Rowan Callick

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.

Latest

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

commentaryCommentary

Guards raise Taiwan's national flag on the Democracy Boulevard at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei on January 14, 2024. (Photo by Yasuyoshi CHIBA / AFP)

Why Australia’s Taiwan policy must be more than politics, business

What is being tested, what is at play, as the story of Taiwan spools out? The outcomes are too weighty for us in Australia to let burden the shoulders of the 24 million people of Taiwan alone.

Rowan Callick

commentaryCommentary

Images of King of the Hills gold mine and processing hub. Picture: Red 5

Mining is what we’re good at, so why do we take it for granted?

The country may have been built on the sheep’s back, but it’s living now on the miner’s drill. We all depend almost dangerously on this single economic sector.

Rowan Callick

InquirerInquirer

PARIS, FRANCE - JULY 26: Pianist Sofiane Pamart and French Singer Songwriter Juliette Armanet perform on a Raft on the River Seine during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on July 26, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

Imagine a better song to mark our great occasions

You may say that I’m a dreamer, but I can’t be the only one sick of these overused tunes.

Rowan Callick

commentaryCommentary

This handout picture taken and released by the Taiwan Presidential Office on May 27, 2024 shows Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te (R) putting on a hat received from US Representative Michael McCaul (L) during a meeting at the Presidential Office in Taipei. A senior US lawmaker affirmed on May 27 Washington's support for Taiwan against Chinese "aggression", on the first congressional visit to the self-ruled island since it swore in a new president. (Photo by Handout / TAIWAN PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / Taiwan Presidential Office" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

A tale of two territories, and double standards

The irony is that the People’s Republic of China – which itself has never held a popular election – is denying Taiwan its rational status.

Rowan Callick

commentaryCommentary

# Must Credit # 21/03/2024: (L-R) China's ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian, China's foreign minister Wang Yi greet former prime minister of Australia Paul Keating as he arrives for a meeting at the Chinese Consulate in Sydney. MUST CREDIT: CGTN

Keating’s Wang chat lets Wong do same … yeah, right

Next time Foreign Minister Penny Wong visits Beijing, she should likewise arrange meetings with people who – like Keating in Australia – critique the ruling party.

Rowan Callick

INQUIRERInquirer

(190105) -- BEIJING, Jan. 5, 2019 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping takes a public oath of allegiance to the Constitution in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 17, 2018. Xi was elected Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China at the first session of the 13th National People's Congress, the national legislature. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

Reality bites Xi Jinping’s dragon ambitions

As China’s leader tightens his grip, his people face increasing economic woes.

Rowan Callick

commentaryCommentary

Flowers are seen placed around portraits of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in a Russian Arctic prison, at a makeshift memorial in front of the former Russian consulate in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on February 20, 2024. Navalny's widow Yulia Navalnaya accused Russian President Putin of killing her husband and vowed to continue Navalny's work. (Photo by AFP)

Navalny’s martyrdom reflects new age of thugs and dictators

Faced with death, Alexei Navalny’s refusal to bow to Putin exemplifies hope and resilience unique to a modern martyrdom perpetrated by a totalitarian regime.

Rowan Callick

CommentaryCommentary

Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese with Prime Minister of Tuvalu Kausea Natano signing a treaty that will safeguard Tuvalu’s future while respecting sovereignty to be known as the ‘Falepili Union’. Flags of Australia and Tuvalu. Photo: X

Why Xi’s play for Pacific influence demands more than ‘business and strategy’

Beijing is ratcheting up its tools of persuasion in the Pacific. It’s time Australia’s engagment in the region moves beyond good business and strategy.

Rowan Callick

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