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Rowan Callick is a double Walkley Award winner and a Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year. He has worked and lived in Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong and Beijing.

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CommentaryCommentary

(L-R) Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning, China's President Xi Jinping, and Premier Li Qiang sing the national anthem at the end of the closing session of the National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 11, 2025. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP)

Beijing is pivoting, but are we ready for Xi’s new playbook?

Wealthy Chinese cadres may be lunching again on our lobsters, but many more central challenges remain on the table. Just look at Hong Kong.

Rowan Callick

INQUIRERInquirer

9 March 2025; A photo comp of Donald Trump and Xi Jinping floating on their countries with their respective flags behind the. Artwork by Emilia Tortorella. Sources: supplied and iStock. Ratio 4:3.

10 Trump-driven changes that will have Beijing cheering

The Trump transformation is opening the door to the golden future of assured domination that Xi Jinping’s Chinese Communist Party covets. Domination at home, domination in the region around China, and most importantly, domination beyond.

Rowan Callick

HoroscopesStyle

Snakes or snake oil?

By all means celebrate the Lunar New Year, but take horoscope predictions with a grain of salt.

Rowan Callick

INQUIRERInquirer

JiaWei Shen and Gulag painting by Greg Weight

How the America haters in our midst go easy on China

Australian opinion leaders, many of them distressed by Donald Trump and his circle, are set to intensify their own antipathy to the US. At the same time, many also applaud what is still being called ‘China’s rise’. The connection is not accidental.

Rowan Callick

commentaryCommentary

China's President Xi Jinping speaks as he and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva give a joint statement to the press after a meeting at Planalto Palace in Brasilia on November 20, 2024. China's President Xi Jinping is on a state visit to Brazil, fresh off a warm reception at summits of the G20 and APEC groups, both held under the cloud of Donald Trump's White House return. (Photo by EVARISTO SA / AFP)

Taiwan’s fate can’t rest on the ignorance of well-meaning friends

China’s ambassador Xiao Quian says Australians commonly misunderstand Taiwan. He’s right, of course. Let’s list eight of those common misunderstandings.

Rowan Callick

PRESIDENT IN LIMBOInquirer

TOPSHOT - A protester calling for the ouster of South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol punches an effigy of him after the result of the second martial law impeachment vote outside the National Assembly in Seoul on December 14, 2024. South Korean lawmakers on December 14 voted to remove President Yoon Suk Yeol from office for his failed attempt to impose martial law last week. (Photo by ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP)

Deeply weird: Why we can’t look away from this real-life Squid Game

The singularly quirky culture that gave birth to Netflix’s dystopian survival thriller, and the menacing shadow of its evil twin, shapes South Korea’s turbulent politics.

Rowan Callick

commentaryCommentary

(FILES) In this picture taken on June 16, 2020, media tycoon Jimmy Lai poses during an interview with AFP at the Next Digital offices in Hong Kong. Hong Kong pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai pleaded not guilty on January 2, 2024 to

Relentless courage of Jimmy Lai is why CCP still fears him

The choice of Person of the Year by Time magazine and the Financial Times seemed inevitable. But here’s an alternative nominee a world away from Mar-a-Lago, for readers of The Australian.

Rowan Callick

commentaryCommentary

Xi’s military purges a test of power and paranoia

Xi Jinping has showered his People’s Liberation Army with massive amounts of new kit over the past decade. But the PLA lacks a quality that simply can’t be bought: Xi’s trust.

Rowan Callick

InquirerInquirer

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has emphasized the Communist Party’s leadership over all aspects of governance. PHOTO: TINGSHU WANG/REUTERS

Court in the grip of Project Xi

Four Australian judges are sticking to their positions as Beijing continues to clamp down on Hong Kong democracy.

Rowan Callick

commentaryCommentary

Albanese can’t allow ‘stability’ to distract us from Xi’s anti-West goals

A vital debate is under way about how to handle China. One route is to act on Kevin Rudd’s recent warning. The other seeks to shelter Australia’s economy through ‘stability’.

Rowan Callick

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/rowan-callick