This Month
We’re letting Xi Jinping weaponise our economy all over again
Australia’s pursuit of growing trade dependence on China is making us increasingly vulnerable to Beijing and its coercion toolkit.
Albanese pitches tourism, sport to China as he seeks to rebuild trust
The prime minister is using cultural ties to mend relations as he hopes to revive the multibillion-dollar Chinese visitor market despite geopolitical friction.
Rumours of Xi’s downfall distract from China’s real challenges
The notion that Xi Jinping is about to be toppled is a distraction from the real cleavages in Chinese politics.
June
Trump’s ‘deal’ with China is just a waypoint to the next fight
Donald Trump behaves as though he has an unfettered ability to dictate terms to foreign countries, but that doesn’t work when you are so reliant on a single supplier.
China’s brutal EV price war is raising quality fears
An extreme discount war on electric vehicles has Beijing worried about a race to the bottom and damage to its international “Made in China” brand.
November 2024
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.
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.
March 2024
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.
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.
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.
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.
July 2023
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.
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.
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.
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.
April 2023
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.
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.
March 2023
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.
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.
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?