China
China’s growing interest in the Middle East
Much has been said about US President Donald Trump’s recent visit to the Middle East but it’s worth remembering that only a few weeks earlier a mirror image of Trump’s Middle East…
Four Corners sees the Party-state in all the shadows
Last night ABC TV aired a Four Corners/Fairfax Media investigation into China’s power and influence in Australia that promised to uncover 'how China's Communist Party is secretly…
What Chinese media thought of the Shangri-La Dialogue
As most readers of The Interpreter already know, last weekend the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) hosted the 16th Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore (SLD17)…
China's undeclared foreign policy at the poles
In November 2014 the Chinese media deliberately mistranslated the words of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Xi had just given a speech in Hobart on China's polar agenda, with then…
China v US: Who needs allies?
People often argue that America’s alliances in Asia are a decisive advantage in its contest with China for regional strategic primacy. China’s only ally, they say, is North Korea,…
US FONOPs: Game on again in the South China Sea
According to this Reuters report, which was soon followed by others citing a Pentagon spokesman, a US Navy warship, the destroyer USS Dewey, has recently sailed within 12 nautical…
Countering China’s submarine operations in South Asia
As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Sri Lanka earlier this month, reports emerged that the Sri Lankan government had turned down China's request for a submarine docking…
Europe’s mixed views on China’s Belt and Road
China’s Belt and Road summit is over but the Chinese narrative is only just getting started. In a video released by the state-owned media outlet China Daily, a Western father…
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…
Commentary
China's legal reforms are far cry from Western-style justice
Originally published in the Nikkei Asian Review. Merriden Varrall