Welcome to Foreign Policy‘s Southeast Asia Brief.
Highlights this week: ASEAN leaders go to Russia to talk energyPhilippines concerns about Chinese structures on Scarborough ShoalUyghurs convicted in a Thai dubious caseand the line spread due to the judgment of the Malaysian court about former Prime Minister Najib Razak.
ASEAN Leaders Head to Russia
Last week’s ASEAN-Russia Commemorative Summit in Kazan shows how the Iran war and subsequent energy crisis have strengthened Russia’s diplomatic intervention in the region. Nine leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) attended the summit on June 17-18. A number also met directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Since its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has been deep its diplomatic cooperation with Southeast Asia, and energy-oil and gas or nuclear-an important part of its offering. ASEAN’s attitude towards Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 was balanced, reflecting a wide range of views among the various member states. Many have at different times they voted in the United Nations to condemn the invasion, while Laos and Vietnam were the only countries that refrained from the practice. And the last ASEAN-Russia meeting was in 2021, before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
However, the ASEAN foreign minister statement following the invasion it called for peace and dialogue but failed to mention the words “Russia” or “invasion.” Only Singapore posted any restrictions.
This year, attitudes seem to be softer. Energy–high on the agenda following the Iran war–was a recurring theme. America’s main ally President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines, acting as ASEAN chairman, put on a friendly face and met with Putin.
“In an era of geopolitical uncertainty, the value of strong political and security cooperation between ASEAN and Russia cannot be overestimated,” Marcos. he announced. He emphasized food and energy security as particularly important, as well as calling for cooperation against international crime and terrorism.
A joint statement by Russia and ASEAN after the meeting called for finding areas of cooperation in civil nuclear energy and the ASEAN Power Grid. Another statement called for ASEAN and Russia to “explore” establishing a dialogue mechanism on maritime cooperation.
At the bilateral level, Marcos told the media that Russia and the Philippines were working on a procedure for the latter buy Russian oil regularly. He too he said He was open to cooperation on nuclear energy. And him too he spoke on the possibility of visa-free travel for Russians to the Philippines. Meanwhile, Russia made a show of goodwill, to release 24 Filipinos were detained for nine months without charge in eastern Siberia.
Also making headlines was Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, a long-time critic of US foreign policy, who he said that ASEAN leaders meeting with Putin was “a good sign of our great position and our readiness to overcome these natural hatreds.” Here’s to Anwar three to visit Russia in three years. Back to Malaysia, Anwar he told it media the two countries were working on a long-term agreement with Russia to supply oil and gas to Malaysia.
At the same time, Russia’s long-time friends Laos and Vietnam took the opportunity to further strengthen relations. Vietnamese Prime Minister Le Minh Hung highlighted energy, fertilizers, and technology as key areas of cooperation. In March, the two countries signature agreement to cooperate in the construction of a nuclear power plant in Vietnam. Laos too signature agreement to investigate the construction of a nuclear reactor designed by Russia.
Thailand and Cambodia both are looking to strengthen trade ties through an agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union, a trade bloc that includes Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.
The prime minister of Singapore, Lawrence Wong, is making his first visit to Russia, too he met and Putin, saying he wants to see more cooperation between Russia and ASEAN, and that he would work next year when Singapore becomes the chair of ASEAN.
There was a small bullet in the bow. Wong he insisted the importance of observing international law in a situation of geopolitical instability, according to Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Although in the context of the Iran strike, this cuts in more ways than one.
Indonesia has cut an unusually low profile. President Prabowo Subianto, whose tenure has seen many trips abroad, stayed at homesending the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sugiono in his place as The economic situation at home seems rocky.
Is China about to capture Scarborough? China may be preparing to take permanent control of Scarborough Shoal, he warned Philippine National Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro in an interview with Financial Times on sunday. China claims that reefs in the South China Sea are part of its territory, despite a 2016 international court ruling against it.
Earlier this month, on June 11, Teodoro and his family were put down restrictions and China. They were banned from entering the country, and organizations in China were banned from interacting with them. China said this was because Teodoro “repeatedly made false statements about China” that undermined “China’s legitimate interests.”
