World Affairs
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Is it time for Australia to pass a national Human Rights Act?
Parliament has the power to enshrine human rights protections in federal law. Proposals are on the table. Continue reading »
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Premier Li’s Visit to Australia: A hostage rescue mission
As hard as this might be for some Australians to accept, China isn’t a threat to the economy, it’s a lifeline, perhaps even a hostage rescue. Continue reading »
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Judah Tana: Asia is witnessing one of history’s largest trafficking events
Judah Tana is the Australian founder-director of Global Advance Projects which has rescued hundreds of trafficking victims who arrived in Myanmar from more than 60 countries as far-flung as Uganda and Morocco. Continue reading »
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Walking into war with China: an American trap hidden in plain sight
There is no question that the path to war has been set against Russia and China. Nor is there doubt that the brunt will be borne by US allies, as the US has repeatedly proclaimed its “gratitude” to allies without which its geostrategy would be impossible. The question remaining is when war will require allies Continue reading »
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Can China save the world?
As the climate crisis accelerates and intensifies, it’s easy to despair about the possibility of any country taking the lead in ‘saving the planet’. And yet Xi Jinping at least says encouraging things. Should we take China seriously? Continue reading »
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Tyranny of proximity
The pundits are already in a tizz: What’ll happen to defence, AUKUS, trade and other relationships should Trump win in November? More pressing and certain is how we’ll cope when Indonesia’s President-elect Prabowo Subianto takes office in October. Continue reading »
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Shangri-la Security Dialogue heralds important shift in Australia’s language on China
The 21st Shangri-la Security Dialogue, held in Singapore between 31 May and 2 June, saw the United States’ Secretary of Defence unveil a new way to describe his country’s Asia-Pacific policy, and hold a bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart. China was unyielding on its “core interests”. Australian Defence Minister Marles embraced the “global rules-based Continue reading »
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After a low, China-Australia ties can aim high
When I think of Australia, the first things that pop into my mind are koalas and kangaroos. Those adorable marsupials are wooing travellers worldwide every year to the beautiful land. Continue reading »
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Li Qiang comes to town: what to expect?
Premier Li Qiang is the second most powerful person in China, after President Xi Jinping. He is expected to visit Australia and New Zealand in the next few days. Meetings in Canberra will present an opportunity for leaders to set the seal of approval on tentative measures already under way for stabilisation of the bilateral Continue reading »
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Palestinian prisoners starved, abused and mistreated
Since October 7th last year more than 9,500 Palestinians including 635 minors from the West Bank and Occupied Jerusalem have been held in Israeli jails. More than 3,400 Palestinian detainees, including women and children, have also been placed in administrative detention under the pretext of secret evidence. All prisoners and detainees have been subjected to Continue reading »
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Backing the US house of cards
“The United States of America is in competition with China, but not ideologically. Who initiated the first agreements with China to outsource factories if not the United States of America themselves? They cannot tell us that it is a fight for freedom… It’s [ ] because China is becoming the world’s leading power, and from Continue reading »
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Meet a Palestinian family denied safety by Australia
Meet a young family of gentle Palestinians living in Gaza. The family has subsisted on tinned food from aid organisations. They cook with wood and iron posts over a besser block fireplace. Prior to October 2023, the family worked in information technology and accounting for an animal welfare charity. Continue reading »
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When Confucius meets Machiavelli
The title of “Empire” is not ascribed to the United States by observers but revealed by astute journalists as indeed what the powers that be in the US think of itself. Continue reading »
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Chips and geopolitics part two: China’s semiconductor resilience
In my previous article, I discussed how the AI chip sector has become a critical battleground in the ongoing rivalry between the United States and China. Continue reading »
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Time to change the law
One of my closest friends was recently diagnosed with early stages of dementia. She is 80 years old and believed that the problems she experienced with her memory, were due to normal age-related forgetfulness. She has a science background, and after receiving her diagnosis she started to research the topic in great detail. She read Continue reading »
