Angus Taylor’s plan to tie citizenship to “Australian values” rely on vague definitions and risk embedding double standards, exclusion and anti-foreign sentiment. (more…)
Jocelyn Chey
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China’s response to war is strategy, not opportunism
As war disrupts the Middle East, China is focused on stability and long-term strategy – but much of the commentary in Australia continues to misread its intentions.
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Shen Yun and Falun Gong – belief, propaganda and division
The evacuation of the Prime Minister over a threat linked to a Shen Yun tour has drawn attention to the Falun Gong movement and its political evolution. (more…)
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The Royal Commission must put social cohesion first
Social cohesion should be the starting point – not an afterthought – if we want to reduce racism, resentment and extremism. (more…)
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Best of 2025 – How the Dismissal ripples reached Beijing: Some personal recollections
Life in Beijing in 1975 was not easy and the events leading up to the Dismissal of the Whitlam Government in November piled on the pressure. (more…)
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Best of 2025 – Who’s afraid of big, bad China?
Be afraid, be very afraid. But not of China. To the contrary, the proper management of co-operative relations with China is essential to Australia’s future. (more…)
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A beautiful mosaic: celebrating multicultural Australia
Multicultural Australia has enriched the nation’s cultural life, creativity and global standing. These achievements deserve recognition and defence at a time of growing hostility to migration.
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How the Dismissal ripples reached Beijing: Some personal recollections
Life in Beijing in 1975 was not easy and the events leading up to the Dismissal of the Whitlam Government in November piled on the pressure. (more…)
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Liveable cities of China
No Chinese city appears on the annual lists of the most liveable cities in the world. Is this due to ignorance or to a pervasive anti-China bias?
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Confucius Institute decline signals China’s soft power shift
While Chinese soft power is thriving in the so-called “Global South”, it is waning elsewhere. (more…)
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Marking September 2: Lest we forget
This week marks 80 years since the end of World War II. While Europe celebrated the end of the war in May, hostilities dragged on for several months in the Far East until Emperor Hirohito announced the surrender of Japan on 15 August 1945 and this declaration was formalised on 2 September. (more…)
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Headline news: Australia and China
The People’s Daily of 16 July featured the meeting between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in top position on page one. (more…)
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China and the art of war
I have a love-hate relationship with China. As a university student, I was entranced by China’s history and rich culture. (more…)
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Who’s afraid of big, bad China?
Be afraid, be very afraid. But not of China. To the contrary, the proper management of co-operative relations with China is essential to Australia’s future. (more…)
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One side, two or many? How to develop ties with our region
Everyone recognises that we need closer ties with our region. Peter Varghese has written about the importance of “deepening our regional relationships”. (more…)
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Looking for a fair wind: Reflections on Australia’s maritime security
Australians may miss out on opportunities to reinforce our regional security if they are over-concerned about Chinese aggression in the South Pacific and do not take the opportunity of engaging in regional dialogue to resolve common problems. (more…)
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Australia-China relations: A question of trust
Let’s restore the trust in China that we once enjoyed. This was the key message I presented to an online forum titled Does China Threaten Australia’s Peace and Security hosted by the Australian Peace and Security Forum on 18 March. Following is a condensed version of my talk. (more…)
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All at (sixes and) sevens and eights: Taiwan policy
The fate of the world may well rest on Taiwan but our policy is at sixes and sevens, or rather, according to recent statements in the Australian press, at sevens and eights. (more…)
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Lunar New Year predictions for Xi and Trump
The Year of the Snake begins on 29 January. Over the next couple of weeks, fortune tellers will flood the press with their views, each with as much weight and reliability as the mottos in fortune cookies.
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A chairman and a president walk into a bar: Review of Donald’s Inferno
Only in Australia could such an edgy political satire be put on stage. Sharp and witty, Donald’s Inferno, written and directed by Jon-Claire Lee, was launched in Sydney this month to a modest but discerning audience. Buried in its wacky story, the comedy pulled no punches in its description of current tensions between the Chinese Mainland and Taiwan. It concluded with a surprising message of hope.
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Grinding the axis
Axis is a four-letter word that should be banned or at least binned for the time being. The US uses the term in a distinctly hostile way, and now Andrew Shearer, Australia’s chief security adviser, has adopted the same language. (more…)
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Kevin is here to help US–China relations
With the United States and China locked in an ongoing battle and no solution in sight, Kevin Rudd from Queensland is here to help. His new book explains President Xi Jinping’s thinking and suggests a way forward. Are people paying attention? If they are, will they learn anything useful? (more…)
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‘Tis the voice of the lobster: reflections on Australia-China trade
Exports to China were worth over $700 million in 2019. Trade barriers were imposed by China following Scott Morrison’s call for an enquiry into the origin of Covid, putting an end to direct trade in this commodity. Last week PM Albanese announced the imminent lifting of restrictions by the end of the year and credited the improvement of bilateral relations. Things however are a little more fishy. (more…)
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While you weren’t looking: Meeting China in Sydney
While elsewhere the China discourse in the Australian media may have been on geopolitical tensions and defence and security concerns, community leaders, students and academics from seven universities in Australia and 15 universities in China and Taiwan met in Parramatta on the campus of Western Sydney University a few days ago. (more…)
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Do we need universities?
Australian universities are starved of funds and forced to operate as commercial entities focused on profit, not the pursuit of knowledge. (more…)
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For a pacific Pacific: thoughts about how to promote peace
Naval and air standoffs, sabre-rattling and accusations of underhand dealings are heightening tensions in the Asia-Pacific region and causing a security dilemma. It does not have to be like this. Diplomacy and referral to international dispute resolution mechanisms can make a difference. (more…)
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Aiming for the messy truth: The first Australian journalist returns to China
Will Glasgow’s report from Beijing in the Weekend Australian of 24/25 August is cause for celebration. Since the last Australian journalist left China four years ago, reports on this most important neighbour and on matters of concern to both countries have been either second-hand or coming from non-Australian sources. (more…)
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Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been? Feral cats in the bush
I love cats, furry and friendly. I love kittens chasing feathers and butterflies. I do not love cats in the bush. (more…)
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Australia’s fuzzy nationalism
Australia is not immune to the global trend to nationalism. Politicians here as elsewhere pepper their talk with terms such as “sovereignty”, “national values” and “our way of life”. These are all relative, only defined by reference to other peoples and other nations that are “not like us”. The uniqueness of Australian nationalism is that it is universally assumed to include the values, way of life and strategic outlook of the United States of America. They are not us but like us. This is what I call fuzzy nationalism. (more…)
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Translation and violence: thoughts about the Taiwan and the 1972 Joint Communique
The Australia China Joint Communique of December 1972 is the foundational document underpinning bilateral relations ever since. It is not a long document, and at a cursory glance appears quite simple. Recently, however, some commentators have questioned its language and suggested it is ambiguous, particularly concerning our government’s position on the status of Taiwan. (more…)