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Category Archives: International Affairs
HAIQING YU. China in a Time of Change
“Social Credit”: China’s Automated Social Control and the Question of Choice The social credit system of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has attracted worldwide attention.
Posted in China Series
7 Comments
JAMES LAURENCESON. China in a time of change.
China and the Technology Race To deliver rising living standards to its citizens, China needs to move up the production value chain. Technological progress and innovation are at the heart of this. That is why US measures to restrict China’s … Continue reading
Posted in China Series
4 Comments
JAMES CURRAN Our China panic is stepping into the world of paranoia (AFR 10.12.2019)
The China debate is close to losing all sense of rationality and proportion. Where’s the confidence in our institutions?
Posted in Asia, International Affairs, Politics
7 Comments
GEOFF RABY. China in a time of change.
The Chinese Communist Party: Does It Stay or Does It Go? Contemporary China cannot be comprehended without understanding the role of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). With 85 million members it represents a tiny share of the total population (1.4 … Continue reading
Posted in China Series
4 Comments
MOBO GAO. China’s enduring core values.
China: Social Changes that Impact Relations with Australia The economic takeoff that has pushed China up to become a middle-income country has certainly brought great social changes. Economic development has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of absolute poverty, … Continue reading
Posted in China Series
2 Comments
KISHORE MAHBUBANI. ASEAN’s quiet resilience (East Asia Forum, 8 December 2019)
ASEAN should have begun to crack and fall apart from the strain of the rising geopolitical rivalries in Asia between the United States and China, if what critics say about its fragility were true. But ASEAN steadily marched through another … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
2 Comments
JACK WATERFORD. Chinese checkers in the great game
Active spying need not mean an invasion, or war, is imminent
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
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PETER RODGERS: Australia’s silence over Israeli settlements
Following the Trump Administration’s shift on the legality of Israeli settlements I wrote the following article for Plus61JMedia. The Morrison Government’s silence on this issue is striking.
Posted in International Affairs
1 Comment
WANNING SUN. China finding its place in the world.
China. Chinese Australians are feeling the heat, whether they support China or Australia Chinese migration to Australia has always been an essential part of Australian multicultural history. Various diasporic Chinese communities in Australia have played important roles in Australia’s political, … Continue reading
Posted in China Series
5 Comments
DAVID WALTON. China finding its place in the world.
China. Developing Its Border Relations The twin concerns in Australia about the People’s Republic of China (PRC), relating to increased economic dependency and tensions over politico/security policy, are common throughout the Asia Pacific region.
Posted in China Series
1 Comment
BRIAN TOOHEY. Reports of China spies and takeover plots are fanciful (SMH 5.12.2019)
Wildly exaggerated intelligence warnings about communist influence are not new in Australia. A US naval intelligence officer who was posted as an attache to the American embassy in the late 1940s, Stephen Jurika, reported back to Washington that communism was … Continue reading
Posted in International Affairs, Politics
6 Comments
YINGJIE GUO. China finding its place in the world.
How Chinese National Identity Impacts Relations with Australia. What is most striking about Chinese national identity is its stability in the pre-modern past and its fluidity in the modern era. Its dramatic transformation since the mid-19th century is part of … Continue reading
Posted in China Series
6 Comments
JOCELYN CHEY. Pearls and Irritations China Series.
What, why and how China Spying. Lobbying. Corruption. Debt trap diplomacy. It seems Australia’s relations with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have sunk to an all-time low. It is therefore all the more important to understand that country. Criticisms … Continue reading
Posted in China Series
3 Comments
GIDEON LEVY. The Contract on Corbyn (Haaretz 28-11-19)
Corbyn is not an anti-Semite. His real sin is to fight against injustice in the world, including the version Israel perpetrates.
Posted in International Affairs
5 Comments
ABUL RIZVI: Asylum Applications from China and Malaysia
Government has argued the surge in asylum applications from Chinese and Malaysian citizens is just part of normal growth in the caseload (see here). Nothing could be further from the truth. The surge is entirely the result of poor policy … Continue reading
Posted in International Affairs, Refugees, Immigration
2 Comments
MICHAEL SAINSBURY. Back to basics for Pope at huge Tokyo Mass (UCA News 25-11-19)
Francis warns against the consumerism and isolation that wealthy societies can create
Posted in Asia, International Affairs, Religion and Faith
1 Comment
JOHN CARLIN. The New Normal
Recently, President Trump was convicted and fined $2m for stealing $2.8m from a charity meant for war veterans. No one batted an eyelid. Boris Johnson continues to lie and the same thing happens. Now, in Spain, Vox, the Francoist Party … Continue reading
Posted in Human Rights, International Affairs
3 Comments
CAMERON LECKIE. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons: Corrupted!