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Could the rise of China eclipse the enlightenment
According to the dominant Western narrative, the history of the entire modern world has been prodigiously shaped by Western historical turning points beginning with the Renaissance and running through the Reformation, the Enlightenment and the science-driven, first Industrial Revolution. A recent, US-published book, “China’s Age of Abundance: Origins Ascendence and Aftermath” by Professor Wang Feng, Continue reading »
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What Western mainstream media won’t tell us about China
We might not like to read this, but here are a few things Western media completely forgot to tell you about Hong Kong, Taiwan and Xinjiang… Continue reading »
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‘We’re all trained to be good obedient children, but what do you want?’ Delving into the inner lives of women in neoliberal China
Yuan Yang is what migration academics call a “1.5 generation migrant” – meaning she was born in her country of origin and then migrated to another country as a child. Continue reading »
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AUKUS: An Australian tragedy
Euripides drama Medea about unpunished crimes infecting the Greek city-state contains some sobering lessons for Australia’s future in AUKUS. Continue reading »
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Indian elections double victory for democracy – Asian Media Report
In Asian media this week: Voters teach Modi a lesson. Plus: Graham Allison on Thucydides’ Trap latest assessment; China, US switch off the megaphones; IMF, World Bank warn of system break-up; summit opens way for rules-based competitive order; tobacco companies control smoking-law narrative. Continue reading »
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Israel-Gaza war: Chinese satellites detail scale of destruction in besieged Palestinian territory
Analysis using remote sensing technology from Wuhan University puts the level of damage at about 60 per cent. Continue reading »
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Mainstream media turns blind eye as UN visits Xinjiang, criticises US
Human Rights are big news again. There are murders in Gaza, there are restrictions in Ukraine, there are allegations of abuses in Iran and any other place that the US sees as an adversary but, one thing that isn’t big news is that the United Nations has recently visited Xinjiang. So far, 100% of our Continue reading »
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A better service may be transmitted
The Indonesian government’s TVRI channel is supposed to have negotiated an MOU with the ABC to swap programmes. A great idea – benefits all. That’s the initial reaction. Continue reading »
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Big argument: three key takeaways from latest Taiwan Strait military drills
How should we interpret the significance of the drills? Did China overreact to Lai Ching-te’s inaugural speech? Continue reading »
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Western decline: Denial and anger at China’s vitality
In her work, ‘On Death and Dying’ Elisabeth Kübler-Ross wrote of the stages one goes through on being told one is dying. She called these ‘Five Stages of Grief,’ of adjusting to reality: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Continue reading »
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Israel’s forced starvation in Gaza has killed dozens of children
Israel’s forced starvation has caused the deaths of more children in central Gaza where conditions have been made worse by Israel’s closure of the Rafah crossing, further limiting aid and trapping sick and injured Palestinians. Continue reading »
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John Mearsheimer: “Things are going to get worse in Ukraine, Middle-East and South-East
Paul Buitink talks to John Mearsheimer, a renowned American political scientist and international relations scholar who belongs to the realist school of thought. He is a Professor at the University of Chicago. Continue reading »
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North Asian Summit: hedging against the United States?
The Prime Ministers of China, Japan and South Korea met in Seoul on 27 May to resume regular annual meetings which began in 2008 and were held annually until 2019, when they were interrupted by COVID and “aspects of the international situation”. Continue reading »
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AUKUS: Beazley, Richardson, Dibb are old men pushing ignorant economics
On 28 May, a Defending Australia Summit was held in Sydney by “The Australian Newspaper” which showcased three former Australian defence officials who seemed confused by their old age and indulged in ignorant and historically romantic group think. Continue reading »
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US spends $320m on Gaza’s pier while its people burn
If this scenario had been written into a novel at the turn of 19th century it would have been too unthinkable to believe it could actually take place – assisting in the bombing of innocent civilians, then charging in to feed them, appearing like the saviour of your victims. Continue reading »
