JAKARTA: Indonesia may withdraw from the Board of Peace led by United States President Donald Trump if goals such as advancing Palestinian independence are not met, said its foreign minister Sugiono.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday (Feb 3), Sugiono said that President Prabowo Subianto is leaving open the option of withdrawal if the board’s direction “did not align” with Indonesia’s priorities. 

“If it does not match what we want: First, peace in Gaza in the immediate term; then peace in Palestine more broadly, and ultimately Palestinian independence and sovereignty,” Sugiono told state news agency Antara after accompanying Prabowo to a meeting with more than 40 Islamic leaders and representatives from Islamic organisations.

During the meeting at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, Prabowo explained Indonesia’s rationale for joining the board and invited questions from clerics and scholars. 

“Ultimately, (the main goal) is the independence and sovereignty of Palestine,” said Sugiono, who is also from Prabowo’s Gerindra party. 

Organisations present at the meeting include Muhammadiyah, the Indonesian Ulema Council and Nahdlatul Ulama, according to Tempo. 

Besides Sugiono, several cabinet members were also present, including State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi, Religious Affairs Minister Nasaruddin Umar, and Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya.

Sugiono also said the Board of Peace is not yet fully operational. 

“We also don’t know where its office is and what its secretariat is like. It’s still in the process,” he said, as quoted by Tempo.

The Board of Peace was initially established to ensure that post-conflict reconstruction in Gaza proceeds effectively. 

However, a draft of its founding charter suggests the council’s future role will not be limited to the territory. The White House had said there would be a main board, a Palestinian committee of technocrats meant to govern devastated Gaza and a second "executive board" that appears designed to have a more advisory role.

Indonesia announced on Jan 22 it would accept an invitation to join the Board of Peace through a joint declaration by the foreign ministers of several Muslim-majority countries, namely Türkiye, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The move, although seen by some as a diplomatic opportunity for the country, has also sparked concerns among experts over foreign policy risks and potential domestic fallout – namely, the risk of being drawn into a pro-American orbit that prioritises the US president’s agenda.

Cholil Nafis, deputy chairman of the Indonesia Ulema Council, said Prabowo had reassured on Tuesday that Indonesia would not hesitate to distance itself from the Board of Peace if its actions diverged from the country’s principles. 

”(He said) if we join the Board of Peace, we are not obliged to go along when they do not align with our views. Second, if no changes can be made, he (President Prabowo) is prepared to withdraw from the board,” Nafis told reporters, describing his understanding of Prabowo’s comments at the meeting. 

Nafis added that he had expressed his scepticism about the initiative, cautioning against any potential deployment of Indonesian peacekeeping forces that could end up confronting Palestinians seeking independence.

“We do not want a false peace while the Palestinian people remain under occupation,” he was quoted as saying by Antara. 

The Indonesian Ulema Council had previously urged the government to withdraw from the US-backed Board of Peace, saying that it does not side with Palestine.

The council had also criticised the requirement to pay membership fees to join the Board of Peace and accused the institution of promoting what it described as an “illusory peace” that fails to recognise Palestine as an occupied nation, Antara reported. 

At another meeting with former foreign ministers on Wednesday, Prabowo clarified that Indonesia is not obligated to contribute the proposed US$1 billion contribution to the board.

“The US$1 billion refers to a reconstruction fund for Gaza and is not mandatory,” conveyed Cabinet Secretary Teddy, as quoted by Jakarta Globe.

“If a country pays, it becomes a permanent member, but if it does not, membership lasts for three years.” 

Teddy added that Indonesia has not made any payment to the board to date, noting that participating countries are free to contribute or opt out. 

BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping’s separate same-day calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and United States President Donald Trump were a calculated move by Beijing to assert its centrality as great power geopolitics returns to the fore, analysts told CNA.

The back-to-back calls on Wednesday (Feb 4) came a day before the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between the US and Russia lapsed - heightening uncertainty over strategic stability and lending fresh urgency to high-level engagement among major powers.

Set against sharpening rivalry, mounting nuclear risks and a fraying global order, Beijing was projecting itself as a major power with options, leverage and clearly defined priorities, experts said.

“Xi is flexing,” Chong Ja Ian, an associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and also a non-resident scholar at Carnegie China, told CNA.

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“(Xi) is showing that he is central to key developments,” he said, providing “some degree of assurance to Putin that he can manage Trump” and signalling to Trump that he has other options.

