Unlike Australians, Indonesians don’t fear war with China. Their concerns are more prosaic – debt, work and the virus of atheism. (more…)
Category: China
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Is Hong Kong experiencing a ‘Teacher Exodus’? Time to correct the record
Is Hong Kong’s world class education system really seeing an exodus of teaching staff? Are reductions in staffing levels linked to political crackdowns and the COVID 19 Pandemic? Not so fast. Let’s correct the record. (more…)
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Will Russia join China in the Pacific?
‘For Russia, China is the key’ was a claim made for the recent Eastern Economic Forum held in Vladivostok annually, and attended by Russia’s President Putin. (more…)
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America the great? How the decline of the US will affect Australian policy
Courtesy of the Financial Times early last year, we ran what I regarded as the graph of the first two decades of this century. (more…)
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The Defence Strategic Review: We should regard the Taiwan issue as one for us to ‘sit out’
It is almost impossible to imagine any realistic circumstances, short of general war in the Asia-Pacific, under which China would launch a military attack on Australia. (more…)
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The Defence Strategic Review: Will it question the China phobia that currently holds sway?
Hardly a day goes by without an Australian politician, commentator, or member of the security establishment reminding us that China poses ‘a clear and present danger’. The messaging, consistent and unrelenting, provides the backdrop to the Defence Strategic Review recently announced by the Albanese Government. (more…)
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We have to learn to co-exist with China
None of the ASEAN countries wants a US-led conflict over Taiwan, which if it occurs, is likely to accelerate America’s decline in East Asia and the Western Pacific. (more…)
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What a contrast in professionalism and civility. The 7/30 Report
You have to admire the PRC Ambassador, Xiao Qian. After the uncivil behaviour, and gotcha questioning, and the visible personal animus journalists gave him at the National Press Club four weeks ago, he’d have been forgiven if he declined to make himself available to speak to Australian media for a while. Or at least, if he did so, only on agreed terms of civility. (more…)
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Uyghurs and the Bachelet report
As UN high commissioner for human rights Michelle Bachelet has released the report of her office into human rights concerns in China’s Xinjiang province. Amongst other things it accuses officials in the province of torturing Uyghurs detained for suspected dissident crimes. (more…)
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‘Country that helps us is China,’ Africans say
YOUNG ADULTS FROM 15 African countries see China as the foreign power with the biggest positive impact on their lives, a new survey shows. More than 70% gave the Chinese an upbeat review. This matters. By 2050, 80% of the world’s youth will be from Africa. (more…)
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Modernity and tradition in China: The ‘tribute system’, and the absurdity of sinophobia
In many ways, the impact of modernity in China is balanced by traditional patterns. In foreign relations, the modern notion of sovereignty is central, but the traditional thinking behind what historians call “the tribute system” still explains some of what China does and its attitude to the world and its neighbourhood. (more…)
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China’s challenges: a naive Australian’s perspective
I visited China a few times in the years before Covid. In Hainan, I rode my bike past streets of empty high rise apartment buildings. In Tianjin I visited a near empty new financial district. Locals I spoke to talked about the ‘ghost cities’ of empty buildings. I observed conflicting rules for different parts of the economy. (more…)
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Ruan Zongze: US must stop sleep walking in the Taiwan Strait
Both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one and the same China. Taiwan is part of China’s territory. Although the two sides have been politically against each other for a long time, China’s state sovereignty and territorial integrity has never been split. (more…)
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Biden’s China policy, US business and Australia
Washington’s concern about China is real and not just threat inflation, which seeks an enemy to promote military Keynesianism: the traditional method of transferring public money to private corporations in the military industrial sector. (more…)
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John F. Copper: Where are the Chinese students going?
According to recent data published in China and admission reports from U.S. universities, the number of Chinese students applying for study in American institutions of higher learning in recent months has fallen markedly. (more…)
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Canberra is a fashioned spear for the US against China.
There is an overwhelming boisterous ignorance that characterises Australia’s foreign policy approach to China. (more…)
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The Chinese economy: fact, fiction, faith and flexibility
The Chinese economy has long been a source of contention, with predictions of its “imminent collapse” pitted against portrayals of its strength and resilience. (more…)
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President Xi signals that governance in Hong Kong must be more mindful of people’s expectations
Clear signs are emerging that Hong Kong’s essential “social contract” is undergoing renovation. Moreover, this process looks set to continue. Before examining why this is so, we need to consider the meaning of this expression. (more…)
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Another unprofessional performance by Four Corners, this time on Xinjiang
Several weeks ago Four Corners gave us a special program about Xinjiang Uyghurs sent to prison-style camps and forced to learn Chinese. I watched it recently as a rebroadcast. (more…)
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Our Air Force is already ‘operating against China’
Australia is seemingly as eager as ever to be pushed out on a plank by our American friends, professionally. Ever the faithful “patsy”. (more…)
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The Chinese non-threat
Our resident non-Chinese speaking, non-Chinese informed but bitterly ‘China is expansionist-aggressive’ commentators in the mainstream media in Australia don’t have,or even want to have, any idea about China? (more…)
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Alpha Ngai: Panda Power
Soft power was academically identified by the US political scientist, Joseph Nye, in 1990. It is a prominent aspect of how America projects itself internationally. China’s soft power is rather less developed and today it faces determined resistance. Yet, “panda power” is one form of Chinese soft power that has proved to be remarkably effective and resilient. (more…)
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Caitlin Johnstone: China threatens the US Empire, not the US
So many empire apologist arguments depend on pretending the US empire doesn’t exist; pretending the US is just a normal country sitting there minding its own business. (more…)
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Explainer: the complex question of Taiwanese independence
“Strategic ambiguity” – the policy that has underpinned the West’s defence of Taiwan for half a century or more – rests on another ambiguity… (more…)
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U.S.-China fight to lead planet earth will be decided “within 15 years”
The clock is ticking on which of the two superpowers will gain primacy over the planet – a lead which will last indefinitely, becoming unassailable, a stunning new study shows
U.S. leadership over the planet would lead to a colonial model as seen in recent centuries, with the west assertively pushing its values, says a book by a top London geopolitical expert
Chinese leadership will lead to a multipolar world, given China’s lack of interest in spreading its system of governance to other countries, and preference for trade over militarism. (more…)
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The rise of China- the biggest shift in our international environment since Europeans settled on this continent
We cannot simply rely on the US to keep Asia “safe” in future. Is our Prime Minister really aware of this? (more…)
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Wayne Hudson: The importance of creating much greater cultural dialogue between China and Australia as soon as possible
The Chinese Ambassador is trying for a reset and it is tragic that his efforts have been misunderstood and perhaps wilfully so. (more…)
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Why is Australia conducting provocative intelligence flights and activities off the China coast in support of the US?
How would Australia react if Chinese ISR (Intelligence ,Surveillance,Reconnaissance) planes were similarly operating off its coast probing its defences and dropping sonobuoys to detect its submarines? (more…)
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In the ever deteriorating relationship with China, the mainstream media have a lot to answer for
Australia’s mainstream media seem determined to scuttle a reset of Australia-China relations. (more…)
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The goading of China continues day after day. Pelosi was just the most recent deliberate provocation
The path to war in Asia – crossing the Rubicon. (more…)