Thailand moves to recriminalise cannabis, shaking US$1 billion industry
A coffee and a cannabis signs are seen outside a shop at Khaosan Road, one of the favourite tourist spots in Bangkok, Thailand, May 18, 2025. REUTERS
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South China Morning Post
7 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Southeast Asia increasingly finds China more reliable and predictable
As a nation, China sees itself as a rational, peaceful and stabilising force in an increasingly dangerous and fragmented global order. While such national characteristics may be relative and are mostly in the eyes of the beholder, they seem to be less debatable when compared with the erratic and unpredictable actions and policy flip-flops coming out of the White House of Donald Trump. In his first official visit last week, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong was given the same message Xi Jinping has been sending to other Southeast Asian leaders during the latter's tour of the region earlier this year. Singapore and China together need to 'stand on the right side of history', Xi says, and push for an equitable multipolar world against 'unilateral bullying' and 'tariff abuse'. That was obviously a reference to the Trump administration's 'reciprocal tariffs', which have especially irked Singapore because of its trade deficit with the United States. In April, Wong criticised the US tariffs as 'not actions one does to a friend', so Xi's message was calibrated to appeal to the Singaporean sense of unfairness. It's often been claimed that, unlike the transatlanticism of Nato and the democratic governance of the European Union, Asean countries that collectively account for most of the economic activities of Southeast Asia lack a cohesive ideology. But despite their differences in government, culture and language, they do share some strong beliefs; that is, in growth, prosperity, pragmatism and peaceful coexistence over sabre-rattling. These are the same values to which China has long been committed. Also, it's long been debated whether Asean countries such as Singapore will end up having to choose between China and the US in their increasingly bitter rivalry. Asean's common response has been that they can be friends with everyone.
RTHK
9 hours ago
- RTHK
US Senate opens debate on Trump spending bill
US Senate opens debate on Trump spending bill The Senate opened debate on Trump's spending bill after Republican holdouts delayed what should have been a procedural vote. File photo: Reuters US senators debated into the early hours of Sunday Donald Trump's "big beautiful" spending bill, a hugely divisive proposal that would deliver key parts of the US president's domestic agenda while making massive cuts to social welfare programs. Trump is hoping to seal his legacy with the "One Big Beautiful Bill," which would extend his expiring first-term tax cuts at a cost of US$4.5 trillion and beef up border security. But Republicans eyeing 2026 midterm congressional elections are divided over the package, which would strip health care from millions of the poorest Americans and add more than US$3 trillion to the country's debt. The Senate formally opened debate on the bill late on Saturday, after Republican holdouts delayed what should have been a procedural vote -- drawing Trump's ire on social media. Senators narrowly passed the motion to begin debate, 51-49, hours after the vote was first called, with Vice President JD Vance joining negotiations with holdouts from his own party. Ultimately, two Republican senators joined 47 Democrats in voting "nay" on opening debate. Trump has pushed his party to get the bill passed and on his desk for him to sign into law by July 4, the United States' independence day. "Tonight we saw a GREAT VICTORY in the Senate," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform after the vote to begin debate. "Republicans must remember that they are fighting against a very evil, corrupt and, in many ways, incompetent (Policywise!) group of people, who would rather see our Country 'go down in flames' than do the right thing," he said in an earlier post. Democrats are bitterly opposed to the legislation and Trump's agenda, and have vowed to hold up the debate. They began by insisting that the entirety of the bill be read aloud to the chamber before the debate commences. The bill is roughly 1,000 pages long and will take an estimated 15 hours to read. "Republicans won't tell America what's in the bill," said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. "So Democrats are forcing it to be read start to finish on the floor. We will be here all night if that's what it takes to read it." If passed in the Senate, the bill would go back to the House for approval, where Republicans can only afford to lose a handful of votes -- and are facing stiff opposition from within their own ranks. (AFP)
RTHK
9 hours ago
- RTHK
South Korea names new cabinet ministers
South Korea names new cabinet ministers President Lee Jae Myung has tabbed Koo Yun-cheol to be his finance minister. File photo: Reuters South Korea President Lee Jae Myung has chosen a former vice finance minister, Koo Yun-cheol, to be his finance minister, his office said on Sunday. Koo is widely known as a policy expert, serving different positions across the government and authoring books on South Korea's innovation and growth, most recently on artificial intelligence, Lee's chief of staff, Kang Hoon-sik, told a briefing. Among other ministerial positions, Lee named Kim Jung-kwan, president of power plant builder Doosan Enerbility and a veteran bureaucrat in economics, energy and public policy, to be industry minister. Kim fits the role to realise President Lee's "energy mix philosophy", Kang said, referring the new leader's aim to balance nuclear power and renewable energy. The former head of South Korea's disease control agency, Jeong Eun-kyeong, was nominated for health minister. She was highly praised for her response to the Covid-19 pandemic, becoming one of the Time Magazine's 100 most influential people of 2020. Cabinet nominations in South Korea must be vetted by hearings in parliament. But presidents may appoint their nominees even without parliament approval, and Lee's Democratic Party has a majority in parliament. (Reuters)
