Welcome to Foreign Policy’s Southeast Asia Brief.
The highlights this week: ASEAN leaders head to Russia to talk energy, the Philippines worries about China’s designs on Scarborough Shoal, Uyghurs sentenced in dubious Thai trial, and the line that went viral from a Malaysian court judgment on former Prime Minister Najib Razak.
ASEAN Leaders Head to Russia
Last week’s ASEAN-Russia Commemorative Summit in Kazan illustrates how the Iran war and subsequent energy shock have strengthened Russia’s diplomatic inroads in the region. Nine Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) heads of state and government attended the summit on June 17-18. A number also met directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Since its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has deepened its diplomatic engagement with Southeast Asia, with energy—oil and gas or nuclear—a key part of its offer. ASEAN’s attitude toward Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 was equivocal, reflecting a wide range of opinion among the various member states. Most have at various times voted at the United Nations to condemn the invasion, with Laos and Vietnam the only habitual abstentions. And the last ASEAN-Russia summit was in 2021, prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
