, along with others present, to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, with neither side taking actions that undermine the status quo.

Earlier on Friday, Taiwan detected 20 Chinese military aircraft and 10 naval vessels around Taiwan. Thirteen of the aircraft crossed the median line and entered Taiwan’s northern and southwestern Air Defense Identification Zone, according to a posting on social media platform X by Taiwan’s defense ministry.

Between Wednesday and Thursday, Taiwan also detected 27 Chinese military aircraft, nine naval vessels, and five official ships.

In Beijing, Chinese officials said Taiwan “has no so-called sovereignty.”

Mao Ning, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, slammed Lai, accusing him of having “the ill intention of heightening tensions in the Taiwan Strait for his selfish political interest.”

Taiwan has been self-ruled since 1949, when Mao Zedong’s communists took power in Beijing after defeating Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang nationalists in a civil war, prompting the nationalists’ relocation to the island.

Washington switched its diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing to counter the then-Soviet Union in 1979.  

Since then, relations between the U.S. and Taiwan have been governed by the Taiwan Relations Act that Congress passed in April 1979, under which the U.S. provides defense equipment to Taiwan.

In September, Taiwan President Lai said if China’s claims over Taiwan are truly based on concerns about territorial integrity, it should also seek to reclaim the 600,000 square kilometers of land it ceded to Russia in the 19th century — an area almost the size of Ukraine.
…

Taipei, Taiwan — Organizers of Taiwan’s premier film festival report a huge increase this year in entries from China, despite a ban imposed by Beijing six years ago on participation in the festival by Chinese filmmakers and actors.

As many as 100 Chinese entries had been submitted for Golden Horse Awards in recent years, in defiance of the ban and without apparent consequences. But this year organizers say the number of movies and documentaries submitted from China shot up to 276.

More than a dozen of the Chinese films are potential finalists, some in multiple categories. The winners will be announced on November 23.

Industry analysts and directors say many of the Chinese filmmakers may have turned to the Golden Horse Awards to earn exposure for their movies, fearing they would be banned at home. Others point to the festival’s reputation for hosting a diversity of films.

According to a list of finalists released on October 2, Chinese director Lou Ye’s pseudo-documentary, An Unfinished Film, and Geng Jun’s black-and-white gay film Bel Ami were shortlisted for multiple awards.

Wonder Weng, executive director of the Taiwan Film Critics Society in Taipei, said both movies are likely to be banned in China.

He said that Lou, a regular participant in the Golden Horse Awards, has never bowed to the Chinese system and that his An Unfinished Film deviates from Beijing’s favored narratives about the COVID-19 pandemic. Geng’s Bel Ami, Weng added, challenges the values of the Chinese Communist Party amid a heavy-handed crackdown on the LGBTQ community.

Among this year’s entrants is Zheng Yu, a 27-year-old independent director from Inner Mongolia who specializes in expressing thoughts and emotions through images and who has been involved in film and television production for eight years.

His entry, Her Dream in the Living Room is a short film that records how life for his family was changed by an elder’s chronic disease. Although he was not shortlisted in the end, he told VOA that he still dreams of standing on the stage of the Golden Horse Awards one day.

Zheng said there are three golden awards in the Chinese film industry: the Taiwan Golden Horse, the Hong Kong Golden Statue and the China Golden Rooster Awards.

Among the three, “The Golden Horse Awards are more welcoming to varieties of films, and it is also more supportive of young directors, so this is why I wanted to apply for the Golden Horse Awards,” he said.

In addition to the film entries from China, this year’s festival includes 277 entries from Taiwan, 72 from Hong Kong, 17 from Macau, 21 from Malaysia, 17 from Singapore and 67 from other countries.

Ng Kwok Kwan, an associate professor at the Academy of Film at Hong Kong Baptist University, said the Golden Horse Awards are the oldest Chinese film awards on either side of the Taiwan Strait.

Although entries from China, Hong Kong and Macao have been discouraged by politics, the Golden Horse Awards are still seen as major awards in the Chinese film industry, and being nominated for a festival award will greatly enhance a film’s visibility, he said.

Ng added that the festival has become the best channel for Chinese-speaking audiences to access excellent works, and it is also the ideal outlet for some non-mainstream Hong Kong and Chinese filmmakers.

He said Hong Kong-made films received a total of 18 nominations at last year’s Golden Horse Awards and finally won four awards: Best New Director, Best New Actor, Best Feature Short Film and Best Animated Short Film.

