i think if asean wa nt to the arrangement?h europe it has to include a whole range of things, it can't just be include a whole range of things, it can'tjust be tariffs but services and rp rights and access to services and rp rights and access to services and also labour and environmental issues, that's the standard template these days for a deal from the european commission and i can't see the eu moving on those. why is labour rights a major sticking point between the eu and asean? it's about the competition to make sure the playing field is as level as possible. —— fair competition. we're talking about the rights of people in their workplace, to avoid slave labour essentially. on the other hand could this extend negotiations between the two sides and there would be any agreement? i'm sensing a greater willingness on both sides to progress. with the near death of tpp, europe is now seeing an opportunity in southeast asia to step up to the plate more, there's more urgency from them and seeing the southeast asia nations wanting

investment in asean has grown 9% a year, while asean investment into the u.s. grew at 28% annually on average. so the picture of us economic ties with our region is deep, complex and multifaceted, as are australia's ties. the trump administration is also reaching out to the region to solve some of the potential conflicts and actual tensions that exist. on the south china sea, while not taking sides on the merits of the maritime claims, the united states has urged peaceful negotiation and respect for the rule of law. the united states has advocated the right of all nations to freedom of navigation and overflight in international waters. it has maintained its long standing fonops program, globally and in our region. the trump administration has focused on north korea as one of its highest priorities. the dprk represents a profound threat to the stability and peace of the indo-pacific region today. it continues to thumb its nose at the united nations security council that has passed numerous resolutions banning the development and testing of ballistic missiles and

this is as asean countries are in different stages of economic development.y the us by the tra ns—pacific partnership, say after the pullout by the us by the trans—pacific partnership, they we re the trans—pacific partnership, they were to step up the process in the region made up of more than 600 million consumers. fairly subdued trading in the markets in asia. the news of north korea's missile launch yesterday has impacted on the asian markets— trading subdued — safe havens like yen and gold attracting investors. no movement from america to spark any enthusiasm on the asian markets as it was independence day yesterday. the geopolitical tensions, both north korea, issues with qatar, you would expect oil to be breaking through $50 a barrel as it is seen as a bit more of the sta bles it is seen as a bit more of the stables state haven. there is that issue of oversupply so that is at continued concern. you can see the yen is slightly up. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter. i'm @bbcrachelhorne ijust want i just want to tell

and the relevance of asean.om the beijing point of view, also your decision during the obama administration period in 2015 to sign a deeper defence agreement with the americans and to the chinese that looks like a statement of intent which works against their interests. we have had this relationship with the us for a long time. we buy a lot of military equipment from them, we train on quite a big scale in the unites states, our airforce is theer, and for more than 30 years we have had...we have hosted american aircraft and ships in the region which pass through and stop in singapore and we think it is the right thing for us to do because we believe that the american presence in the region is positive for the region and the security presence is positive for the region. it has brought about stability, it has enabled countries to prosper and to compete peacefully and therefore we believe it is in our interest to be helpful to the americans. i guess itjust indicates that at a time of, let's be honest, rising tension

foreign language] >> translator: as an asia pacific nation, vietnam shares maritime boundaries with six asean countries and china. it's important to abide by international law. more than probably anyone, we appreciate the value of cooperation for peace and shared prosperity in compliance -- >>> 20 minutes left in this conversation but we have it archived in our video library. you can find it there. we have to leave it here now to take you live to capitol hill for a senate crime and terrorism subcommittee hearing. looking at how best to coordinate congressional versus criminal investigations, especially in the ongoing russia investigations and the best strategies for how congress and the executive branch approach the investigations going forward. the chair is already in -- seated there at the dais, lindsey graham of south carolina. >>> thank you all. we're bring the meeting to order. senator whitehouse is on his way and i can't ha and i've been told he's okay with starting. respect to conducting investigations and discuss best practices for observing the integrity of each process. we have an

