Dueling ASEAN Myanmar Calls After Aung San Suu Kyi Meeting
Plus new minilateral defense council meeting; coming gas pipeline link speculation; debt management plan claim; data leak review aftermath; and much, much more.
Greetings to new readers and welcome all to the latest edition of the weekly ASEAN Wonk BulletBrief! If you haven’t already, you can upgrade to a paid subscription for $5 a month/$50 a year below to receive full posts by inserting your email address and then selecting an annual or monthly option. You can visit this page for more on pricing for institutions, groups as well as discounts. For current paid subscribers, please make sure you’re hitting the “view entire message” prompt if it comes up at the end of a post to see the full version.
For this iteration of ASEAN Wonk BulletBrief, we are looking at:
Assessing the geopolitical significance of dueling ASEAN Myanmar calls after a rare meet with former leader Aung San Suu Kyi and summit diplomacy;
Mapping of regional developments, such as Pacific voyage and a new minilateral defense council meeting;
Charting evolving geopolitical, geoeconomic and security trends such as new debt plan claim; data leak fallout and coming exercise restart;
Tracking and analysis of industry developments and quantitative indicators including quiet U.S.-China shifts; new tech plan; green economy win and more;
And much more! ICYMI, check out our ASEAN Wonk review this past week on where the Philippines is headed beyond geopolitics and implications for issues ranging from critical minerals to South China Sea dynamics.
This Week’s WonkCount: 2,298 words (~10 minutes)
Pacific Voyage; New Minilateral Defense Council Meeting & More
China Links; Scam Disruption Claims & Digital Trade Spotlight
“ASEAN-China relations cannot be taken for granted,” argues an article as part of a collection of perspectives published jointly by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta and China Foreign Affairs University with support from the China Mission to ASEAN which examines ties across issues ranging from trade to Mekong collaboration (link).
“In our investigations we routinely observe actors moving between scam types, or combining multiple scam techniques within a single operation,” according to an account published by OpenAI on disruptions surrounding a Cambodia-based scam operation using ChatGPT to support its operations (link).
“[T]he policy question for ASEAN is how DEFA can enhance regulatory coherence and provide added value in supporting trade…whilst preserving legitimate regulatory space,” notes a new policy brief published by the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) on balancing digital trade and regulatory objectives within the Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA) as it applies to digital products using cryptography (link).
Dueling ASEAN Myanmar Calls After Aung San Suu Kyi Meeting
What’s Behind It
Dueling ASEAN Myanmar calls were issued after a rare meeting with former leader Aung San Suu Kyi and ongoing summit diplomacy amid other flashpoint-related developments within and beyond Southeast Asia1. These included Australia and Philippine defense ministers issuing a statement expressing rising concerns on deteriorating South China Sea dynamics that have sparked wider international concern as well as scrutiny in some circles on the lack of joint condemnation of China’s July missile test at the Pacific Islands Forum meeting convened in Fiji2.
Select Key Recent Regional Flashpoint-Related Developments in and Around Southeast Asia
The developments also highlighted ongoing regional dynamics with global implications. The dueling calls occurred just as ASEAN commemorated the latest iteration of its annual anniversary on August 8, with other powers including the United States also strongly weighing in on regional issues3. A new round of Cambodia-Thailand barb-trading also played out over external assistance as diplomatic talks and maritime inspections unfolded, following controversy that had previously grown out of a publicized United Nations envoy report4.
Why It Matters
The dynamics also spotlighted datapoints to watch with wider implications (see originally generated ASEAN Wonk table below on notable areas to monitor and additional specifics. Paying subscribers can read on for more on what to expect and future implications in the rest of the “Why It Matters” and “Where It’s Headed” sections, along with paid-only sections of the newsletter as usual).
Flashpoint Datapoints to Watch, Along With Select Policy Aspects And Issue Pillars
