Writer
Tony Kevin
<div class="WordSection1"> <div> <div> <div> <div> <div> Tony Kevin is a former Australian ambassador to Poland and Cambodia, and a member of the Emeritus Faculty at Australian National University. The author of <em>Return to Moscow</em> (2017), he has independently visited Russia six times since 2016. He has delivered lectures and taken part in academic conferences in the Moscow Diplomatic Academy and in Saint Petersburg on the outlook for Russia-Australia relations. </div> </div> </div> </div> <div> <div> <div> <div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div>
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Are Australian public servants condemned to be silent members of society?
A recent timely 4 November article in the ‘Canberra Times’ by John Wilson and Kieran Pender, “If public servants are made ‘silent members of society’ , democracy is worse for it”, highlights growing problems in interpreting and administering the protocols governing public political comment by Australian public servants. Continue reading »
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What’s next for China-Australia relations?
CGTN Radio host Liu Kun interviews Ambassador Tony Kevin, Ambassador Geoff Raby and Dr. Zhao Hai on Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s recent trip to Australia and broader China-Australia relations. Continue reading »
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Gaza’s agony: the hinge point in the loss of Western dominance
The scale of deliberate Israeli cruelty against the Gazan people over the past five months is still difficult for Australians to absorb. But internationally, a key political fact has clearly emerged: that Israel, the US and their supportive Western allies (like Australia, to our nation’s shame) have now shredded any moral standing on the issue of Continue reading »
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On the precipice: The US pushes allies towards a Middle East war
Netanyahu and his supporters in Washington are playing for very high and dangerous stakes indeed as the Middle East war threatens to widen beyond Gaza. Continue reading »
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Amidst preparations for long Ukraine war, peace may come quickly
It is possible now that peace could come to Ukraine rather faster than most Western analysts are predicting, but this will only be only on terms acceptable to Russia. Continue reading »
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Russia has learned not to trust America’s false peace overtures
Western capitals now openly acknowledge the reality that their proxy war in Ukraine has run out of steam. Desperate new policy directions are being discussed in NATO circles. But a decision to end the war will be taken only by Moscow. Continue reading »
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Our minerals are ripe for the plucking by the US
US-driven fast-track negotiations to develop secure strategic critical minerals supply chains from Australia risk jeopardising our mining industry links with China, and locking down our own industrial development based on our critical minerals. Continue reading »
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Seymour Hersh’s second strike
Hersh’s latest revelations on 12 April 2023 in his self-published Substack blog, Trading with the Enemy, detail, among other Ukrainian corruption scandals now widely known in Washington military and intelligence circles, the Zelensky regime’s embezzlement of $400 million from US military aid to Ukraine. Continue reading »
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China’s peace plan for Ukraine
Recent Chinese Government peace proposals offer new hope for political settlement of the Ukraine crisis. Continue reading »
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“Could Trump become US President again in 2024?”
However unpalatable the thought, It is time to start getting our heads around the fact that Trump may stand and may well regain the US presidency in November 2024. Continue reading »
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There’s still time for talk over Ukraine, but Western minds remain closed
Anti-Russian stereotypes again dominate the discourse. Western information warriors believe they have manouevred Russia into a no-win situation. Continue reading »
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Last Chance Saloon: best chance to ease East-West tensions cannot be missed
We are at a crunch point now in Russia-US relations. Their high-level talks starting next week will be closely observed by China, Russia’s de facto strategic ally. The coming days and weeks will determine the shape of world security for decades to come. Continue reading »
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Russia and China sit together to watch the decline of the West
The main global game now is Russia-China relations: the ability of the United States to control or influence the world order is fading fast. Continue reading »
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Balancing diplomacy and direct action in ‘Magnitsky Act’ sanctions
Sponsored by a Labor senator and finessed by DFAT, a bill for a “Magnitsky Act” to sanction human rights abuses is poised to be tabled in Parliament. Continue reading »
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With a statesmanlike press club speech, is Turnbull on his way back into politics?
