China

Taiwan

Vietnam

Military & Security

Politics

On May 18, opposition lawmakers from Taiwan's conservative Kuomintang, or KMT, and centrist Taiwan People's Party, or TPP, will visit the Taiwan-administered Taiping Island in the South China Sea to inspect a new pier and observe coast guard drills, Focus Taiwan reported on May 9.

Taiwan, China: Opposition Parties To Visit Taiping Island, Aggravate Fringe National Security Issues

United States

Economics

The U.S. Commerce Department will hear testimony on whether to reclassify Vietnam as a "market economy" from its current designation as a "non-market economy with heavy state influence," Reuters reported on May 8.

Vietnam, U.S.: Commerce Department to Review Vietnam’s ‘Non-Market Economy’ Status 

Cambodia

Construction on Cambodia's $1.7 billion China-funded Mekong River diversion project, dubbed the Funan Techo Canal, is set to begin later in 2024, Reuters reported on May 7, citing Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol.

Cambodia: Mekong Diversion Canal Project To Begin Construction This Year

Indonesia

Malaysia

Myanmar

Philippines

Singapore

Thailand

Bangladesh

India

Energy

Environment, Science & Technology

Science & Technology

Countries across South and Southeast Asia are issuing extreme heat warnings for at least the next three days, though likely longer, as the region grapples with an extended heat wave, portending health risks, business and school closures, and strained electric grids, VnExpress reported on April 29. 

Southeast Asia: Extreme Heat Wave Creates Health and Business Risks, Stresses Energy Grids

Vietnam's National Assembly Chair Vuong Dinh Hue resigned from his position and his roles in the Central Committee and Politburo over unspecified "violations and shortcomings" likely related to the corruption of his subordinates, The Straits Times reported on April 26.

Vietnam: National Assembly Chair Falls in Anti-Corruption Purge

Vietnamese National Assembly Chair Vuong Dinh Hue is in Beijing, China, for a six-day visit that will foster bilateral ties in areas such as party-to-party relations, trade, tourism and China's "community of common destiny" while exchanging notes on each country's anti-corruption drive, Nikkei Asia reported on April 8.

China, Vietnam: Top Vietnamese Lawmaker To Spend All Week in Beijing

Israel

Palestinian Territories

Brunei Darussalam

Laos

Slightly over half of respondents in the 2024 State of Southeast Asia Survey published by Singapore's ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute said that out of the world's major powers, they would prefer to partner with China, an increase of 11.6% since 2023 and topping the United States for the first time, Nikkei Asia reported on April 2.

ASEAN: Annual Survey Shows Turn in Favor of China

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam accepted the resignation of President Vo Van Thuong after he was found to have broken unspecified Party rules, Tuoi Tre reported on March 20.

Vietnam: Communist Party Accepts Second Presidential Resignation in 15 Months

Assessments

An aerial photo taken on Sept. 25, 2022, shows solar panels at the Sao Mai solar energy plant in Vietnam’s An Giang province. 

Several ASEAN countries are on track to develop substantial renewable power capacities in the short term, but technical, political and financial constraints, coupled with incentives to keep burning fossil fuels, will impede long-term decarbonization goals.

The Challenges Facing Southeast Asia's Decarbonization

Columns

On Geopolitics

Australia

Fiji

Japan

New Zealand

North Korea

South Korea

United Kingdom

A 3D rendering of Southeast Asia from space at night with city lights showing Southeast Asian cities in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

U.S.-China Relations

In the Asia-Pacific, countries are increasingly pursuing complex networks of political, economic and defense ties as part of a burgeoning "multi-alignment" strategy that seeks to avoid U.S.-China strategic competition.

Examining 'Multi-Alignment' in the Asia-Pacific

Then-Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong looks on during a meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, on April 21, 2023.

While unlikely to yield major policy changes in the near term, the president's resignation -- the second since January 2023 -- could be a harbinger of deepening political instability in the years ahead.

Another Abrupt Leadership Change Sows Doubt About Vietnam's Political Stability

A digital illustration of the Australian and Vietnamese flags.

The decision aligns with both countries' desire to diversify their regional partnerships amid U.S. policy uncertainty and China's growing assertiveness.

The Significance of Australia and Vietnam's Move to Upgrade Relations

Snapshots

A worker is seen at an electric vehicle factory in Hai Phong, Vietnam, on July 26, 2022.

