- The US Secretary of Defense and ASEAN defence ministers met in Hawaii at the beginning of the month to discuss HADR cooperation and hold informal regional security dialogues, Carl Thayer explains the significance.
- Cambodia is not ready to join the Asean Economic Community's single regional market, says a Cambodian Labour Ministry official.
- China is turning to Southeast Asia, argues Carnegie-Tsinghua Centre’s Zhao Kejin.
- China will 'respond firmly to provocations' in the South China Sea, Premier Li Keqiang said last week; his comments unsettled many in Southeast Asia.
- Laos and China renew discussions on a railway project that could act as a renewed impetus for the long-anticipated Southeast Asian rail network.
- Myanmar's controversial census, originally due to conclude last week, has been extended until at least the end of the month due to 'technical and logistical problems'. Complete data from the census won't be available until April 2015, according to the country's Director of the Population Department.
- Chinese oil companies were not part of Myanmar's latest selection of 20 oil and gas companies for offshore blocks.
- Celebrations have taken place across Southeast Asia for Songkran, the Khmer New Year, this week. The US Embassy in Bangkok released this video to celebrate Songkran (that's Ambassador Kristie Kenney dancing at the beginning of the video):