Asianet Pakistan Private Limited

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and China signed an upgraded free trade deal Tuesday covering the digital and green economy sectors and supply chain connectivity, amid steep US tariffs on the bloc’s members and intensifying trade friction between Beijing and Washington.

The third iteration of the agreement between Asean and China, each other’s largest trading partners, was inked by Malaysian trade minister Zafrul Abdul Aziz, representing Asean, and Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao before the regional grouping and China started their summit in Kuala Lumpur.

In his opening remarks at the summit, Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang who witnessed the signing together with his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim, said the agreement “ushers in new opportunities for expanding economic and trade cooperation.”

“External forces are interfering in the region and many countries have been unreasonably subjected to high tariffs,” Li said without naming the United States.

Total trade between Asean and China amounted to US$770.94 billion in 2024, up 10.61% from a year earlier.

Asean members have been hit with higher tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump. Trade tensions between China and the United States were rekindled earlier this month after Beijing announced new curbs on exports of rare earth elements essential for high-tech manufacturing.

Asean comprises Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The Asean chair, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, said it all. Acknowledging US President Donald Trump’s presence during the signing ceremony on Thailand-Cambodia relations on Sunday, he stated: “We, of course, admire your tenacity and courage because the world needs leaders who promote peace strongly.”

With his signature on the joint declaration, Mr Trump can now tell the world he has halted eight wars. In Southeast Asia, those words confirm that Mr Trump is both the world’s renowned dealmaker and peacemaker. Asean does applaud his personal dedication to peace — at least for now.

It remains to be seen how the US engages with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) during the rest of Mr Trump’s administration. During his first presidency, he did not have a good record when it came to Asean. In November 2017, he left the Asean summit in the Philippines halfway through. During this time, Asean-US ties were on autopilot. However, this time around, Mr Trump did score high points with Asean and managed to assert his role in easing tensions between two Asean member states.

However, the 11-member Asean is still very concerned about economic security relations with the US, which is considered one of the bloc’s most important trading partners. Any decision on the US tariff rates will immediately impact economic growth and societal development in the region. It will also influence the geopolitical shift in the era of multipolarity. With Mr Trump’s satisfaction over his peace success, the bloc hopes he will soften his approach to the weaponisation of trade barriers.

For the time being, not all Asean members have concluded trade agreements with the US. It is still an ongoing process. For the time being, Asean is aware that the Trump administration is doing everything it can to counter China’s growing influence across all dimensions in this part of the world. Regional experts agree it is a futile endeavour, as China is too deeply embedded in the region through trade, investment, and supply chains.

At the Kuala Lumpur summit, more than officials would like to admit, China is the real winner and all without a shouting match with the US. In support of free trade, China and Asean have signed their upgraded Asean-China Free Trade Area 3.0, which covers new trade areas including the digital economy, green economy, supply-chain connectivity, competition and consumer protection, among others.

For decades, China has been the No.1 trading partner of Asean. China is also a member of the Asean-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The RCEP leaders’ meeting was strongly committed to multilateralism and trade openness. The world’s largest free trade pact will become a new engine of growth in the broader Asia-Pacific. Hong Kong, Chile, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have applied, and they will be able to join once they fulfil the criteria agreed at Sunday’s summit.

From a regional perspective, the Asean chair has also maximised the participation of the world’s most powerful leaders. It provided Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva with the opportunity to hold bilateral talks with Mr Trump to work on a trade deal. The Malaysian-US ties have been elevated to a comprehensive strategic partnership. The summit also attracted the largest number of 20-plus leaders attending. Malaysia has also raised its international profile and respect as a regional convenor.

When Mr Trump pledged to attend the Asean summit back in July, Mr Anwar probably did not have in mind Mr Trump’s presence at the signing ceremony, let alone watching him dancing at the tarmac and getting a ride from Kuala Lumpur International Airport with him in the “Beast” (Mr Trump’s bulletproof limousine) and “breaking the rules and protocols”. Most importantly, the chair has further promoted the relevance of Asean for peace and stability.

