The Human Resources Minister said the reduction in the cost of recruitment would be discussed at the two-day Joint Working Group Meeting in Yogyakarta beginning Wednesday.

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi met with Chinese counterpart Qin Gang in Jakarta, ahead of a round of negotiations on the code starting in March. 

Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles met with his Philippine counterpart, Carlito Galvez, in Manila, something they said they plan to do yearly in a bid to deepen the countries' security ties.

The Australian government was careful not to name China when introducing laws to prevent foreign interference in 2018, but the move nonetheless sparked tension with Australia's largest trading partner that later developed into a diplomatic freeze.

China’s newly appointed Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Tuesday descended on Jakarta at the invitation of his Indonesian counterpart Retno L.P. Marsudi, the Foreign Ministry said.

"The United States is in no position to make demands of China," foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a regular daily briefing in Beijing, when asked about US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's comments.

The Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC) said it was responding to confirmed reports of a number of hostages, including foreign citizens, being held by armed criminals in the vicinity of Fogoma’iu village at the border of Southern Highlands, and Hela provinces.

The launches come just two days after North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into the sea off Japan's west coast, prompting the United States to hold joint air exercises with South Korea and separately with Japan on Sunday. 

Timor Leste’s membership to ASEAN can help Indonesia advance its diplomatic agenda of peace and democracy, international relations experts have said.

The top diplomats of the two superpowers met at an undisclosed location on the sidelines of a global security conference in Munich, just hours after Wang scolded Washington as "hysterical" in a running dispute over the US downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon.

Indonesia had halted payments for its 20 percent share of development costs for the KFX jet in 2019, casting a cloud over the 8.1 trillion won ($6.16 billion) project, but it resumed payment late last year.

About 730,000 Rohingya, a persecuted mostly Muslim minority from Myanmar’s Rakhine state, fled to Bangladesh in 2017 to escape an army crackdown the UN said was carried out with genocidal intent. Including others who left in prior waves, nearly 1 million live in huts made of bamboo and plastic sheets.

Lawmakers approved a new criminal code in December banning sex outside marriage and prohibiting cohabitation between unmarried couples.

The leaders of the Pacific's five Micronesian nations - Kiribati, Palau, Nauru, Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia - met on Monday and issued a communique on Tuesday saying they had discussed the "value of a visit by US President Joseph R. Biden Jr to the Pacific sometime in the near future." 

The negotiations come amid mounting concern over China's intentions toward self-ruled Taiwan and Beijing's extensive claims in the disputed South China Sea.

A recent study by a regional think tank has found that Southeast Asians are increasingly concerned by the escalation of tensions between the United States and China.

Press freedom in the world's biggest democracy has suffered during Modi's tenure, rights activists say, and the opposition Congress party condemned the raids, saying there was an "undeclared emergency" in the country.

Earlier this month, Blinken postponed a planned trip to Beijing due to what he called an unacceptable violation of US sovereignty and airspace by a Chinese surveillance balloon later downed off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4. The US military says it has since shot down another three unidentified objects flying over North America.

The Philippine coast guard said on Monday a Chinese coast guard ship directed a "military-grade laser" at one of Manila's vessels supporting a resupply mission to troops in the disputed waterway on Feb. 6, temporarily blinding its crew on the bridge.

Relations between the US and China have soured in recent weeks in the wake of Washington's decision to shoot down the alleged spy craft in early February, which Beijing has insisted was for civilian purposes.

Indonesia has called on Australia to be transparent about its dealings with regard to AUKUS, its trilateral defense arrangement with the United States and the United Kingdom that aims to deliver nuclear-powered submarines to Canberra.

The incident happened on February 6 nearly 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands, where Philippine marines are stationed, the coast guard said in a statement.

Jokowi said in a statement to welcome visiting Timor-Leste Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak at the Bogor Palace in West Java that he was happy that the country had in principle joined the regional grouping.

The Foreign Ministry has announced that the first of three teams Indonesia is sending to help with disaster relief in quake-affected areas has arrived in Turkey and is headed to Antakya, Hatay, with another team, comprising health workers from the Health Ministry, due to take off today.

Indonesia and Australia have concluded the regional antitrafficking forum Bali Process, setting the focus on online scams and irregular migrations that have contributed to trafficking incidents in recent years.

Southeast Asians are preoccupied with the looming threat of global economic recessions, potential military tensions and a “slow and ineffective ASEAN," the latest survey finds.

Political opponents accuse Modi of abetting Adani's rapid rise, allowing the billionaire to unfairly win contracts and avoid proper regulatory oversight.

Anwar held his first bilateral meeting with Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha since the former won office late last year.

In an interview with PBS NewsHour, Biden said Wednesday that China was constrained in its ability to confront the United States by the need to protect international trade, and that Xi himself is in an unenviable position.

Marcos' trip comes a week after Manila announced a deal giving US troops access to another four bases in the country, and with Japan and the Philippines already in talks on a key defence pact.