Asia
Far more world leaders visit China than America
In April, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga became the first foreign leader to meet US President Joe Biden at the White House. Suga’s trip marked the return of leader-level…
India: A very colonial hangover
In the 1830’s Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay set about drafting a piece of legislation that would outlive not just him but also the empire that gave him the license to do so…
When the chips are down: Biden’s semiconductor war
Export control policy in the semiconductor sector – an industry that supplies the world’s computer, smartphone, appliances and medical equipment industry with electronic chips –…
Another proxy war in Afghanistan?
With the US in the process of withdrawing the last of its troops from Afghanistan, it has taken little time for fierce fighting to flare up in several parts of the country, as the…
Commentary
Xi Jinping reels in his tech titans
Private enterprise created China’s vaunted digital economy. But Big Brother is always in charge. Originally published in the Australian Financial Review.
China’s numbers game harms us all
Speaking before a crowd at Tiananmen Square that gathered in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Xi Jinping triumphantly declared that the…
US-China rivalries: What matters for ASEAN
An interesting discussion about how Australia should respond to US President Joe Biden’s call for closer alignment and cooperation among democratic states has featured in a recent…
Bringing the grey zone into focus
Australia’s 2020 Defence Strategic Update was, by the standards of such publications, a hard-hitting document. It had a particularly strong focus on grey zone activities, seen as…
The politics of PacMan
Boxer and Philippine senator Manny Pacquiao knows how to pick his fights. For weeks, the champ has engaged President Rodrigo Duterte in a word war.
First, Pacquiao jabbed Duterte…
Commentary
China’s looming succession crisis
What will happen when Xi is gone?
Originally published in Foreign Affairs.