“Beijing sees itself in a position of strength with both the US and Russia,” Chong said.

“China is a pivotal major power,” said Ren Xiao, a professor at Fudan University’s Institute of International Studies (IIS) in Shanghai, who pointed to the order of the calls. Xi held a virtual meeting with Putin before speaking with Trump later that evening.  

“The order of the calls reflects close coordination and communication between Beijing and Moscow,” he said.

China was underscoring the re-emergence of great-power politics, with Washington, Beijing and Moscow once again dominating global calculations, experts said.

DIVERGENT MESSAGES

Official readouts from Beijing, Moscow and Washington underscored sharply different priorities.

According to reports published by Chinese state media outlets, Xi and Putin held a virtual meeting on Wednesday that was broadcast from the Great Hall of the People in Beijing and the Kremlin in Moscow respectively.

“Xi extended New Year greetings to Putin and the Russian people … Putin wished Xi and the Chinese people a happy Spring Festival, vibrant energy and immediate success in all endeavours,” read a report by the Xinhua state news agency.

“Xi said China and Russia should work together to maintain global strategic stability as the international situation has become increasingly turbulent since the beginning of the year,” the Xinhua report read.

Putin “expressed full confidence in Russia-China relations”, the report said, also adding that “both sides should continue to support each other steadfastly in safeguarding their national sovereignty and security”.

Russian state media reports framed Xi and Putin’s exchange as warm and friendly - with Putin describing the China-Russia relationship as being “in an eternal bloom”.

“Xi sees Putin as a good friend and is ready to move dialogue between the two forward,” TASS, Russia’s state news agency, reported.

According to TASS, Putin had called cooperation between the two countries exemplary while Xi said China and Russia were “successfully defending global justice and relations are entering a new stage of development”.

Later that evening, Trump hailed “very positive talks” with Xi. Writing on Truth Social, Trump said the call was “all very positive” and that his relationship with Xi is “extremely good”.

“We both realise how important it is to keep it that way,” he added. 

Both leaders had also discussed a wide range of issues including Taiwan and soybean purchases ahead of Trump’s expected visit to China in April.

STRATEGIC CHOREOGRAPHY

It remains unclear which leader initiated each call, with state media reports offering no indication.

But analysts noted that the choreography carried strategic significance.

“It is rather rare for top leaders of such calibre to talk to each other on the same day,” said Zhang Xin, an associate professor at the School of Politics and International Relations at East China Normal University in Shanghai, adding that it highlighted the growing urgency for dialogue among major powers.

“There is (also) an increasing sense of urgency that China, together with Russia and other international actors, needs to prepare for the management of an increasingly abusive and irresponsible US and consequent chaos,” he said.

The calls also underscored that no major security or diplomatic recalibration could take place without China at the table, Chong said.

“It shows that China has options and is not restrained by any other actor,” he added.

“Hedging is for the weak”, said Chong, arguing that Xi and Beijing were acting from a position of strength - keeping channels with Washington open while maintaining alignment with Moscow. 

For Beijing, the back-to-back calls sent a clear message of resolve, analysts said, particularly on issues it defines as core interests.

In Chinese state media reports, Xi struck a steadying tone on US-China relations while issuing a pointed warning on Taiwan and arms sales, as Trump’s account highlighted a more transactional agenda - agricultural purchases and his expected April visit to China.

Beijing doubled down on its Taiwan red lines a day after the call.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said the issue lies at “the core of China’s core interests” and constitutes the first red line in China-US relations that must not be crossed.

At a regular briefing on Thursday, spokesperson Chen Binhua said President Xi’s remarks had set out China’s firm position on Taiwan and provided clear guidance for policy towards the island.

The US, Chen said, should adhere to the one-China principle and the three bilateral joint communiqués, and handle Taiwan-related issues with extreme caution.

Beijing is pressing Washington to curb arms sales to Taiwan, but is not signalling any corresponding reduction in its own military pressure - reinforcing that stability, from China’s perspective, does not imply concession, Chong said.

CALIBRATING A NEW WORLD ORDER

Taken together, analysts said the calls point to a broader Chinese calculus about how power should be managed in a less orderly, more contested world - not by choosing sides, but by maximising room for manoeuvre as great-power politics hardens.

The risks, however, are not absent.

A perception in Washington that Beijing is overplaying its hand could provoke a backlash if Trump feels slighted, Chong from NUS said.

