Writer
Teow Loon Ti
Teow Loon Ti was a researcher in aquaculture; and a teacher. Teow Loon Ti has a BSc.(Hon) in Zoology, an MA(Lit. & Comm.) and a PhD in Education.
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The Di Sahn Duong case
As a member of the Chinese Australian community, the Di Sahn Duong trial is yet another one of those “Here we go again!” cases that disconcerts and exacerbates the subliminal anxiety we bear whenever Australia’s relationship with China sours. Continue reading »
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Anti-Sinoism in Australian media
The article titled “’Golden visas’ are known to attract dirty money around the world. Why does Australia still offer them?” by Linton Besser was published on ABC News (31/10/2023). Taken at face value, it appears as another piece of usual media reporting. However, read with an awareness of the scourge of recent mainstream media proclivity Continue reading »
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The brave man
There was a time not so long ago, especially after the Vietnam War, when leaders in the advanced countries such as the United States, Britain, France and Germany gave us hope that the mistakes of the past had been learnt and that we were heading for a fairer and more ethical system: when Nelson Mandela Continue reading »
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Strategic ambiguity: a weapon of mass destruction
Strategic ambiguity is the greatest oral weapon of mass destruction that the Western world has ever invented. Continue reading »
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Filling the ricebowl: The mainstream media’s anti-China obsession
I chanced upon an article written by Peter Hartcher in The Age today (12/09/2023) and was astounded by how puerile the present mainstream media can be. Continue reading »
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Do we need an arms industry?
Australia needs an arms industry like it needs a hole in the head. It will only contribute to flooding the world with more weapons of destruction when we are already being killed by floods, fires and irresponsible politicians through human induced global warming. Continue reading »
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China’s “security through prosperity” undermines Western colonial hegemony
It was in 1982 in Calcutta, India, on my way to a conference in Bhubaneswar in Orissa state when I was confronted by the sight of homeless people sleeping on the pavement right in the heart of the city in the early nightfall. This morning (01/08/2023), I was confronted again by the sight of homelessness Continue reading »
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Is NATO suffering political psychopathology?
Even as the war in Ukraine is raging, NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg is now turning to Asia in an attempt to fan the flames of dissension in the region. Continue reading »
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The discourse of dominance
I was rather amused, or to use the American expression “tickled pink”, when I read the article titled “Coexistance: the only realist path to peace” by Stephen M. Walt in Pearls & Irritations. The article’s claim to the “realist path” to peace would make sense only to those who have dominated others for so long Continue reading »
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How serious is the Australian propaganda infection?
Propaganda is a potent weapon used by politicians and rival nations to wage a war of words, especially those abetted by a biased media. Continue reading »
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Democracy versus socialism in the US-China relationship
There are two major dimensions to the US/China strategic competition. One is ideology; the other is economics. Who will eventually win depends on who has a better combination of the two; discounting a war in which all will lose. Continue reading »
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The contracting echo chambers of the Transatlantic powers
“Speak softly and carry a big stick.” The pithy words spoken by US President Theodore Roosevelt in 1901 has been said to be his ideal policy for the US. But in recent years, the “big stick” diplomacy has proven to be too simplistic for the world they used to dominate. Continue reading »
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A mind held captive
Edward Said’s “Orientalism” encapsulates the essence of why the West resists the rise of China as a major economic and military power. Continue reading »
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The American way: exporting US dysfunction to the world
The United States of America is not well, a fact that even as an acolyte the Australian government does not seem to be aware or care about, on account of our unconditional love for the Americans. Continue reading »
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Chinese voters in Australian democracy
The last Federal election in 2022 saw a massive swing of voters of Chinese heritage away from the Coalition to Labor and Independents. The pattern was the same in the recent NSW state election and the Aston by-election in Victoria. All these indicate is that a long suffering marginalised victim of Australia’s geopolitics has finally Continue reading »
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The US wants TikTok banned or sold
The United States’ issue with TikTok is uncannily reflective of its ongoing problem with China. It grew too fast for their comfort, is too economically and technologically successful and so deeply enmeshed in their lives that they felt the impulse to disengage. Continue reading »
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The Australian media cries wolf
The major Australian media, SMH and The Age, are crying wolf again. Whether they will lose their credibility depends on whether Australians’ rationale prevails over their prejudices. Continue reading »
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Sanitising the unforgettable
I hope this article will turn out to be a short communication because my hand trembles with indignation as I write. I refer to the article “Why history does not disqualify Japan as an ally: a reply to Richard Cullen” by Robert Cribb Feb 21, 2023. Continue reading »
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Democracy and the winning formula
The rallying call of the Western democracies to form a united front against those who dare to challenge their supremacy has always been “common values”. Our hearts burst with pride and gratitude to think that we have the freedom of speech, of assembly, of dissent and other such privileges that those in other systems do Continue reading »
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Does the Taiwan issue have to be a ménage à trois?