“In recent years, some of the Hong Kong films nominated have been very good. They belong to a relatively niche and non-mainstream, and [the festival] has a special [interest] in the themes of non-mainstream, social issues, and experimental films, and I think it really has a certain contribution [to Hong Kong films],” he said.

Seventy-two Hong Kong films participated in this year’s Golden Horse Awards. From Now On, which explores the situation of older lesbians, was shortlisted for the Best Feature Film, Best Director and Best Actress awards.

Among the five shortlisted films for Best Short Film, three are Hong Kong films, including Colour Ideology Sampling.mov, Something About Us and Letters from the Imprisoned: Chow Hang Tung.
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MELBOURNE, Australia — China will resume importing Australian live lobsters by the end of the year, removing the final major obstacle to bilateral trade that once cost Australian exporters more than 20 billion Australian dollars ($13 billion) a year, Australia’s prime minister said Thursday. 

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made the announcement after meeting Premier Li Qiang on the sidelines of a Southeast Asian summit in Vientiane, Laos. 

The ban on lobsters was the last of a series of official and unofficial trade barriers that Beijing has agreed to lift since Albanese’s center-left Labor Party government was elected in 2022. 

“I’m pleased to announce that Premier Li and I have agreed on a timetable to resume full lobster trade by the end of this year,” Albanese told reporters. 

“This of course will be in time for Chinese New Year, and this will be welcomed by the people engaged in the live lobster industry,” he added. 

Albanese has given assurances that relations with China have been improved without compromising Australian interests. Beijing is unhappy with restrictions Australia has placed on some Chinese investments because of security concerns. 

“What’s important is that friends are able to have direct discussions. It doesn’t imply agreement, it doesn’t imply compliance, and I’ll always represent Australia’s national interest. That’s what I did today. It was a very constructive meeting,” Albanese said. 

“I’m encouraged by the progress that we have made between Australia and China’s relationship in producing stabilization to the benefit of both of our nations and with the objective of advancing peace and security in the region,” Albanese added. 

China’s embassy in Australia did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday. 

Australian lobster exports to China had been worth $700 million Australian dollars ($470 million) in 2019. 

Beijing ended trade with Australia in 2020 on a range of commodities including lobster, coal, wine, barley, beef and wood as diplomatic relations plumbed new depths. 

Conservative Prime Minister Scott Morrison had angered Beijing that year by demanding an independent investigation into the origins of and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Tom Ryan, a manager at lobster exporter Five Star Seafoods at Port MacDonnell in South Australia state, said he was disappointed that his trade would be the last to resume with China. 

“It’s been a long time coming,” Ryan told Australian Broadcasting Corp. of Albanese’s announcement. 

“Between myself and other people in Port MacDonnell, it’s an absolute relief,” he added. 

The industry had found new markets for lobster products but at lower profit margins, Ryan said. 

Li said during a state visit to Australia in June that he had agreed with Albanese to “properly manage” their nations’ differences. 

Beijing had severed minister-to-minister contacts during the conservatives’ nine years in power.
…

Vientiane, Laos — Southeast Asian leaders stepped up pressure on China to respect international law following clashes in the disputed South China Sea during annual summit talks on Thursday, but Chinese Premier Li Qiang was defiant as he blamed “external forces” for interfering in regional affairs.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ meeting with Li followed recent violent confrontations at sea this year between China and ASEAN members Philippines and Vietnam that heightened unease over China’s increasingly assertive actions in the contested waters.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who will take over the rotating ASEAN chair next year, said the bloc has called for an early conclusion to a code of conduct to govern the South China Sea. Talks on the code of conduct have been ongoing for years, hampered by sticky issues including disagreements over whether the pact should be binding.

ASEAN reiterated the need to maintain peace and security in the strategic waterway, he said, according to Malaysian national news agency Bernama.

But Li said meddling by foreign forces is creating conflicts within the region.

“We must realize that our development is also facing some unstable and uncertain factors. In particular, external forces frequently interfere and even try to introduce bloc confrontation and geopolitical conflicts into Asia,” Li said during an ASEAN meeting with China, Japan and South Korea. He called for more dialogue between countries to ensure disputes are resolved amicably.

Li didn’t name the foreign forces but China has previously warned the U.S. not to meddle in the region’s territorial disputes.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who arrived in Vientiane on Thursday for the meetings, is expected to raise the issue of China’s aggression in the sea, officials said. The U.S. has no claims but it has deployed Navy ships and fighter jets to patrol the waterway and promote freedom of navigation and overflight.

