ASEAN
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Global Commons
Southeast Asia prepared to cope with natural disasters, survey shows
Voice of America Southeast Asia is among the world’s most disaster-prone regions, but a recent analysis shows its residents feel among the best equipped to deal with natural calamities. The survey by Gallup for the Lloyd’s Register Foundation found the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations has played a key role in disaster risk reduction, with the regional approach including…
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Oceania
Australia pledges funds for maritime cooperation as ASEAN summit begins
Radio Free Asia Canberra will invest $41.8 million during the next four years to expand maritime cooperation in Southeast Asia, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in early March 2024. Wong made the pledge on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-Australia Special Summit in Melbourne, which marked 50 years of partnership between Australia and the 10-member…
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Partnerships
Southeast Asian nations strengthen regional unity
FORUM Staff Southeast Asian nations are increasingly willing to act on issues requiring collective defense and cooperation, as evidenced by the mid-January 2024 talks in Hanoi between Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong and Indonesian President Joko Widodo on strengthening joint maritime security and commerce. The leaders “reaffirmed the importance of peace, stability … and freedom of navigation” in the contested…
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Free and Open Indo-Pacific/FOIP
ASEAN demonstrates solidarity as PRC drags feet on South China Sea code of conduct
FORUM Staff Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members are reinforcing partnerships that uphold stability in the South China Sea. Recent diplomatic efforts come as an increasingly aggressive People’s Republic of China (PRC) claims decadeslong talks on a code of conduct (COC) for the crucial waterway are “going smoothly.” Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. met…
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Conflicts - Tensions
Japan, Malaysia sign maritime security assistance deal
Reuters Japan and Malaysia signed a security assistance deal in mid-December 2023, including a $2.8 million grant to boost Kuala Lumpur’s maritime security, as nations seek to counter an increasingly assertive People’s Republic of China (PRC). Japan will provide rescue boats, equipment and other supplies under the deal signed on the sidelines of a Tokyo summit marking 50 years of…
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Conflicts - Tensions
Japan, ASEAN bolster ties at summit focused on security, economy amid tensions with Beijing
The Associated Press Leaders from Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), at a special summit in Tokyo in mid-December 2023, adopted a joint vision that emphasizes security and economic cooperation while respecting the rule of law. Ties between Japan and the 10-member ASEAN traditionally were based on Japanese assistance to the developing economies, but in recent years the relationship…
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Partnerships
ASEAN defense ministers advocate regional stability, security
Gusty Da Costa Promoting stability through multilateral defense diplomacy during heightened regional tensions was a focus of Southeast Asian defense leaders and counterparts from elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific during the 10th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus, or ADMM-Plus, in Jakarta, Indonesia, in November 2023. Defense ministers from nine of the 10 ASEAN countries participated, along…
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Partnerships
Indonesia, Vietnam strengthen defense cooperation as PRC’s maritime aggression persists
Gusty Da Costa Indonesia and Vietnam are moving closer to upgrading their relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership as indicated by their leaders’ September 2023 meeting and the nations’ third Defense Policy Dialogue a month later. The nations are enhancing defense cooperation in particular, according to officials and experts. The two countries, members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations…
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Partnerships
Indonesia committed to nuclear-free ASEAN, global disarmament
Tom Abke The Indonesian government is using diplomatic channels to promote the goals of keeping the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) free of nuclear weapons and ultimately eliminating such weapons from the world’s arsenals. The efforts come against a backdrop of nuclear weapons buildups by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and North Korea and Russia’s threats to use…
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Free and Open Indo-Pacific/FOIP
Philippines bolstering defense ties to counter PRC’s South China Sea threats
Maria T. Reyes The threat posed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC), whether its violations of international law in the South China Sea or the looming possibility of an invasion of self-governed Taiwan, has become a central consideration for the Philippines’ defense policy and security partners. This applies to the Philippines’ membership in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations…
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