and moving to the next important day, and the european union ramps up talks with asean.ok. and world leaders and central bankers are gathering in hamburg for the g20 international summit. let's have a look briefly at the markets. and at the open, the nikkei is getting 45 points. the all of mary ‘s index is down by 83 points in early trade. thank you for investing your time with us. i am rico hizon in singapore. sport today is coming up next. stay tuned for that. you are watching bbc news. our top stories you this our: —— hour: after the inauguration of a new chief executive, hong kong waits to see whether beijing is going to play a stronger hand. president trump is accused of inciting violence against the media after tweeting a spoof video. the government has announced its withdrawing from a 50—year—old convention that allows five european countries to fish in waters close to the uk coastline. ireland has called it unwelcome and unhelpful. our business correspondent joe lynam reports. as formal brexit talks set off, britain has said that it would be taking back control o

0bviously china, the us, asean, the countries in the region figure prominently, but complicated is theisputed islands at play? he has taken a very personal role in reorganising philippine foreign policy greatly, so he has focused particularly on getting much closer to china, saying that china loves the philippines and downplaying china's sovereign infringements on philippine territory in the hopes of getting economic aid and political support from china. most filipinos probably do not like that, but that is low on their lists of things they're worry about. six months into his administration and president trump has yet to come up with a strategy for dealing with america's longest war — the war in afghanistan. his administration is supposed to be poised to announce a significant increase in troops— but there have been repeated delays. so are more troops the answer? 0ur south asia correspondent justin rowlatt, reports from kabul. the afghan army calls in air support to defend troops from a taliban attack. a fighter plane swoops into action, protecting the troops on the ground... radio: we

set us and the holy school and waved a hand at asean. only one. killing a day is the minimum we have to go to the crime scenes so we try to unite us reporters i wear media might want us to get an exclusive but he's your life on stage. it's too dangerous to go alone. the most recent example was a gruesome mass killing on the outskirts of the town. well this thing and he took us back to the crime scene. these are the stories that local journalists run most risks when reporting. an entire family including four children were murdered in their home by unknown gunme. the youngest victim just three years old. unfortunately such events are becoming part of daily life in veracruz. and as such an increasing part of a reporter's job what covering it kelly said she was intimidated by a police officer. when she complains she received a death threat on line. maybe i was scared obviously and i took down my social media comes tweeter facebook or my photos everything many mexican journalists have paid the ultimate price for reporting on the drug cartels. like well

commissioner in negotiating this agreement between the european union and japan, just as i did between eu aseanshaad: what is substandard about this -- substantially about this? >> it will open areas of europe's and japan's economy that have in closed to outsiders. it can unlock a great deal of not simply a diversion of trade, and provides a platform both for japan and europe to do more in their trade in the future, but also offers a template for others who should be seeking similar major trade deals in the future. talking aboute britain and will come to that in a minute, but don't forget the noise going into the american election and perhaps the subsequent noise coming out in , etc., etc.,witter and america is looking more inward, so it would seem. is the rest of the world flinging their arms together almost in response? >> i think people are disappointed in a sense that the two main countries who were most instrumental in the postwar era in creating the multilateral international trading system, the whole global liberal economic order, i which i mean the united states of america and great bri

the fact that the chairman in 2018 of asean that they want to take asean's urchin of cybertechnology and cyber defense. something we could encourage with them. instead of looking for a cyber partner they look to the united states and not others so i think there are opportunities to increase that security relationship and i would hope that would be one of my primary missions. not only the economic answers that we haven't singapore but it is the gateway to the south china sea which is a military trade route as well as an economic trade route. >> mr. chairman i don't want others to think i'm ignoring them but since my time has expired i have a series of questions for other candidates. >> thank you all for being here. president trump intends to conduct negotiations to modernize nasa. what do you see as your role in that modernization effort? >> thank you for your question. 23 his ago when nafta was signed there were so many aspects of the economy that were not yet conceptualized and not being confirmed i haven't had a role in writing any of the policies however if confirmed i'm looking f