Even so, Trump’s own priorities - securing a high-profile visit to Beijing and maintaining a measure of stability in trans-Pacific ties - make a sharp response unlikely.

Moscow, meanwhile, is in little position to press Beijing for concessions, given Russia’s growing dependence on China amid its ongoing war in Ukraine, Chong said.

In that conflict, China is already signalling how far it is prepared to go and where its limits lie, said Zhang from East China Normal University.

Outcomes that risk nuclear escalation or extend NATO’s footprint into the Asia-Pacific would be unacceptable, Zhang added - underscoring Beijing’s preference for shaping conditions rather than brokering deals.

The same logic applies to global governance. Rather than abandoning the UN-centred order, China views emerging platforms such as BRICS as complementary mechanisms that can operate alongside existing institutions - allowing Beijing to work both within and beyond the current system, Zhang said. 

Beyond the calls, Beijing appears intent on shaping a looser, more flexible model of great-power interaction as traditional arms-control regimes lapse and US-led initiatives fragment.

In this emerging approach, China is not offering a blueprint so much as asserting a principle: stability, engagement and cooperation remain possible in a more contested world - but only on terms that reflect a redistribution of power, and only if Beijing remains firmly at the centre.

SINGAPORE: The Philippines said on Friday (Feb 6) it will seek to accelerate long-running talks on a South China Sea code of conduct to a conclusion this year as chair of the ASEAN regional bloc.

Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro told a forum in Singapore that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China will increase the pace of working group meetings to monthly gatherings from the current three-month intervals.

The proposed code aims to guide conduct and prevent clashes over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

It has been under discussion for years, but the talks have stalled repeatedly over disagreements on its scope, enforcement and legal status.

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Four ASEAN members - Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam - have laid partial claims to the South China Sea.

China claims the crucial waterway almost in its entirety despite an international ruling that its stance has no legal basis.

Beijing and Manila have had a series of confrontations in the sea in recent years, including collisions and Chinese ships using water cannons on Filipino vessels.

Lazaro said there will also be additional meetings between senior officials under the new schedule.

She told the forum organised by a Singapore-based think tank that the goal was to produce a code that is "effective and substantive" and in line with international law.

"This year, we will endeavour to conclude the ASEAN-China Code of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea," Lazaro said, in line with a mandate agreed by ASEAN foreign ministers in 2023.

"I have to emphasise the word 'endeavour' to finish. As I said, I'm an optimist and also a pragmatist because we really don't know how things will work."

The Philippines took over as chair of the 11-nation bloc from Malaysia in January.

Lazaro said momentum in the talks has improved, with several ASEAN member states recently submitting documents and proposals to guide the next stage of discussions.

She said some of the most contentious issues included whether the code should be legally binding, the geographical scope covered by the agreement and the definition of terms such as "self-restraint".

"ASEAN and China have heavily invested in negotiating this code of conduct," she said.

"It is ... about time to finish."

A car smashed through a neighbour's front fence after the driver apparently lost control while reversing, going by security camera footage that has been circulating online in Malaysia.

The video, uploaded onto a Facebook page called DashCam Malaysia on Friday (Feb 6), shows a white Perodua Viva reversing from a house before suddenly accelerating.

The driver's car door was open at the time the vehicle knocked down much of the neighbour's fence at a house opposite where the car left from. No injuries were reported.

The driver was later seen slowly driving the vehicle back into their own property.

The location of the incident was not disclosed in the social media post, but appears to be in a residential area in Malaysia. The footage was timestamped Feb 3 at 8.16am.

The clip drew a flurry of reactions online, with many social media users expressing disbelief and concern over the incident.

Some criticised the driver's handling of the vehicle, with one commenter saying: "If you're not able to drive, then don't."

Another user remarked that the incident highlighted the advantages and drawbacks of driving automatic vehicles.

Several commenters also warned about the risks such incidents could pose in residential neighbourhoods.

One wrote: "Luckily there were no children playing in front of the house."

The post has been viewed about 19,000 times, attracting about 70 comments.

Thai martial artist and movie star Tony Jaa, best known for the action film Ong-Bak, has reportedly been undergoing medical treatment for cancer, according to various Thai media outlets, including The Bangkok Post.

According to Nine Entertain, a source close to Jaa, also known as Jaa Phanom, said he was diagnosed with stage 3 gallbladder cancer in June 2024.

The same source told news site Khaosod that Jaa, 50, experienced severe abdominal pain and jaundice before being diagnosed. He reportedly underwent surgery to remove affected tissue and has been receiving chemotherapy since.