ASEAN members Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei along with Taiwan have overlapping claims with China, which claims sovereignty over virtually all of the South China Sea. Chinese and Philippine vessels have clashed repeatedly this year, and Vietnam said last week that Chinese forces assaulted its fishermen in the disputed sea. China has also sent patrol vessels to areas that Indonesia and Malaysia claim as exclusive economic zones.

Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. made clear to Li during talks Thursday that ASEAN-China cooperation cannot be separated from the sea dispute, according to an ASEAN official who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the discussion.

Li responded by saying the South China Sea is “a shared home” and that China has an obligation to protect its sovereignty, the official said. The Philippines, a longtime U.S. ally, has been critical of other ASEAN countries for not doing more to get China to back away.

Aside from regional security issues, China’s Li also emphasized Beijing and ASEAN’s economic ties, saying intensifying trade relations and creating an “ultra large-scale market” are keys to economic prosperity amid rising trade protectionism.

ASEAN and China said they expect to conclude negotiations to upgrade their free trade pact next year. Since the two sides signed the pact covering a market of 2 billion people in 2010, ASEAN’s trade with China has leaped from $235.5 billion to $696.7 billion last year.

China is ASEAN’s No. 1 trading partner and its third-largest source of foreign investment — a key reason why the bloc has been reluctant to criticize Chinese actions in the South China Sea.

ASEAN leaders, who held a summit among themselves on Wednesday, also separately met with new Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.

ASEAN elevated its ties with South Korea to a “comprehensive strategic partnership.” Yoon said the new designation will further help both sides to “create a new future together.”

Ishiba also pledged to boost the Japan-ASEAN relationship by providing patrol vessels and training on maritime law enforcement, strengthening economic security through financial and other support and bolstering cybersecurity.

“Japan shares principles such as freedom, democracy and the rule of law, and would like to create and protect the future together with ASEAN,” he said.

The bloc is also holding individual talks with dialogue partners India, Australia, Canada, the U.S. and the United Nations that will culminate in an East Asia Summit of 18 nations including Russia and New Zealand on Friday.

Former ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong said that despite challenges in addressing disputes in the South China Sea and the Myanmar civil war, ASEAN’s central role in the region is undisputable.

“ASEAN and its diplomatic maneuvers have sustained the relative peace and progress of Southeast Asia to date. ASEAN will continue to be useful in that regard. Big powers cannot do what they wish in the region,” said Ong, who is now deputy chairman of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

Nearly 6,000 people have been killed and over 3 million displaced in a civil war after the Myanmar army ousted an elected government in 2021. The military has backtracked on an ASEAN peace plan it agreed to in late 2021 and fighting has continued with pro-democracy guerillas and ethnic rebels.

Myanmar’s top generals have been shut out of ASEAN summits since the military takeover. Thailand will host an informal ASEAN ministerial-level consultation on Myanmar in mid-December as frustration grows in the bloc over the prolonged conflict.
…

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan celebrated its National Day holiday Thursday against the background of threats from China, which claims the self-governing island republic as its own territory.

The celebration marks the establishment of the Republic of China, which overthrew the Qing Dynasty in 1911 and fled to Taiwan as Mao Zedong’s Communists swept to power on the mainland during a civil war in 1949. Taiwan was run under martial law until transitioning to full democracy in the 1980s and 1990s but maintains the original constitution brought from China and the ROC flag.

President Lai Ching-te took office in May, continuing the eight-year rule of the Democratic Progressive Party that rejects China’s demand that it recognize Taiwan is a part of China. The Nationalists adhere to a unification stance that recognizes both sides of the Taiwan Strait as a single nation.

Thursday’s commemorations were to include speeches by Lai and others, performances in front of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei, including an honor guard, military marching band and overflight by military aircraft, but no display of heavy military equipment as seen in years past.

Maintaining its military pressure on Taiwan, China’s People’s Liberation Army sent 15 planes across the median line in the Taiwan Strait, prompting Taiwan to scramble jets, dispatch ships and activate missile systems.
…

taipei, taiwan — China has used transnational harassment and intimidation to prevent Chinese people living in Japan from engaging in protests and activism, a new report by Human Rights Watch said.

Most of the 25 Chinese people interviewed by Human Rights Watch, including ethnic minorities from Xinjiang, Tibet and Inner Mongolia, said Chinese police have warned them, sometimes through their relatives in China, against taking part in activities or peaceful protests critical of the Chinese Communist Party and its rule over China.