The rising tension over Taiwan is not the making of either of the two Chinese parties to the dispute. After all, the fundamental problem has been the same since its inception. It was an unfinished civil war between two political factions, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China, over control of the country after Continue reading »
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East is east, West is west: China and the West are not ‘competitors’
When the US and its like-minded allies express the desire to compete with China, what they seem to overlook, or wilfully ignore, is the fact that China is really only competing with itself. Continue reading »
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The scourge of hegemony
While it is obvious to most people that geopolitical tension in the Asia-Pacific region is rising, and that there is a real threat of a conflict between the power blocks in the world, much less credence is given to the idea that the problem is inflicted on us by the hitherto dominant economies of the Continue reading »
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A murder with US collusion to reflect upon
On the 17th of January, 1961, the first elected Prime Minister of newly independent Democratic Republic of Congo, was assassinated with the direct involvement of the Belgian government and collusion of the United States (Damian Zane, BBC, 20/06/2022). It is a damning indictment of the European and American claim to human rights and democratic values. Continue reading »
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The Australian electorate is being misled by its media
A well informed electorate is a prerequisite to democracy. Yet, on China, Australians are being misled by our mainstream media. Continue reading »
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A century of humiliation left profound legacies of trauma
Grenville Cross’s “Britain’s opium era strategy to deal with China” (Pearls and Irritation, 28/09/2022) touched a cord in many Chinese, regardless of where they come from. It explains why many of us described as “Overseas Chinese” feel the need to explain when we are affronted by unjust comments about China and the Chinese people. Continue reading »
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The Defence Strategic Review: Is China the real enemy?
China is not Australia’s enemy. If it is an enemy, and Australia continues to trade with China as it does, it reflects a schizophrenic attitude that we have to sort out first before spending vast amounts of money preparing to fight China. In preparing our Defence Force, there is no room for complacency. Neither is Continue reading »
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Teow Loon Ti: Nancy Pelosi, the Straw that Taiwan clutched
Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, delivered a resounding slap to the face of Xi Jinping and left, leaving the Taiwanese to pick up the pieces of the damage she did to the Taiwan/China relationship. Continue reading »
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The them and us narrative
The scourge that looms large in the present conflicts between the West and Russia/China is the “Them” and “Us” narrative that seems to pervade analysis of geopolitics. Continue reading »
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Good values, bad values and common values
In the wake of Stephen Fitzgerald’s thought provoking article “Getting the Australia-China Relationship back on track” which mentioned our new Prime Minister speaking in a megaphone manner in Tokyo of Australian values, this is perhaps a good time to talk about values. Continue reading »
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Is the Solomon Islands an Australian colony?
By the end of the 19th century, the Western Nations and Japan managed to carve up most of the world into colonies among themselves. While that was no longer possible after World War II, a new strategy for domination, euphemistically called “spheres of influence”, has replaced colonialism with largely similar but more subtle outcomes. Continue reading »
