Tag: ASEAN
China–Philippines Sea Clashes Escalate in Days
Chinese and Philippine forces were involved in three confrontations at two disputed South China Sea shoals between July 20 and 24, leaving two Philippine personnel injured and government vessels exposed to water cannons and dangerous close manoeuvres.None of the incidents crossed into armed conflict. Their frequency and increasingly physical character,…
Myanmar Military Escalates Civilian Attacks Despite Diplomacy
Myanmar's military has sharply escalated attacks on civilians since a command reshuffle in March, even as the junta secures wider regional recognition, the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) said Monday.ACLED recorded more than a dozen mass killings in the first half of 2026, with over 450 civilians…
ASEAN Tests Diplomacy Across Three Global Crises
The 33rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum in Pasay, Metro Manila, was not a venue where the United States, Russia and China came to resolve their disputes. Instead, it became a forum where each managed a different strategic challenge at the same time: Washington sought to preserve…
Trump Envoys Reopen Kyiv Channel While Rubio Meets Lavrov
Washington is pursuing two parallel Ukraine tracks. On July 22, U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner spoke directly with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, bypassing formal diplomatic channels that have produced little progress since the Iran war shifted Washington's attention away from Ukraine. A day later, Secretary of State Marco Rubio…
ASEAN Turns to Iran War as Security Risks Grow
Southeast Asia's diplomats opened a week of high-level meetings in Manila on Monday under the Philippines' 2026 ASEAN chairmanship, with the bloc's foreign ministers set to convene among themselves Tuesday to address the war between the United States and Iran alongside two long-running regional priorities: Myanmar's civil war and tensions…