Kudos must go to all officials who have been working so hard behind the scenes. Malaysia, as the facilitator, has been an essential key player. The US must be considered an accelerator given its influence over the two conflicting parties, Thailand and Cambodia. They are currently negotiating a trading agreement with the US. Mr Trump was very succinct in saying that the US will have robust commerce and cooperation with both nations, “as long as they live in peace”.

Asean as an organisation must also be given credit. Without the Asean spirit enshrined in all its members — especially Bangkok and Phnom Penh — the peace efforts would not have been achieved. Deep down, the Asean charter remains the main toolkit that the conflict parties utilise.

At the signing ceremony, judging from the speeches of Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, there were common convictions after taking their “monumental step”.

Mr Anutin described the signing as reflecting “our will to resolve differences peacefully in full respect of sovereignty and territorial integrity”. The country views the accord as a concrete step toward peace and a new chapter for Thailand and Cambodia. However, Mr Anutin reiterated the need for full implementation of the declaration to provide a foundation for lasting peace.

Hun Manet emphasised that conflicts must be settled peacefully, no matter how difficult or complex disputes may be. To his credit, he said that as he spoke, senior commanders from both countries were already in discussions on a phased withdrawal of heavy weapons. He wanted to show that Cambodia was taking implementation seriously.

It is important to remember that the details of the declaration were taken from the agreed minutes worked out since Aug 7, when the first special General Border Committee held its meeting. For nearly three months, both sides blamed each other for failing to carry out the agreed measures.

It is hoped that last week’s newly signed declaration, with all the fanfare, will allow the so-called Asean Observer Team (AOT) to better verify the implementation of the withdrawal of heavy weapons, cooperation in demining, anti-cybercrime, and human trafficking operations.

The next three months will be crucial for the reconciliation process, as they are the timeframe for the AOT mandate, which can be renewed if needed. The two countries agreed that each country will have its AOT, selected and approved by the Asean chair. All AOT representatives will be granted diplomatic immunity to enable them to perform their work efficiently. Each Asean member will dispatch two representatives to each AOT. Both countries agreed that Malaysia should continue to serve as the AOT chair after its rotational chairmanship expires on Dec 31.

Although Thailand is currently in the mourning period following the death of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit The Queen Mother, the Thai armed forces will remain vigilant and follow the accord. The AOT will closely monitor the action plan for the removal of heavy weapons, covering three phases. Weapon removal began on Sunday.

On the Thai side, heavy weapons in Surin, Lop Buri, Si Sa Ket and Ubon Ratchathani provinces will be removed in tandem with Cambodia’s actions across the border in Siem Reap, Kandal, Kampong Speu, Banteay Srey, Kampong Thom, and Preah Vihear provinces.

Finally, the future of their ties will also depend heavily on how they rebuild mutual trust and work toward normalisation. Most importantly, the current media propaganda and inflammatory rhetoric from both sides must stop immediately. The current peace accord is the litmus test for whether Thai and Cambodian media, across all platforms, are actually professional or just a megaphone.

During the past three months, media reports from both sides have done significant damage to people-to-people relations. It may take years or perhaps generations to restore good faith between Thais and Cambodians.

The signing of the peace accord on Sunday is a good start. Real peace depends on follow-through actions and will hinge on trust and restraint from both sides of the border.

Shares of Taokaenoi Food and Marketing Plc (TKN) plunged by nearly 10% on Tuesday as Itthipat “Tob” Peeradechapan announced his resignation as the company’s chief executive and director following civil sanction measures imposed by Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for insider trading violations.

In its filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), TKN acknowledged the SEC’s announcement on Monday, which disclosed civil penalties against five individuals for insider trading of TKN shares.

The seaweed snack company reported that it was reviewing the facts and gathering information from all relevant parties to ensure compliance with corporate governance principles. TKN said the allegation does not affect the company’s ongoing business operations.

By midday Tuesday, TKN’s share price had fallen by 9.9% to 4.64 baht, with a total trading value of 145 million baht following the news.

