The photographs came only a week after US officials said China had deployed surface to air missiles in the Paracel islands further north, and with tensions mounting in the strategically vital region.

“Placement of a high frequency radar on Cuarteron Reef would significantly bolster China’s ability to monitor surface and air traffic coming north from the Malacca Straits and other strategically important channels,” said CSIS’s Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.

CSIS said that while the earlier deployment of HQ-9 surface-to-air missiles was “notable”, it “does not alter the military balance in the South China Sea”.

But it went on: “New radar facilities being developed in the Spratlys, on the other hand, could significantly change the operational landscape.”

US Navy Admiral Harry Harris, the commander of the US Pacific Command, told lawmakers in Washington on Tuesday that the installation of radars and other equipment was raising the stakes in the region.

“China is clearly militarizing the South China Sea,” Harris told the Senate Armed Services Committee. “You’d have to believe in the flat Earth to think otherwise.”

Beijing claims almost the whole of the South China Sea — through which a third of the world’s oil passes — while several other littoral states have competing claims, as does Taiwan.

The United States has in recent months sent warships to sail within 12 nautical miles — the usual territorial limit around natural land — of a disputed island and one of China’s artificial constructions in what it says is a defence of the right to free passage.

The Chinese military has already been using the islands to monitor military and civilian traffic electronically but the new radar installations “will exponentially improve that capability”, said Euan Graham, director of the International Security Program at the Lowy Institute.

They would be highly vulnerable in conflict but would give China “a significant intelligence advantage — and make it much harder for the US and other regional navies and air forces to move through the South China Sea undetected,” he added.

Over-the-horizon radar is vital for missile targeting, he noted.

– Military activities –

=======================

Last week China confirmed it had placed “weapons” on Woody Island in the Paracels, defending what it said was its sovereign right to do so.

Asked about the radar installations, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Tuesday that the area was Chinese territory “beyond dispute” and Beijing was entitled under international law to the “necessary and limited deployment of defence facilities”.

“Verbally, what the US talks about is freedom of navigation, but in its heart, perhaps what it’s thinking about is absolute hegemony on the sea,” she told a regular briefing.

Beijing says it defends the right to free passage, and insists its island building has civilian purposes, such as search and rescue facilities, as well as military.

A host of installations with potential military use are being developed, according to CSIS, including as many as three runways — at least one of them 3,000 metres (10,000 feet) long.

China is looking to deploy “all the defensive and offensive capability means that it has” as it seeks regional dominance, said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, of Hong Kong Baptist University.

“In view of the weaknesses of other claimants, China will be able to dominate and then potentially control the South China Sea — its main objective being to force the US Navy and Air Force to think twice before cruising or flying over the area,” he told AFP.

In the last three or four years, the Obama administration had become “more willing” to challenge Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea, said Lin Wencheng, of Taiwan’s National Sun Yat-sen University, adding: “The radar to some extent targets the US’s military activities in this region.”

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi was heading to Washington on Tuesday for talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry, where the issue was expected to be on the agenda.

Kerry told reporters last week: “There is every evidence, every day, that there has been an increase of militarisation of one kind or another. It’s of a serious concern.”

– AFP

Authorities deported them to Batam, an Indonesian island not far from Singapore, the same day, and they have since been sent on to Jakarta.

“Four Indonesians were deported to Indonesia after investigations revealed that they had plans to make their way to Syria to fight for ISIS,” a spokesman for Singapore’s ministry of home affairs said, using an alternative name for IS.

“Singapore authorities informed their Indonesian counterparts before the deportation.”

After questioning the men, all from the main island of Java, Indonesian officials also concluded that the group were likely heading to Syria, Indonesian police said.

IS has provided a potent new rallying cry for Islamic extremists in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, with hundreds believed to have headed to fight in the Middle East with the jihadists.

National police chief Badrodin Haiti said the detained men were also thought to be followers of radical preacher Aman Abdurrahman, who is in jail for his role in forming a militant training camp, and has pledged allegiance to IS.

There have been suspicions Abdurrahman may have helped plan last month’s gun and suicide attacks in Jakarta that left four attackers and four civilians dead.

They were claimed by IS, which controls vast swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq, and were the first major attack in Indonesia for seven years.

The detained men originally entered Singapore from Batam but left for Malaysia, where they stayed only several hours, said local police chief Helmy Santika.

They were detained as they returned to Singapore, where they planned to catch flights, he added, without giving further details.

