Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

PENAJAM PASER UTARA, Indonesia (AP) — Orange-red ground has been broken in the jungle of East Borneo, where the Indonesian government has begun construction of its new capital city.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Six men sit alongside Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the ruling Communist Party’s all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee, handling major portfolios from propaganda to corruption fighting.

All are party veterans with close personal and professional ties to Xi, China’s most powerful figure in decades.

Their roles are expected to come more into focus during the ongoing session of the National People’s Congress, China’s ceremonial legislature.

KUALA LUMPUR, March 8 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysian government is targeting a 20 per cent growth in foreign direct investment (FDI) and domestic direct investment (DDI) this year, up from the RM163.3 billion (US$36.1 billion) (US$1 = RM4.52) and RM101.3 billion (US$22.4 billion) recorded in 2022, respectively.

International Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said that although this is a tall order given the challenges, investments are more long-term in nature and companies that look into Malaysia would look at a longer time horizon.

PUTRAJAYA (Malaysia), March 8 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysia maintains that it does not recognise the purported commercial arbitration instituted by Sulu Claimants and will continue to vigorously defend its sovereignty through the appropriate legal forums, said the Special Sulu Secretariat.

The secretariat said this in response to recent media headlines referring to the purported seizure or attempted seizure of the Embassy of Malaysia in France by the Sulu Claimants through French bailiffs.

BEIJING/TAIPEI, March 8 (Reuters) - China said on Wednesday it was "seriously concerned" by Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen's "transit" plans and had asked Washington for clarification, amid reports she will meet U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in the United States.

McCarthy plans to meet Tsai in the United States in coming weeks, two sources told Reuters on Monday. That could be instead of the Republican Speaker's anticipated but sensitive trip to the democratically governed island claimed by China.

SEOUL, March 8 (Reuters) - Seoul approved export licences last year for Poland to provide Ukraine with Krab howitzers, which are built with South Korean components, a South Korean defence official and a Polish industry representative told Reuters on Wednesday.

The comments are the first confirmation that South Korea officially acquiesced to at least indirectly providing weapons components to Ukraine for its war against Russia.

SEOUL, March 8 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's opposition political parties and civic groups have raised their voice against the government's push to resolve Japan's wartime forced labor issue through a private foundation as it dismissed the victims' demand for sincere apology from the Japanese government and firms that should be held accountable.

Lee Jae-myung, chief of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, said on Wednesday that the so-called third-party reimbursement solution was a "de facto surrender document to Japan."

NANGAN, Taiwan (AP) — In the past month, bed and breakfast owner Chen Yu-lin had to tell his guests he couldn’t provide them with the internet.

Others living on Matsu, one of Taiwan’s outlying islands closer to neighboring China, had to struggle with paying electricity bills, making a doctor’s appointment or receiving a package.

BEIJING (AP) — Is the United States out to sabotage China? Chinese leaders think so.

President Xi Jinping accused Washington this week of trying to isolate his country and hold back its development. That reflects the ruling Communist Party’s growing frustration that its pursuit of prosperity and global influence is threatened by U.S. restrictions on access to technology, its support for Taiwan and other moves seen by Beijing as hostile.

KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysian ringgit opened marginally higher against the US dollar Tuesday as the greenback took a breather following a small pullback in Treasury yields Monday and ahead of the United States (US) Federal Reserve’s (Fed) Semiannual Monetary Report to Congress, said an analyst. 

At 9.00 am, the local note rose to 4.4740/4795 versus the greenback from Monday’s closing of 4.4760/4800.