This Month
Trump’s strange affair with Putin and Xi leaves allies out in the cold
The direct dealings between the American and Russian presidents in deciding Europe’s eastern front have the whiff of Yalta in 1945.
February
DeepSeek is a sign of China’s structural shift, not decline
Contrary to the narrative that China’s private sector has been squeezed into irrelevance, major developments in new industries are being led by young entrepreneurs.
November 2024
Xi is thumping Putin in the Great Game
Former Australian ambassador to China Geoff Raby takes a deep dive into the “Chussia” partnership. His conclusions about a rising Sinostan would not please the Kremlin.
October 2024
BRICS summit heralds arrival of new world order
This week’s meeting of heads of state in Russia shows that US-led efforts to isolate Vladimir Putin are only partially working, highlighting America’s waning global influence.
July 2024
On any measure, India has disappointed
It was never meant to be this way. India was to be in the corner of the democracies in the contest with the autocracies.
May 2024
China and Russia have one bed but different dreams
Russian weakness has enabled China to emerge as Eurasia’s dominant power. But it also limits the partnership of the two.
April 2024
Reports of China’s demise are exaggerated
The popular theory of “peak China” is based on a misreading of data. And many of its problems are more cyclical than analysts are allowing for.
March 2024
With Russia distracted, China makes its move in Central Asia
China is the only major country to recognise the Taliban government in Afghanistan, a move that could give it access to large lithium and copper deposits.
January 2024
Australia should deploy to the Red Sea – but for the right reasons
The economic arguments for protecting trade from modern-day marauders such as the Houthis are far more compelling than loyalty to the US alliance.
November 2023
Why I rate Ladakh as the new Tibet
China-controlled Tibet hasn’t had the vibe of old for decades. If you’re after authentic Buddhism, try this epic road trip that ends in Leh.
PM can now move on from talk of stabilising China ties
With Albanese’s visit, most, if not all, of the outstanding irritants in the Sino-Australian relationship have been or will be removed.
October 2023
Labor’s return to diplomacy freed Cheng Lei
If Scott Morrison was still prime minister, the detained Chinese-Australia journalist would not be back home in Melbourne.
August 2023
Australia is muddled on the middle kingdom
The prime minister needs to see for himself what China’s economic miracle looks like close up.
June 2023
China is going to be the great winner from Putin’s strife
Russia’s failed attempt to make Ukraine into a buffer state is only helping China’s statecraft on its sensitive own western borders.
May 2023
Why a different world order is already here
US primacy is being replaced by two orders led by Washington and Beijing. Canberra’s job is to make the US understand what has happened.
April 2023
Penny Wong and Paul Keating need to have this vital debate
Australia now has an adventurous and activist foreign policy once again. But it has not answered the questions that the former prime minister raises.
China’s diplomatic blitz leaves Australia as a bystander
The world’s political and business leaders have been visiting a reopening China. Australians have been left on the outer with a country of key commercial interest.
February 2023
Sightseeing at the border of two simmering nuclear powers
Despite the challenges of getting there, it seemed to be worth taking a first-hand look at the edge of a military conflict between China and India.
December 2022
Wong’s China trip shows Beijing and Canberra have changed
Penny Wong’s trip to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Australia and China fits comfortably within her framework for managing the relationship.
November 2022
China relations go back to basics
Australia and China share a region and have complementary economies. Australian prime ministers had forgotten that for the past decade.