China
Undue suspicion of Chinese Australian scientists slows progress
With technological competition now at the centre of the geostrategic rivalry between the United States and the People’s Republic of China, scientific exchange and collaboration…
Avenging the century of humiliation, one artefact at a time
Book review: Portrait of a Thief, by Grace D. Li (Penguin Random House, 2022)
In 1860, the Second Opium War culminated in British and French troops sacking the Old Summer…
Commentary
Park the hyperbole about Wong’s historic visit
The two countries may be renegotiating a fresh framework for diplomatic ties, but they are doing it with palpable wariness on both sides. Originally published in the Australian…
How to Interpret 2022: A Taiwan crisis
One overnight stay. But that flying visit to Taiwan in August by Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, second in line for the presidency, certainly caused a…
How to Interpret 2022: Solomon Islands strikes a deal
Rarely have the affections of a sparsely populated archipelagic state been so wooed as those of Solomon Islands – the string of southwest Pacific isles sitting 2,000 kilometres…
Pop culture politics: How to Interpret 2022
Missed the headline? Hollywood star Angelina Jolie is stepping down after more than 20 years as ambassador for the UN refugee agency. It’s fine, because India’s celebrities are…
China’s catch-up game in the Middle East
China’s President Xi Jinping’s visit to the Gulf states this month was accompanied by much fanfare and another example – if such was needed – of Beijing’s desire to challenge…
Beyond binary choices in Australia China relations
Book Review: Australia’s China odyssey: from euphoria to fear, by James Curran (UNSW Press, 2022)
December 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of Australia-China diplomatic…
A step-up for China’s involvement in the Middle East
As China has increased its global reach and ambitions elsewhere over the past two decades, the Middle East has remained a backwater for China’s diplomacy.
China has kept a…
Commentary
Australia far more wary of China than SEA nations despite thawing relations
Originally published in ThinkChina.