These events come amid weeks of dramatic drama structure first seen on the rocks in early June. Philippines the suspect China to put it there and start a formal diplomatic protest. China claimed it was a “temporary scientific research center” and on June 17 removed it from the reef. This did little to calm the anxiety. China’s scientific activities are seen by many as a cover for other strategic goals. Some Filipino experts have no worries data collected could be used in preparation for building more permanent structures as part of the Chinese shoal work.
The former Prime Minister “made Attila the Hun look like a choirboy.” Malaysian courts have provided the 809-page judgment that justified the decision to sentence former Prime Minister Najib Razak to 15 years in prison and a fine of 13.5 billion shillings for abuse of power and money laundering.
One line, in particular, quickly went viral: “The scale of the looting (financial, of course) made Attila the Hun look like a choirboy by comparison.”
Najib what? to be judged in December last year, significantly increasing the six-year prison sentence he was already serving after a separate trial. Explaining decisionThe judge cited Najib’s damage to Malaysia and his reputation caused by the scandal, his high position, and his lack of remorse. Najib is facing this case and others over his involvement in the massive ordeal 1Malaysia Development Berhad corruption scandal, in which approximately 4.5 billion dollars were stolen.
Despite his disgrace, the former prime minister remains a political force in Malaysia. Loyalists in the United Malay National Organization (UMNO), which he once led, continue protest his innocence and prompting for his forgiveness and release. And UMNO is looking to push back politicssuch an outcome is unlikely.
School shootings in the Philippines. School shot in the Philippines on Monday left three students dead and seven injured.
Two suspects, aged 14 and 15, and armed with a pistol, have been arrested. At least one was a student at San Jose National High School, where the shooting took place.
School shootings are rare in the Philippines. The last one like that event in 2022 they left three dead, including the former mayor who was targeted by a gunman while attending his daughter’s college graduation.
Authorities across the region are concerned about an increase in youth violence and blame the negative influence of the internet. In November 2025, a bomb attack at a school in Indonesia and a student left 96 injured. Police found signs of online extremism in far-right extremists.
Picture of the Week
People participate in a yoga session to celebrate International Yoga Day at Thuwunna National Indoor Stadium in Yangon, Myanmar, June 21. Sai Aung MAIN / AFP via Getty Images
A few reports from behind the rebel lines in Myanmar, by Quentin Sommerville and Darren Conway of BBC.
Measles is making a comeback in Southeast Asia, and that’s a wake-up call for health systems, writes Mochammad Fadjar Wibowo in An interpreter.
How Singapore’s “Four Floors of Whores” Found God. Jean Iau explores megachurches expanding in unexpected places, including the infamous Orchard Towers, in South China Morning Post.
In Focus: Thailand sentences Uyghurs to death in flawed trial
On August 17, 2015, a bomb went off at the Erawan temple in central Bangkok, killing 20 and injuring more than 120. It was Thailand’s deadliest terrorist attack.
Shortly thereafter, two Chinese Uyghur men—Bilal Mohammed and Yusufu Mieraili—were arrested. And more than ten years later, on June 11 this year, the Thai court found them guilty of carrying out the bombing and sentenced them to death. Both men have maintained their innocence.
The reason for the attack is still unknown, no group has claimed responsibility. Some think it was revenge for Thailand’s decision in July 2015 to deport 109 Uighurs back to China. It may also have targeted Chinese tourists, as the tomb was a popular place to visit.
the case, critics say, it was full of flaws. Testifying in the case after more than a decade of detention, both defendants claim they were mistreated during interrogation in 2015 to force confessions.
Writers such as the BBC’s Jonathan Head have he said out many strange turns of the case and unanswered questions.
Bilal looked a bit like the man caught on CCTV planting a bomb. Many other suspects have not yet been arrested.
The military government that initially oversaw the trial said it did not believe the bombing was in retaliation for the deportation of Uyghur men. Instead, officials blamed government opponents or perhaps human traffickers.
The lawyers of the two men have said they will appeal.
Uyghurs in Thailand, who often pass as refugees fleeing persecution in China, are a frequent source of political drama. And the situation seems to be more difficult for them.
On February 27, 2025, Thailand expelled from the country another 40 Uyghurs returned to China, where they face imprisonment and torture, claiming the deportation was an act of “family reunification”. Later that year, art exhibition exhibiting work from Uyghur, Tibetan, and Hong Kong artists who had fled China was censored and the curator fled to England.
