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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

(FILES) Protesters attend the annual pro-democracy rally in Hong Kong on July 1, 2019 on the 22nd anniversary of the city's handover from Britain to China. June 30, 2025 marks five years since Beijing imposed a national security law after widespread and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in the finance hub, which Chinese leaders saw as a challenge to their rule. (Photo by Dale DE LA REY / AFP)

Under Xi’s thumb, Hong Kong cedes identity to China

How to subjugate a rambunctious modern city? China’s paramount leader, Xi Jinping, pondered long and hard. Then he acted decisively.

Rowan Callick

commentaryCommentary

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 28: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese meets voters during a visit to a pre-polling booth in the electorate of Bennelong on April 28, 2025 in Eastwood, Australia. Albanese hit the campaign trail again for the final week leading into the election on Monday, after he was declared the narrow winner of the final leaders' debate, securing the support of 50 percent of the studio's undecided voters, compared to Peter Dutton's 25 percent, while the remainder stayed undecided. Albanese's performance was marked by a positive closing message focused on optimism and investment in Australia's future, though he faced criticism for stumbling over a key question on cost-of-living relief. (Photo by Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)

How China uses defence of its diaspora to silence criticism

The accusation about ‘Chinese spies’ was unfortunate, but in truth Chinese-Australians are not as easily offended as the Chinese Communist Party would have you believe.

Rowan Callick

INQUIRERInquirer

Chinese soldiers march during a parade marking the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War in Ho Chi Minh City on April 30, 2025. Vietnam held its biggest celebration of the fall of Saigon on its 50th anniversary on April 30, including Chinese troops for the first time after Xi Jinping visited to portray Beijing as a more reliable partner than Washington. (Photo by MANAN VATSYAYANA / AFP)

Pay attention, Australia, the dragon is looming

Election campaigns in Australia rarely make space for international issues, but there is a major consideration for our leaders long after the winner is declared.

Rowan Callick

analysisWorld

Trump’s tariffs are inflicting a mighty blow.

Trump’s tariff warfare poses no existential threat to Xi’s China

Donald Trump still imaginatively inhabits the world of his developer father, when the US encapsulated modernity, progress and prosperity. That has changed, of course. China now has choices of its own.

Rowan Callick

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

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