Programs & Projects

The North Asia Program

The China and East Asia Program

The China and East Asia Program conducts research on the politics and foreign policy of China and its immediate neighbours in Northeast Asia: Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and the Korean peninsula. The program is renowned for its particular focus on China’s domestic politics and how this helps to shape its external behaviour. From 2020, the Institute’s extensive research on Southeast Asia – including Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, and Myanmar – is now incorporated in a dedicated Southeast Asia Program. Each Program also commissions work by other scholars on the broader region. To complement their written research, Lowy Institute experts hold a robust series of dialogues and events on the politics of the region, independently and in partnership with other organisations.

Photo: Jung Yeon-Je-Pool/Getty Images

Experts
Latest publications
News and media
Tensions in the East China Sea
Speeches
Tensions in the East China Sea
This workshop report comprises four papers presented at an international workshop, 'Tensions in the East China Sea', which was held at the Lowy Institute in Sydney in June 2013…
Burma puts its stamp on the world: Philately and foreign policy
When subjects like soft power and public diplomacy are discussed in forums like this, few people have postage stamps in mind, but there has long been a close connection between…
Phnom Penh violence: A turning point for Cambodia?
It's too early to say whether the violence resulting in at least four deaths that occurred in Phnom Penh on 3 January, as police and military dispersed protesters in the city's …
Zamboanga, the Bangsamoro and the southern Philippines peace process
Zamboanga City is one of the most intriguing places in the southern Philippines, where the country's colonial past, heard on the streets as ­­­locals converse in Spanish creole,…
Spying on Kristiani Herawati: A loss of judgement
The Weekend Australian carried a ‘well-sourced’ article defending our listening in on Kristiani Herawati, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's wife. Quoting the usual …
New foreign policy actors in China
Analyses
New foreign policy actors in China
This Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Policy Paper, entitled ‘New foreign policy actors in China’, is based on groundbreaking findings on the…
China’s SCO Challenges
Commentary
China’s SCO Challenges
In this piece for The Diplomat, East Asia Program Research Associate Dirk van der Kley evaluates the difficulties facing the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. …
China's economic statecraft: turning wealth into power
Analyses
China's economic statecraft: turning wealth into power
China today is using economic statecraft more frequently, more assertively, and in more diverse fashion than ever before. Yet fears of Chinese economic coercion should not be…
Kepentingan Bersama Indonesia dan Australia (Indonesia's and Australia's Common Interests)
Commentary
Kepentingan Bersama Indonesia dan Australia (Indonesia's and Australia's Common Interests)
Lowy Institute Research Fellow Dr Dave McRae, in an opinion piece for Indonesian news portal VivaNews, argues that the spying row of the past week exposes the need for Indonesia…
Abbott's failure to listen escalates spying row
Commentary
Abbott's failure to listen escalates spying row
In an opinion piece in The Drum, Lowy Institute Research Fellow Dr Dave McRae says that Tony Abbott's failure to proactively defuse the spying row with Indonesia has…