4 Oct 2021
Is China’s “age of ambition” over?
Xi Jinping tempers the expectations and aspirations of the country’s next generation.
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4 Oct 2021
The scope to negotiate with China on the CPTPP
It would be useful to have more cooperative economic ballast in relations, even as other things might deteriorate. -
30 Sep 2021
China’s declining Pacific aid presence
Beijing is becoming less generous. New data suggests 2018 was a high water mark for China’s aid to the region. -
28 Sep 2021
Australia’s real leverage in China’s CPTTP bid
Beijing has handed Canberra an unexpected bargaining chip. The question is how to best use it? -
23 Sep 2021
Economic diplomacy: After AUKUS in trade, aid and technology
Commercial links may be China’s response to the submarine deal. -
23 Sep 2021
Can the China model be accommodated in the CPTPP?
A rules-based trading system is the bare minimum that Beijing must agree to if it wants to talk accession. -
21 Sep 2021
AUKUS and the CPTPP: It’s all about China
Security deterrence is only one factor in the new and fast-moving geostrategic environment of the Indo-Pacific. -
17 Sep 2021
China – a lonely superpower
Despite many countries having issues with the West, China has few obvious alliance candidates. -
14 Sep 2021
Fears China will play games with the 2022 Winter Olympics
Beijing’s practice of arbitrary arrest and “hostage diplomacy” is prompting a backlash that may lead to a boycott. -
10 Sep 2021
Candour, at last, on China – but then what?
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has made explicit Australia’s challenge. The next step is ensuring business knows the plan. -
9 Sep 2021
Economic diplomacy: Australia Inc’s new world order
Is “China plus” the answer to fading US global hegemony? -
8 Sep 2021
China’s digital currency takes shape
A new central bank system to control the flow and exchange of money dovetails into Beijing’s big tech crackdown. -
3 Sep 2021
Rich, hot and popular: the taming of Chinese celebrities
Is the Party-state taking all the fun out of life? -
31 Aug 2021
Deliberate ambiguity of China’s new “territorial waters” declaration
A hastily introduced regulation requiring vessels to register may be contrary to the rights of innocent passage. -
25 Aug 2021
Afghanistan holds lessons for American power in Asia
The US will one day ask the same question about its presence in Asia that it did of Afghanistan: is it still worth it? -
20 Aug 2021
Can the US and China cooperate on climate?
Deals, denials and grand bargains on the road to the COP26 climate change conference. -
19 Aug 2021
China’s new silos: Nuclear arms control more urgent than ever
News of huge missile silo fields shows dumb luck is no basis for managing a risk of nuclear catastrophe. -
12 Aug 2021
Economic diplomacy: Burning down the house
Climate change is the new frontier for economic thinking in international relations. -
11 Aug 2021
How can Australia reset relations with China?
Two past PMs offer their perspective on a diplomatic breakdown and how to put the pieces back together. -
6 Aug 2021
Hong Kong security law flexes Beijing’s international muscle
Beijing’s heavy hand in Hong Kong showcases China 2.0 – more confident and less conciliatory. -
2 Aug 2021
China threatens the West’s primacy, not its democratic systems
Cold War tropes misrepresent Beijing’s challenge, and exaggerate its material and ideological power. -
30 Jul 2021
China’s Afghan conundrum
Afghanistan is not reputed to be the “graveyard of empires” without reason. -
30 Jul 2021
Why China and North Korea decided to renew a 60-year-old treaty
Mutual interests abound in a win-win for the alliance of single-party states. -
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28 Jul 2021
Far more world leaders visit China than America
If leadership diplomacy was an Olympic sport, Beijing beats Washington to the gold medal. -
23 Jul 2021
China’s numbers game harms us all
As Beijing attempts to tackle some shared world problems, its opaque regime means the benefits are limited. -
22 Jul 2021
US-China rivalries: What matters for ASEAN
Southeast Asian nations have learned to be wary of big powers offering promises of security in return for loyalty. -
14 Jul 2021
Olympic glory: Tokyo’s success is a win for Beijing
China has just as much riding on a successful Tokyo 2020 Games as Japan. -
14 Jul 2021
China’s law on conscription under revision
An emphasis on second enlistments suggests not enough young people are volunteering to meet recruitment quotas. -
13 Jul 2021
Xi and beyond
More ambitious, more educated and more engaged — the CCP powers into the second century. -
12 Jul 2021
Whatever happened to the South China Sea ruling?
Five years ago the Philippines largely squandered a crucial legal win. But it’s not too late to marshal support. -
9 Jul 2021
China’s forced invisibility of LGBTQ communities on social media
A safe place for young people in China to discuss their sexual and gender identities has suddenly been silenced. -
8 Jul 2021
Ukraine: Balancing China and the rest
With strong links to Washington, Kiev finds itself economically bound to Beijing. -
8 Jul 2021
Staying ahead in global tech leadership
As US-China rivalry creates the prospect of competing technology ecosystems, practical measures will maintain an edge. -
29 Jun 2021
Hsinchu: Taiwan’s city at the centre of China’s conundrum
Semiconductors are the drivers of the digital economy. The US needs them. So does China. And Taiwan makes the most. -
23 Jun 2021
By the numbers: Charting the Australia-China relationship in decline
Trust has plummeted and concern about China’s military is growing. And Australians point a finger of blame at Beijing. -
15 Jun 2021
Australia’s China politics heats up
The “bad strategy” towards Beijing is exposed as the gloves come off in Australia’s domestic foreign policy debates. -
15 Jun 2021
Beijing could easily encourage people to have more children, but won’t
However China frames its population policy, birth limits fundamentally infringe on women’s reproductive rights. -
9 Jun 2021
China overtakes America in presidential diplomacy
Memo for the White House: You should get out more. -
9 Jun 2021
Malaysia – and no Southeast Asian nation – should be bullied by China
An incursion by Chinese aircraft into Malaysian airspace is yet another reminder of Beijing’s belligerence. -
3 Jun 2021
Economic diplomacy: Under the doona, Australian investors dump China
Australian investors are pulling out of China just as the country has become the largest recipient of FDI. -
1 Jun 2021
China’s never-ending Tibet paranoia
The growing US–China rivalry is changing the dynamics of the contest over Tibet. -
31 May 2021
Is Southeast Asia ready for a US-China tech decoupling?
Some regional countries have sought to diversify. But this doesn’t necessarily mean choosing sides. -
26 May 2021
Myanmar is not the next Syria
Comparisons may help draw attention to the crisis, but they ignore essential differences. -
21 May 2021
Australia-China relations: More hurdles ahead
Across a range of issues, already high tensions may well increase. The public mood looks set to further sour. -
20 May 2021
Economic diplomacy: Budgeting for China and the price that matters
China isn’t mentioned nearly as much in the government’s latest budget papers, but its presence looms throughout. -
18 May 2021
A rare test of China diplomacy
Australia and New Zealand provide a case for whether it pays to be nice – or if it’s simply not worth bothering. -
14 May 2021
Russia–China: An Unholy Alliance?
There is substantial – although not complete – policy convergence on international issues. -
11 May 2021
Do Belt and Road projects provide local benefits?
The assumption that China’s overseas infrastructure projects only run on Chinese labour is in need of a reality check. -
10 May 2021
China’s innovation dilemma
Tech advances have been impressive, but constraints on business productivity and imagination are a major obstacle.