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China key leaders no-show at Asia defence summit

Japan bans photos at beach volleyball meet TOKYO: Spectators at a top beach volleyball competition in Japan this weekend will be banned from taking photos or videos after organisers said fans had been responsible for “malicious” shots of players. The Japan Volleyball Association (JVA) said recording images on any device, including smart glasses, would be prohibited at the Tonarino round of the country’s beach volleyball tour for men and women, taking place today and tomorrow. The ban carries on from last week’s round in the coastal city of Hekinan, where JVA said players had complained that they were “unable to concentrate on their performance”. “Despite our repeated guidance and reminders regarding the rules and etiquette for photography, we have observed malicious photography by some spectators at the Hekinan round,“ JVA said upon introducing the ban. “We take a very serious view of the fact that inappropriate photography has not improved despite repeated warnings.” JVA expanded its ban for this weekend’s event to include binoculars, opera glasses and similar devices. “We sincerely apologise to all those who were looking forward to watching and taking photographs, but our top priority is to maintain an environment in which the competing athletes can concentrate on their performance with peace of mind.“ Sports authorities in Japan have made repeated efforts to protect athletes from inappropriate photography. The country’s women’s team uniforms at the 2024 Paris Olympics were made from a special material that blocks infrared photos highlighting underwear. Japan’s gymnastics association also introduced a photograph permit system at events. – AFP Myanmar president visits India YANGON: Myanmar’s putschist-turned president Min Aung Hlaing will travel to India today for a five-day visit, New Delhi said, his first trip abroad since becoming civilian leader. The Myanmar foreign ministry, which announced on Thursday an official visit to India “in the near future”, said Min would be accompanied by a delegation of ministers and other officials. India’s foreign ministry said in a statement that the visit would run from today until Wednesday. The former military chief will hold talks with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and meet business representatives, according to both governments. Myanmar also said a meeting with Indian President Droupadi Murmu was planned. The visit “is expected to further strengthen and deepen the multi-faceted relations between the two countries”, New Delhi said. Ex-junta chief Min was sworn in as Myanmar’s president in April, continuing his rule from a civilian post five years after snatching power in a military coup. As the nation’s armed forces chief, he ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, detaining the popular democratic figurehead and triggering an ongoing civil war. After five years of ruling by diktat , Min organised an election ending in January that excluded Suu Kyi’s party and large swaths of the country under rebel control. The vote also secured a walkover win for Min and military allies in parliament who backed him into the top office. His swearing-in ceremony was attended by representatives from the neighbouring nations of China, India and Thailand as well as 20 other countries, according to parliamentary officials. –AFP

SINGAPORE: Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth was the headline speaker at Asia’s premier defence summit opening yesterday, but China’s top officials made no appearance despite weighty questions such as Taiwan and the war in Iran. Beijing’s defence minister skipped the three-day Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore for the second year running, which analysts viewed as a sign of China’s rising power. Yet, the forum that brings together top officials from about 45 nations has historically provided a setting for debate as well as quiet and high-profile diplomacy. Defence Minister Dong Jun’s absence meant no meeting there with Hegseth as China warns the US over its involvement with Taiwan and Washington seeks an end to the Mideast war. The Middle East was the source of 57% of China’s direct seaborne crude imports in 2025 o Move interpreted as sign of Beijing’s rise in power, say analysts BEIJING: Sixty-four Chinese citizens detained in the Philippines have been released after the Philippine Justice Department ruled there was insufficient evidence for the allegations they faced, China’s embassy in the Southeast Asian country said. The allegations against them include violations of a nuclear safety law, and immigration and labour laws. The Chinese citizens, who worked at a steel plant in the Misamis Oriental province, were detained on May 15. Two weeks ago, Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro called for a full probe into an operation in the province that was said to involve undocumented foreign nationals and Filipino workers handling potentially hazardous materials. The Chinese embassy yesterday said six more nationals were undergoing the process to get their release. – Reuters Philippines frees detained workers

