Category: Key Issues

Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s ousted de facto civilian leader, returned to a courtroom in the capital, Naypyidaw, Tuesday to stand trial on two of the most serious corruption-related charges brought against her by the military junta that overthrew her government earlier this year.

The 75-year-old Suu Kyi is facing charges of violating the Official Secrets Act, accepting illegal payments of $600,000 in cash plus 11 kilograms of gold and misusing land for her charitable foundation.

A separate hearing was held Monday on charges of illegally possessing unlicensed walkie-talkies and violating the country’s Natural Disaster Management Law for breaking COVID-19 restrictions while campaigning during last year’s parliamentary elections.

Khin Maung Zaw, Suu Kyi’s attorney, issued a statement saying Suu Kyi did not appear to be well but “seemed quite interested and paid keen attention” during Monday proceedings.

The attorney said former President U Win Myint also went on trial Monday for violating the Natural Disaster Law.

Lawyers have told reporters they expect the current trial to last until the end of July.

Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate, has been detained since February 1, when her civilian government was overthrown nearly three months after her National League for Democracy party scored a landslide victory in the elections.

The junta has cited widespread electoral fraud in the November 8 election as a reason for the coup, an allegation the civilian electoral commission denied. The junta has threatened to dissolve the NLD over the allegations.

The coup triggered a crisis in the Southeast Asian country that led to deadly anti-junta demonstrations and clashes between several armed ethnic groups and the ruling junta.

In a campaign to quell the protests, the government has killed more than 800 protesters and bystanders since the takeover, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which tracks casualties and arrests in Myanmar.

Source: Voice of America

Review of Regional Weather for May 2021

1. Overview

1.1 During May 2021, there was a mix of below- to above-average rainfall over the ASEAN region. For the equatorial region, the GSMaP-NRT dataset (Figure 1a) shows near- to above-average rainfall (except for parts of central Borneo), while the CMORPH-Blended dataset (Figure 1b) shows a mixture of below- and above-average rainfall. The largest positive anomalies (wetter conditions) were recorded over southern Philippines for both satellite-derived rainfall estimates datasets, due to Tropical Depression 03W. Elsewhere in the Maritime Continent, the southern Maritime Continent and northern Philippines experienced below-average rainfall, with the largest negative anomalies (drier conditions) recorded over northern Philippines. For Mainland Southeast Asia, parts of central Mainland Southeast Asia experienced below-average rainfall, with CMORPH-Blended showing a larger proportion of Thailand receiving below-average rainfall, while GSMaP-NRT extended the below-average rainfall over coastal Myanmar. Near- to above-average rainfall was experienced elsewhere in Mainland Southeast Asia.
 

1.2 The observed rainfall anomaly pattern (i.e. below-average rainfall over southern Maritime Continent, above-normal rainfall in the equatorial region) is broadly consistent with the predictions from the subseasonal weather outlooks for May 2021 (3 – 16 May, 17 – 30 May).

Figure 1: Rainfall anomalies for the month of May 2021 based on GSMaP-NRT data (left) and CMORPH-Blended data (right). The climatological reference period is 2001-2020. Green colour denotes above-average rainfall (wetter), while orange denotes below-average rainfall (drier).

1.3 Most of Mainland Southeast Asia experienced above-average temperatures during May 2021, except for parts of Myanmar, Cambodia, and southern Viet Nam (Figure 2). Above-average temperatures were also experienced in northern Philippines and the southern Maritime Continent. Elsewhere, near-average temperatures were experienced, apart from below-average temperature for southern Philippines associated with the heavy rainfall.

Figure 2: Temperature anomalies for the month of May 2021 based on ERA-5 reanalysis. The climatological reference period is 2001-2020. Red colour denotes above-average temperature (warmer), while blue denotes below-average temperature (colder).

2. Climate Drivers

2.1 At the start of May 2021, a strong Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO, Figure 3) signal was present in Phase 1 (Western Hemisphere). The signal then propagated eastward into the Indian Ocean (Phases 2 and 3), where it became less coherent for some time before strengthening again and propagating eastwards to the Maritime Continent (Phases 4 and 5). It subsequently weakened upon approaching Phase 6 with no coherent MJO signal for the rest of the month based on the RMM index. Phases 3 and 4 tend to bring wetter conditions to much of the Maritime Content, Phase 5 tends to bring wetter conditions to the eastern half of the Maritime Content, while Phase 6 tends to bring drier conditions to the western half of the Maritime Continent.

Figure 3: The MJO phase diagram. The diagram illustrates the movement of the MJO through different phases, which correspond to different locations along the equator (denoted in the text with the first day of the month in blue and the last day of the month in red). The distance of the index from the centre of the diagram is related to the strength of the MJO. Values within the grey circle are considered weak or indiscernible (data from the Bureau of Meteorology, Australia).

2.2 Over the tropical Pacific Ocean, La Niña conditions decayed and returned to ENSO-neutral conditions by the beginning of June. The sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean continued to warm, with atmospheric indicators (cloudiness and wind anomalies) remaining consistent with the ENSO-neutral conditions.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan received an introductory video call from Timor-Leste Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Adaljiza Albertina Reis Magno on 14 June 2021.

Minister Balakrishnan congratulated Minister Magno on her new appointment and looked forward to working with her to strengthen relations between Singapore and Timor-Leste. Minister Balakrishnan reaffirmed Singapore’s longstanding support for Timor-Leste’s capacity building through the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP), and welcomed more Timorese officials to participate in SCP courses. The Foreign Ministers also exchanged views on the COVID-19 situation in both countries and looked forward to the completion of ASEAN’s in-person fact-finding missions to Timor-Leste when the COVID-19 situation permits.

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE

14 JUNE 2021

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Singapore

Prime Minister of Thailand participated in the United Nations General Assembly High-level Meeting on HIV/AIDS 2021 and joined international community in adopting Political Declaration as a key roadmap to promote implementation of the Global AIDS Strategy 2021-2026 towards achieving SDGs on ending AIDS by 2030.

On 8 June 2021, H.E. General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand, shared key approaches to responses to the AIDS epidemic via video conference at the United Nations General Assembly High-level Meeting on HIV/AIDS 2021. He highlighted key priorities such as scaling up innovation and expanding coverage of HIV services to all in need under the Universal Health Coverage scheme; and promoting the role of the community – particularly civil society and key populations — in developing, implementing and improving HIV-related policies and services, in order to truly reflect the people’s needs.

The Prime Minister also joined other global leaders in adopting the 2021 Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS which encompasses key issues such as ending stigmatisation and discrimination, access to quality medicines and HIV treatments, and the importance of maintaining the use of flexibilities under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). The new political declaration will serve as a roadmap for the next five years and reflects the firm commitment of global leaders to achieve the SDG target of ending AIDS by 2030.

The UNGA High-level Meeting on HIV and AIDS, which has been held every 5 years since 2001, is a vital global platform for the international community to discuss key trends, set targets, and reaffirm joint commitments to tackle HIV and AIDS.

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of Thailand