China now buys 60 per cent of the world’s soybeans. That dependency shapes its food security strategy – and its trade battles with the United States. (more…)
Category: China
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New architecture, old assumptions: Australia and the China question
Foreign Minister Penny Wong speaks of balance, equality and a new regional order – yet Australia’s China policy still carries Cold War assumptions that risk strategy, prosperity and peace.
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A Chinese visit, a security panic, and a silent media
The visit of China’s third-ranking leader should have prompted serious discussion about diplomacy and economic relations. Instead, Australia’s media fixated on security theatrics and fed a familiar cycle of fear. (more…)
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Silencing Starlink over Taiwan would be a massive military challenge
Chinese scientists have modelled how Starlink could be jammed over an area the size of Taiwan – and found it would take an unprecedented scale of coordinated electronic warfare. (more…)
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Self-interest is now the main driver of Britain’s Asia policy
There are a great many reasons why the UK government should pay more attention to the Asia-Pacific, but that does not mean that it will. (more…)
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US wants Seoul’s subs to counter China – Asian Media Report
In Asian media this week: Washington sees global role for South Korean navy; the military cements government control in Pakistan; Palestine is an obstacle to Trump’s new Middle East plan; Japan prepares for drawn-out dispute with China; why South Korea is turning its back on coal power; and boot camps for beauty queens. (more…)
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Democracies good, China bad – and history not required
Japan and China both have legitimate security concerns. But an informed debate needs major media outlets to stop systematically erasing the historical context that shapes how the region understands current events. (more…)
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Australians are markedly more worried about the US, but still wary about China
Australians’ concerns and mistrust of China are easing, while doubts about the US are increasing.
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China-phobia in Australia is endangering the country’s security
The toxic roots of China-phobia are deeply embedded in modern Australia’s cultural history. It has a firm grip on the minds of many of Australia’s policy wonks, politicians, media commentators, and the general public. (more…)
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China’s new climate targets show progress but lack ambition
On 24 September 2025, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced China’s updated targets for combatting climate change at the UN Climate Summit. (more…)
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After Trump goes home
If anyone had any lingering doubts about the change in the world order, the sight of President Trump pumping his fist into the air at the doorway of Air Force One, before turning his back on Asia to fly home, they should be put to bed now. (more…)
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Australia-China policy: Guardrails, not walls
An industry networking day in Canberra this week laid bare a simple truth: politics is still beating economics in Australia’s China policy. (more…)
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‘Hawkish’ interpretations rise as US-China discourse gets lost in translation
In an echo of the Cold War, mistranslations are testing already strained nerves in Washington and Beijing. (more…)
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China planning ahead with 15th five-year plan
In business, the five Ps are often referenced: “Poor preparation prevents proper performance.” That extends to planning a national economy. (more…)
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Trump turns the tables on Taiwan
When the razzle dazzle of the prime minister’s first face-to-face meeting with the mercurial US president is forgotten and the huge sigh of relief that nothing went wrong subsides, questions will be asked about what all the puffery achieved. (more…)
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‘Stabilising’ relations with China while differences widen
The Albanese Government’s “stabilised” China policy faces the test of deepening ideological and strategic divides. (more…)
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Understanding Australia-China research mobility
Australia’s research partnership with China is a significant component of its scientific output, particularly in engineering, technology and applied sciences. (more…)
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The ABC and News Corp finally agree on something: China panic
Last week, a friend asked if I was worried about Chinese “nuclear threats”. (more…)
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Taiwan as an integral part of China: A historical, legal and geopolitical analysis
The status of Taiwan remains one of the most contested topics in modern geopolitics and one of the most misrepresented. (more…)
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Continuation in China’s five-year planning
The outline of China’s 15th five-year plan was released last week. Often the objectives of a new five-year plan are a disruptive departure from the previous five-year plan. They set new directions. (more…)
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Trump’s rare earths deal to counter China was a badly needed ‘Sputnik moment’
The other day US President Donald Trump said: “With a communist in charge? Look, you just go back a thousand years, it’s been done many times, a thousand years, it’s never worked once.” (more…)
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As Nobel laureates show, the US can’t take tech lead over China for granted
It’s hard to tell who will ultimately win the tech race, but this year’s Nobel economics prize gives us some clues. (more…)
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Trump, Xi and the ‘green paradox’: How China is building a climate-proof future
Ambitious transformation of the country’s energy consumption and urban planning makes economic sense too, analysts say. (more…)
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To avert war, the West must shatter the mirror by which it views China
The concept of the Thucydides Trap, predicting conflict between China and the US, projects the West’s conquest-driven history onto Chinese civilisation. (more…)
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China’s FDI, not the BRI, drives a global green transition
Over the past few years, outward Chinese foreign direct investment commitments in green manufacturing have grown rapidly and now dwarf the Marshall Plan in their scale. (more…)
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After decades of struggle, women in China are rewriting their future
The quiet revolution towards upholding women’s rights in China isn’t just about slogans, but involves the hard work of families, educators and policymakers. (more…)
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The West’s crucial strategic failures
“The Earth is littered with the ruins of empires that once believed they were eternal.” Camille Paglia. (more…)
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Lack of China capability can only do harm to society: Our current situation is a disgrace
In March 2023, the Australian Academy of the Humanities sounded the alarm on the decline in our understanding and knowledge of China through a report on “Australia’s China Knowledge Capability”. (more…)
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How anti-China witch hunts in Canada and the UK ruin lives
Security services such as London’s MI5 and Ottawa’s RCMP appear to be going after individuals and organisations out of pure antagonism and distrust against Beijing rather than having actual evidence. (more…)
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Almost no Australians study Chinese any more. That’s a problem
Fewer than five Australians per year are graduating from honours programs in Chinese studies with language, raising fears the nation is losing the expertise needed to navigate its most complex foreign relationship. (more…)