[AP]
This week s military coup in Myanmar has prompted calls for Jakarta to again take on the mantle of regional role model to help its neighbor back on the path to democracy.
Myanmar once looked to Indonesia – which navigated its own transition from dictatorship to democracy – for guidance in democratizing after decades of military rule, but those interactions waned after a change of government in Jakarta, analysts said.
The man who played a significant role in Myanmar’s democratic transition was Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, or “SBY,” Indonesia’s first directly elected president, and himself a former general.
Yudhoyono helped mediate conflicts between the Myanmar government and ethnic minorities, provided input on drafting democratic laws and invited officials to learn about democratic institutions, said the executive director of the Bali Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD), I Ketut Putra Erawan.
South Korea’s defense minister says a joint military exercise with US will happen in March
American and South Korean sailors work together during the Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise in August 2014.
BRANNON DEUGAN/U.S. NAVY
By SETH ROBSON AND YOO KYONG CHANG | STARS AND STRIPES Published: January 29, 2021 U.S. Forces Korea will take part in a command post exercise with the South Korean military in March, the U.S. ally’s defense minister told reporters Thursday. South Korean Defense Minister Suh Wook at a press conference in Seoul said the military is preparing for computer-simulated defensive drills with U.S. forces, according to a partial transcript of Wook’s remarks provided by the defense ministry.
In the Diet on Monday (Jan 19), delivering his first policy speech of the year, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga was adamant about the two issues that have come to overshadow his administration – Japan would overcome Covid-19 “as soon as possible”, he insisted, and the delayed Tokyo Olympic Games and Paralympics would go ahead as scheduled. Both tasks appear to.
Seoul has introduced an enhanced social distancing campaign as cases surge
Asian countries that were praised for their adept suppression of Covid-19 are now facing growing criticism for falling behind in the race to roll out vaccines.
Countries like South Korea were the poster children of the first wave of coronavirus for skilfully avoiding draconian national lockdowns.
But with cases now on the rise again and the highly transmissible UK variant spreading around the world, authorities are facing urgent questions about their lagging vaccination programmes.
There is anger in South Korea in particular and a sense of resignation in Japan as it emerged that vaccines won t be rolled out until late February at the very earliest - months behind the UK and the West.