Trading violations

The SEC said that information provided by the SET in March 2023 prompted the regulator to conduct a further investigation, which found sufficient evidence against five individuals. According to the SEC, Mr Itthipat, Nutchatpong Peeradechapan (former managing director for business support), Phanida Wiriyakitnukul, Thitirat Panuwatvanich and Jakkaphan Sardpreechar engaged in insider trading of TKN shares between Aug 5 and Nov 9, 2022.

The SEC found that the individuals had access to material non-public information concerning TKN’s third-quarter 2022 earnings, which recorded a net profit of 179.97 million baht – a significant increase – along with a special interim dividend of 0.08 baht per share. These undisclosed developments were likely to influence the company’s share price.

Evidence showed Mr Itthipat purchased TKN shares through Mrs Phanida’s trading account, while Mr Nutchatpong executed share purchases via accounts belonging to Ms. Thitirat and Mr. Jakkaphan, prior to the public disclosure of the information on November 10, 2022, according to the SEC.

Penalties

Consequently, the regulator’s civil sanctions committee imposed a fine of 11,601,063 baht on Mr Itthipat, as well as a 20-month ban from serving as a director or executive of any listed or securities company.

Mr Nutchatpong was fined 2,916,030 baht and given a 14-month ban from executive positions. Mrs Phanida was fined 625,197 baht and given a 13-month ban from executive roles, while Ms Thitirat and Mr Jakkaphan were fined 625,197 baht each and ordered to serve nine-month bans from holding director or executive roles.

The SEC said all fines and reimbursements are to be remitted to the Ministry of Finance as state revenue.

Ban periods begin once offenders sign consent agreements. Refusal will result in the SEC requesting prosecutors to file civil lawsuits seeking maximum penalties.

Fines and compensation will be remitted to the Ministry of Finance as state revenue.

TKN reported that it is reviewing facts from all parties to proceed according to law and good corporate governance and will report further developments.

Sukhothai delivered one of the biggest upsets of the Thai League 1 season on Saturday night, stunning big-spending BG Pathum United 3-1 in front of their home crowd.

The Rabbits, boasting a squad full of internationals, were expected to control proceedings but were undone by the Fire Bats’ energy and resilience.

Brazilian striker Elias Souza struck inside two minutes to give Sukhothai a dream start, only for Tomoyuki Doi to level for BG in the 13th minute.

The visitors pressed for long spells but could not break down the hosts, who defended stoutly and looked dangerous on the counter.

With 13 minutes left, Ratchanat Arunyapairot restored Sukhothai’s lead, and Elias sealed the points with his second goal deep into stoppage time.

The victory lifted Sukhothai clear of the relegation zone, while BG Pathum were left to reflect on another damaging setback in their title chase.

At Chang Arena, champions Buriram United stayed on top with a 2-1 win over Rayong in a match that carried special milestones as Guilherme Bissoli scored his 50th Thai League 1 goal, while captain Theerathon Bunmathan marked his 300th league appearance.

Goran Causic opened the scoring for Buriram in the eighth minute, but Rayong equalised through Saharat Sonthisawat just before half-time. Early in the second half, Theerathon’s precise cross was headed home by Bissoli, who reached his half-century in just 52 matches.

It was also a winning home debut for new English coach Mark Jackson, who praised his players’ determination.

Elsewhere, Bangkok United edged Lamphun Warriors 4-3 in a thriller, while Ratchaburi defeated Uthai Thani 3-2 away.

The Thai sporting community was rocked after national badminton ace Pornpawee Chochuwong, currently ranked world No.6 and Thailand’s top women’s singles player, announced her withdrawal from the upcoming 2025 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

The 33rd edition of the biennial SEA Games will be hosted by Thailand from Dec 9-20.

Pornpawee, a four-time SEA Games gold medallist, personally submitted a resignation letter to the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT), stating that she had lost motivation due to what she described as unfair treatment from certain officials within the Badminton Association of Thailand’s development division.

She emphasised that her decision was not related to financial allowances, but rather to systemic problems that she hopes will be addressed for the sake of younger athletes. “I have endured these problems for years, but I don’t want the next generation to face the same difficulties,” Pornpawee said.