Two whistle-blowers from the world’s chemical weapon watchdog raise serious concerns about the impartiality of the OPCW. The whistle-blowers indicate that the findings of the OPCWs report into the alleged 2018 Douma chemical weapons incident do not align with the … Continue reading
Posted in International Affairs
3 Comments
ANTHONY MILNER. Delicate diplomacy: Australia needs to understand its neighbours better (The Strategist, 26 November 2019)
Scott Morrison likes using the phrase ‘delicate moment in time’ to describe the international dynamics Australia is now faced with. It’s a time to build friendships on many fronts, as the government understands well. But the task is challenging—even in … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
2 Comments
BENZI GOPSTEIN: Burning Christian churches in Israel justified ( Palestine Post 19-11-19)
The rabbi said he is ready to spend 50 years in prison for burning a church.
Posted in International Affairs, Religion and Faith
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RAMESH THAKUR. Is India still committed to its no-first-use nuclear policy? (The Strategist 11-11-19)
On 16 August, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh hinted that India might abandon its no-first-use policy: ‘Till today, our nuclear policy is “no first use”. What happens in future depends on the circumstances.’
Posted in Asia, Defence/Security, International Affairs
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STUART REES- Israelization Of More Than Water in NSW
On November 21, the Zionist Federation of Australia awarded the Jerusalem Prize to the Prime Minister for his friendship and support of Israel. Scott Morrison used the occasion to praise the Israeli government and repeat his attacks on the deliberations … Continue reading
Posted in International Affairs, Politics
3 Comments
GIDEON LEVY. No one in Israel knew they were committing a massacre, and they didn’t care
The bomber pilot didn’t know. His commanders who gave him the orders also didn’t know. The defence minister and the commander in chief didn’t know. Nor did the commander of the air force. The intelligence officers who aimed at the … Continue reading
Posted in International Affairs
4 Comments
CAMERON DOUGLAS. Court bans Thai military opponent
Thailand’s Constitutional Court has banned as an MP the leader of a new and successful political party that opposes the military and the current prime minister. It could turn out to be step 1 in ending his political career.
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
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MICHAEL CLARKE. Some Context on Xinjiang
Gregory Clark has claimed that we “badly” need more “context” on the situation in Xinjiang before criticising the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Clark’s claim both ignores the weight of evidence as to the nature and scale of Beijing’s repression in … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
6 Comments
RAMESH THAKUR. The invisibility of Asian–Australians is a national scandal. The silence on this scandal is a disgrace
As I read through the opinion articles in The Canberra Times and The Australian on Saturday 9 November, I grew increasingly exasperated at the total absence of any Asian voice. I then did an online search of opinion articles in … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, International Affairs, Refugees, Immigration
6 Comments
ALI KAZAK. The UN exposes Australia’s shameful votes on the Israeli occupation.
The UN General Assembly’s decolonization committee, which includes all 193 member states, on Friday 15th November 2019 adopted eight resolutions condemning Israel’s occupation and violations against the Palestinians, its repressive measures against Syrian citizens in the Golan Heights, renewed the … Continue reading
Posted in International Affairs
4 Comments
GEOFF RABY. Beijing’s Own Goal on Hastie and Johnson (Australian Financial Review, 21 November 2019)
These days there is never a dull moment in Australia-China relations. After a seeming slight thaw with the recent meeting between Prime Minister Morrison and Premier LI Keqiang in Thailand on the margins of the recent ASEAN meeting, Beijing has … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
4 Comments
YASMIN KHAN. The Raj at War: A People’s History of India’s Second World War
Britain didn’t fight the second world war — the British empire did. Had it not been for the empire, Britain might have lost the second world war, says William Dalrymple. The war certainly lost Britain the empire.
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
1 Comment
CAVAN HOGUE. Hong Kong – Students and police
The current situation is Hong Kong is depressing as both police and protesters blame the other and both engage in violence. There is no sign of reconciliation and the future looks bleak whatever happens. Recession is serious. This report is … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
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