Writer
Gregory Clark
Gregory Clark began his career in Australia’s Department of External Affairs, with postings to Hong Kong and Moscow. Resigning in 1964 to protest at Australia’s participation in the Vietnam War he moved to Japan, becoming emeritus president of Tama University in Tokyo and vice-president of the pioneering Akita International University. He continues to live in Japan and has established himself as a commentator/academic. Between 1969-74 he was correspondent for The Australian in Tokyo. More on www.gregoryclark.net
-
The remarkable story of Japan’s North Korean abductees
Nearly two decades after North Korea retuned five people it abducted to their home country of Japan, efforts to silence those who challenge the government line continue. Continue reading »
-
China, Taiwan and the US: the real terms of the deal
The US and China established full diplomatic relations in 1979, but that year the US Congress wrote its own script for Taiwan. Today, what the Chinese side interprets as word games by the US may wreak deadly consequences. Continue reading »
-
Fumio Kishida, the colourless new Japanese PM
One incident more than any other tells us what we need to know about the just-elected leader of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the rather colourless Fumio Kishida. Continue reading »
-
When it comes to China, our media ‘experts’ need a lot of help
Since the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal our mainstream media experts have doubled down on the claim Beijing is expansionist. Since few of them can read or speak Chinese maybe I can help them. Continue reading »
-
70 years and several sea changes later, ANZUS Treaty serves a different world
When the ANZUS Treaty was signed 70 years ago, Japan was considered a dangerous aggressor, and China was a friend. Continue reading »
-
China policy takes centre stage as Japan’s ruling party searches for new leader
Elections to select a new leader for Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) could finally see some clarity over Tokyo’s policy towards China. Continue reading »
-
Francis James and the Wakhan Corridor into Afghanistan
We are told the fall of Kabul will be a bonus for an expansionist China. Continue reading »
-
Afghanistan is gone, what comes next?
After Vietnam, and the Chinese civil war that preceded it, we assumed that the lessons had been learned – that a rural-based guerrilla movement facing a corrupt government can prevail provided it has leadership and an ideology to cling to. Continue reading »
-
The Afghanistan failure is history repeating itself but there may be profound consequences.
Afghanistan’s fall to the Taliban will do much to change the balance of power in Heartland central Asia. Continue reading »
-
Women’s rights in Afghanistan-a lost opportunity in the 1970s.
In Afghanistan today the US calls for the rights of women to be respected. But it was the US that acted in 1978 so that women’s rights would suffer. Continue reading »
-
ASPI misses the mark on Ukraine
ASPI – Australian Strategic Policy Institute – claims to have some of Australia’s foremost strategic thinkers working for it. Number-two ASPI staffer, Mr Michael Shoebridge, appeared on a YouTube video some time back warning about Russian plans to attack Ukraine by moving troops to the Ukrainian border, and the measures to be taken by Ukraine, Continue reading »
-
The Tiananmen Square massacre: the one sided story
If you thought we knew everything about the Tiananmen Square Massacre of June 3-4, 1989, think again. Mysteries remain. Some are so significant we need to review our ideas about what was going on in China at that time. Continue reading »
-
Daniel Ellsberg’s nuclear disclosures over Taiwan
Working on Canberra’s China desk, some time after the 1958 Taiwan Straits crisis, we knew already from various sources what Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg has now formally disclosed – that at the height of the crisis the US was prepared to use nuclear weapons to defend Quemoy, a Taiwan-held island close to China’s coast Continue reading »
-
Combatting Australia’s anti-China rhetoric
Tokyo’s security apparatus must have followed with amazement that excellent series by Max Suich in the AFR of 16, 17 and 18 May, revealing the anti-China antics of their Australian opposite numbers. Suich mentions how an elected member of Australia’s parliament was driven out in disgrace for maintaining a relationship with a suspected Chinese government Continue reading »
-
Chinese Realities – Past and Present
The year was 1962. As Canberra’s first trainee in Chinese I had been placed on the Department of External Affairs China desk and told to monitor rising tension along the Sino-Indian Himalayan frontier. Beijing was complaining about repeated Indian frontier violations and warning there would be consequences if India went too far. Continue reading »
