- Interpol officially opened its new Singapore office on Monday. Interpol's new wing, the Global Complex for Innovation, will tackle cybercrime, providing training and support for law enforcement. An interview with Executive Director here and the official website here.
- China has more coast guard vessels than Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines combined, says the first unclassified US Office of Naval Intelligence report on the PLA Navy since 2009. There's an excellent summary by Andrew Erickson; videos of China's defensive layer and China's South China Sea maritime claims were also made public.
- China revealed its reasoning for controversial land reclamation in the South China Sea this week (the China MFA spokesperson's full response is here).
- A car bomb rocked a popular tourist island in Thailand on Friday, injuring seven.
- Nottingham University's China Policy Institute blog is this week running a series to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon. Cambodia Daily's Michelle Vachon remembered Operation Eagle Pull.
- Thitinan Pongsudhirak on Russia's pivot to Thailand (here's Russia's view, via RT). Catherine Putz looked at Vietnam and Thailand's 'Russia pivot'. Thailand's changing diplomacy is, in part, due to economic troubles, including this week's forecast change that now expects export growth this year to be 1%, slashed from the earlier forecast of 3.5%.
- Over at New Mandala, Trevor Wilson pays tribute to one of Australia's great Burma scholars, Pamela Gutman.
- Economics are the key to security in Asia, argues CSIS's Ernie Bower.
- Is Jokowi's infrastructure focus the country's new growth strategy? Siwage Dharma Negara addresses the issue in an ISEAS Perspective paper.
- To 'protect the morals and culture of society', Indonesia's mini-markets will stop selling beer and other alcoholic drinks.