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Category Archives: Asia
EAST ASIA FORUM-Preparing for the Next US Recession
One thing was clear from this weekend’s G20 summit. Asia and the world face many risks, and most of them emanate from the United States of America.
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
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JOCELYN CHEY. Xi Jinping V. Allah
Protests are growing around the world over the forced detention and “re-education” of the Muslim Uighurs in China’s far west Xinjiang Province. It is important to frame our response in terms of our commitment to the protection of civil and … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, International Affairs, Religion and Faith
1 Comment
MACK WILLIAMS. North Korea: second fiddle?
Not surprisingly North Korea was relegated by the US:China “tariff war” in the recent G20 summit in Buenos Aires but some progress may have been made in preparing for the next phases of US:DPRK and ROK:DPRK dialogues. China also made … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
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RICHARD BUTLER. Ethics Etherised
Based on the facts of his conduct of his office, and there is clearly much more to emerge, the end of Trump should be in sight. But, this is not certain to be achieved. To an unprecedented degree, the President … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
2 Comments
RICHARD WOOLCOTT. The emergence of China can not be denied.
The recent APEC meeting in Port Moresby underlined the deepening competition between China and the United States in the Asia Pacific region. China has been expanding its influence in the South China Sea and beyond and with the United States,Japan,and … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
2 Comments
IAN BURNET. ‘Friends in Australia’ – a message from Sutan Sjahir, the Prime Minister of the newly declared Republic of Indonesia, November 1945.
On 17 August 1945 and two days after the Japanese surrender, Soekarno and Hatta unilaterally declared Indonesia’s Independence and became the first President and Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia.
Posted in Asia, International Affairs, Tributes
1 Comment
RAMESH THAKUR. Sino-U.S. clash is a great power competition, not ‘Cold War II’ (The Japan Times)
CHINA – In the Trump administration’s most substantial foreign policy speech thus far, delivered at the Hudson Institute on Oct. 4, Vice President Mike Pence accused China of a “whole-of-government” attack on U.S. interests and vowed the United States will … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
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TRAVERS MCLEOD. Australia will rue its decision on global migration compact
“Step up or step aside.” This was former Indonesian foreign minister Hassan Wirajuda’s warning to Australia and Indonesia, as Co-Chairs of the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons, and Related Transnational Crime, in January 2016.
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
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JEREMY SALT. Yes, What About Yemen? (American Herald Tribune, 13.11.18)
After the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, many are asking ‘But what about Yemen?’ Yes, indeed, what about Yemen, but what about Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and Somalia? What about Egypt in 1956, what about Iran in 1953 and what … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
1 Comment
PETER VARGHESE. Australia and India: Navigating From Potential to Delivery.
In July I submitted to then PM Turnbull a report he had commissioned on an India Economic Strategy out to 2035.
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
1 Comment
GEOFF RABY. Australia has normalised relations with a China-led future (Australian Financial Review, 21.11.18)
The Australia-China relationship is almost back to normal. The speed at which it has recovered has surprised. It has taken two statesman-like speeches by the former Prime Minister and his successor, and the appointment of a new Foreign Minister as … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
7 Comments
ADAM WAKELING. Tokyo Trial: how an Australian judge sentenced a Japanese leader to death (ABC NEWS).
“Accused Hideki Tojo, on the counts of the indictment of which you have been convicted, the International Military Tribunal for the Far East sentences you to death by hanging.”
Posted in Asia, International Affairs, Tributes
2 Comments
ROHAN FOX, MATTHEW DORNAN. China in the Pacific: Is China engaged in “debt-trap diplomacy”? A repost from November 12 2018
Recent media coverage has touted the rise of Chinese aid and lending as a threat to Pacific nations’ sovereignty and to the West’s influence in the Pacific. China, so the narrative goes, is aggressively lending to smaller nations who do not have … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
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Decoupling the US from Asia (ANU East Asia Forum).
Maybe US Vice President Mike Pence didn’t mean to fire the opening shots in a new Cold War with China in his 4 October speech at the Hudson Institute, but the global policy community can be forgiven now for taking … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
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MIKE SCRAFTON. The Geopolitics of Lombrum Naval Base
It is difficult to find a strong, rational strategic argument for Australia’s to return to Lombrum Naval Base (or HMPNGS Tarangau) on Manus Island. Of course, not all of Defence’s activities have strictly military objectives or relate directly to the … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
2 Comments
TONY KEVIN. The diplomatic disaster that was APEC Port Moresby
There is still a lot we do not know about how and why the APEC Summit just ended in Port Moresby was such a diplomatic disaster, from which APEC may not readily recover anytime soon.
