KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia called Friday for fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to extend their security partnerships from the high seas to cyberspace at an annual meeting of the bloc’s defense ministers.
Defense Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin opened the meeting by warning that regional peace faces growing pressure from both traditional and emerging threats, including rising tensions in the South China Sea and the spread of cyberattacks that can “disrupt societies, topple governments and undermine critical infrastructure.”
“Threats today transcend borders and dimensions,” he said. “We see the challenges in the South China Sea. But we must also recognize that our digital realm is equally at risk. The threats that test our networks and systems may be invisible, but just as dangerous as those threatening our maritime zones.
ASEAN defense ministers will hold talks Saturday with dialogue partners including the United States, China, Japan, India, Australia, South Korea and Russia. Among those attending are US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who arrived late Wednesday, and his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun.
Khaled also urged all ASEAN nations to expedite the formation of an ASEAN observer team to support Thailand and Cambodia in resolving their border crisis. The two nations inked an expanded ceasefire pact on Sunday, witnessed by US President Donald Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is this year’s ASEAN chair.
Khaled also reiterated ASEAN’s commitment to support a peaceful resolution of the civil war in Myanmar, saying the bloc remains determined to help the country “return to its rightful place in ASEAN.”
Myanmar military government leaders have been barred from ASEAN meetings after failing to comply with the bloc’s 2021 Five-Point Consensus on peace and dialogue.
Myanmar has been gripped by conflict since a military takeover in 2021 ousted its elected government, sparking widespread resistance and international condemnation.
Malaysia urges ASEAN to expand defense cooperation in cyberspace
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Malaysia urges ASEAN to expand defense cooperation in cyberspace
- Defense Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin warned about the spread of cyberattacks that can “disrupt societies, topple governments and undermine critical infrastructure”
Greek coast guard search for 15 after migrant boat found adrift
- The two survivors reported that the vessel had become unstable due to bad weather and there was no means of getting shelter, food or water
ATHENS: Greek coast guard were on Monday searching for 15 people who fell into the water from a migrant boat that was found drifting off the coast of Crete with 17 bodies on board.
The 17 fatalities, all of them men, were discovered on Saturday on the craft, which was taking on water and partially deflated, some 26 nautical miles (48 kilometers) southwest of the island.
Post-mortem examinations were being carried out to determine how they died but Greek public television channel ERT suggested they may have suffered from hypothermia or dehydration.
A Greek coast guard spokeswoman told AFP that two survivors reported that “15 people fell in the water” after the motor cut out on Thursday, then the vessel drifted for two days.
At the time, Crete and much of the rest of Greece was battered by heavy rain and storms.
The two survivors reported that the vessel had become unstable due to bad weather and there was no means of getting shelter, food or water.
The vessel had 34 people on board and had left the Libyan port of Tobruk on Wednesday, the Greek port authorities said. Most of those who died came from Sudan and Egypt.
It was initially spotted by a Turkish-flagged cargo ship on Saturday, triggering a search that included ships and aircraft from the Greek coast guard and the European Union border agency Frontex.
Migrants have been trying to reach Crete from Libya for the last year, as a way of entering the European Union. But the Mediterranean crossing is perilous.
In Brussels, the EU’s 27 members on Monday backed a significant tightening of immigration policy, including the concept of returning failed asylum-seekers to “return hubs” outside the bloc.
The UN refugee agency said more than 16,770 asylum seekers in the EU have arrived on Crete since the start of the year — more than any other island in the Aegean Sea.
Greece’s conservative government has also toughened its migration policy, suspending asylum claims for three months, particularly those coming to Crete from Libya.