The 27-year-old shuttler revealed that she had made significant sacrifices in preparation for the SEA Games, including withdrawing from the Australian Open and professional league competitions in China.

She also covered most of her own training and travel expenses, citing insufficient support from the association.

Pornpawee further explained that her disappointment stemmed from the lack of prior notice about mandatory SEA Games fitness tests.

“If I had been told, I would have complied with the rules,” she said, stressing again that her dispute was not with the SAT or about daily allowances.

Her resignation comes amid ongoing controversy over the deduction of allowances for national team players.

Earlier this year, fellow stars Kunlavut Vitidsarn and Ratchanok Intanon saw their allowances reduced to 6,000 baht after missing scheduled fitness tests due to international competitions.

Meanwhile, preparations for the 33rd SEA Games, scheduled to take place in Bangkok, Chon Buri, and Songkhla, will continue.

Minister of Tourism and Sports Atthakorn Sirilatthayakorn has confirmed that the Games will proceed as planned, though the opening and closing ceremonies will be simplified in light of the recent passing of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, the Queen Mother.

SAT Governor Dr Gongsak Yodmani added that the organising committee will focus on ensuring appropriate ceremonies, security, and smooth operations across all venues.

The Senate on Tuesday voted by a wide margin to find Senator Nantana Nantavaropas guilty of committing a serious ethical violation over “pork seller” remarks that were deemed demeaning toward a fellow senator.

Following the decision, the case will be next referred to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) for legal proceedings, said Senate Speaker Mongkol Surasajja.

The five-hour closed-door session, chaired by Mr Mongkol, concluded with 130 votes in favour, 26 against and 11 abstentions – surpassing the required three-fifths majority of 119 votes.

The decision followed a review by the Senate’s ethics committee, chaired by Deputy Senate Speaker Gen Kriangkrai Srirak, which ruled that Ms Nantana’s comments showed prejudice against certain professions, disrespected human dignity and tarnished the Senate’s reputation.

Ms Nantana called a press conference to denounce the Senate’s resolution, calling it a ‘disgraceful decision’ that exposes how hidden hands are manipulating the upper chamber.

The Senate’s deliberation marked the first time the current Upper House has voted to declare a senator’s conduct a serious breach of ethics, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The session was long because it allowed both Ms Nantana and the investigating committee to present detailed explanations before voting, said the source.

Some senators had proposed deferring the decision, noting that related criminal proceedings were still pending, but the chamber proceeded with the vote, said the same source.

Earlier, Gen Kriangkrai denied allegations that the ethics probe against Ms Nantana was politically motivated or intended to target her, following criticism that the inquiry over her remarks belittling a fellow senator was unfair.

The United States has ramped up efforts to hedge against rare earth export controls by China – the world’s dominant supplier – through agreements signed on Sunday with two Southeast Asian countries, including one that experts believe could deliver results relatively quickly.

Memoranda of understanding with Malaysia and Thailand pave the way for increased critical mineral exports to US automotive, defence and hi-tech hardware manufacturers – following a US$8.5 billion US-Australia framework deal earlier this month.

Both agreements, however, will require industry support and time to develop processing capacity before raw materials reach US buyers in significant volumes, said Charles Chang, a finance professor at Fudan University in Shanghai.

Still, analysts said the two accords could eventually help reduce US dependence on China in the event of a prolonged trade dispute, which has already seen Beijing restrict exports of the critical minerals.

China accounts for about 70% of global mining for rare earth metals – a subcategory of critical minerals – and 90% of processing output, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a prominent US think tank.

US electric vehicle makers, for instance, rely heavily on certain rare earth metals. “If they can get those materials from Malaysia and Thailand, which means that the US puts concrete plans in place to actually buy those materials on long-term contracts, and they put the downstream processing in place, then an agreement will help,” said Jon Hykawy, president of the Toronto-based industry advisory Stormcrow Capital.

“This is always a good hedging strategy for the US,” said Chen Zhiwu, chair professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong. “It’s the simple reality that other countries won’t want to be subject to other actions to be taken by future Chinese officials.”

