Play The Diplomat’s Quiz: January 3, 2016 Edition

The Philippines has decided to join the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank after all, following months of hedging as the government in Manila considered the pros and cons.

The Philippines signed on to become a founding member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in October 2014, but government officials insisted later that “non-binding” agreement only positioned Manila as a prospective member. The Philippines, along with several other founding member states, expressed reservations regarding the bank’s governance – concerns that should have been addressed one way or the other with the finalization and signing of the bank’s charter in June 2015. However, the Philippines was one of seven countries that abstained from the signing ceremony because the agreement was still under consideration domestically.

Nepal’s recently elected prime minister, Khadga Prasad Oli, has stirred the pot in the country’s increasing strained bilateral relationship with India by opting to visit China for his first state visit. Nepali prime ministers have traditionally visited India on their first state visit abroad, in a nod to historically close ties between the two South Asian neighbors. (One notable recent exception was Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Nepal’s 33rd prime minister and chairman of the country’s major Maoist party, who chose to visit Beijing before New Delhi.)

Confirmation of Oli’s trip to China in early 2016 comes shortly after the Nepali government acquiesced to demands by ethnic Madhesi, Tharu, and other protesters for a range of reforms to the country’s recently promulgated constitution. Nepal has been gripped by a national crisis stemming from widespread perceptions that the country’s new constitution purposefully marginalizes the interests of historically disadvantaged groups.

On December 28, Japan and South Korea reached an agreement on how to address so-called “comfort women” issue.  While the implementation of the agreement will be the key, this agreement is extremely important in preventing the issue from derailing the relationship between Tokyo and Seoul.

The agreement was announced in a form of parallel statements issued by Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byong-sei, after months of consultations between senior officials from both sides. There are several significant elements in this agreement, for which both Japanese and Korean officials deserve credit.

Iran reached a major milestone in the implementation of the July 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)—the international agreement to place restrictions on the country’s nuclear program in exchange for relief from economic sanctions. Almost all of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium was shipped out of the country, fulfilling a key requirement of the nuclear deal. According to Reuters, a ship carrying more than 11,000 kilograms of low-enriched uranium (LEU) left Iran. Per the nuclear agreement, Iran may retain 300 kilograms of LEU on hand. That amount of enriched uranium is inadequate for a nuclear weapon.

The status of China’s artificial islands in the disputed Spratly archipelago in the South China Sea hit a new milestone on Saturday. China landed a civilian aircraft on Fiery Cross Reef, drawing a sharp reaction from the Vietnamese government. Le Hai Binh, a spokesperson for the Vietnamese foreign ministry, said that a Chinese aircraft had landed on the 3000 meter airstrip on Fiery Cross Reef. He added that the strip had been  “built illegally on Fiery Cross Reef, which is part of Vietnam’s Spratlys.” Vietnam, along with China, Taiwan, and Malaysia, claims Fiery Cross Reef, which has seen extensive land reclamation and construction work since last year. China has occupied the reef since 1988.

Binh continued that the move represented “a serious infringement of the sovereignty of Vietnam on the Spratly archipelago, contrary to the common perception of high-ranking leaders of the two countries and [to] an agreement on the basic principles for directly solving maritime issues between Vietnam and China.” He additionally noted that the Vietnamese government had filed a formal protest with the Chinese embassy, requesting that China refrain from staging another landing on the disputed island.

Taiwanese citizens will head to the polls on January 16 to vote in their latest general elections. Preliminary opinion polling suggests that a victory for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), led by its presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen, is likely. The ruling Kuomintang party may find its rule at an end in Taiwan. Should Tsai prevail in the elections, Taiwan will see its first female president and possibly some changes to its foreign policy and positioning vis-a-vis the mainland. The Kuomintang government’s most recent term has seen a controversial period of rapprochement with the mainland. Though the DPP and Tsai have said that they will largely avoid rocking the boat with China if they win, Beijing remains wary. In any case, the outcome of Taiwan’s election next month will be worth watching early in 2016.

One of North Korea’s top foreign policy hands, and a close adviser to leader Kim Jong-un, died in a car crash on Tuesday, according to state news agency KCNA. Kim Yang-gon, 73, was a secretary in the Korean Workers’ Party and the head of the party’s United Front Department, which is responsible for managing relations with South Korea.

Kim was described as the “closest comrade and a solid revolutionary partner” of Kim Jong-un. KCNA said the leader would preside over a state funeral for Kim Yang-gon on Thursday (interestingly, former regime number two, Choe Ryong-hae, will be on the funeral committee as well, apparently marking the end of his time in “reeducation”).

Kim, who was seen as a proponent of talks with Seoul, became North Korea’s top official on inter-Korean affairs under the late Kim Jong-il, after being named head of the United Front Department in 2007. He helped organize a rare summit meeting between Kim Jong-il and South Korea’s then-president, Roh Moo-hyun, that same year,according to Yonhap News. More recently, Kim was one of two senior North Korean officials who attended the talks that defused inter-Korean tensions in August of this year. He also visited South Korea to attend the closing ceremony of the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.

A report posted online by China’s Xinhua News Agency suggests that the J-20 – China’s fifth-generation stealth fighter jet – has entered the mass production stage. The evidence is a photograph of a J-20 on the tarmac, coated with yellow primer paint and bearing the serial number “2101.”

Previous versions of the J-20 have been numbered in the 2000s (with the first prototype labeled 2001 and the most recent 2017). The appearance of a number in the 2100s hints to China’s online military enthuasists that production has entered the production stage – although Xinhua cautions that the initial production run for the J-20 may be limited at first. In particular, unnamed experts cautioned that the software used in fifth-generation fighters will need additional testing, even if the body of the aircraft is finalized.