Japan and Australia refuse to send ships to protect the Strait of Hormuz

Today’s headlines: Tokyo has begun distributing oil from its strategic reserves; In Myanmar, the military junta-controlled parliament has convened for the first time; In Thailand, the Bhumjaithai Party has consolidated its power with the appointment of the Speaker of the House; New armed clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST – JAPAN

US President Donald Trump’s calls to form a coalition to ensure the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz appear to have fallen on deaf ears after Japan and Australia stated they would not send military vessels. This morning, Japan – which relies on oil imports from the Middle East for 95% of its supply – announced the distribution of fuel drawn from its strategic reserves, which can last up to 254 days.

UNITED STATES – CHINA

This morning, at the headquarters of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris, preliminary agreements between the United States and China could be finalised after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng held several hours of talks yesterday ahead of Trump’s trip to China at the end of March to meet President Xi Jinping.

MYANMAR

Parliament met for the first time today, five years after the military coup that brought an end to Myanmar’s democratic era. Brigadier-General Khin Yi, chairman of the USDP, the military’s party, was elected Speaker of the Lower House, whilst the head of the military junta, General Min Aung Hlaing, is expected to be chosen as the country’s president.

THAILAND

In Thailand too, MPs have elected Sophon Saram as Speaker of the House of Representatives, a leading figure in the Bhumjaithai party, to which Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul belongs. Under Thailand’s system of government, the Speaker of the House sets the legislative agenda and decides the voting schedule, including the next session for the formal appointment of the Prime Minister – a move that should secure Anutin another term following his election victory on 8 February.

PAKISTAN – AFGHANISTAN

The Pakistani army reported that it had launched new armed attacks against Afghanistan during the night between Saturday and Sunday, ‘successfully’ striking military installations and ‘terrorist hideouts’ in the southern province of Kandahar, the base of supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada. On Friday evening, the Taliban had struck three locations in Pakistan with drones.

INDIA

India has released the well-known activist Sonam Wangchuk after six months in detention. Wangchuk, 59, has staged several hunger strikes in defence of the environment, tribal communities and greater autonomy for Ladakh, a mountainous region bordering China and Pakistan. He was arrested in September after taking part in protests against the Indian government, but it is unclear whether the charges against him of making “provocative speeches” have been dropped.

RUSSIA

The President of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Radiy Khabirov, has formed a working group to search for soldiers missing in action in the war in Ukraine, most of whom hail from the Bashkir region itself. The task, described as “a priority issue requiring immediate action”, has been entrusted to Irina Pankina, a republican deputy in the Moscow Duma, alongside Ufa’s Prime Minister, Ruslan Khabibov, and several senior officials.

TAJIKISTAN – CHINA

China and Tajikistan are preparing to carry out the second phase of the major project to build border control and defence posts along the two countries’ shared border, with nine further sites fully funded by the Chinese to the tune of million, without any Tajik taxation, “not for humanitarian reasons, but for geopolitical calculations” according to analysts at Asia Plus, defending areas critical to the Chinese in Gorno-Badakhshan.

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