Human rights
Beijing three-step: China denies, deflects and dissembles on Xinjiang
Propaganda, understood as the “deliberate, systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behaviour to achieve a response that furthers the desired…
A tragedy in Xinjiang, a tragedy for the UN
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet’s four-year term ended this week with the release at the eleventh hour of a long-delayed report assessing China’s…
Lowy Institute Papers
Rise of the Extreme Right: The new global extremism and the threat to democracy
ICC pushes probe on the Philippines’ drug war
In a June resolution, the International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan asked to resume an investigation into former president Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, which was…
ASEAN governments need to act on Myanmar
On my first trip to Myanmar for Human Rights Watch in 2012, I met the activist and writer Kyaw Min Yu (known as Ko Jimmy), who had recently been released from prison. It was a…
Taking on Cambodia’s “Lady Liberty”
Theary Seng certainly knows how to attract attention. The prominent Cambodian-American human rights lawyer and activist was dressed as “Lady Liberty”, draped in…
The British Indian Ocean Territory and the rules-based order
Various contributors to The Interpreter’s Chagos Question debate assert that Britain’s controversial claim to the Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean…
Knowledge is power: A small investment for a big return
Amid regular expressions of concern about the growing influence of autocratic nations in Asia and strategic competition in the Pacific, Australia should look at investing more in…
A tale of two countries: interpreting The Kashmir Files
Singapore recently banned the controversial Indian film, The Kashmir Files, for its “provocative and one-sided portrayal” of Muslims, citing concerns over its “potential to cause…
Australia can stand up for the Afghan people, and the time is now
On 19 April, a suicide bomber struck as students were coming out of school in Kabul, Afghanistan, leaving dozens injured and at least six dead. The brutality of the attack – and…