Play The Diplomat‘s Quiz: June 21, 2015 Edition

After months of debate and public protests (most notably last year’s ‘Umbrella Movement,’ where protestors occupied streets in Hong Kong’s government and shopping districts), Hong Kong’s election reform plan went before the Legislative Council. The plan needed a two-thirds majority to pass; pan-democrats had pledged to vote as a bloc to defeat it. In the end, the pan-democrats were able to do one better: the plan will go down in history with majority voting against the reforms. Thanks to a last-minute walk-out by much of the pro-Beijing camp, the plan was defeated 28-8, with 34 legislators not voting.

A Malaysian-registered tanker went missing in the South China Sea near Johor. Though the vessel – believed to be hijacked – still has not been found a week later, the Malaysian government is stepping up its rescue efforts with the help of other neighboring states and willing partners. The tanker, the MT Orkim Harmony, suddenly lost contact around 8:50pm Thursday night. It was filled with nearly 6,000 tons of RON95 petrol worth some 21 million ringgit (US$5.6 million) and had 22 crew members on board, including 16 Malaysians, five Indonesians and a Myanmar national. Malaysian authorities immediately began combing surrounding waters after they received a missing tanker report from the shipping company Orkim Ship Management Sdn Bhd on Friday morning. But after nearly 50,000 square kilometers has been searched over the past few days, the vessel has yet to be found.

North Korea’s “Byungjin Line” is the country’s policy of pursuing the parallel goals of economic development and a robust nuclear weapons program.

The Taliban’s letter noted that ”The Islamic Emirate [of Afghanistan] does not consider the multiplicity of jihadi ranks beneficial either for jihad or for Muslims.” It continued: “Your decisions made from a distance will result in [the Islamic State] losing support of religious scholars, mujahideen… and in order to defend its achievements the Islamic Emirate will be forced to react.” The letter was signed by the Taliban’s deputy leader Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansoor. The letter was published on the Taliban’s website in several languages, including Arabic, Pashto, Urdu, and Dari. The group did not outline the consequences of the Islamic States’ continuing bid to increase its influence in Afghanistan.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has recently been practicing the invasion of Taiwan with a number of joint air-sea military exercises in and around the Bashi Channel, in close proximity to Taiwanese territory.

Reports emerged that the maritime liaison mechanism between the two governments will exclude territorial waters and territorial airspace. The primary effect of this provision will be that the disputed islands will be excluded from the crisis management mechanism. The exclusion will be noted in a written agreement, and Japan and China are expected “to start operating the mechanism this summer at the earliest,” according to the Yomiuri Shimbun.

On June 21, elaborate celebrations in New Delhi will mark the first United Nations International Day of Yoga. What this UN day highlights is part of a process that has been unfolding for well over a century and transcends the boundaries of nation states. In India, this process is commonly perceived to date back to Swami Vivekananda’s address at the Parliament of World Religions at Chicago in 1893. When the young Hindu monk declared that all humans are “children of immortal bliss,” he was sharing a philosophical and spiritual truth that transcends human-made boundaries of race, religious doctrine, and nationhood. In the decade that followed, Vivekananda exerted a substantial influence in intellectual circles on both sides of the Atlantic. This was largely because he powerfully expressed the transcendent dimensions of Indic spiritual and philosophical traditions. A century later, Vivekananda is remembered simultaneously as a universal icon of communal harmony and a Hindu nationalist “missionary.” And yoga, a corollary of this philosophy’s practice, has spread across the world.

Thailand’s junta chief Prayuth Chan-o-cha warned against rushing to hold fresh polls in the country in an interview earlier this week amid repeated election delays following a coup last May. “In the past, there were very few coups that could solve political problems, because coups were followed by quick elections, sometime too soon. The rush has prevented underlining problems from being resolved,” Prayuth said in a rare interview with Singapore media in Bangkok on Wednesday.

The Indonesian Navy will re-establish an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aviation squadron, according to IHS Jane’s Defense Weekly. The article, based on a report published by Indonesia’s state news agency Antara, notes that this will be the first time since the 1970s that the Indonesian Navy will have a naval aviation unit dedicated solely to ASW. The aviation squadron, named Skuadron Udara 100, will be established to provide operational support for Indonesia’s new fleet of 11 ASW configured AS-565 MBe Panther helicopters, according to Indonesian military officials.

Taiwan’s ruling Kuomintang (KMT) has all but selected its candidate for the 2016 presidential elections. Hung Hsiu-chu, the deputy legislative speaker, is the sole contender for the KMT nomination, and was just formally granted the go-ahead by the party’s Central Standing Committee. That sets up a showdown between Hung and Democratic Progressive Party chair Tsai Ing-wen for the presidency – and guarantees Taiwan will have its first-ever female president.