Asia
Capital flows to emerging economies: Still unresolved
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Asian Financial Crisis. Many factors were involved in that disaster, but grossly excessive foreign capital inflows were the key macro…
Belt and Road will go ahead with or without Australia
A divide has once again opened between Australian economic commentators and defence hawks, this time over China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and what Australia's response to…
Economic diplomacy brief: Summit budgets and mixed messages from Australia’s foreign investment
Turnbull's regional legacy?
The spending contrasts between the softer and harder aspects of international policy in the 2017 Budget have underlined again how aid is being…
Commentary
China's legal reforms are far cry from Western-style justice
Originally published in the Nikkei Asian Review. Merriden Varrall
How China snubbed Singapore at the Belt and Road summit
Among the 29 Heads of State who converged on Beijing for the Belt and Road Summit earlier this week were leaders of seven of the ten ASEAN states. One leader was noticeably…
China's ‘House of Cards’ reveals a few home truths
The Chinese TV series 'In the Name of People', compared by many to the US-produced drama 'House of Cards', has become the most talked-about TV show nationwide after airing…
Commentary
What Did Chinese People Think of the Belt and Road Forum?
Originally published in The Diplomat. Merriden Varrall
Australia, Vietnam, the diaspora and generational change
Australia's Vietnamese diaspora is a remarkable element in the fast-evolving relationship between the two countries. Hanoi and Canberra are both doing what they can to help…
Why India missed China’s Belt and Road summit
China's President Xi Jinping is today hosting what is arguably the biggest celebration of China's rise as a great power since the Beijing Olympics in 2008. The One Belt, One Road…
Belt and Road: State transformation and large technical systems
Since Xi Jinping’s announcement of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013, much ink has been spilt trying to understand this policy platform that is centre stage right now…