The 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting convened in Manila on July 20 with US Secretary of State Rubio, China's Wang Yi and other major-power counterparts present; Southeast Asian ministers voiced serious concern over Middle East hostilities and called for safe, unimpeded passage through the Strait of Hormuz, while Myanmar's stalled peace process and South China Sea tensions also featured
Statues of General Aung San, Myanmar's independence hero and father of Aung San Suu Kyi, are disappearing across the country, as the military junta moves to erase a national symbol whose legacy is intertwined with the opposition it is fighting.
India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval chaired the 5th BIMSTEC National Security Chiefs' meeting in New Delhi on July 16, where member states endorsed new guiding principles for maritime law enforcement and humanitarian disaster relief, and pledged closer cooperation on counter-terrorism and cybersecurity ahead of a broader BIMSTEC summit
ASEAN foreign ministers meet in Manila on July 19 as the US, China and Russia all send top diplomats
The Philippines, as 2026 ASEAN chair, hosts US Secretary of State Rubio, Chinese FM Wang Yi and Russia's minister alongside counterparts from India, Canada, Australia and New Zealand; Myanmar and a stalled South China Sea code of conduct are expected to dominate
ASEAN foreign ministers will hold an informal meeting with Myanmar's junta-appointed Foreign Minister Tin Maung Swe in Bangkok on July 12, marking the first in-person ministerial contact since the February 2021 military coup; the Philippines, as 2026 ASEAN chair, will lead the session, as an estimated 16.2 million people inside Myanmar require humanitarian aid
The world's dominant synthetic stimulant, manufactured industrially in Myanmar, Mexico, and Afghanistan, funding armed groups and reaching record seizure volumes as the global drug economy pivots away from cropland.
An OHCHR report covering August 2025 to January 2026 found 476 deaths caused by military airstrikes; 16.2 million people now require humanitarian aid, a record high, while international engagement is falling
21-gun salute for Min Aung Hlaing, a 'shared future' joint statement, RMB–kyat settlement and Kyaukpyu, Beijing legitimises a ballot that barred the opposition
Taliban opium ban coincides with a meth surge; East and Southeast Asia logged a record 236 tonnes seized as Shan State super-labs run flat out
The Three Brotherhood Alliance shattered in March 2026 when the MNDAA captured Kutkai from former ally TNLA, serving Chinese interests in reopening border trade; the Arakan Army pushed to within 2-3km of Sittwe capital in Rakhine State; and the NUG formed a unified resistance command SCEF with four ethnic armies
The MNDAA's seizure of Kutkai from former ally the TNLA marks the Brotherhood Alliance's collapse under Beijing's border pressure; the KIA's grip on rare-earth mines near China buys it a longer leash