Earlier in October, Beijing expanded export controls on rare earth materials, technologies and dual-use items as part of its trade war with the US. But implementation could be eased after talks with Washington in Kuala Lumpur over the weekend and an expected meeting between the two presidents this week, as hinted by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Agreements between the US and other countries, even if the benefits only pay off in the long term, might increase US bargaining power with China, Chang of Fudan University said.

“The Australia, Malaysia and Thailand announcements are aimed at reducing China’s negotiation leverage,” he added.

Beijing, however, need not worry for now as it still has “the most stable and the cheapest supply chain”.

US President Donald Trump and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul signed a memorandum of understanding to “secure and diversify” critical mineral supplies, the White House said in a statement. They also agreed to promote partnerships between US and Thai companies while enhancing “global supply chain resilience”.

Malaysia and the US also reached an agreement to promote trade and investment in the exploration, extraction, processing and refining of critical minerals, the White House said in a separate statement on Sunday.

The Malaysia agreement will support the transition to “efficient and secure critical mineral and rare earths markets”, the White House added.

While many countries have reserves, analysts said in August that Malaysia’s industry, unlike many others, could scale up quickly because of its existing processing capacity. A Malaysian government business model has called for “fast-tracking” the sector’s supply chain.

The two US agreements were announced during Trump’s participation at the 2025 Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Kuala Lumpur.

Elon Musk on Monday unveiled his own version of Wikipedia, the crowdsourced online encyclopaedia, with entries edited by xAI, his artificial intelligence (AI) company.

The new project, Grokipedia, would ‘purge out the propaganda’ flooding Wikipedia, Musk claimed in a post on his social media site, X.

Grokipedia, which briefly crashed after its launch Monday afternoon, tallied more than 800,000 AI-generated encyclopaedia entries, compared with Wikipedia’s nearly 8 million human-written ones. Visitors to the website – grokipedia.com – were greeted with a bare-bones logo and a search bar that allowed them to query topics.

An entry on Musk said his public persona ‘blends innovative visionary with irreverent provocateur’ and featured details of his diet, noting his consumption of ‘occasional indulgences like morning donuts and multiple Diet Cokes daily.’ Grokipedia also has entries on OpenAI, a competitor of xAI, and political figures including President Donald Trump and the New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.

The new site adds to Musk’s online media ecosystem, which coheres with his personal political views. On X, Musk has reinstated right-wing creators and allowed them to reach enormous audiences, and he has used X as a bully pulpit to drive government funding cuts. He has also tweaked xAI’s chatbot, Grok, to lean further to the right.

‘The impulse to control knowledge is as old as knowledge itself,’ said Ryan McGrady, a senior research fellow at the University of Massachusetts Amherst who studies encyclopaedias and social media platforms. ‘Controlling what gets written is a way to gain or keep power.’

Some Grokipedia entries appeared to align with Musk’s views. On gender transition, which Musk has publicly opposed, the site said medical treatment for transgender people was based on evidence that was ‘limited and of low quality.’ Wikipedia’s corresponding page said scientific understanding of the subject had existed for decades.

Musk was also a frequent critic of Parag Agrawal, a former CEO of Twitter, now X. Grokipedia’s entry on Agrawal highlighted Musk’s assertion that the former executive downplayed the existence of bots on the platform, and it said he had ‘faced significant scrutiny over the platform’s estimates of fake and spam accounts.’ Those details were not found on Wikipedia.

A representative for xAI did not respond to questions about Grokipedia or the outage.

Wikipedia, which debuted almost 25 years ago, has faced increasing criticism from conservatives in recent months. Musk and his political allies have argued that the online encyclopaedia is too ‘woke’ and excludes conservative media outlets from its approved citations.

Musk fiercely criticised the site in January, after the entry on him was edited to note that he had thrown his right arm stiffly into the air in front of him – a gesture many onlookers quickly compared to a Nazi salute – during a celebratory speech honouring Trump’s inauguration. Musk has denied any meaning behind his gesture, something also included in the entry.

