Taiwan
Australians worry about China and muscle-flexing over Taiwan
“China’s development is an opportunity instead of a threat to Australia,” claimed China’s Ambassador to Australia at a recent address in Sydney. “There is every reason for China…
Contingency plans: South Korea and cross-Strait security
The importance of “peace and stability” across the Taiwan Strait featured in joint statements issued after US President Joe Biden’s meetings in May with South Korean President…
China’s new reality
When it comes to the realm of soft power and cultural diplomacy, China’s efforts are often seen as either lacklustre or counterintuitive. Dwarfed by the cultural juggernauts of…
Myths that stir trouble in the South China Sea
US officials regularly present China as an aggressive and expansionist military power while Chinese state sources criticise the United States in similar terms. The verbal sparring…
Paul Keating may be the “Grand Appeaser”, but is he wrong?
Former prime minister Paul Keating’s characteristically frank comments on Australia’s Taiwan policy have attracted many criticisms. One of the most predictable is that he is…
The legal case for defending Taiwan
In a recent discussion in The Interpreter of whether it would be legal to come to the defence of Taiwan, Ben Saul concludes that “a betting person might be tempted to back the…
Would a war over Taiwan be legal?
Australia’s former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has called for “solidarity” with Taiwan in the face of China’s “intimidatory sorties” testing its air defences. As the war drum…
Chinese warplanes overhead Taiwan (or maybe not)
China’s PLA Air Force’s (PLAAF) latest flights into the Taiwanese Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) have gained people’s attention. The arcane ADIZ term denotes a block of…
Taiwan: The age-old question of who gets a vote
Taiwan is often held to be a beacon of progressiveness due to its legalisation of same-sex marriage and its efforts at gender equity. However, in terms of voting laws, Taiwan lags…
“I am a Taiwanese”: Eastern Europeans see a Cold War in East Asia
The politics of the Baltic states do not often create much of a stir in East Asia. That changed in October last year when the prime minister-elect of Lithuania, Ingrida Šimonytė,…