Asia
Qin Gang has come and gone, but US-China drama is stuck on repeat
Qin Gang’s ouster as China’s foreign minister, as sudden as it was unexpected, reverberated around the world. One of China’s President Xi Jinping’s most loyal servants, Qin rose…
Commentary
Pursuing Indo-Pacific Growth and Development Amid Superpower Rivalry
Economic Security and the Future of the Global Order in the Indo-Pacific - a thought piece written for Perry World House.
Why the Australian Voice referendum matters globally
The upcoming referendum for an amendment to the Australian constitution, if passed, will see Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders recognised in the nation’s founding document…
It’s no surprise Australia shrugged off China’s campaign of trade coercion
It has been clear for some time that China’s campaign of trade coercion against Australia has been rather ineffectual, either in imposing significant economic costs on Australia…
A return to old-school mercantilism?
Talk is cheap. In the international system, states closely monitor each other’s actions and rhetoric becomes secondary. With the acceleration of great power competition, states…
Commentary
Indonesia is key to Australia’s regional vision
Indonesia will never join Australia in trying to balance China. But we cannot succeed without paying heed to the broader strategic value of our huge northern neighbour. Originally…
What is Australia’s role in supporting Timor-Leste?
With Timor-Leste’s new government sworn in – and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong having paid a visit this month – it’s a good time to look at Canberra’s role in supporting…
Forget Washington, Pyongyang’s most important target has always been Beijing
It’s easily forgotten now, but just over five years ago North Korea and China were not getting along. Beijing was adamant about implementing United Nations sanctions as a…
Who leads the world as longest in charge of their country?
Hun Sen heads to the polls in Cambodia this weekend, even though, as Radio Free Asia noted, the result is preordained. Hun Sen will win. Just like he has ever since 1985.
Hun…
Indonesia’s new capital of power can’t afford the tangled wires of Jakarta
The electricity cable system in Jakarta is estimated to be more than 80,000 kilometres long, which is sufficient to circle the Earth more than twice. With the city’s rapid growth…