Welcome to Foreign Policy’s Southeast Asia Brief.

The highlights this week: Myanmar’s president is released from jail, Japanese troops exercise in the Philippines, Malaysia arrests critics and bans books, and a sexual harassment scandal unfolds at an Indonesian university.

Welcome to Foreign Policy’s Southeast Asia Brief.

The highlights this week: Myanmar’s president is released from jail, Japanese troops exercise in the Philippines, Malaysia arrests critics and bans books, and a sexual harassment scandal unfolds at an Indonesian university.

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Myanmar releases imprisoned president

On April 17, Myanmar’s junta freed the country’s democratically elected president, U Win Myint, who had been imprisoned following the 2021 coup. The 27-year sentence of Aung San Suu Kyi, the preeminent leader of the opposition, was also cut by one-sixth.

The announcements came as part of a wider amnesty for 4,335 prisoners. This follows two other mass amnesties that cumulatively released some 15,000 people—not all political prisoners—in the past six months. The junta has arrested more than 30,000 people on political charges since the coup.

The release, it seems, comes with strings attached. Win Myint was reportedly told that if he reoffended he would be imprisoned again, serving his original sentence in addition to the new one.

“Do not forget that the military are still committing war crimes and crimes against humanity,” said the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. “This amnesty is an attempt to cover up those crimes.”

Analysts of Myanmar saw the move as part of the junta’s wider push to legitimize itself. The amnesty follows stage-managed elections earlier this year, the formal end of military rule with chief Gen. Min Aung Hlaing assuming the post of president, and various influential armed groups in Myanmar congratulating Min Aung Hlaing on this, apparently under pressure from China.

“This is very much in line with the overall stage-managed ‘transition,’” Angshuman Choudhury, a researcher focusing on Myanmar, told Foreign Policy. “Win Myint doesn’t have the kind of mass appeal as Aung San Suu Kyi, so releasing him does the job of placating international partners without jeopardizing the junta at home.”

If regaining legitimacy is the aim, it may be working, with Thailand pushing the........

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