South China Sea: Philippine presidential candidates call for tougher stance on Beijing

Presidential candidates in the Philippines want the country to take a tougher stance against Beijing over territorial disputes in the South China Sea. The Philippines must rally the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in establishing a code of conduct with China, leveraging on its 2016 victory at The Hague arbitration which rejected Beijing’s nine-dash line claim, Vice-President Leni Robredo said at the Commission on Election’s debate on Sunday. Former defence secretary Norberto…

Softbank’s exit from Indonesia’s new capital project sees it turn to Saudi Arabia, UAE and crowdfunding

Indonesia is turning to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as crowdfunding from its massive population, to develop its new capital city in Borneo after Japanese tech behemoth SoftBank Group pulled out of the US$34 billion project. Coordinating Minister of Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan, in revealing SoftBank’s exit, attributed it to “decline in their share price” and Saudi Arabia’s withdrawal of funds from the company’s venture capital arm Vision Fund 2…