Yesterday
- Opinion
- Foreign relations
China defiant, but wary of G7 narrative
China says the days when a ‘small group of countries’ dictates global decisions are long gone. But it also acknowledged the risk of a unified front against it.
- Updated
- Michael Smith
Chinese Australians mark Hong Kong protest anniversary
Hong Kong’s streets are silent as people around the world commemorate the two-year anniversary of the 2019 protests.
- Michael Smith
This Month
US presses China on new COVID-19 study as Beijing resists
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Politburo member Yang Jiechi covered a range of topics in their first in-person meeting in March.
- Bloomberg News
- Opinion
- China relations
Back in China after 15 months, Chairman Mao gives way to QR codes
Former Australian Ambassador to China Geoff Raby returns to find a country that is cashed up, run by smartphones and more anxious than when he left.
- Geoff Raby
Master Wang: Buddhist leader in exile or Communist Party influencer?
Xin De Wang presides over a global religious movement and a treasure trove of ancient artefacts from a stately home in Hobart – but mystery remains as to what is his true agenda.
- Michael Smith
Virus exposes the lie behind India’s middle-class life
We always said that our domestic staff were part of our Kolkata family. Now I see that was a fiction.
- Shreevatsa Nevatia
Japan’s faded Olympic dream a stark contrast to optimism of 1964
With tourism in tatters, economic hopes for the Tokyo Olympic Games are focused on lifting the mood. It’s a far cry from last time Japan played host.
- Yuko Takeo
China’s inflation fears could spoil the party
Soaring factory costs, declining export growth and weak consumer spending are fresh challenges for Xi Jinping as the rest of the world plays catch-up to China’s pandemic recovery.
- Michael Smith
Deloitte sued over alleged role in Singapore trader’s $4.5b collapse
Failed oil dealer Hin Leong Trading, which owes billions of dollars, alleges the auditing firm did not detect ‘serious irregularities’ in its books.
- Chanyaporn Chanjaroen and Alfred Cang
Australia and Singapore commit to travel bubble
Singapore students will be the first in line, but quarantine-free travel is unlikely to begin before the majority of people in both nations are vaccinated.
- Emma Connors
Singapore announces a very slow re-opening
Take-home COVID-19 test kits will be sold at pharmacies as restrictions gradually lift and vaccinations open up for everyone 12 and over.
- Emma Connors
Asia welcomes US vaccine donations amid cold storage worries
Health officials and experts have welcomed US plans to share 500 million more doses of the Pfizer vaccine with the developing world.
- Huizhong Wu and Kim Tong-Hyung
Japanese sponsors fear brand damage from Tokyo Olympics
People working with some of the 47 big sponsors of the Games say Japanese companies have asked advisers whether they should embrace Olympic imagery.
- Leo Lewis and Kana Inagaki
Beijing accuses Australia and Japan of ‘hyping’ China threat
China’s Foreign Ministry has hit back at a pledge by Japan and Australia to counter territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas.
- Michael Smith and Andrew Tillett
PM to discuss regional tensions, travel bubble with Singapore
There’s never been a better time to deepen the relationship between Australia and Singapore – two like-minded, middle-level powers, analysts say.
- Emma Connors
- Opinion
- CCP
Unrivalled Xi Jinping still has challenges
China’s ruling party and its leader are now masters of everything they survey. But can the economy keep delivering when the private sector is cowed?
- Richard McGregor
China factory inflation soars to 2008 high on commodity boom
The producer price index climbed 9 per cent from a year earlier, following a 6.8 per cent gain in April.
- Bloomberg News
- Opinion
- Coronavirus pandemic
Lessons for Australia from Singapore’s border approach
A reciprocal travel arrangement will be on the agenda when the leaders of the two countries meet on Thursday.
- Emma Connors
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Population miscalculation
The Chinese people’s desire to to grow rich will now prove far more powerful than the Communist Party’s attempts to use families as an arm of the centrally planned state.
- The AFR View
China courts ASEAN in pushback against the West
Face-to-face meetings by south-east Asian foreign ministers in China underline Beijing’s efforts to counter America’s push to revive its influence in the region.
- Michael Smith