“Several ethnic Uyghurs from Xinjiang said that Chinese authorities contacted them through their relatives back home, and the police told them to either stop their anti-Chinese government activities in Japan or pressed them to share information about Japan’s Uyghur community,” the report said.

Analysts say that while Chinese authorities haven’t used physical violence to intimidate Chinese people in Japan, they are still able to deter them from continuing their activism abroad.

“Beijing’s strategies targeting the Chinese diaspora community in Japan are sophisticated, because while they keep their threats relatively low-key — which is less likely to attract the Japanese government’s attention — it’s still enough to scare members of the diaspora community,” Teppei Kasai, Asia program officer at Human Rights Watch, told VOA by phone.

Some Japanese experts say Beijing’s transnational repression has created a chilling effect within the Chinese diaspora in Japan.

“More and more Chinese and Hong Kong people in Japan are minimizing their participation in public events, especially those related to sensitive issues, because they are concerned about facing retaliation from the Chinese government,” said Tomoko Ako, a China studies professor at the University of Tokyo.

The Chinese foreign ministry and the Chinese Embassy in Japan didn’t respond to VOA’s requests for comments.

When responding to a similar question in August, the Chinese Embassy in Washington told VOA that China “strictly abides by international law and fully respects the law enforcement sovereignty of other countries.”

Targeting activists’ families

Human Rights Watch said Chinese authorities often try to intimidate activists in Japan by targeting their family members in China.

In one case, a Chinese activist in Japan told Human Rights Watch that local police in Inner Mongolia interrogated his relatives, restricted their freedom of movement and prevented them from getting their passports after he took part in public protests against the Chinese government’s policy of replacing the Mongolian language with Mandarin Chinese at school.

The activist, who used the pseudonym A.B. because of security concerns, said the pressure his family members face has instilled in him a sense of guilt.

“My [relatives] tell me they’re afraid of the pressure they’re feeling, and that has been tough on me,” he told Human Rights Watch.

In another case, Hong Kong activist Alric Lee told VOA that his parents received a letter listing all the activities he had joined in Japan and demanded that they publicly apologize for “his wrongdoings.”

“They were asked to apologize for what I’ve done in Japan and publicly renounce their relationship with me,” he said in a phone interview, adding that his parents asked him to stop his activism in Japan after receiving the letter.

Since the letter included detailed records of his activities in Japan, Lee said he thought the threat might have been initiated by the Hong Kong government.

In addition to threats against family members, Lee said he and other members of the Hong Kong diaspora in Japan have been followed by unknown individuals after organizing or taking part in public activities.

Lee said these threats have forced him to reevaluate the potential consequences of his activism in Japan.

“I’m definitely thinking twice before taking part in activities, but since I don’t think I have done anything wrong, I don’t think I’ll change anything concerning my activism in Japan,” he told VOA.

No confidence in Japan

Despite the threats, some Chinese people told Human Rights Watch that they didn’t seek help from the Japanese police because of fear of reprisal or because they didn’t think doing so would resolve the problems they were facing.

“Some people said they think Japanese authorities can’t do much about what the Chinese police have done to them, and they feel that the Chinese government would find out if they try to seek help from the Japanese police,” Kasai told VOA.

In a written response to inquiries from VOA, the Japanese foreign ministry declined to comment on transnational repression against Chinese people in Japan and what the Japanese government can do to safeguard their basic rights. Officials said both matters were related to “foreigners in Japan.”

Ako said the Japanese government’s reluctance to comment on Beijing’s transnational repression against Chinese people in Japan reflects Tokyo’s attempt to avoid increasing tensions between the two countries.

“The Japanese government probably doesn’t want to heighten tensions with China, but I think it is their basic responsibility to publicly comment on this concerning trend that’s happening in Japan,” she told VOA by phone.

Kasai said since Japan and 54 other countries at the U.N. Human Rights Council condemned transnational repression and vowed to hold those responsible accountable in June, Tokyo should consider establishing mechanisms to help protect the basic rights and safety of those being intimidated.

“The Japanese police should try to create a system that allows Chinese people to report their experiences of facing transnational repression initiated by the Chinese government,” he told VOA, adding that such a system should include safeguards for individuals’ privacy.

Kasai and Ako said they thought the Japanese government should go further.

