Confucius Institute decline signals China’s soft power shift
While Chinese soft power is thriving in the so-called Global South, it is waning elsewhere.
Recent articles in China
17 September 2025
The rise of China and learning the correct lessons from history
Given that the only certainty in international affairs these days is uncertainty, we should probably be circumspect about projecting how the world might look decades down the track — let alone how our current moment might be portrayed in the rearview mirror of history.
16 September 2025
China’s giant military parade didn’t surprise just the West
China’s recent display of its newly acquired military might surprised not only international observers, but also its own seasoned diplomats.
12 September 2025
Climate change, not China, is the real threat in the South Pacific
Countries of the South Pacific have good reason to encourage China and other countries to assist them with infrastructure. And there is nothing that Australia should, or could, do about it.
12 September 2025
A nation of narcissists
Narcissism is the open-and-shut condition of the elites who fashion and execute American foreign policy. And they are utterly incapable of seeing their country as it is.
12 September 2025
If we want to win the Pacific, we must first listen – and stop blaming China for everything
A 9 September editorial in The Sydney Morning Herald, titled China and Australia in a high-speed race to win control of the Pacific, offered a vivid picture of the daily contest for influence in the region.
12 September 2025
Australia’s media coverage of a military parade in Beijing confounds engagement
The 3 September military parade in Beijing, celebrating victory in World War II, is not a cause for hysterical histrionics. In Beijing, there was no equivalent to waving of the Nazi “Blood Banner” (Blutfahne) as in the intoxication of the 1934 Nuremberg rally.
10 September 2025
Xi’s parade tips the diplomatic balance sheet in Asia
Beijing’s rapid military transformation and capacity to ultimately confront the US and its allies in policy and military terms was on full display recently.
8 September 2025
China hysteria masks Australian insecurity
The recent China panic stories raging across the Murdoch media, the Nine newspapers, the ABC and even the usually steadier Guardian are remarkable.
5 September 2025
Miners want to go green, then we hear News Corp's 'China!' scream
Another week, another national security threat, cooked freshly with local ingredients, News Corp’s signature technique, a lot of aged China-threat cliché, and a hint of unprofessional typo.
3 September 2025
A tale of two lists: How geopolitics shaped the attendance of China’s parade
On 3 September 2025, a large-scale parade will be held in Tiananmen Square to mark the 80th anniversary of what has been dubbed by Beijing the Victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.
3 September 2025
Beijing invited me to their special celebration. Here's why I'm happy to go
When Australians at their Bakelite radios heard of China’s victory over Japan in 1945, they knew this was the triumph of an ally. World War II had started with the Rape of Nanjing in 1937 and the Chinese lost 20 million people resisting the invasion.
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