Play The Diplomat’s Quiz: May 1, 2016 Edition

Paul Ryan, the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, has invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress during his fourth visit to the United States, which is expected to take place later this year. Ryan’s invitation comes at a time when U.S.-India relations continue to go closer on all tracks, notably including increased economic and defense cooperation. Modi will become the fifth Indian prime minister to address the U.S. Congress.

In a historic move, the United States may consider lifting an arms embargo on Vietnam in line with U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to the country next month, The Diplomat understands from U.S. and Vietnamese sources.

Malaysia deported 32 Taiwanese fraud suspects to China Saturday, drawing strong protests from Taipei that the Southeast Asian state had bowed to pressure from Beijing.

32 Taiwanese nationals were taken to China Saturday along with 65 other Chinese nationals, with a plane carrying the suspects landing in Guangzhou around 8pm local time.

The 32 were among a group of 52 Taiwanese who were arrested in Malaysia back in March for telecommunications fraud. Malaysia had deported the other 20 back to Taiwan on April 15, and Taiwan says 18 of those have since been detained after prosecutors obtained evidence from Malaysian authorities.

The politics of Itu Aba are further complicated by the fact that it is claimed by more than just China, the Philippines, and Vietnam. The island is physically occupied by a fourth claimant – Taiwan. Taiwan’s status under international law has been in limbo for decades and it remains unclear whether or not it is a country that has any standing in international venues to claim Itu Aba (known in Chinese as Taiping Island). It is China’s position that any claims by the Republic of China (Taiwan) rightfully revert to the People’s Republic of China (Beijing). This leaves Taiwan in the position of making a territorial claim that bolsters the PRC’s position in the South China Sea and puts Taiwan in the rare position of being at odds with the position of the United States on a security issue in Asia.

North Korea limply flexed its military muscles a week ahead of the first ruling party meeting in over three decades, with two apparently unsuccessful missile launches.

Pyongyang fired what appeared to be two intermediate-range ballistic missiles on Thursday, but both crashed after launch, defense officials in South Korea and the United States said. Though never successfully tested, the Musudan missile is believed to have a potential range of some 3,000 kilometers, bringing Japan and the U.S. territory of Guam within reach, as well as South Korea. The UN Security Council is due to convene over the launches, which contravene international sanctions.

The abortive show of military might came just days ahead of the 7th Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea, the first such meeting since 1980. Supreme leader Kim Jong-un is widely expected to use the rare forum, scheduled for May 6, to solidify his authority and outline the future direction of the country.

Earlier this month, China celebrated “national security education day” – a large part of which involved reminding Chinese citizens to be on the lookout for foreign threats, whether in the form of actual spies or just nefarious foreign influences. Against this backdrop, it should come as little surprise, then, that China has passed a law restricting the operations of foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOS) in the country.

In April, Kyrgyzstan’s Parliament saw some not-entirely-unprecedented turnover. Temir Sariyev, who had been prime minister since May 2015 (and reappointed after last year’s parliamentary elections) resigned amid a brewing corruption scandal linked to a road project contract won by a Chinese company. Although Sariyev denies the allegations, they nonetheless prompted his resignation.

Central Asianists pointed out that Kyrgyzstan has had more prime ministers than years of independence. Many of Sariyev’s predecessors were similarly swept from office due to corruption scandals of one kind or another, not to mention Kyrgyzstan’s two revolutions, which ousted previous presidents, also featured corruption as a major grievance of protesting crowds.

On Tuesday the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Supreme Court ruled that the Manus Island detention center — one of two offshore facilities run by Canberra to hold those seeking asylum in Australia — is unconstitutional. The court ruled that the detention center breached a person’s right to personal liberty as enshrined in the PNG Constitution.

Section 42 of the PNG constitution simply states that “no person shall be deprived of his personal liberty,” except in reasonably justifiable cases like a criminal conviction.

A constitutional amendment was passed by the PNG parliament in 2014 to cover Section 42  from any potential legal difficulties with the Manus Island detention center. However, the court said it failed to properly explain why the detention center is “reasonably justifiable in a democratic society having a proper respect for the rights and dignity of mankind.”

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced Tuesday morning that France’s DCNS consortium will be awarded the multi-billion dollar contract to build the 12 submarines that will succeed the Australian Navy’s aging Collins-class submarines under the SEA 1000 Future Submarine Programme. The deal is the largest in Australian defense procurement history. Cost estimates for the final project vary widely, but the deal is expected to be finalized in the range of $30 to $50 billion.

The French consortium beat out ThyssenKrupp from Germany and a joint Mitsubishi-Kawasaki offering from Japan. DCNS’ proposal for Australia was regarding a diesel-electric variant of its Barracuda-class nuclear attack submarine (SSN), which is currently under construction for the French Navy. The German offering was the Type 216 and Japan pitched its Soryu-class diesel-electric submarines.

The Indian government recently cancelled a visa it had granted a Chinese dissident leader and Uighur activist Dolkun Isa earlier this year. Isa is the chairman of the Germany-based World Uighur Congress and was due to attend a conference next week in the northern Indian town of Dharamsala, which is being organized by the U.S.-based Initiatives for China.

Uighurs are an ethnic minority community from China’s western Xinjiang region and have a long history of discord with Beijing. They are Muslims and regard themselves as culturally and ethnically close to Central Asian nations. China has been battling Uighur separatism in Xinjiang since the 1990s and began labeling separatists there as ‘terrorists’ since 2001 to get global support, even as its stringent policies have been fueling militancy further. Chinese authorities consider Isa a terrorist and promptly criticized India when the visa was first issued.