“I think human rights should remain an important aspect of Japan’s bilateral engagement with China, so I believe Tokyo should try to raise the issue of Beijing’s transnational repression against Chinese people in Japan during bilateral meetings,” Ako said.
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TAIPEI, TAIWAN — As Laos hosts this year’s summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Beijing is calling for additions to its free-trade agreement with the regional forum that focus on smart cities, 5G, artificial intelligence and e-commerce.

Ahead of the ASEAN summit, which began Sunday and ends Friday, Chinese state media have stepped up efforts to promote the benefits of what they call an upgrade to the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, or CAFTA, agreement.

Analysts point out that the two sides have not reached agreement on what’s being called “CAFTA 3.0,” and that it remains to be seen whether including China’s electric vehicles and e-commerce would benefit Southeast Asian industries that are struggling to compete with their Chinese counterparts.

“The establishment of a free-trade demonstration zone is actually nothing more than the hope that things can be sold into China,” Ming-Fang Tsai, a professor in the Department of Industrial Economics at Taiwan’s Tamkang University, told VOA.

However, he said the Chinese market is facing a lack of domestic demand and overproduction, leading to price competition.

“So, is the FTA 3.0 really an upgrade? Actually, it is a big question mark,” he said by email.

Nevertheless, some specific areas in the 3.0 agreement still attract the attention of experts, including its focus on the EV industry.

Although ASEAN is also actively developing an EV industry, He Jiangbing, a China-based economist and finance commentator, told VOA if China’s major EV manufacturers pour into Southeast Asia through changes in the agreement, it would likely have a huge impact on the local automobile industries.

“China’s mainland started relatively early in new-energy vehicles and has developed rapidly for 10 years. But the automotive industry in ASEAN is relatively weak. If China’s new-energy vehicles are sold in ASEAN, it will be difficult for Southeast Asian [traditional] car companies to resist,” He said.

Southeast Asia’s own automobile industry will be greatly affected or cease to exist, He said.

But Lu Xi, a senior lecturer at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, told VOA that most of China’s EVs are not getting into Southeast Asia through exports but through production-line transfer, similar to joint ventures, so a price war should not cause a negative impact.

“With the transfer of [China’s EV] manufacturing industry chain, the economic structure of Southeast Asia will undergo a huge transformation,” Lu said by email. “Depending on the current political and economic situation between China and the US, Southeast Asia itself also has a very broad local market and a very good young population structure, so on the whole, the Southeast Asian market should be one of the important engines of economic growth in the whole region in the future.”

Tsai noted that Chinese manufacturers will set up factories in Southeast Asia to avoid the “Made in China” label and restrictions on Chinese products.

“U.S. controls on technology may affect the components of EVs in the future,” he said, “which brings great pressure to Chinese manufacturers.”

In addition to EVs, the 3.0 agreement also focuses on smart cities, 5G, artificial intelligence and e-commerce.

Analysts say China’s e-commerce is already having a negative impact on the region as orders of cheaper Chinese imports and knockoffs are flooding Southeast Asia. Half of the ceramic factories in Thailand’s northern Lampang province have closed, and Indonesian textile workers are facing mass layoffs, the South China Morning Post and the Bangkok Post reported.

“In the face of the massive entry of the [Chinese] e-commerce, frankly speaking, these Southeast Asian countries are relatively uncompetitive,” said Tsai. “Because first, [they] will not be able to compete with China in marketing and sales. Second, [China’s] own products are cheaper.

“If my entire e-commerce system is better than yours,” Tsai said, “and my products are not more expensive than yours, then how can you compete with me?”

Nonetheless, in a September speech for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, in Nanning, China, ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn called on businesses to take full advantage of the partnership as they move toward the changes.

He touted the RCEP, the world’s largest trade bloc, covering nearly 30% of global gross domestic product at $29 trillion and 2.3 billion people across the Asia Pacific region.

“ASEAN’s multidirectional economic relations have been a major driver behind the use of RCEP,” said Hourn, according to a written statement. “China, for example, has remained ASEAN’s largest trading partner for the past 15 years and has also climbed from the 5th largest source of FDI to ASEAN in 2022 to the 3rd largest in 2023. With both RCEP and ACFTA 3.0 in place, I am confident that trade and investment between ASEAN, China, and the rest of the RCEP partners will continue to flourish for the benefit of the people in this wider region.”

ASEAN calls the free-trade agreement ACFTA; Beijing refers to it as CAFTA.

The agreement was established by China and ASEAN in 2009, and the ASEAN-China Summit announced the launch of negotiations for the changes in November 2022.

VOA’s Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.
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