November 2024
- Analysis
- US politics
Trump wants ally Australia to ‘stand up to China’
The president-elect’s picks for secretary of state and national security adviser both want Australia to do more to tackle China’s aggression in the Pacific.
- Updated
- Matthew Cranston
August 2024
Fear and loathing in the NSW Liberals
A preselection candidate has gone to the Federal Court, alleging he was rejected by the NSW branch for the last state election because of his race.
- Max Mason and Myriam Robin
March 2024
- Exclusive
- Cyber warfare
Leaked documents reveal Australia targeted by Chinese hackers
The revelations come as the UK sanctions a Chinese state-affiliated group that hacked into its Electoral Commission systems.
- Max Mason and Andrew Tillett
August 2023
Chinese-backed spam campaign is world’s largest, but not very good
Australia is among countries targeted by an operation labelled spamouflage, which attaches pro-China posts across social media platforms, Meta says.
- Max Mason
- Explainer
- Inside China
Why China’s property market is in freefall
The boom kicked off in 1998 when the government first allowed households to buy and sell apartments. Fast-forward 25 years and things have turned upside down.
- Michael Smith
- Exclusive
- Australia's China challenge
Last ByteDance executive leaves TikTok Australia board
Two ByteDance executives have left the local board of TikTok in the past six months as the Chinese-owned company seeks to distance itself from its parent company.
- Max Mason
July 2023
- Analysis
- Inside China
China gets a new central bank chief as economy struggles for lift-off
Pan Gongsheng has to deal with an economy that is suffering from weak investor confidence that many experts believe cannot easily be remedied by monetary policy.
- Cheng Leng, Joe Leahy and Edward White
June 2023
China insider reveals how the West gets Beijing so wrong
In a new book, the London School of Economics’ Keyu Jin says China is developing a unique economic and political playbook for the next phase of its evolution.
- Updated
- Hans van Leeuwen
May 2023
Chinese people back trade sanctions, overseas military bases: study
People in mainland China support sanctions against foreign nations that harm China’s interests, according to a new study from Tsinghua University.
- Gus McCubbing
Banning WeChat would ‘damage’ democracy, experts say
Banning WeChat risks causing ‘emotional, psychological and practical harm’ to Australia’s Chinese-speaking community, experts have told a Senate inquiry.
- Gus McCubbing
April 2023
- Analysis
- China relations
Australia gives Europe another wake-up call on China
The Defence Strategic Review’s clarity on the challenge from Beijing stands in contrast to the Continent’s muddied waters and muddled messages.
- Updated
- Hans van Leeuwen
- Analysis
- China relations
Macron heads to Beijing, as Europe wrestles with the China challenge
The hawks are getting louder in Europe. But the beleaguered Continent needs China’s business, and also hopes Beijing might help broker peace in Ukraine.
- Hans van Leeuwen
March 2023
- Exclusive
- TikTok
TikTok’s Aussie boss says it could survive government bans
V Pappas, TikTok’s most senior operations executive, says it could survive a US ban, and questions the point of forcing Chinese investors to divest shares.
- Jessica Sier
Britain ramps up military spending for AUKUS, talks tough on China
The $9bn two-year increase will help fund the AUKUS submarine program, and replenish dwindling stockpiles of munitions sent to Ukraine.
- Hans van Leeuwen
December 2022
How Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping could ruin 2023
The West was energised and united by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as autocrats were forced to confront their limits. Will it continue this year?
- Updated
- Hans van Leeuwen
December 2022
Not even WeChat escapes Clive Palmer
China’s internet censors are among the most Draconian in the world, but not even they could stop Freedom, Freedom, Freedom!
- Max Mason
- Investigation
- Inside China
How Beijing uses TikTok’s sister app to spread propaganda
China is paying online influencers and production companies as much as $620,000 to create propaganda and counter efforts to expose Xinjiang human rights abuses.
- Max Mason
- Investigation
- Inside China
The price of propaganda: Inside Beijing’s mission to drown out dissent
Documents reveal a major propaganda strategy to use the local version of TikTok, Douyin, to drown out dissent and tell Xi Jinping’s “good China story”.
- Max Mason
November 2022
TikTok is ‘too great a risk’ for Home Affairs devices
A senior official says the fact that user data can be accessed from China “poses a risk which is too great for the department to countenance”.
- Max Mason
- Opinion
- International affairs
The global system is creaking under the weight of a rising China
The international rules-based order defines China as a developing country. That fiction is hard to sustain and could hobble the likes of COP and the WTO.
- Hans van Leeuwen