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull’s online National Press Club address was extraordinarily good and could yet have significant political consequences. Continue reading »
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Melbourne riots shake public trust in reliability of mainstream media
There is strong evidence that Melbourne’s four days of street riots by angry young men claiming to be construction workers were fomented by right-wing extremists who used social media to radicalise unemployed or locked-down young men. They look to have modelled themselves on Trump supporters storming the Capitol. Continue reading »
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Russian Duma elections mark a watershed moment in Russia-West relations
Russia, confident that it has seen off major US challenges to its sovereign independence, looks forward to its growing world role following significant elections on Sunday. Continue reading »
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The US disaster in Afghanistan and the growing influence of Russia and China
Afghanistan’s economic and social reconstruction could be swift, provided it is not handicapped by continuing Western interventions. Continue reading »
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Gareth Evans rubbishes the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme: Loyal and Patriotic Australians should follow his lead.
Gareth Evans’ robust public rejection of a suggestion from Attorney-General’s Department that he should consider whether he has “registration obligations under the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme” (i.e., should register himself as an agent of foreign influence) is highly commended. Continue reading »
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Putin and Biden reshuffle the deck
The 16 June Geneva Summit had positive outcomes. In a rare moment of joint statesmanship, Presidents Biden and Putin reshuffled the deck of Russia-US relations. Where the new card game may go is uncertain: but Geneva offers present hope for a safer and more rational relationship between the world’s strongest nuclear weapon powers. Continue reading »
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The Stench of COVID Coverups.
Most of us who read Pearls and Irritations are not virologists, mainstream media journalists, Americans, or Chinese. As the nasty details about the pandemic emerge, that’s just as well, if we want the truth. Continue reading »
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A precarious time in US-Russian relations
Things could soon improve, or they could get very much worse. There are conflicting policy indications from both sides. Continue reading »
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Ignorance and Prejudice on China is now entrenched in Australian media – Part 2
With a mainstream media climate like this on China and dissenting voices being discouraged, it is hard to see any early prospect of easing tensions. The Australian people have been badly let down on China by our policy elites. Continue reading »
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‘Ignorance and prejudice on China are now entrenched in Australian media’. Part 1
Ignorance and prejudice on China are now entrenched in Australia, fed by media repetition of false narratives; possibly encouraged by US and UK origin foreign influences; and enabled by stubborn and inept Australian political leadership. Continue reading »
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Morrison can barely hide his disdain for China; Labor fears being wedged
Until there is more positive signalling out of Washington, the Australia–China relationship will remain frozen. Neither Morrison nor Albanese has the grace, courage, or diplomatic skills to challenge the status quo. Continue reading »
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How Australia sabotaged its own interests in relations with China.
The destruction over the past five years of Australia’s mutually beneficial diplomatic and trade relationship with China was probably a successful ’Five Eyes’ information warfare operation, facilitated by the Australian political class’s own foolish arrogance and ignorance towards China. Australia is now back in the laager, an American strategic satellite and odd man out in Continue reading »
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Natasha Kassam and the AFR have it wrong on China-Australia tensions
Australia is fast becoming a sad joke, an object lesson in how not to behave towards China. If we are becoming an example, it is an example of what to avoid. Continue reading »
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Scott Morrison’s ambit claims on US President-elect Biden unlikely to have much impact
At a time when Australia needs to work to rebuild past diplomatic friendships with the US and China, Canberra seems to be going out of its way to further irritate both countries. It is Australian state-level diplomacy at its most ham-fisted. Continue reading »
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What lies behind last week’s sharp increase in Australia-China tensions? ABC’s Bill Birtles was NOT “expelled” from China
The latest deterioration in Australia-China relations appears to have been provoked by Australian national security agencies and their supporters, in a strategy aimed at souring Chinese-Australian media relations. Continue reading »
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The war against China is largely facilitated by propaganda.
We are indeed now in the thick of a Third World War. It has been started by US and UK, aided by minor Five Eyes allies Canada and Australia. They have chosen their preferred strategic fighting terrain – information warfare Continue reading »