Two other former defence ministers Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu previously spoke at Shangri-La. Both were subsequently handed suspended death sentences on graft charges, analysts said. “It’s kind of a poisoned chalice for any Chinese defence minister to speak out publicly,” said Jennifer Parker, adjunct professor at the University of Western Australia’s Defence and Security Institute. With Dong again not attending, one of the reasons seemed obvious, said Choong, writing for the Lowy Institute think-tank. “For one thing, China has truly arrived as a major power in the region, so it does not really need to send its defence minister to brave a fusillade of questions and try to ‘score’ brownie points.” However, Beijing like last year, risked not having a senior leader present if the two most pertinent global security issues – Taiwan and the opening of the Strait of Hormuz – do come up. “At a time when perceptions of US leadership are falling, Beijing could soothe jangled nerves in the region by reassuring delegates that it would use force against the island only as a last resort,” Choong said. – AFP

– 5.9 million barrels per day (mbd) – maritime tracking firm Kpler said. Hegseth’s second trip to the Shangri-La Dialogue comes after US President Donald Trump’s visit to China in May, and his subsequent suggestion that US arms sales to Taiwan could be used as a bargaining chip with Beijing. Trump said “fantastic” trade deals were struck after his visit to China, although details were vague and no breakthrough with Beijing emerged in the war with Iran. China sent Dong to the dialogue as recently as 2024, during which he and then Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin met for their first substantive face-to-face talks in 18 months. “Dong was absent last year, reportedly due to China’s reluctance to engage with Hegseth,”said William Choong, principal fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute think-tank. China on Thursday said it would send experts and scholars from its army’s study institutions. Major-Gen Meng Xiangqing of the National Defence University is expected to lead the delegation, which is to include scholars from the National Defence University, the Academy of Military Sciences and the Navy.

ANDROID APPAREL ... A humanoid robot and a model present creations during the Galaxy Corporation Mach33: Physical AI Fashion Show in Seoul, South Korea. – REUTERSPIC

N. Korea focused on self-reliance: Singapore minister SEOUL: North Korea does not seem keen to engage with the United States, South Korea or Japan and is focused on building up its self-reliance and military deterrence, Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said following a trip to the reclusive state. Pyongyang’s ties with Moscow deepened in recent years after North Korea sent thousands of troops to fight with Russian forces in Kursk. Beijing has also been working to draw Pyongyang back into its orbit, with passenger train services and flights between the two neighbours resuming in past months. treat the two Koreas as separate. South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, who held talks with Vivian on Thursday, said there are no indications North Korea is about to return to the table but his Singaporean counterpart’s talks in Pyongyang were an opportunity to explain Seoul’s commitment to peaceful coexistence.

According to a transcript shared by the Foreign Ministry, Vivian spoke to Singaporean media on Thursday after a visit to both Koreas respectively on May 26 and 27. His last trip to North Korea was in 2018. “What’s clear is that they’re certainly in a closer relationship now with Russia. China remains indispensable to it, but they are not yet ready to open up significant channels of communication with the United States or with ROK and Japan at this point in time,“ he added. US President Donald Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung have repeatedly expressed interest in holding talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Vivian also mentioned North Korea’s “outright, categorical rejection of reunification” with South Korea – a shift from his last trip to the nation – and noted how Pyongyang, the capital, has developed despite the country’s deepening isolation. “It’s a city which would fit in with any modern city throughout Southeast Asia, or even Northeast Asia, for that matter,“ he said. North Korea has revised its constitution to define its territory as bordering South Korea and remove references to reunification, according to a draft of the text reviewed by Reuters this month, codifying Kim’s push to

Cho also said he believed North Korea would eventually return to dialogue with the US “if the price is right” in an interview with the Yonhap news agency published yesterday. On Thursday, South Korea’s foreign ministry said Cho asked Vivian for Singapore and Asean’s support for efforts to reopen dialogue with North Korea. Vivian said he invited North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui to the Asean Regional Forum and had encouraged them to look for appropriate opportunities to continue to engage the larger world. – Reuters