MANILA: US President Donald Trump on Monday affirmed Washington’s commitment to forging closer ties with Southeast Asian nations, including the Philippines.
This made clear America’s position on issues affecting the region, particularly concerning security, trade and economy.
Trump is on a three-day visit in Manila to attend the 31st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and Related Meetings on Nov. 13-14.
The US president had a bilateral meeting on Sunday with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte. He also attended the 5th US-ASEAN Summit Commemoration and the 40th-anniversary ASEAN-US dialogue relations.
During their talk, Trump and Duterte affirmed the strong relationship between the Philippines and the US, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said. It was the first formal meeting between the two heads of state since they assumed office last year.
Roque said Duterte, however, did acknowledge that there were very sour points in the relationship. “And the sour points were statements made by former President (Barack) Obama on the administration of President Duterte. I think President Trump addressed this by reassuring the Philippine president that he has always been an ally of the Philippine president since he was elected into office.”
In the 40-minute discussion, the human rights issue was not raised, Roque said. But it was Duterte who brought up the subject of the drug menace in the Philippines.
“The US president appeared sympathetic and did not have any official position on the matter but was merely nodding his head, indicating that he understood the domestic problem that we face on drugs,” Roque said.
Duterte likewise thanked Trump for the US assistance in quelling the five-month Marawi conflict. The Philippine president made it clear that dealing with terrorism and violent extremism is among the government’s priorities.
On the economy, the Philippines expressed appreciation of the Generalized System of Preferences and suggested that the free- trade agreement also be concluded between the US and the Philippines. Roque said the US observed that the Business Process Outsourcing industry had become very important in the Philippines, promising to find ways to reduce the trade surplus between the two nations.
He added that the US would try to work out something to reduce the deficit of trade between the Philippines and China.
On improving trade relations, Roque said President Trump singled out the issue of tariffs being imposed on US automobiles while such tariffs are not being imposed on Japanese cars.
The Palace official described the meeting between the two leaders as “frank.”
“President Trump specifically said that he has always been a friend of the Duterte administration unlike the previous administrations of the United States,” he added.
Meanwhile, during the US-ASEAN Summit, Trump said Washington remained committed to ASEAN’s central role as a regional forum for total cooperation.
He said the diplomatic partnership would become the vehicle for advancing the security and prosperity of Americans and Indo-Pacific nations.
Trump noted that nations in the region had built strong societies, robust economies, and vibrant communities over several decades.
The US president said his country had been moving ahead brilliantly on an economic basis since the US elections in November last year. He said America’s better economic development benefits the ASEAN as a region.
“So we want our partners in the region to be strong, independent and prosperous. In control of their own destinies and satellites to no one. These are the principles behind our vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Trump said.
Trump affirms US ties with Philippines, ASEAN
Trump affirms US ties with Philippines, ASEAN
Myanmar, Afghan hopeful scholars mourn UK study visa ban
- Myanmar, Afghanistan, Sudan and Cameroon citizens will be barred from obtaining university visas
- Britain’s travel block is “really painful” for Afghan women hoping to escape to an education abroad, said one female
YANGON, Myanmar: Aspiring students are lamenting Britain’s ban on education visas for their war-weary countries — dashing dreams of bettering themselves and their home nations.
Myanmar, Afghanistan, Sudan and Cameroon citizens will be barred from obtaining university visas, London announced this week, saying asylum applications by visiting students had “rocketed” nearly 500 percent from 2021 to 2025.
“It’s like the country is punishing the weak, the most vulnerable people,” said one woman from Myanmar.
She was preparing for a scholarship interview for a master’s in climate change finance when her plans were upended by Downing Street’s decree on Wednesday.
“I could not focus the whole morning,” the 28-year-old told AFP from Yangon, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons in a country riven by civil war since a 2021 military coup.
“I can’t picture my future.”
Like in much of the developed world, immigration has become a divisive issue in Britain.
Efforts to beat back arrivals mirror the sweeping travel bans issued by US President Donald Trump which have shut out citizens of Myanmar, Sudan and Afghanistan.
Since the chaotic military withdrawal of Britain, the United States and other NATO nations in 2021, Afghanistan has been ruled by a resurgent Taliban government which has banned women over age 12 from attending school.
Britain’s travel block is “really painful” for Afghan women hoping to escape to an education abroad, said one female child social worker in Ghazni province, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons.
She has now canceled her plans to study for a master’s in both the US and the UK.
“Now I am trying to be hopeful, but I think it would also be a mistake,” said the 27-year-old.
In the summer of 2024, Arefa Mohammadi fled to neighboring Pakistan, living in limbo as she applied to universities.
She got an offer to study public health in England but now cannot accept it.
“It was truly shocking for me,” said the 24-year-old.
“This situation put me in a place where I haven’t any goals, because all my goals and all my futures are unpredictable.”
- ‘Cruel and short-sighted’ -
In Kabul, a 39-year-old man faces similar heartbreak.
He was accepted to study specialist subjects related to water management at three universities in England and Scotland.
“When I was a child I witnessed several challenges like flash floods, water scarcity, environmental neglect, inefficient irrigation systems,” he said, asking to remain anonymous for security reasons. “To address these challenges I made my application.”
“I hoped to acquire modern knowledge. It’s impossible to acquire in Afghanistan,” he added.
Some 33 million people in the country face severe water shortages, aid agencies say, a result of compounding multi-year droughts, climate change and infrastructure battered by decades of war.
Britain’s Labour government made the decision to curb visas as the right-wing Reform UK party surges in opinion polls with its hard-line stance against immigration.
The UK Home Office said almost 135,000 asylum seekers had entered the country through legal routes since 2021.
Activist organization Burma Campaign UK called the visa ban “exceptionally cruel and shortsighted.”
“The opportunity to come to the UK to study is life-changing for the individual student but also an investment in the future of Myanmar,” said program director Zoya Phan in a statement.
One exiled Myanmar journalist has been living over the border in Thailand after escaping the military rule which has clamped down on press freedoms.
“When the military coup happened I was just 22, so I had a lot of dreams,” she said. “But over the past five years there have been a lot of struggles — I couldn’t complete my dreams.”
Every year since the junta takeover she applied for further education to buoy her spirits.
But she received an email Thursday morning canceling her place to study for a master’s at a London university.
“Everything is gone,” she said. “My UK dream is all disappeared.”
