China
Are Beijing and Washington testing the dark forest hypothesis?
Last week, Netflix released Three-Body Problem, its widely anticipated TV adaptation of the acclaimed novels by science fiction author Liu Cixin. While met with broadly positive…
Mind the gap: China’s megaproject promises fall short of reality in Southeast Asia
In Bangkok in 2010, Chinese and Thai authorities were discussing a dream: the possibility of working together on a high-speed rail project, which would be Southeast Asia’s first…
China and the great global AI governance divide
For all the common global purpose on the need to manage the risks associated with the rapid development of Artificial Intelligence, deep fissures about how to govern this new…
Mapping the oceans is the new front in the battle for influence in the Indian Ocean
Hydrography, the mapping of bodies of water and surrounding coastal details, is the new front in the battle for influence in the Indian Ocean. There is growing competition among…
Opium and the colonial narco-state
Book review: Smoke and ashes: Opium’s hidden histories by Amitav Ghosh (Murray, 2024)
Switching for a while from fiction to fact, Amitav Ghosh has written an account of …
Where did that Chinese police video come from?
Last night’s 60 Minutes broadcast in Australia featured extraordinary footage of 2017 Chinese police raids in Fiji, followed by the extraction of 77 People’s Republic of China…
The Philippines seeks out old friends and new
The failure of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to secure a substantive joint statement to address South China Sea disputes at last year’s leaders’ summit and the more…
Green transition: Supercharging a sustainable future for the Asia‑Pacific
The Asia-Pacific region, a beacon of economic growth, is projected to contribute an astonishing 60% to global GDP growth by 2024. At the heart of this region’s transformation is…
New Zealand and ASEAN: Focusing on what’s right under its nose
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is new in the job, yet he took time away to fly across the Tasman earlier this month and meet the various leaders of the Association…
China's grey-zone provocations: Time to reciprocate
It’s time to send a signal to Beijing that a crisis is approaching. China’s use of grey zone tactics is intensifying. This worsening trend line has been evident for several years…