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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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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

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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

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# 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

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(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

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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

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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

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This picture taken on January 7, 2024, shows Huang Jie (L), Kaohsiung city councillor and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative candidate who is a staunch supporter of LGBTQ rights, being introduced on stage by DPP presidential candidate Lai Ching-te during a DPP campaign rally in Kaohsiung, a week before the presidential election. (Photo by Yasuyoshi CHIBA / AFP)

For voters, it’s the economy (and housing and energy)

China’s threat of annexation wasn’t the major issue determining how Taiwanese voted.

Rowan Callick

THE AUSTRALIAN’S AUSTRALIAN OF THE YEARNation

Thursday 18th January 2024. The Australian.Cheng Lei in her home in Melbourne, Australia with her children Alex (left) and Ava (right) and her mother Hua.Photograph by Arsineh Houspian.

Epitome of grace, courage and the very best of Australia

In a time of turbulence and anxiety, The Australian has chosen Cheng Lei as its 2023 Australian of the Year: a person of exceptional resilience, articulacy, and strength of values.

Rowan Callick

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This pool photograph distributed by Russian state owned agency Sputnik shows Chinese President Xi Jinping attending a meeting with Russian Prime Minister in Beijing on December 20, 2023. (Photo by Dmitry ASTAKHOV / POOL / AFP)

Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative is in strife — now it’s time for Xi’s BRI 2.0

The Belt and Road Initiative is running out of money and vast debt remains. But in 2024 BRI Mark 2 will return other dividends to Xi Jinping’s China.

Rowan Callick

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(FILES) In this file photo taken on June 16, 2020, millionaire media tycoon Jimmy Lai, 72, poses during an interview with AFP at the Next Digital offices in Hong Kong. - Lai, a Hong Kong media mogul and one of the city's most prominent pro-democracy figures, was arrested on August 10, 2020 under Beijing's new national security law, a close aide and a police source said. (Photo by Anthony WALLACE / AFP)

Spare a thought for Jimmy Lai, a true patriot of Hong Kong

The two most brilliant people I have interviewed in my career, have both been Chinese – Nobel Peace Prize winning philosopher Liu Xiaobo, and business and media genius Jimmy Lai.

Rowan Callick

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/rowan-callick/page/2