Media

2018/46, 26 April 2018

Although tensions between China and the Southeast Asian claimants in the South China Sea have subsided significantly since mid-2016, the contested waters remain an arena of growing strategic competition between the US and China. High-profile naval activities by both countries in the area during April underscored this reality.

2018/45, 25 April 2018

The seventh plenum of the twelfth Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) is scheduled to convene in May 2018. The plenum is expected to make major personnel decisions that will generate important implications for Vietnam’s political prospects, especially the thirteenth congress of the CPV to be held in 2021.

The 32nd ASEAN Summit, the first of two Summits to be chaired and hosted by Singapore during its ASEAN chairmanship in 2018, will see the debut of Myanmar’s newly elected President U Win Myint on the ASEAN scene. His participation will be watched with interest by ASEAN insiders and watchers alike, especially on what he will (or will not) say about the Rakhine/Rohingya issue.

2018/43, 24 April 2018

On 23 April, BN (National Front coalition) revealed its candidates for the state of Kelantan for GE 14. This northern Malaysian state has 14 parliament seats and 45 state legislative assembly seats. Since 1990, BN has been the opposition to PAS (Islamic Party of Malaysia) in the Kelantan State Legislative Assembly (SLA). Analysts argue that GE 14 will be BN’s best chance to recapture the state after PAS’ internal split (which led to the formation of Amanah, National Trust Party). In 2015, PAS also lost its spiritual leader Nik Aziz Nik Mat, who was Kelantan Chief Minister between 1990 and 2013. The possibility of three-cornered fights between BN, PAS and PH (Alliance of Hope) would not be helpful to PAS’ cause to retain control of the state as PH will gain some of PAS’ supporters.