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
Balancing act: Taiwan cross-strait challenge
Lowy Institute Papers
Balancing act: Taiwan cross-strait challenge
In the last decade, Taiwan's society has changed rapidly in ways that are challenging the cross-strait status quo.Malcolm Cook , Craig Meer
The sustainability of growth: history and prospects
Analyses
The sustainability of growth: history and prospects
This is Chapter 1 in the book, edited by Ross Garnaut and Ligang Song, entitled China: Is Rapid Growth Sustainable, Asia Pacific Press, Canberra, 2004. Ross Garnaut
The emergence of substantive Sino-Australian relations, 1983-88
Analyses
The emergence of substantive Sino-Australian relations, 1983-88
A paper by Ross Garnaut, Professor of Economics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University.Ross Garnaut
The 'Khmer Islam' community in Cambodia and its foreign patrons
Analyses
The 'Khmer Islam' community in Cambodia and its foreign patrons
Dr Milton Osborne, Australia's pre-eminent Cambodia expert, in a new Lowy Institute Issues Brief, looks at the revival of Cambodia's Islamic minority in the post-Pol Pot period…
River at risk: the Mekong and the water politics of China and Southeast Asia
Lowy Institute Papers
River at risk: the Mekong and the water politics of China and Southeast Asia
The Lowy Institute Paper by Dr Milton Osborne critically analyses one of Southeast Asia's gravest social and environmental challenges, the damming and dredging of the Mekong River…
The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games: China in the limelight
Analyses
The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games: China in the limelight
John Bowan, a former senior Australian foreign policy official, and consultant to Beijing's successful Olympic bid, examines how Beijing and China won the 2008 Games and what this…
Election Watch. Japan party system: shifting the political axis, releasing economic reform
Analyses
Election Watch. Japan party system: shifting the political axis, releasing economic reform
This Issues Brief examines how changes to the Japanese political system, reflected in the November 9 election results, offer new hope for structural economic reforms that would…