Writer
Stephen FitzGerald
Stephen FitzGerald AO is a Board Member of China Matters, Distinguished Fellow of the Whitlam Institute, Associate Professor, Australia China Institute for Arts and Culture at Western Sydney University. He was the first Ambassador of Australia to the PRC. <div dir="ltr"> <div class="gmail_quote"> <div class="msg249312336804749692"> <div> <div id="m_249312336804749692sig2303007"> <div></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div>
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The best daily analysis of issues in world affairs and Australia’s foreign relations of any media in Australia
Pearls and Irritations provides quite the best daily analysis of issues in world affairs and Australia’s foreign relations of any media in Australia Continue reading »
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Will Albanese and Wong repudiate this war hysteria?
In the name of all the good and honourable politicians who have gone before them in crafting a relationship with our giant and, yes, challenging neighbour and partner, I ask Anthony Albanese and Penny Wong to call out this rubbish, repudiate it, and forcefully assert that it is wrong. Continue reading »
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Best of 2022: Pivotal Moment: Albanese and Xi in 2022 mirror Whitlam and Zhou in 1971
The meeting between Anthony Albanese and Xi Jinping put me in mind of the public reaction in Australia when Whitlam met Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in 1971. Continue reading »
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“Opening the Australian mind”: 50 years of Australia-China relations
I’d like to offer a reflection on where we started out, Australia with China, and what I think we need to do now. Continue reading »
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Pivotal Moment: Albanese and Xi in 2022 mirror Whitlam and Zhou in 1971
The meeting between Anthony Albanese and Xi Jinping put me in mind of the public reaction in Australia when Whitlam met Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in 1971. Continue reading »
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What a contrast in professionalism and civility. The 7/30 Report
You have to admire the PRC Ambassador, Xiao Qian. After the uncivil behaviour, and gotcha questioning, and the visible personal animus journalists gave him at the National Press Club four weeks ago, he’d have been forgiven if he declined to make himself available to speak to Australian media for a while. Or at least, if Continue reading »
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The Chinese Ambassador and our ignorant and hostile media
We should be alarmed, if not ashamed, at how some of these journalists behaved and reported. Continue reading »
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Getting the Australia-China Relationship back on track
While we should not yet abandon hope for a more realistic, nuanced and sophisticated China policy under the Labor government, Prime Minister Albanese’s initial statements from Tokyo in response to an overture from PRC Prime Minister Li Keqiang are not encouraging. Continue reading »
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We have lost our way on immigration and multiculturalism
On this question of the settlement of newcomers into Australia it’s pretty evident that we’ve lost the plot. Continue reading »
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STEPHEN FITZGERALD supports Pearls and Irritations.
Pearls and Irritations provides quite the best daily analysis of issues in world affairs and Australia’s foreign relations of any media in Australia – traditional or online. Continue reading »
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STEPHEN FITZGERALD. At ‘Espionage in Australia Exhibition’ at the The Whitlam Institute (8 March 2019)
The Whitlam Institute mightn’t seem an obvious place to have an exhibition about spies. But I think it is. Not that it’s a spy agency (if it were, it would have a budget many multiples greater than it has), but because of the driving idea in what it does: democracy, in our society and our Continue reading »
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KARL WILSON with Steve FitzGerald – Opening-up: The view from down under (China Daily 12/07/18)
Stephen FitzGerald (right) and former Australian prime minister Gough Whitlam meet Chairman Mao Zedong on Nov 2, 1973, in Beijing. Australia’s first ambassador to the People’s Republic of China reflects on decades of transformation Editor’s note: This year marks the 40th anniversary of the launch of China’s reform and opening-up policy. China Daily talks to Continue reading »
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STEPHEN FITZGERALD AND LINDA JAKOBSON. Is there a problem with Australia’s China narrative?
Australia’s China policy is flawed. Diplomatic relations between Canberra and Beijing are strained, to the extent that Australia’s prime minister and foreign minister have not been welcome to visit the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Yet at a time when Australian leaders have been frozen out, leaders from countries experiencing far more serious issues with Continue reading »
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STEPHEN FITZGERALD AND LINDA JAKOBSON. Engaging with China does not mean being an agent of China
[A letter published in the Sydney Morning Herald on 27 February 2018] Clive Hamilton conveys a message which must be challenged, namely the insinuation that any person who engages with the Communist Party of China (CPC) should be viewed with suspicion or as belonging to a CPC fifth column (“Powerful relations raises a red flag”, Continue reading »
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STEPHEN FITZGERALD. Donald Trump. Seizing the opportunity to strengthen relations with countries in Asia.
Kim Beazley, as shocked as anyone by the election result, has said: “We do have one advantage going for us with a Trump presidency, and that’s this. We are a member of the only American alliance that the Trump people unreservedly approve of. So at least we’ve got a basis of a discussion with them.” Continue reading »
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China’s deepening engagement in Australian society: is it a concern?
The PRC government’s influence in domestic Australia – long active but not altogether visible or much remarked – is now emerging as a big, contentious and potentially disruptive issue in the relationship, and a thorny one for policy-makers. In some respects, it may be more challenging and more pressing than other more prominent issues like Continue reading »
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STEPHEN FITZGERALD. Security in the region. (Repost from Policy Series)
Paul Keating and Gareth Evans used to claim, with justification, that by the mid-1990s Australia had become ‘the odd man in’ in Asia. This was in significant part because of the headway they’d made in Southeast Asia, with ASEAN countries, in gaining acceptance of Australia as ‘one of them’. This was no slogan. Behind it Continue reading »
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Stephen FitzGerald. Security in the region.
Fairness, Opportunity and Security. A policy series edited by Michael Keating and John Menadue. Paul Keating and Gareth Evans used to claim, with justification, that by the mid-1990s Australia had become ‘the odd man in’ in Asia. This was in significant part because of the headway they’d made in Southeast Asia, with ASEAN countries, in Continue reading »
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Stephen FitzGerald. Abbott’s relations with China.
Can you believe the Abbott government has any idea where it’s headed on relations with China? Whatever you think of China’s politics, you can’t just take sides against China or meddle in the tense and volatile issue of China-Japan relations without there being some consequence for our bilateral relations. But the government doesn’t seem to Continue reading »
