Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

MANILA, Feb 6 (Reuters) - The Philippine Coast Guard has stepped up its presence in the disputed South China Sea by deploying additional vessels and conducting more sorties and overflights to protect maritime territory and the country's fishermen, its chief said on Monday.

Beijing's sweeping claims of sovereignty over the waterway have drawn repeated complaints from Manila, which has ramped up its rhetoric against reported Chinese construction activities and the "swarming" of Chinese vessels in the resource-rich waterway.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A group of Swiss lawmakers met with Taiwan’s president and said Monday their government wants to deepen political relations, adding to shows of support by foreign politicians for the self-ruled island democracy in the face of Chinese intimidation.

BEIJING (AP) — China on Monday accused the United States of indiscriminate use of force in shooting down a suspected Chinese spy balloon, saying it “seriously impacted and damaged both sides’ efforts and progress in stabilizing Sino-U.S. relations.”

The U.S. shot down the balloon off the Carolina coast after it traversed sensitive military sites across North America. China insisted the flyover was an accident involving a civilian aircraft.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Southeast Asian foreign ministers vowed to finalize negotiations with China over a proposed pact aimed at preventing conflicts in the disputed South China Sea in their annual retreat on Saturday in Indonesia’s capital.

In the final session of their two-day meeting, the ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations also agreed to unite in their approach to implement a five-step agreement made in 2021 between ASEAN leaders and Myanmar’s military leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, that seeks to end that country’s worsening crisis.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean coast guard vessels and aircraft on Sunday were searching for nine fishermen who disappeared after their boat capsized off the country’s southwestern coast.

The coast guard from the southwestern port city of Mokpo said that three crew members were rescued by a nearby commercial vessel following the accident late Saturday near Daebichi Island in the sea county of Sinan.

Survivors said the boat’s engine room had quickly filled with water before the 24-ton vessel tipped over, according to the coast guard.

MANILA, Feb 3 (NNN-PNA) – Filipinos have spoken out against American military expansion plans in their country, following a top U.S. defence official’s visit to the country this week.

“That is not part of our national interest. Our national interest is to become an economically prosperous country. And we can only do that, if we can have peace in the country and peace in the region,” said Anna Malindog-Uy, vice president of the Manila-based think tank, Asian Century Philippines Strategic Studies Institute.

JAKARTA, Feb 3 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysia is given the responsibility of establishing the cooperation between ASEAN and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Canada, said Foreign Minister Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir.

Malaysia’s role in this matter was discussed during a meeting between him and the new ASEAN Secretary General, Dr Kao Kim Hourn, at the ASEAN Secretariat’s office, here.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippines said Thursday it was allowing U.S. forces to broaden their footprint in the Southeast Asian nation, the latest Biden administration move strengthening an arc of military alliances in the Indo-Pacific to better counter China, including in any future confrontation over Taiwan.

BANGKOK (AP) — Martial law was declared in several areas of military-run Myanmar on Thursday, a day after authorities extended a state of emergency throughout the country wracked by violence that some U.N. experts have described as a civil war.

BEIJING (AP) — China said Friday it was looking into reports that a Chinese spy balloon has been flying in U.S. airspace over sensitive sites — a discovery that further strained already tense relations between Beijing and Washington.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China has “no intention of violating the territory and airspace of any sovereign country” and urged calm while the facts are established.