The Vietnamese government will likely only partially enforce the convention, mitigating the extra costs to foreign companies.

The Impact of Vietnam Ratifying a U.N. Convention on Labor Rights

Pakistan

Chinese officials at the Fifth Plenary Session of the National People's Congress on March 12, 2023 in Beijing. Beijing will host the annual Two Sessions meetings of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, an industry and societal consultative body, and the rubberstamp National People's Congress from March 4-11.

A look at what the coming week will bring -- and a list of recommended RANE articles from the week that was.

The Weekly Rundown: Pakistan Selects a New Premier, China's Two Sessions

Mexico

In the coming years, rising nationalist and anti-globalization ideologies will likely lead to heightened geopolitical competition and trade/technological fragmentation that will impact relations between countries.

Can Globalization Survive in an Increasingly Fragmented World?

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivers a speech at the gala dinner for the ASEAN-Japan commemorative summit in Tokyo on Dec. 17, 2023. 

Over the next year, Tokyo will provide ASEAN countries with military equipment and more infrastructure investment, which will raise threat perceptions and further deteriorate Japan's ties with China.

The Implications of Japan's Growing Interest in Southeast Asia

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (R) delivers an opening address at the start of a bilateral meeting with Laos' Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone (L) at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, on Dec. 16, 2023.

Laos' vulnerabilities will weaken its ASEAN chairmanship, although the bloc's economic interconnectivity will likely continue to grow.

Laos' Limitations Portend a Lukewarm Year for ASEAN

Media

Podcasts

What is the nature of the upgraded relations between China and Vietnam?

Essential Geopolitics: Xi's Vietnam Visit

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, 4th right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, attend the meeting at the Great Hall of People on April 25, 2019, in Beijing, China. 

The Chinese president's first trip to Vietnam since 2017 will likely see the two countries agree to upgrade their relations, which will benefit Hanoi amid the growing U.S.-China competition over its rare earth minerals.

Putting Xi's Upcoming Visit to Vietnam in Context

Argentina

Egypt

Europe

Ukraine

Russia

A campaign poster for incoming Argentine President Javier Milei on Nov. 30, 2023, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Milei plans to immediately send a package of economic reforms to the Argentine legislature.

The Weekly Rundown: Xi's Vietnam Visit, Egypt's Presidential Election

Vietnam is located on the easternmost edge of the Indochinese Peninsula, with China to the north and Laos and Cambodia to the west. Its more than 2,000 mile-long coastline abuts the Gulf of Tonkin, the South China Sea and the Gulf of Thailand. These seas create both direct access to the wider Pacific Ocean and a critical buffer to Vietnam's long and narrow land territory.    Modern Vietnam consists of two geographic and population cores — the Red River Delta in the north, home to the capital of Hanoi, and the Mekong River Delta in the southern lowlands, where Ho Chi Minh City sits.  These cores are separated by over 1,600 miles and connected by a thin and largely mountainous coastal spine, only around 30 miles wide at its narrowest point.    Despite mountains and jungles, the northern Vietnamese core has a long history of invasion by forces from China. This almost continuous pressure from the north in part forced Vietnam's early rulers to expand the country's boundaries, first southward, to the Mekong River Delta, and then westward, into present day Laos and Cambodia.    Historically and today, the natural geographic separation of Vietnam's northern and southern cores has exacerbated the two regions' social, cultural and political divide — leaving the country vulnerable to invasion by foreign powers, whether Chinese, French or American.    Vietnam’s primary geographic challenge is to secure buffer space both on land and sea. Today, Vietnam's need for space and security in the South China Seas pits it against China, also in the throes of maritime expansion, thus adding a new dimension to Vietnam's longstanding struggle to carve space for itself against its larger northern neighbor.  

SITUATION REPORTS

Taiwan, China: Opposition Parties To Visit Taiping Island, Aggravate Fringe National Security Issues

Vietnam, U.S.: Commerce Department to Review Vietnam’s ‘Non-Market Economy’ Status

Cambodia: Mekong Diversion Canal Project To Begin Construction This Year

Southeast Asia: Extreme Heat Wave Creates Health and Business Risks, Stresses Energy Grids

Vietnam: National Assembly Chair Falls in Anti-Corruption Purge

China, Vietnam: Top Vietnamese Lawmaker To Spend All Week in Beijing

ASEAN: Annual Survey Shows Turn in Favor of China

Vietnam: Communist Party Accepts Second Presidential Resignation in 15 Months

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