On Wednesday, Agriculture and Food Security Minister Mohamad Sabu called for a detailed and transparent investigation into the cause of the blaze.

“I express my deepest condolences and full solidarity with all the victims affected,” he said, as quoted by Bernama, adding that in addition to finding the cause, safety protocols must be enhanced.

Separately, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said that the federal government, along with Petronas, will help repair and rebuild properties that were damaged in the blaze.

Local media reported that some 227 houses in the area were affected, with 78 razed to the ground.

“The responsibility of restoring this residential area, repairing or replacing (damaged properties), will be fully undertaken by us, the federal government and Petronas, in cooperation with the state government.

“There is no need to worry, it will just take a bit of time,” he was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times.

But he warned that rebuilding efforts may take up to a year.

“It’s not like a flood that sometimes takes a week or two (before people can return home).”

In the meantime, the government will provide RM5,000 (US$1123) to those whose homes were destroyed, while those whose houses were damaged will receive RM2,500.

Anwar said if needed, the government and Petronas would look at the need to increase aid, according to the New Straits Times.

The Chinese embassy in Bangkok late on Tuesday expressed “deepest condolences” for the collapse and urged firms to “strictly” comply with Thai laws.

“The Chinese government has consistently urged Chinese companies overseas to abide by local laws and contribute positively to the society,” the embassy said in a Facebook post only in Thai.

Beijing has dispatched a team of rescue experts and disaster relief personnel to assist in Bangkok and vowed to “continue supporting Thailand as needed”, it added.

It has also urged Chinese firms to cooperate “strictly” with Thai authorities as they investigate the collapse.

The local partner in the project, Italian-Thai Development (ITD), offered condolences on Monday to quake victims but said it was “confident” the incident would not impact its other projects.

The collapse was the deadliest single incident in Thailand from the earthquake, with the majority of the kingdom’s 22 fatalities thought to be workers on the building site.

CALL FOR PEACE

Min Aung Hlaing said on Tuesday that the death toll had risen to 2,719, with more than 4,500 injured and 441 still missing.

But with patchy communication and infrastructure delaying efforts to gather information and deliver aid, the true scale of the disaster has yet to become clear, and the toll is likely to rise.

Relief groups say that that response has been hindered by continued fighting between the junta and the complex patchwork of armed groups opposed to its rule, which began in a 2021 coup.

Julie Bishop, the UN special envoy on Myanmar, called on all sides to “focus their efforts on the protection of civilians, including aid workers, and the delivery of life-saving assistance”.

Even before Friday’s earthquake, 3.5 million people were displaced by the fighting, many of them at risk of hunger, according to the United Nations.

On Tuesday, an alliance of three of Myanmar’s most powerful ethnic minority armed groups announced a one-month pause in hostilities to support humanitarian efforts in response to the quake.

The announcement by the Three Brotherhood Alliance followed a separate partial ceasefire called by the People’s Defence Force- civilian groups that took up arms after the coup to fight junta rule.

But there have been multiple reports of junta air strikes against rebel groups since the quake.

“We are aware that some ethnic armed groups are currently not engaged in combat, but are organising and training to carry out attacks,” said Min Aung Hlaing, mentioning sabotage against the electricity supply.

“Since such activities constitute attacks, the Tatmadaw (armed forces) will continue to carry out necessary defensive activities,” he said in a statement late on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON: The United States said Tuesday (Apr 1) it has approved a sale of US$5.58 billion in F-16 fighter-jets to the Philippines, as Washington backs its ally in rising tensions over China.

The State Department said it was green-lighting the sale that includes 20 F-16 jets and related equipment to the Philippines, a treaty-bound ally of the United States.

The sale will “improve the security of a strategic partner that continues to be an important force for political stability, peace and economic progress in Southeast Asia”, a State Department statement said.

The sale will boost “the Philippine Air Force’s ability to conduct maritime domain awareness” and “enhance its suppression of enemy air defences”, it said.

President Donald Trump’s administration has sought to redirect US military efforts to Asia to face a rising China, especially as tensions rise over Taiwan, and to lessen involvement in Europe despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Philippines and China have seen months of escalating confrontations in the South China Sea. Beijing claims almost the entirety of the crucial waterway, despite an international ruling that its assertion has no merit.

According to police officials in the Jelebu district of Negeri Sembilan in Malaysia, the driver – identified as a 62-year-old man – turned himself in on the day of the accident itself. 

“An accident involving a Proton Iswara car and a Honda EX-5 motorcycle occurred at 10:30am at KM 53 Jalan Seremban-Simpang Pertang on Mar 28. The rider of the Honda EX-5 motorcycle, an 84-year-old Chinese male, passed away while receiving treatment at Jelebu Hospital at approximately 2:30pm,” said the police in a statement.

“The driver of the Proton Iswara – a Malay man aged 62 – turned up at Jelebu’s Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Division at 4.38pm on Mar 28 to make a police report regarding the incident.”

The police added that the urine screening test subsequently conducted on the driver “was found to be negative”.

BEIJING: China’s military on Wednesday (Apr 2) launched military exercises code-named “Strait Thunder-2025A” in the middle and southern areas of the Taiwan Strait, continuing drills begun the previous day.

The exercises follow a rise in Chinese rhetoric against Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, who China called a “parasite” on Tuesday, and come on the heels of US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Asia visit, during which he repeatedly criticised Beijing.

China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has repeatedly denounced Lai as a “separatist”. Lai, who won the election and took office last year, rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims and says only Taiwan’s people can decide their future.

China’s Eastern Theatre Command said the drills were taking place in the middle and southern areas of the Taiwan Strait. Some of Taiwan’s outlying islands are just a few kilometres from China.