i will tell you this, if you look at the asean nations as a whole, there are many that think that china more to help with getting the situation in north korea under controlling. >> but if they do not what should be the degree of pressure that the u.s. places on china? should there be currency manipulation declaration? >> this is something that we need to take as a step-by-step process. let's look at where the president and the secretary of state can get in these negotiations. let's look at what the other countries in the region are going to bring to bear. and let's begin to make those decisions, let's give them the opportunity to come to the table. these meetings are taking place, let's see what kind of fruit they're going to bear. and what type relationship china wants to have with the united states. i do think it's important to realize that as you work, with the chinese government, as you're working with the representatives of that government, the mpc's, et cetera, they are very relational and they want to be thought well of. we come from different places as far as what our expectatio

the fact singapore is going to be the chairman in 2018 of asean, they want to take it the direction of cybertechnology, cyberthreats, cyberdefense, something we could encourage with them. they have said looking for a cyber partner, they look to the united states not others. so, i think there are opportunities there to increase that security relationship with them and i would hope that that would be one of my primary missions not only the economic interests we have in singapore but the strategic interests. you know, it is the gateway to the south china sea which is a military trade route as well as -- economic trade route but also a security route. >> mr. chairman, i don't want my fellow new jerseyans to think i'm ignoring them. since my time is expired, if you have a second round, i have a series of questions. >> absolutely. senator rubio. >> thank you. president trump intends to conduct negotiations to modernize nafta. what do you see as your role in that modernization negotiation? >> thank you for your question, senator rubio. 23 years ago when it was signed there were so many aspect

and then in our meetings with the asean countries, they see this threat. they see it, they feel it. and so we do have to be there with an alternative, to your point. you're exactly right. we have to come with an alternative. but our alternative can't be solely achieved through the funding available through state or usaid. we really have to mobilize a much broader effort. and that's how we're responding. >> thank you, mr. secretary. >> senator sheehan. >> senator, i'll refer to my colleague senator durbin, because he was kind enough to open the door for me which is why i got here before he did. >> no, absolutely not. senator durbin. no, senator durbin. >> no good deed goes unpunished as we've said. >> good samaritan. >> secretary tillerson, thank you for being here. i'm sorry that i missed you this morning at the foreign elections committee because i was at another appropriations subcommittee hearing. but i wanted to ask you about recent news reports that have described a proposed trip to st. petersburg by undersecretary tom shannon that's going to happen on june 23rd. and as news re

also the events you may have missed. , covering a ahead, assessing the ims latest projections for the aseanu.s.een asia and the eurozone. that is next. this is bloomberg. ♪ ♪ shery: welcome back. this is "bloomberg markets: asia." let's get a quick check of the business flash headlines. walesath of a new south man 10 days ago may be the first -related airbag incident and austria. the regulator is seeking information about cars equipped with the potentially lethal product and released a statement urging all drivers to find out if their car has one fitted. in the morning session in tokyo plunged 13%. gauge isll cap share on the verge of being cheaper than the nasdaq for the first time. is 36.2, compared with 34.3 for the nasdaq, the narrowest gap since the board started in 2010. 25% innext has plummeted the past year, while the nasdaq has risen 26%. kong stock exchange operator is consulting the market on changes to its option system ahead of the open, and expanded closing auction will debut monday. the exchanges working on the pre-open session. the 30 minute auction is split into two section

this or work with the government of singapore or any nation, for that matter, how do you work within asean to spread greater awareness of the need to address sanctions and fully enforce them and how do you deal with that within the trump administration? >> thank you, senator gardner. i do, if confirmed, look forward to a long and fruitful conversation with you as chairman of the east asia subcommittee. i think i would start with embassy singapore not only foreign service officers economic officers as well but members of the commerce department, special trade rep and other communities. the first step would be to find out, ok, what's going on? what are these companies? what's their economic tie and what potentially is their mel -- is there military type to north korea -- tie to north korea? working through the state department as well as people embassy singapore would work with home agencies some 19 including the agriculture has a repetitive reptive. they value our support at the united nations. and that is worth something. i think the ability to go to a friendly country and say this is what