Changes in China

September 30, 2025

Thanks for your two China visit pieces. It’s a while since I’ve been in China, so I imagine I would be even more startled by the advances since then, let alone your two years.

I was particularly pleased because there is a startling absence — and I think a decline — in civil society contact with China. You know some of the reasons, probably much better than me. Universities/research organisations — now increasingly problematic on a number of dimensions — are one aspect.

But also civil society groups like peace groups I am familiar with are either reluctant to raise the issue or puzzled about how to go about it. The obstacles and potential traps are obvious, but as someone who visited the Soviet Union during the height of the Second Cold War (for United Nations University disarmament workshop in Tashkent) I can attest to the personal importance.

It was about the time Sting produced his song Do the Russians love their children too? – a question that should have been asinine, but was in fact all the more effective for being asked. Given the current climate in the parts of the world that like to think of itself as The West (vs The Rest), including Australia, I think that many in government would answer a Chinese version of Sting’s question unequivocally at best.

There’s much to criticise about actions of the Chinese Government, as there is about our own – or about the government of our increasingly grotesque most important ally.

But the more cold the diplomatic and military situation, the more important exploration and deepening of civil society relations become.

So, thanks for your pieces.