Vietnam is launching its biggest economic overhaul in a generation, aiming to become Asia’s next “tiger economy.”.

A senior U.S. diplomat has held talks in Vietnam and said that the trust between the two countries is at an “all-time high,” just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state visit to Hanoi.

The top American diplomat for East Asia and the Pacific is criticizing China for using intimidation tactics against other countries in the region to press its sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea.

Senior diplomats from China and the United States have held “candid and productive” talks in Beijing and agreed to keep open lines of communication to avoid tensions from spiraling into conflict.

Southeast Asian leaders are convening in Cambodia, faced with the challenge of trying to curtail escalating violence in Myanmar while the country’s military-led government shows no signs of complying with the group’s peace plan.