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
3 Comments
RICHARD BUTLER. What is History?
President Macron’s warning against growing nationalism and the need to ensure the preservation of values, as against unalloyed selfishness in international relations, was an important way to mark the Centenary of the end of the First World War. Trump was … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
5 Comments
RICHARD BROINOWSKI. Will Japan’s Love Affair with Nuclear Power be Resurrected?
On Friday 11 March 2011, a tsunami knocked out emergency generators at Fukushima Dai-Ichi, resulting in melt-downs in three of six reactors, covering the countryside in eastern Honshu with radiation. Some isotopes were short-lived, others will be around much longer. … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
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DUNCAN GRAHAM.Jerusalem and a Free Trade Agreement with Indonesia
Now here’s the weirdest thing about the way we handle policy with the neighbours: Canberra politicians are proven fumblers and bumblers when dealing with big Muslim-majority Indonesia. Yet at the Australian National University just a ten-minute bike ride … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
4 Comments
RICHARD McGREGOR AND JONATHAN PRYKE. Australia must tread carefully in its Pacific contest with China. (SMH 9.11.2018)
If you want a glimpse into the future of Australia’s relationship with China, with all the elements of competition and co-operation, and tensions and bridge-building, then this week is a good place to start.
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
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TONG ZHAO. Why China Is Worried About the End of the INF Treaty.
The U.S. withdrawal from the INF Treaty reflects Washington’s long-standing concern that the treaty constrained its ability to counter China’s fast-growing missile forces in the Asia Pacific. This article was published by Carnegie Tsinghua Centre for Global Policy on the … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
2 Comments
ANDREW FARRAN. What is it to be with China – cooperation or conflict? A response to Peter Jennings of ASPI.
In a prominent article in The Weekend Australian’s ‘Inquirer’ section on 3/4 November, headed “Canberra alone must control our China ties”, the director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Peter Jennings, castigates the Victorian government, a large delegation of leading … Continue reading
Posted in Asia
3 Comments
MICHAEL SAINSBURY. Beijing’s spin on Xinjiang camps is not fooling anyone.
Communist regime has offered a string of justifications for its inhumane treatment of the Uyghur people. This article was published by UCA News on the 6th of November.
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
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DAVID HUTT. Timor-Leste developing closer ties with China.
Southeast Asia’s newest and poorest nation needs funds that Beijing is poised to provide to fuel what some see as Dili’s misguided oil and gas ambitions. This article was published by Asia Times on the 2nd of November 2018.
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
4 Comments
DUNCAN GRAHAM. Troubled by truth telling in Indonesia
Does the present government really understand Indonesia? Or want to? Ministers get detailed briefings from diplomats in Jakarta squirreling away in our biggest embassy, plus wisdoms from academics close to home.
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
1 Comment
MACK WILLIAMS. New Cold War: Just how independent can Australia be ?
As renewed discussion grows pace in Australia about being less dependent on the United States in any Cold War against China how realistic is that option? For one thing we would need to loosen some of the linkages which have … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
2 Comments
MICHAEL SAINSBURY. Rohingya refugee crisis hits Myanmar’s economy (UCANews, 30.10.18))
While the Rohingya crisis and the escalating problems in Kachin and northern Shan State are grabbing headlines, Myanmar’s sagging economy and the withdrawal of investment by Western nations threaten to hit the largely impoverished nation the hardest.
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
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RAMESH THAKUR. Preventing Mass Atrocities.
Tyranny is not restricted to any particular religion, culture, civilisation or gender. Political rule based in terror rather than citizen’s welfare, safety and security is a universal moral failing. The Westphalian system of sovereign states spread from Europe to cover … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
2 Comments
JAMES O’NEILL. Australia and its Israel Embassy: What are they thinking?
According to recent media reports, the Liberal candidate in the Wentworth (Sydney) by-election, former diplomat David Sharma said he “was open” to the idea that Australia’s embassy in Israel could be shifted from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. In a separate … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, International Affairs, Politics
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MOHAMAD BAZZI. How Saudi Arabia wins friends (New York Times, 29.10.18)
After the Khashoggi murder, the kingdom has fallen back on the tactic of wielding its oil wealth to buy loyalty.
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
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