China ready to work with ASEAN members to build successful FTA 3.0, says Chinese premier

Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Sunday that China is ready to work with Singapore and other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to make the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 a success and jointly achieve greater development.

Li made the remarks when meeting with Singapore's Acting President Eddie Teo during his official visit to the country.

China is willing to maintain close communication and coordination with Singapore within multilateral mechanisms, work together to uphold multilateralism and free trade, and promote an equal and orderly multipolar world as well as a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, Li said.

China, U.S. reach basic consensuses on properly addressing several key economic, trade issues, says China int'l trade representative

China and the United States reached basic consensuses on properly addressing several important economic and trade issues of respective concerns, and will then go through their respective domestic approval procedures, Li Chenggang, China international trade representative with the Ministry of Commerce and vice minister of commerce, said here on Sunday.

Li made the remarks when briefing the press following the new round of China-U.S. economic and trade talks held over the past two days.

Over the past month or so, China-U.S. economic and trade relations have experienced some turbulence and fluctuations, which have drawn attention from the world, Li said.

He said that since the China-U.S. economic and trade talks in Geneva this May, China has strictly followed the consensuses reached in multiple phone calls between the two heads of state, faithfully and earnestly implemented the outcomes of the economic and trade talks, and carefully safeguarded the hard-won, relatively stable China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation relationship.

Cambodia, Thailand sign joint declaration on peace

Cambodia and Thailand on Sunday signed a joint declaration on peace on the sidelines of the 47th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in the Malaysian capital.

The declaration was signed by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.

At the signing ceremony, Hun Manet said Cambodia reaffirms its strong commitment to fully implementing the joint declaration and to continuing close cooperation with Thailand and all partners to ensure lasting peace that brings tangible benefits to people in both countries.

For his part, Anutin said the declaration, if fully implemented, will provide the building blocks for lasting peace and, more importantly, will help mend Thai-Cambodian ties.

Timor-Leste becomes ASEAN's 11th member

Timor-Leste has been welcomed into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as the grouping's 11th member, following an official ceremony at the 47th ASEAN Summit in the Malaysian capital on Sunday.

Timor-Leste's President Jose Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao were present at the signing of the Declaration on the Admission of Timor-Leste into ASEAN.

Timor-Leste, located in the easternmost part of the Lesser Sunda Islands in Southeast Asia, applied for ASEAN membership in 2011. In November 2022, ASEAN member states principally agreed to admit Timor-Leste as a new member of the regional grouping.

Trump says plan to impose 10 pct extra tariffs on Canada over ad controversy

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he plans to increase tariffs on goods from Canada by an extra 10 percent because of an anti-tariff TV advertisement.

The ad, aired by the Canadian province of Ontario, featured former President Ronald Reagan criticizing U.S. tariffs. Trump accused it of misleading and threatened on Thursday to end trade talks with Canada.

"Because of their serious misrepresentation of the facts, and hostile act, I am increasing the Tariff on Canada by 10% over and above what they are paying now," Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform as he flew aboard Air Force One to Malaysia.

"Their Advertisement was to be taken down, IMMEDIATELY, but they let it run last night during the World Series, knowing that it was a FRAUD," he added.

Israel allows Red Cross, Egyptian teams to recover hostage bodies in Gaza

Red Cross and Egyptian teams have been allowed to enter the Gaza Strip to search for the bodies of hostages, Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian said on Sunday.

Speaking at a news briefing, Bedrosian said Israel had permitted the teams to move beyond the "yellow line," which marks the Israeli army's withdrawal zone under the current ceasefire agreement, to assist in the recovery effort.

She said Hamas has not yet returned the bodies of 13 hostages. Under the agreement, Hamas is required to hand over the remains of 28 deceased hostages, in addition to the 20 living hostages it had released earlier this month.■