In 2016, US Vice-President J.D. Vance published a best-selling memoir titled Hillbilly Elegy. Curiously, he explained on the Fox News network recently that China’s pivotal influence on American consumption was due to the US borrowing “money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture” (YouTube link here). Let’s consider the sort of individuals in question. (more…)
Category: China
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Chinese president rallies neighbours as US tariffs imposed
From 14 to 18 April, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia conveyed a clear message: China’s engagement with Southeast Asia is rooted not merely in trade and infrastructure, but also mutual respect, strategic trust, and a shared vision for regional stability and prosperity. (more…)
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Election looms, time to ramp up the China scare campaign: Anti-China Media Watch
Hampered by an underwhelming election campaign — where the Labor/LNP “uniparty” faces the harsh reality that the punters don’t think China is about to invade Australia — Murdoch media is going all out to put those commie bastards front and centre. There’s the inconvenient truth that the Australian military is gearing up to hit China with a barrage of US-made missiles; the Chinese Communist Party is meddling in the affairs of the Catholic Church; and a 60 Minutes report tells us Barbie has fallen victim to the Chinese. (more…)
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Memory shapes China’s response to Trump’s tariffs
To asses China’s reaction to Donald Trump’s tariffs we have to go back around 165 years. (more…)
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China’s two ‘secret weapons’ in the tariff war
As of 15 April, the White House indicated on its website that tariffs on products imported from China could rise as high as 245%. (more…)
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Xi pushes for fair trade after Trump tariffs land
After President Donald Trump’s decision to exempt selected electronic goods from tariffs, the gloves are temporarily off between Washington and Beijing. However, though some sanity has returned to the White House, the damage has already been done. (more…)
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When elephants clash: The strategic logic behind Trump’s tariffs and China’s response
The world is mesmerised — and unsettled — by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs. (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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In a broken world, China-Japan-Korea co-operation is Asia’s backbone
By blending economic might, technological prowess and cultural bonds, co-operation can be elevated into a transformative, inspiring force. (more…)
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ABC has Four Corners with just one angle: Anti-China Media Watch
In the midst of a federal election campaign, China is front and centre, with the major parties falling over themselves to look tough on national security. The mainstream media is once again aiding and abetting the political narrative without any serious analysis; Albo and Dutton are going to swipe back the Port of Darwin from its CCP-linked owners, but the mainstream media is clueless as to how that will happen; Tony Abbott tells his former chief of staff we’re being bullied by China; and a heavily-promoted Four Corners program fails to scale the great wall of objectivity. (more…)
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US tariff policies strengthening China’s position in Asia
In geopolitics, there are no permanent friends or enemies, but there are permanent interests. While many countries in Southeast Asia have tried to maintain their economic ties with the US and China, President Donald Trump’s economic and tariff plans are inadvertently helping China strengthen its position in Asia. (more…)
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Will there be a war between China and the US?
Will there be a war between China and the US? This question suddenly gained popularity in early April 2024, mainly because, in response to Donald Trump’s so-called “reciprocal tariff” policy, China was the first country to impose strict countermeasures. (more…)
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The mother of all own goals?
Following the White House announcement of the “Liberation Day” tariffs, Andrew Tillett, writing in The Australian Financial Review, argued that, “Trump just gave China a free kick to tilt Asia in its favour”. (paywall) At Foreign Policy, the deputy editor, Amelia Lester, was wondering, at the same time, “Are Tariffs the End of the Australia-US Friendship”.(paywall) (more…)
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US LNG crippled as Australia seizes US$1.5b trade overnight
What happens when the world’s second-largest economy suddenly pulls the plug on billions of dollars in US energy exports without warning, without negotiation and without a single public signal? You get a global energy market in shock and Washington scrambling for answers. (more…)
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How Xi woos world business leaders as Trump intensifies trade war
On the morning of Friday, 28 March, Xi Jinping met representatives of the international business community at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. (more…)
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In every China-US war game scenario I’ve seen, America has lost
Global security alliances are in turmoil, and Australia needs to critically rethink its defence and foreign affairs policies. (more…)
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China’s spies are here to help Albo: Anti-China Media Watch
The Australian reliably informs as that in Beijing it’s “all the way with Albo for PM”; the latest Chinese ship in the proximity of Australia’s waters is both an act of aggression and proof positive that New Zealand’s scientists are among the most “clueless” creatures on earth; and Confucius Institutes have to go from Australian university campuses. (more…)
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No surprises, but strategic circumstance weighs heavily on China’s ‘Two Sessions’
China’s 2025 ‘Two Sessions’ emphasised stability and strategic focus, avoiding major surprises despite the volatile global landscape.
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DeepSeek has changed China’s AI model landscape – what’s next?
The start-up has emerged as the unlikely winner of a dizzying domestic competition. Can it reshape the global market as well? (more…)
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China’s war is almost here: Anti-China Media Watch
Mainstream media tells us exactly when China will invade Taiwan; it continues to run the false narrative that the Chinese naval ships fired missiles into the path of commercial airliners; and China, with a solitary overseas military base versus 800 US bases, poses a massive risk to our masters in Washington. (more…)
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There is no way in which China is a threat to Australia or even the US
Pearls and Irritations editor-in-chief John Menadue talks to Pascal Lottez of Neutrality Studies about Western misconceptions of China and the narrative that has led to a very poor understanding of the biggest power in Asia. (more…)
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China’s solar space station: A game-changer in renewable energy
China is making the once sci-fi dream of space-based solar power a reality and leaving the West scrambling to keep up. Imagine a kilometre-wide solar array orbiting Earth, harvesting limitless, uninterrupted solar energy and beaming it back home, day and night, without the interference of clouds or darkness. The China Academy of Space Technology is spearheading this geostationary solar power station and with a 2028-2050 roadmap, Beijing is set to redefine the global energy game. (more…)
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Tensions over Taiwan
Ma Ying-jeou warns that William Ching-te Lai is leading cross-strait relations into “a major crisis”. (more…)
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Misinformation in politics: Anti-China Media Watch
The ABC reveals Chinese social media is again facilitating foreign interference in our elections, Dutton is the true champion of China relations, while Chinese hospitals are overcharging Aussies for lifesaving surgery. (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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A five-minute scroll
As media campaigning ramps up for the forthcoming election, Peter Dutton avoids the question of his polling while Media Watch reveals the Liberal Party connections of Freya Leach and Juice Media produces a satirical clip on majority government. On global tensions, Professor Keyu Jin from the London School of Economics speaks about China and the US. (more…)
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The Manichean moment is over
If Donald Trump has done nothing else, he should have convinced Australian strategic thinkers that the long-standing mantra of China-bad/America-good is no longer appropriate. (more…)
