Media

On 23 May, while on a state visit to Russia, President Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao. The trigger for this was the temporary capture of much of the downtown area of Marawi City by Abu Sayyaf Group and Maute Group terrorists in response to an attempt by Philippine army and police forces to arrest Isnilon Hapilon, an Abu Sayyaf Group leader. The president determined that the terrorist threat in Mindanao qualifies as a rebellion and provides the Constitutional basis for the declaration of martial law.

Catholics have been protesting in the Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces of Central Vietnam since February 2017. The most recent incident in Nghe An saw several hundred Catholic protesters block the North-South national highway. The protest resulted in the damage of public property and up to 16 policemen injured. Tensions only increased when provincial authorities tried to quell the demonstrations.

Monday’s bombing of Bangkok’s King Mongkut Hospital occurred on the third anniversary of Thailand’s most recent coup d’etat, which saw a junta calling itself the the National Council for Peace and Order remove the caretaker Phuea Thai Party government. The NCPO continues to govern the country. While there has been no claim of responsibility for the bombing at time of writing, the latest incident adds to concerns that the violence that has plagued in the three Muslim-majority provinces of southern Thailand during the past dozen years may  now be escalating to Bangkok.

ASEAN and China took their first hesitant step towards the long-awaited Code of Conduct on the South China Sea (COC) yesterday by concluding the draft framework on the Code of Conduct. It has been a full 15 years since ASEAN and China agreed to “reaffirm that the adoption of a code of conduct in the South China Sea would further promote peace and stability in the region” through the adoption of the 2002  Declaration on the Code of Conduct of the Parties in the South China Sea (DOC). Not much was expected of the DOC then, and likewise it would be unrealistic to expect any changes to the draft framework.