Barry Trembath
Barry Trembath is a retired hydropower engineer living in Sydney who spent about 45 years working in developing countries living in five before joining the World Bank where he worked for 17 years. He worked in 24 provinces and province level cities in China.
Recent articles by Barry Trembath
13 July 2024
China and the Communist Party of China
Prompted by Wanning Sun (P&I June 9, 2024), I have just read Yu Yang’s excellent work Private Revolutions. Wanning observes that according to western media the Chinese population is mostly imagined as a monolith and faceless crowd: divided into those who are victims of a repressive Chinese regime, or heroic individuals who dare to defy the system. This is a fallacy.
6 January 2024
No country for old men: Why ignore our elder statesmen?
I am currently reading a book by Jeffrey Sachs whose articles often grace these pages. I am struck by the wealth of his experience having advised governments over many years, and his ability to take a long view of world events, in particular the deterioration in the United States position in the world since the end of World War 2. But he, like many in his generation, is routinely ignored. I do not see his name listed as one of President Bidens advisers.
1 July 2023
Om-washing sanitises Indias brutal track record in Kashmir
In August 2019, Modis government revoked the semi-autonomous status of Jammu and Kashmir. That was followed by a crackdown. Political activity was banned, politicians were placed under house arrest and the internet was choked. Meanwhile, as Sheena Sood has argued, the Indian army posts photos of its soldiers in yoga poses. And we are told that China is all bad and India is all good.
20 June 2023
China Is it Really a Threat
But it is important to emphasise that Chinas apparent lead is largely due to its very large population about four times that of the United States. GDP/capita is the measure that determines the stage of development. By this measure the World Bank (there are slight differences between institutions who measure this because of different methodologies) calculates Chinas GDP/capita as $23,382, and the US as $80,035. the United States is ranked No. 8 and China is ranked No. 73 (quoted in Wikipedia). The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (which is really a wolf in sheeps clothing) would have us believe that...
17 June 2023
The United States of America: The great satan or beacon of democracy?
Since Australia has mortgaged its future to this nation it is worth debating the matter.
9 June 2023
Brand Loyalty
I am in complete sympathy with Jennifer Bush Pearls and Irritations 5, June 2023 in resigning from the Labor Party because of Prime Minister Albaneses congratulations to Israel despite its governments disgraceful treatment of Palestinian people.
4 June 2023
China The Middle Kingdom
The Chinese character for China, denotes China as the middle kingdom and understandably so:
6 May 2023
Human Rights and ethnic-regional autonomy in China
When the western media and politicians speak of Chinas treatment of minorities it is always taken for granted that such treatment is a violation of the minoritys human rights. I would venture to differ. China has a complex framework of ethnic-regional autonomy enshrined in its constitution that is poorly understood in the West. Having worked extensively in China, I have found that the two aspects that the Government are most concerned about are internal stability and territorial integrity.
23 April 2023
Soft power is the way forward
Having worked in all developing countries in East Asia and several in South Asia (World Bank definition), I am very conscious of the value of soft power. Australia is a very small country in all aspects except size and my experience has been that soft power is the best way of expressing our good intentions.