Indonesian police have launched a nationwide crackdown since the Jakarta attacks, rounding up dozens of alleged Islamic extremists.

Indonesia suffered several major bomb attacks by Islamic radicals between 2000 and 2009, but a subsequent crackdown weakened the most dangerous networks.

– AFP

Head of Viengkeo village in Xaythany district, Norlaphong Phengkhampang, said that this year’s Phaved festival will go ahead without a band and focus more on the religious ceremonies.

Most people were in favour of the decision because the village’s income from the sale of goods associated with the band such as food and drinks was insufficient and excessive drinking resulted in disruptive behaviour.

Certain families were out of pocket after paying for the band and hosting parties for friends.

Another reason for the decision was that the village does not have a suitable area where the band can play. In the past, bands played in the temple grounds and alcoholic drinks were served in this sacred area, Norlaphong said.

A Phaved is a religious or temple festival and many villages are now organising such an event. Most combine religious ceremonies and a band, especially in communities outside the city centre. Festivals held in the city do not normally include a band and focus more on the religious aspects of the occasion.

According to the law on the control of alcoholic drinks, which was promulgated last year, concerning locations where alcohol can be served, Article 29 says the sale of alcohol should not take place near healthcare or educational institutions, state offices, religious venues, embassies, public parks, theatres, passenger vehicle stations, petrol stations, sports complexes or factories.

Along with Viengkeo, other villages in the district have decided not to hire a band for the festival, including Dongdok, Khamhoung and Houaytouay.

An official at the Information, Culture and Tourism office in Xaythany district said there was no ban on village authorities arranging for music to be played at the festival, but they did not issue a licence for bands to play in temple grounds.

It is a longstanding custom for bands to play at traditional festivals. However, celebrating a festival without a band is a good thing because the presence of a band is a luxury and the social merriment that goes with it increases the risk of road accidents, the official said.

Director of the Vientiane Information, Culture and Tourism Department, Khampadith Khemmanith, said that it was a good thing if festivals did not include a band to entertain guests because it cut down noise and reduced alcohol consumption. In addition, many bands play beyond the time limit at night, which disturbs other people.

The tougher laws are being introduced to clamp down on restaurants and hotels for imposing up to 10percent service charge of the bill on their customers despite them not meeting the condition to do so.

The Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry is in the midst of coming up with new rules that enable it to take action against such premises that charge for service although they do not have a collective agreement (CA) with their employees.

After the GST was implemented, the Government repeatedly reminded operators that only those with a CA between employer and employees could impose a service charge.

However, many restaurants, despite not meeting the condition, continue to flout the rule.

According to the ministry, there are only 93 companies in the hotel and food and beverage industries that are eligible to impose the service charge.

A check by mStar Online has found that four popular restaurant chains, with some 500 outlets nationwide, charge 5 per cent or 10 per cent for service despite not having a CA in place.

The ministry’s secretary-general Datuk Seri Alias Ahmad (pic) said that it has since last year required business owners to display the service charge notice to inform their customers.

“However, not only those who qualify are doing that, all businesses do that these days.

“I don’t think a normal eatery has a CA because logically, they do not have a workers’ union,” he said in an interview with the Malay news portal.

Alias said that due to a lack of specific rules to enforce the ruling, business owners continued to arbitrarily display the notice and charge their customers for service.

Under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011, it is an offence for premises to not display the service charge notice.

If convicted, individuals can be fined up to RM100,000, be jailed up to three years, or both, while companies face a penalty of up to RM500,000.

The proposed new rules will strengthen enforcement and provide more protection for consumers and workers.

“We have asked our legal advisers and the enforcement team to draft the laws and look at the existing regulations.

“We need to look deeper into this matter as it also involves the Human Resource Ministry and other agencies,” said Alias, noting that the CA used by workers’ unions was recognised by the Industrial Court.

The new rules, he said, involved an amendment to the Consumer Protection Act.

“As it requires an amendment to an Act, it needs to be tabled in Parliament, most probably in the fourth quarter of the year,” said Alias, adding that the proposal would be presented by Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin to the Cabinet before being tabled.

If all went well, the new rules would come into effect early next year, said Alias.

The new rules, he added, would enable the ministry to check if businesses were entitled to impose the service charge.

“These rules will also enable the ministry to check if the employers are distributing the service charge to their workers.

“If employers or companies fail to do so, the ministry can take stern action based on the laws,” he said.

However, there is yet to be discussion on the penalties for offenders.