Today
- Opinion
- Global economy
US-China trade war choices for Chalmers’ green budget
The new incentives for critical minerals and green hydrogen are about more than industry policy. They will play out in a global contest over rival political systems.
March
- Opinion
- China relations
The Wang-Wong doctrine: embrace and fight at the same time
China and Australia’s foreign ministers are both adept at the art of making frenemies. It’s working for now, but for how long?
- Opinion
- ASEAN
How Australia can avoid predictable ASEAN pitfalls
South-East Asia will happily talk to us about stability and trade, but ignore us if we are only interested in pushing values and rivalries.
February
- Opinion
- Inside China
Why the Peak China story is overdone
China’s economy is no longer about to dash past the US, but its ability to mobilise capital, people, resources and military muscle for specific purposes remains enormous.
January
- Opinion
- Taiwan
Why Taiwan’s election is a disaster for China and dilemma for the West
A third win for the DPP would be a terrible failure for Beijing. But other nations must frame support for Taiwan beyond just the threats of war.
December 2023
- Opinion
- Electric vehicles
German car colossus too slow as Chinese EVs dominate
But thanks to the boom in demand for lithium, Australia has been able to profitably surf in the slipstream of China’s ascendancy.
November 2023
- Opinion
- China relations
A dramatic new twist in Taiwan’s politics
A joint ticket between two China-friendly candidates has narrowed the field in Beijing’s favour in the crucial January election.
- Opinion
- Foreign relations
Labor’s AUKUS woes a boon for Beijing
The Chinese are unlikely to raise AUKUS during Albanese’s visit this weekend, but they will not be displeased by the security pact’s funding troubles.
September 2023
- Opinion
- Australia's China challenge
China is steadily building an alternative world order
While it purports to steer clear of superpower competition, Beijing’s global governance initiative is driven by it, unfurling in a slow burn over more than a decade.
August 2023
- Opinion
- China relations
What does Australia do in the economic world war?
China is turning its economy inwards on to a near-war footing. America is mobilising for clean energy revolution. But there is a place for Australia too.
June 2023
- Opinion
- Foreign relations
The truce with China is a fragile one
The trade war is winding down because it has outlived its usefulness to Beijing. We should not rely on the new stability for political leverage at home or abroad.
- Opinion
- China relations
China’s new culture war on America
Beijing is returning to the ‘Asian values’ debate of the 1980s and 1990s in its efforts to exclude the West from the Indo-Pacific region.
May 2023
- Opinion
- Japan
An ambassador most extraordinary
The closeness of Japan’s man in Canberra Shingo Yamagami to the hawkish Morrison government left this unconventional diplomat out of sync with Labor.
March 2023
- Opinion
- Foreign relations
How does Australia square AUKUS with Taiwan?
Will the nuclear submarine deal with Washington drag Australia into a conflict with China? Not if Canberra uses its diplomatic powers well.
February 2023
- Opinion
- South-East Asian economy
Australia must come to the South-East Asia investment table
Australia has chided the US for its security-first view of South-East Asia. But this country suffers from the same syndrome of under doing investment relationships.
December 2022
- Opinion
- Foreign relations
Park the hyperbole about Wong’s historic visit
The two countries may be renegotiating a fresh framework for diplomatic ties, but they are doing it with palpable wariness on both sides.
November 2022
- Opinion
- China relations
Why “Covid zero” is now the biggest China threat
China is stuck in the lockdown mentality because it initially worked. It’s now strangling the economy and beginning to trigger serious unrest.
October 2022
- Opinion
- China relations
Resounding victory cements Xi’s dominance
With the cut-throat ruthlessness of an old-style political boss, Xi Jinping has now successfully removed all obstacles to his policy vision.
How the war in Ukraine is putting Australia on Xi Jinping’s radar
As he approaches a third term in power, the Chinese leader shows no signs of retreating from his global ambitions but the unfolding disaster in Ukraine could force him to change course.
September 2022
- Opinion
- Xi Jinping
For pirate captain Xi Jinping, party congress will be a coronation
What does ‘Pirates of the Carribean’ have to do with the CCP? Under President Xi Jinping, the party’s rules have turned out to be guidelines that he can follow, or dispense with, as the case may be.