When in doubt, blame China (every News Corp headline needs a villain)
If you only skimmed the headlines from News Corp, you’d be forgiven for thinking China was launching a krill-powered naval strike from Antarctica, staging an electric vehicle blitzkrieg across the outback and forcing Hyundai into some humiliating act of surrender.
31 October 2025
The ABC and News Corp finally agree on something: China panic
Last week, a friend asked if I was worried about Chinese “nuclear threats.
24 October 2025
China, US or us? Australia’s Upper Path in the global minerals race
The headlines are breathless: “China versus the world,” proclaimed The Australian, quoting some very important people from the sheriff's office urging allies to decouple from Beijing and unite against China's takeover of global rare earth supply chains.
17 October 2025
Blame and frame: How Chinese Australians are counted when blamed, discounted when needed
We say we want to understand China. Then we glance past a million Chinese speakers at home and start counting somewhere else.
10 October 2025
A masterclass in agency: What Singapore can teach Australia about China
Singapore’s new Prime Minister Lawrence Wong sat down with the ABC on 2 October and offered something rare in Australia’s China debate: clarity, confidence, and a middle-power strategy that doesn’t involve shouting or submission.
3 October 2025
We killed our car industry and now we're drafted to fight against Chinese EVs (again?)
The call is getting louder and louder: Australia needs to join allies in restricting Chinese electric vehicles.
19 September 2025
Blaming China won’t keep the lights on – or pay the power bill
Sky News is back on the beat with a familiar headline: “The $20,000-per-person climate tax: Cost of Australia's green agenda to become astonishingly clear this week when new emissions targets are set.”
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.
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.
29 August 2025
Australia is one trade deal away from backing authoritarians, says Taiwan
In the grand tradition of diplomatic overreach, Taiwan's deputy foreign minister recently offered some sweet and spicy talking points to our media: semiconductors are tanks, China is akin to WWII Germany, and if Australia doesn't fast-track Taiwan into the CPTPP, we might all wake up speaking Mandarin under a fascist AI regime, as reported by News Corp and 7 News.
22 August 2025
Pay up, shut up, speak up against China, or we won't get the subs (some wise Americans demand)
Australia's $368 billion submarine program is apparently wobbling again, not because US shipyards can't keep up, or because a future president could cancel the deal with the flick of a pen.
15 August 2025
Breaking: Chilling ‘News Virus’ sweeps Australia
Chikungunya is a virus first identified in 1952 in what is now Tanzania, carried by mosquitoes, long since a globetrotter.
8 August 2025
Australia needs better China coverage. This ABC story just gave us less
The South China Sea is complicated. The ABC made it simple – and not in a good way. When public media reduces regional disputes to black-and-white, it risks turning policy into performance.