-
Beijing -Moscow cooperation against the provocations of the US and its allies
Let me begin by offering my warm congratulations to Messrs Hartcher and Sheridan (columnists for SMH and News Limited) and other rightwing media people around the globe. They have helped achieve what many have long thought was impossible – bringing Moscow and Beijing together in firm anti-Western cooperation. Continue reading »
-
The Quad: an unlikely friendship with unfriendly motives
Sydney Morning Herald political and international editor Peter Hartcher has told us that a historic friendship meeting between Japan, the US, Australia and India – the Quad, has begun. However, it’s not particularly friendly, or historic. Continue reading »
-
Diego Garcia: Rules for the powerful; bombs for the weak
In concert, the US and the UK in the 1960s seized the island of Diego Garcia, expelled its inhabitants and converted it into a massive airbase for the bombing of Middle Eastern and African targets. Both countries continue to defy a ruling by the International Court of Justice to transfer the island back to Mauritius. Continue reading »
-
How ping pong brought Australia and China together: a story from 1971
As the 50th anniversary of Australia’s 1971 opening to China approaches it is time to tell the true story of how a team of confused ping pong players and journalists hunting for a scoop opened Australia/China relations. Continue reading »
-
NARA Treaty debacle
Today our intelligence agencies and bureaucrats tell us that China is the enemy. But less than 50 years ago the same agencies and bureaucrats (or their predecessors) were warning us that the enemy against which we had to prepare was Japan. Continue reading »
-
Here we go again – the anti-China merry-go-round
The enemy spin of the wheel begins when an Australian official or politician, pumped up with ‘Yellow Peril’ prejudices and US anti-China propaganda, sets out to condemn China and urge severe restraints on Chinese people working in Australia. Continue reading »
-
Understanding ‘Beijing expansionism’
Canberra’s shift to anti-China rhetoric and expanded military spending is said to be due to China’s shift to expansionist and aggressive policies. And just in case there is some truth in the ‘Beijing expansionism’ claim let’s look at the claimed evidence. Continue reading »
-
Japan as Australia’s anti-China ally?
Governments lie – WMD threats from Iraq, communist invasion threats from Vietnam…Now they say the threat is from China, and that this time they are telling the truth. Continue reading »
-
Japanese media kisha clubs are like Australia’s ‘tamed estate’.
Japan and Australia are supposed to be cultural opposites. But there are similarities at times, especially where media are concerned. Continue reading »
-
Quad is built on wobbly foundations(Asia Times 5.10.2020)
With Australia, India, Japan and US set to meet in Tokyo to collectively counter China, it’s not clear Beijing represents a threat. Continue reading »
-
Spies are often the ‘second eleven’
When the full history of Australia’s slide into McCarthyite hysteria over China is written there should be special mention of the role of our spy organizations – ASIO and ASIS in particular. As someone who has worked over the years in three of the main spy-ridden hot-spots – USSR, China and Japan – I think Continue reading »
-
It was the threat of Soviet invasion, not the bombs that drove Japan’s surrender.
The 75th Pacific War end anniversary has revived once again the debate over whether the US in 1945 had to resort to nuclear bombings to force Japan’s surrender. The global anti-nuclear movement has long used the horror of those bombings to promote its cause. Continue reading »
-
Hysteria over China.
Despite decades of contact, something in the Australian DNA makes it impossible to think rationally about China. Continue reading »
-
Lies and distortions about western policies in Asia. The media and the Tiananmen massacre myth – part 2
We are told that on the night of June 3, 1989, there was a massacre of protesting students in Beijing’s iconic Tiananmen Square. The New York Times story reduced Bob Hawke to tears – troops with machine-guns mowing down hundreds of peacefully protesting students at the centre of the Square. Continue reading »
-
Lies and distortions about western policies in Asia: The Sino-Indian frontier dispute. Part 1 of 2
Most governments lie and distort, sometimes blatantly. For me, one of the worst examples has been over the hostilities along the Sino-Indian frontier. I give details since I was once personally involved. Continue reading »