The source also claimed Jaa’s condition has improved and that he is able to exercise under medical supervision, supported by his family.

On Jan 31, Jaa posted a photo on Instagram wearing a cap, sunglasses and a jacket, appearing noticeably slimmer. In the caption, he wrote: “The journey is about to begin. One More Round.” The post was linked to an upcoming music video by the actor.

As reports of his health condition circulated, concerned fans left comments on social media, urging him to take care and wishing him a speedy recovery. Many noted changes in his appearance.

Jaa, who turned 50 on Feb 5, has not made any public statements regarding the reported diagnosis. His family has also remained silent on the matter.

Jaa was trained in Muay Thai from a young age before working as a stuntman for several years. He rose to fame with his breakthrough role in the 2003 Thai action film Ong-Bak, followed by Tom-Yum-Goong in the mid-2000s. He later appeared in several international productions, including Furious 7, Master Z: Ip Man Legacy, and Triple Threat.

China’s top medical watchdog has ordered a nationwide review of the country’s psychiatric institutes following media reports that multiple hospitals in central China had locked up patients - including people who were not suffering from mental illness - as part of an insurance scam.

The National Healthcare Security Administration said on Wednesday (Feb 4) that its provincial bureaus should hold talks with directors of all psychiatric institutes in their area by Sunday.

They were also told to ensure that thorough checks into possible illegal activity were organised by Mar 15 and appropriate action taken.

Areas of investigation included whether institutes had caused people to be hospitalised for no good reason, faked medical conditions and treatment or forged documents.

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“They should submit a report and refund any illegally used medical insurance funds,” the statement said.

On Tuesday, the Beijing News reported that patients in multiple psychiatric institutes in Hubei province were being exploited to skim off subsidies under the national medical insurance scheme.

It alleged that hospitals often offered to admit patients for free and had sometimes fabricated diagnoses.

At one institute in Xiangyang, a reporter found more than 50 people had been admitted for free, many of whom did not appear to be suffering from mental illness.

A nurse told the reporter that some patients had been given false diagnoses, including over-70s who only wanted free care.

One caretaker said he had been given a false diagnosis of “alcohol-related mental and behavioural problems” so he could be listed as a patient.

Most of the patients had not received any psychological or behavioural treatment, even though their hospital bills charged these items to the national insurance scheme, the report said.

One caretaker told the reporter that medical staff fabricated treatment fees worth “around 130 yuan per day, totalling nearly 4,000 yuan (US$575) per month”, while another estimated that 100 patients could bring in 6 million yuan in medical insurance fees a year.

At the same time, the patients faced strict controls from the hospitals that required them to follow a daily schedule and move within designated areas, the report said, and failure to comply with rules led to physical abuse.

The reporter said they had witnessed staff at multiple hospitals slapping the patients, hitting them with a water pipe and tying them to the bed.

Some were kept in hospital for years, while contact with the outside world was cut off. One patient at a hospital in Yichang told the reporter they “felt like they were in prison”.

The report triggered a public backlash, with many questioning whether this was a common phenomenon across China and raised fears that hospitals were failing to treat those who needed it, while others were needlessly kept in hospital.

Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily called for an investigation, saying: “The hospitals treat the healthcare insurance fund as a cake to be taken and used as they please, converting patients’ health conditions into figures in their accounting books … It’s not only a blatant defiance of the law but also tramples the bottom line of morality.”

It called for stricter regulatory measures and coordination between government departments to expose those behind the scam in Hubei, adding that this would set a good example for a national crackdown.

This article was first published on SCMP.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai will be sentenced on Monday (Feb 9) following his national security trial, a court website showed.

The 78-year-old founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper was found guilty in December of foreign collusion under the city's sweeping national security law, which Beijing imposed following huge and sometimes violent protests in 2019.

He was also found guilty of one count of seditious publication, and could face life in prison.

Global leaders including US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer have called for Lai's release, while rights groups say his trial is a death knell for press freedom in Hong Kong.

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Lai, a British citizen, has been behind bars since 2020, and multiple Western nations, including the United States and Britain, have called for his release.

"GRAVE NATURE"

Defence lawyers conceded in January the "grave nature" of the case, which found Lai guilty of calling for foreign sanctions.

He will be sentenced alongside eight co-defendants on Monday, including six Apple Daily executives.

