A return to nuclear testing, ASEAN’s ‘relief diplomacy,’ and more

Mr. Sharaa goes to Washington: What do Nelson Mandela, Yasser Arafat and Gerry Adams have in common? All three have been called terrorists or were suspected of terrorism ties by the U.S. government and went on to visit the White House. 

Add Ahmed al-Sharaa to that short list of names. Sharaa once had a $10 million bounty on his head for leading an al-Qaida splinter group in Syria. After leading a lightning rebel offensive last year that overthrew the dictator Bashar al-Assad, Sharaa became interim president of Syria and renounced his ties to al-Qaida. He visited Washington earlier this week for a high-stakes meeting with President Donald Trump, who sprayed Sharaa with cologne and asked him how many wives he has. The two men also discussed important security issues, the ongoing fight against the Islamic State, and most crucially for Sharaa, the lifting of Assad-era sanctions on Syria that are hindering the country’s economic recovery. (Read more here.)

Japan and China beef over Taiwan: Within mere weeks of taking office, Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae has become enmeshed in a diplomatic row with China. The dispute started when Takaichi said during parliamentary proceedings last week that a Chinese attack on Taiwan—which lies just 70 miles from Japan’s westernmost municipality—would be “a situation threatening Japan’s survival” that could trigger deployment of the country’s Self-Defense Forces.

That prompted an aggressive, even threatening response from China’s consul general in Osaka, Xue Jian, who wrote on X in Japanese, “The dirty head that sticks itself in must be cut off without hesitation.” While Xue’s post was subsequently deleted, it caused a furor in Japan, where the government summoned the Chinese ambassador to lodge a complaint. Beijing, meanwhile, has warned its citizens not to travel to Japan. (Read more here.)