‘Since legacy media propaganda is considered a ‘valid’ source by Wikipedia, it naturally simply becomes an extension of legacy media propaganda!’ he posted, calling for its donors to stop contributing to the site.

Musk announced his intention to build a competing site this month.

‘Wikipedia has achieved a dominant position. I hope Grokipedia challenges it and is able to fix that,’ said David Sacks, the AI czar of the Trump administration and an investor in several of Musk’s companies, in an episode of his podcast this month. ‘But the easier path might just be for Wikipedia to stop blackballing and censoring conservative publications, rather than having to rebuild that whole thing from scratch.’

Jimmy Wales, a Wikipedia co-founder, said in an interview that he did not think AI could replace the site’s accuracy. He is leading an internal working group that is focused on promoting neutral points of view and developing guidelines to encourage academic research into potential biases on Wikipedia, he added.

‘I try to tease out what is the negative something in there that I could try to improve,’ Wales said of the critiques. ‘It’s digging in and doing the work. That’s the only thing I know how to do.’

Wikipedia already faces challenges as its entries are used to train AI systems, said representatives for the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that oversees the online encyclopaedia.

Visits to its website by humans have fallen 8% this year, while visits from automatic scrapers that AI companies use to harvest data have increased. AI summaries generated by search engines and chatbots are also stopping users from visiting Wikipedia.

‘People will take information they get from these tools at face value, and that information may or may not be correct,’ said Selena Deckelmann, the chief technology officer of the Wikimedia Foundation. ‘The value Wikipedia has provided for over a decade is that it lets people dig into the sources.’

The Centre for Alcohol Studies (CAS) has voiced concerns that the government’s proposals to lift zoning restrictions on alcohol sales and extend the opening hours of nightlife venues nationwide to 4am could strain the country’s public health system.

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul recently assigned the Interior and Public Health ministries to study the proposals by January. The policies, aimed at boosting tax and tourist revenue, were proposed by nightclub operators and business groups.

Dr Polathep Vichitkunakorn, CAS director, said that according to a study, the 2023 ministerial regulation on extended operating hours in five zoning areas of Bangkok, Phuket, Chon Buri, Chiang Mai, and Koh Samui had resulted in negative impacts on public health and safety.

The zoning announcement increased road accidents and injuries by 12% and led to a 13% rise in road fatalities.

Moreover, the fatality rate in major tourism provinces such as Bangkok, Phuket and Chon Buri during the zoning announcement was reported to have hit 22%, while the number of intoxicated driving cases doubled by 115% compared to the previous year.

The zoning had also not resulted in economic growth, he said. Some provinces outside of the zoning area reported double the revenue and number of tourists.

“Liberalisation may be presented as an economic shortcut, but evidence confirms that this is a dead end in terms of public health and safety,” said Dr Polathep.

Preyahathai Aroonvanichporn underlined her rising status in Thai equestrian sport with a double triumph at the 2025 King’s Cup Thailand Championship Dressage and Pony Dressage Final at the Royal Thai Army Riding Club, Sanam Pao, Bangkok, last month.

The 17-year-old rider delivered assured performances to claim first place in both the Young Rider Novice and Junior Preliminary categories, confirming her reputation as one of the country’s brightest prospects in dressage.

Preyahathai’s impact extends well beyond the arena. She is the founder of SafeSwim, a youth-led volunteer initiative that brings together students from more than 15 schools in Thailand and abroad. The group focuses on water safety and drowning prevention, with a particular emphasis on supporting children with disabilities, especially those with hearing impairments.

The programme has gained national recognition for its inclusive approach to safety education.

On World Drowning Prevention Day, SafeSwim was honoured with the Outstanding Youth Activity Award, presented jointly by the Ministry of Public Health and the World Health Organisation (WHO) Thailand. The award highlighted the group’s contribution to raising awareness and equipping vulnerable children with life-saving skills.

For Preyahathai, the accolade reflects the same discipline and commitment she brings to her sport. Her achievements at the King’s Cup and her leadership of SafeSwim mark her as a standout figure in Thai youth sport.