Welcome to Foreign Policy’s Southeast Asia Brief.

The highlights this week: Southeast Asian countries voice concern over U.S. adventurism in Venezuela, the Malaysian prime minister promises restive voters reform, and Vietnam and Indonesia are turning to the police and military for development goals.

Welcome to Foreign Policy’s Southeast Asia Brief.

The highlights this week: Southeast Asian countries voice concern over U.S. adventurism in Venezuela, the Malaysian prime minister promises restive voters reform, and Vietnam and Indonesia are turning to the police and military for development goals.

Southeast Asia Worried by Maduro Seizure

The U.S. operation to snatch President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from Venezuela over the weekend has been greeted with near-universal dismay in Southeast Asia, including by U.S. allies.

Countries in the region have long emphasized noninterference in one another’s sovereign affairs and international law as key elements of regional peace. But as with elsewhere in the world, the specter of U.S. power, and President Donald Trump’s mercurial nature, may have muted some of the responses.

Malaysia, as on the issue of Palestine, has been the most outspoken critic of the United States. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim called for the prompt release of Maduro and his wife.

Ibrahim said in a social media post on Sunday: “Whatever may be the reasons, the forcible removal of a sitting head of government through external action sets a dangerous precedent. It erodes fundamental restraints on the use of power between states and weakens the legal framework that underpins international order.”

Statements by Singapore and Indonesia on Sunday were only marginally more restrained. Singapore declared itself “gravely concerned” by the U.S. operation.

It went on to emphasize its commitment to international law as a safeguard to the sovereignty of countries, “especially small states.” The government of the island city-state has long cultivated an acute sense of its vulnerability as a small nation.

Indonesia also expressed “grave concern” over actions that “risk setting a dangerous precedent in international relations.”

The country has a rich seam of fear about foreign interference running through its political culture, with President Prabowo Subianto often blaming unrest in the country on nebulous outside forces.

Vietnam also offered implicit criticism. Late Saturday, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry called for “all relevant parties to respect international law … including the principle of respect for national sovereignty.”

While the country has cultivated warm ties with the United States for decades, there are obvious historic reasons why it is uncomfortable with unilateral U.S. intervention in other sovereign states.

U.S. treaty allies Thailand and the Philippines offered measured statements of concern on Monday, both emphasizing the importance of international law. The former called for the “protection of civilians and respecting the will of the Venezuelan people.”

The Philippines took the softest line, “acknowledging the United States’ underlying security considerations” while also noting the importance of “noninterference in the domestic affairs of sovereign........

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