All defendants except Lai pleaded guilty, while some testified against him, which would entitle them to shorter sentences, the lawyers said last month.

The judges wrote in their 856-page verdict in December that Lai "harboured his resentment and hatred of (China) for many of his adult years" and sought the "downfall of the Chinese Communist Party".

Prosecutors cited 161 items Apple Daily published in their case against Lai.

Those items were deemed seditious under a colonial-era law because they "excited disaffection" against the government.

Lai maintained that he never sought to influence other countries' foreign policies, saying Apple Daily represented Hongkongers' core values, including "rule of law, freedom, pursuit of democracy".

INTERNATIONAL OUTCRY

Lai's case has sparked condemnation internationally from journalism rights groups to global leaders.

Britain's Starmer, who visited Beijing in January, raised Lai's case with China's leader Xi Jinping, noting that the two did not see eye-to-eye on the issue.

UK-China relations plummeted in 2020 after Beijing imposed the sweeping national security law on Hong Kong, which severely curtailed freedoms in the former British colony.

Following Lai's conviction, Trump also said he had asked Xi to consider Lai's release.

"He's an older man, and he's not well. So I did put that request out. We'll see what happens," he told reporters at the time.

Meanwhile, the European Union said the conviction was "emblematic of the erosion of democracy and fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong since the imposition of the National Security Law".

Amnesty International added that the conviction marked a "death knell for press freedom in Hong Kong", while the Committee to Protect Journalists called it a "sham".

Beijing has hit back at international criticism it says amounts to a "smearing of the judicial system in Hong Kong", while Hong Kong's government says Lai's case "has nothing to do with freedom of speech and of the press".

Collusion offences "of a grave nature" can be punished by a prison term of between 10 years and life, while sedition comes with a maximum of two years.

WASHINGTON: AI tools can easily fabricate convincing images of Jeffrey Epstein with world leaders, a study showed on Thursday (Feb 6), following a surge of manipulated photos falsely linking prominent politicians to the convicted sex offender.

Social media users have amplified AI-generated images purporting to show the convicted sex offender socialising with politicians such as New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his mother, award-winning filmmaker Mira Nair, AFP's fact-checkers have previously reported.

In a new study, US disinformation watchdog NewsGuard prompted three leading image generators to create photos of Epstein with five politicians including President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Grok Imagine, a tool developed by Elon Musk's xAI, produced "convincing fakes in seconds" with all five, the study said.

That included a fake but lifelike image purporting to show a younger Trump and Epstein surrounded by young girls.

Trump has been photographed with Epstein at multiple social events but there is no publicly known picture of the pair in the presence of underage girls.

Google's Gemini declined to generate an image depicting Epstein with Trump but produced realistic photos of the late sex offender with four other politicians - Netanyahu and Macron as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the study said.

The fabricated photos purported to show Epstein with the politicians at parties, aboard a private jet and relaxing on a beach.

"The findings demonstrate the ease with which bad actors can use AI imaging tools to generate realistic-seeming viral fakes - and why fake images have become so routine that it's difficult to tell authentic images from AI-generated images," NewsGuard said.

When the watchdog prompted OpenAI's ChatGPT, it declined to produce any images showing Epstein with the politicians.

In its response, ChatGPT said it is "not able to create images involving real people with sexualised depictions of minors or scenarios that imply sexual abuse".

DETECTING FAKES

There was no immediate response to AFP's request for comment from xAI.

In its review of the fake images of Epstein with Mamdani and Nair - which racked up millions of views on X - researchers including those at AFP detected a SynthID, an invisible watermark meant to identify content created using Google's AI.

A Google spokesman told AFP: "We make it easy to determine if content is made with Google AI by embedding an imperceptible SynthID watermark."

The study comes after the Justice Department last week released the latest cache of so-called Epstein files - more than three million documents, photos and videos related to its investigation into Epstein, who died from what was determined to be suicide while in custody in 2019.

The Epstein affair has entangled high-profile figures across the globe, from Britain's former prince Andrew to renowned American intellectual Noam Chomsky and Norway's Crown Princess Mette-Marit.

But it has also prompted a wave of disinformation.

This week, a fake Trump social media post circulated across platforms, AFP's fact-checkers reported.

The fabricated post purported to show Trump pledging to drop all tariffs against Canada if Prime Minister Mark Carney admitted to involvement with Epstein.

AFP's review of Carney's references in the files do not indicate any involvement with Epstein's alleged crimes.