“The exercises focus on subjects of identification and verification, warning and expulsion, and interception and detention so as to test the troops’ capabilities of area regulation and control, joint blockade and control, and precision strikes on key targets,” it said in a statement.

A senior Taiwan security official told Reuters there were more than 10 Chinese warships in Taiwan’s “response zone” on Wednesday morning, and that China’s coast guard was participating with “harassment” drills.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said that in the previous 24 hours it had detected 76 Chinese military aircraft and 15 Chinese military ships operating around the island.

China had not formally named Tuesday’s drills. China called two rounds of major war games last year around the island Joint Sword-2024A and Joint Sword-2024B.

The United States, Taiwan’s most important international backer and main arms supplier despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties, condemned the exercises.

“Once again, China’s aggressive military activities and rhetoric toward Taiwan only serve to exacerbate tensions and put the region’s security and the world’s prosperity at risk,” the US State Department said in a statement.

Japan and the European Union also expressed concern.

“The EU has a direct interest in the preservation of the status quo in the Taiwan Strait. We oppose any unilateral actions that change the status quo by force or coercion,” an EU spokesperson said

THE SMELL OF DEATH

Beyond its immediate appeal for aid – which prompted responses from countries including China, India, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand – the junta has declared a week of national mourning beginning Mar 31.

Sagaing, the earthquake’s epicentre, has received scant attention compared to Naypyidaw and Mandalay, Myanmar’s administrative and cultural capitals, both still under junta control.

Sagaing, though also junta-held, lies next to areas controlled by resistance forces, particularly the People’s Defence Forces under the National Unity Government.

Residents say the stench of decomposing bodies has filled the streets. But reports indicate that citizens, relief workers and local organisations in Sagaing are being prevented from carrying out effective rescue and relief operations.

The presence of the 33rd Light Infantry Division in Sagaing has made access to the city extremely difficult, if not impossible, according to people on the ground.

“The military is conducting security checks everywhere, making it impossible for them to enter,” Dr Wai Zan, who works at the Sagaing General Hospital, told the New York Times.

International media has been denied entry, leaving the world reliant on citizen journalists who continue to send out news, photos and videos to shed light on the disaster’s aftermath.

THE SHOWDOWN

CK Hutchison announced the deal on Mar 4. Less than 10 days later, Beijing-controlled newspaper, Ta Kung Pao, which is based in Hong Kong, published two sharply worded commentaries, urging the Li family to “stop being naïve and confused”. They criticised CK Hutchison of being unpatriotic and “selling out all Chinese people.”

This marks the first time Beijing has publicly singled out Hong Kong’s most prominent conglomerate for sharp criticism in the 27 years since the city’s return to Chinese sovereignty, causing jitters and concerns about the politicisation of business in the local and broader business community.

Beijing’s apparent loss of composure stems from not being informed of the deal in advance, amid US media reports that BlackRock chairman and CEO Larry Fink called US President Donald Trump to secure his blessing. Mr Trump hailed the deal as part of his administration’s efforts to reclaim the Panama Canal.

Despite finding themselves in a political storm, the Li family has surprisingly kept its cool. In fact, the Mar 4 announcement, which stated that the sale was purely commercial in nature and unrelated to geopolitics concerning the Panama ports, remains CK Hutchison’s only public statement to date.

Incensed by the silent treatment, Ta Kung Pao and another pro-Beijing Hong Kong newspaper Wen Wei Po have published at least 20 news stories and commentaries urging the Li family to respond to “public concerns” and halt the deal in the name of national interests and security.

The wrangling reached a climax on Mar 26 when Bloomberg cited sources reporting that CK Hutchison was believed to be moving forward with the deal as scheduled, despite Beijing’s anger over the transaction.

In response, the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office again signalled its displeasure by reposting two articles published by Ta Kung Pao on Mar 26 and 27, criticising CK Hutchison for capitulating to US pressure and sacrificing national interests.

The following day, CK Hutchison finally relented amid reports that the State Administration for Market Regulation in Beijing would investigate the deal “to ensure fair competition” and “safeguard the public interest.”

Until then, Beijing had hoped that intense media pressure would suffice to persuade the Li family to pause the deal, mindful of the potential impact on business confidence in Hong Kong and China if it intervened directly.

COLLECTIVE RESISTANCE

Mr Trump’s tariff actions are unlikely to stop on Apr 2. He has already indicated plans to impose new tariffs on semiconductors and pharmaceutical imports, which will further upend global trade.

For now, the administration appears committed to this course. If inflation rises, stocks tumble or supply chains fracture – all likely – the pressure will mount. That may come in the form of market turmoil, public anger or coordinated global retaliation.

At present, however, the world finds itself trapped in the “prisoner’s dilemma”. While collective action would benefit all, each country has strong incentive to protect itself. That’s precisely what has happened – and exactly what Mr Trump counted on.

Mr Trump has long favoured bilateral deals, which he believes maximise US leverage. He disdains the existing multilateral system, despite it allowing the US to become the world’s dominant economy, and which would permit the US to remain such. His threats to the European Union and Canada should they join forces on counter-tariffs make clear why he will do what’s needed to keep countries divided.  

Businesses, investors and governments are “tarrified” – trapped between the fear of economic fallout and the cost of pushing back.

While some wish the April 2 tariffs will not be as severe as expected given teetering markets, and one never knows who Mr Trump will listen to before making his final decision, hope is not a strategy.

In this era, with the market guardrail failing to hold on its own so far, standing together will be the only way to bargain with an America First US. 

Steven R Okun and Thurgood Marshall Jr served in the Clinton administration as Deputy General Counsel at the Department of Transportation and White House Cabinet Secretary, respectively. Mr Okun serves as CEO of APAC Advisors in Singapore. Mr Marshall practices law in Washington, DC.