Hong Kong people, most of whom have only the barest acquaintance with the city only twenty miles away, look down on Shenzhen as a poor dirty cousin. Reality is rapidly running away from this perception…. A gradual realisation has crept upon the world in the past few years that the new Silicon Valley is Shenzhen. (more…)
Category: China
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“When a scholar meets a soldier …”: Why I’ve decided not to speak to the senate inquiry on diaspora communities in Australia (ABC Oct 21, 2020)
What purpose does Senator Abetz’s questioning of Chinese Australians serve, other than to make them feel that they will never belong, no matter how long they have lived here or how hard they have tried?
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‘Loose talk’ by MPs worsens China tensions: China is not an enemy: Houston ( AFR Oct 16, 2020)
Former Defence Force chief Angus Houston says ‘‘loose talk’’ by MPs has made tensions with China worse than necessary and has called for an urgent reset in the relationship between Canberra and Beijing. China is our partner. China is not an enemy. Let’s get that straight.
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Why are the loyalties of Chinese- Australians questioned constantly in the public arena?
In my opening statement to the Senate Committee, I talked about the toxic environment for Chinese-Australians who engage in public policy debates right now. In particular, I mentioned that one of the reasons Chinese-Australians are choosing to remain silent is because they don’t want their loyalties to be questioned constantly in the public arena.
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Quad is built on wobbly foundations(Asia Times 5.10.2020)
With Australia, India, Japan and US set to meet in Tokyo to collectively counter China, it’s not clear Beijing represents a threat. (more…)
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Will Australia Seize back the China Crown?
While the outcome of the US elections remains unclear the future direction of US-China relations also remain uncertain. This presents a new opportunity for Canberra to mend some bridges with Beijing if it wishes to do so. (more…)
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Olive branches dampens the sound of distant war drums
With the hospitalization of Trump, the world went into temporary recess from the Cold War and China sends an olive branch to Australia to dampen the sound of distant war drums. As the SCMP suggests, there is still hope for peace and mutual understanding.
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China is opening the door. Will Australia walk through it? (AFR Oct 7, 2020)
The Financial Review’s interview with a top Chinese diplomat would have been approved at the top. The Morrison government is obdurate if it does not take up the gesture.
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A Sinologist’s view on Australia’s relations with China
My memory of the time I spent in Australia, while directing the University of Sydney China Studies Centre from 2012 to 2015 was a largely positive and happy one. Looking from the UK, where I am now based, I have to acknowledge a sense of shock and sadness.
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Cui Bono from the decline in Australia/China relations?
The dramatic decline in Australia China relations has paralleled the rise in the anti-China rhetoric from the Trump administration, capped by its naming of COVID as “the China virus”. Who benefits from this situation? Hint: it’s not China and it’s not Australia.
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Do US Intelligence Probes Against China Violate the ‘International Order’ ?
The U.S. stands accused of violating that ‘international order’ by flying military spy planes under civilian “false flags” of other countries while collecting intelligence on China’s defenses. The U.S. may not only be violating international norms but also undermining confidence that it will abide by any agreements it enters.
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China diplomat urges end to ‘confrontation’ (AFR Oct 5, 2020)
One of China’s top diplomats has called for an end to ‘‘confrontation and abusive language’’ in increasingly hostile exchanges between Australia and China, saying the relationship can be salvaged through better communication by both countries.
She blamed the Australian media for creating an ‘‘unfriendly atmosphere’’ and stirring up anti-China rhetoric. (more…)
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Clear-eyed responses as well as assessments needed on the PRC
Being clear-eyed about China under Xi Jinping is one thing. But managing the relationship effectively also requires Australia to be clear-eyed about the effectiveness of our policy options in response. (more…)
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The Struggle with China is not a Replay of the Cold War: Remarks to the Asia American Forum
Washington has declared war on China. The administration and its allies hope that the war will be “cold,” but have no strategy for keeping it so. I find it noteworthy that the most belligerently anti-Chinese members of the current U.S. Senate are also its youngest.
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The scary picture of a failed Australia-China trade relations ?
The mainstream newspapers in Australia do not shed much light about the real situation of the Cold trade war between Australia and China. If we look hard enough, we may find factual reporting about this subject in an English language published off-shore, in Hong Kong.
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Australian media in the Asian Century
The struggles and contradictions in media understanding of China. (more…)
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Chinese interference overblown
Floating the idea of a Foreign Interference Commissioner in the face of a diplomatic storm front is not going to steer us into calmer waters
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Our challenges in dealing with China
America was built on the Bible, the gun and slavery.Our interests in dealing with China are not the same as America’s interests. We have differences with China, but we must handle them in our own way rather than joining Trump’s strident chorus of criticism.
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‘You will be put into detention’: Former ABC bureau chief tells story of fleeing China for first time (ABC News Sep 21, 2020)
It was late on a Friday evening and I was about to head home from the ABC’s Beijing office when the telephone rang.
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Driving in the dark in our conflict with China
There is a co-ordinated front from the defence and security establishments, the Coalition back-bench, US-financed think tanks and the Murdoch-dominated media in attacks on China
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No one wins in a race to the bottom on national security: Let the Chinese academics back in (The China Story Sep 15, 2020)
If politicians don’t change course, the deterioration of Australia’s relationship with China will go hand in hand with the erosion of our civil liberties.
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Chinese academics in Australia shocked, fear ‘chilling effect’ after Canberra revokes visas of two scholars (SCMP Sep 11, 2020)
Chinese-born academics in Australia have expressed shock, as well as their fears of a chill on scholarship and Sino-Australian engagement, after two leading figures linked to Canberra’s cultural diplomacy efforts had their visas revoked on national security grounds.
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Sino-Australian media ‘cold war’ on ice
The shock and indignation of the Australian media over the forced departure of two China correspondents has quickly dissipated following revelations that ASIO raided the homes of four Chinese journalists two months earlier
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A tit for tat with no end point (AFR Sep 10, 2020)
A get-tough policy on China with no apparent goal has left Austral as the only developed country with no media representation in the country.
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When Canberra ponders Beijing, Beijing may wonder the same
When some elements within Canberra express their dislike for Beijing subtly and hazard a guess at Beijing’s next step, Beijing may see Canberra’s ‘China Policy’ as being bizarre.
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Avoiding military conflict and restoring Australia-PRC relations: a pragmatic way forward (Australia-China Institute Sep 4, 2020)
Never have ties between Australia and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) been so estranged in the nearly five decades since Canberra and Beijing established diplomatic relations. As Geoff Raby, a former Australian ambassador to the PRC, remarked at the end of last year, the bilateral relationship is at its ‘lowest ebb’.
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The strategic mirror: the Pentagon’s China report reveals converging power and strategy
From Australia’s perspective, the Pentagon’s 2020 Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China Report is valuable for two reasons. It reinforces the absurdity of Australia planning to participate in high-intensity conflict against China under any circumstances. Additionally, it reveals the symmetry between US and China strategic policy. (more…)
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China’s universities on the rise
China’s universities are rising in the world university rankings. The United States is still well ahead, but the balance is shifting in China’s favour. The effects of Covid-19 are likely to intensify this shift.
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China policy – the children are in charge
Is the Australian Government serious about restoring the relationship with China? There are disturbing indications that it is not. (more…)
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Scenarios for the South China Sea :The good, the bad and the downright ugly
With ever more tit-for-tat belligerent rhetoric and military posturing, China and the US seem to be slouching towards a showdown in the South China Sea. What might come next can be captured in three scenarios – good, ugly and bad. (more…)