World
Asia
Chinese dissident recalls secretive jet-ski escape across the Yellow Sea
Kwon Pyong escaped China on a jet-ski last summer. He strapped five fuel barrels to his craft, and brought five water bottles and five sandwiches for the dash across the sea.
- by John Yoon
Latest
‘Bad spiral’: Feeling the heat in Ukraine, Putin turns up the temperature elsewhere on the West
Some analysts worry that Western desensitisation to Putin’s warnings, particularly about using nuclear weapons, has created a precarious situation.
- by Paul Sonne
Analysis
China relations
Pandas can’t paper over Australia’s differences with China
Premier Li Qiang’s visit was the culmination of hard work by the government to recalibrate the relationship with China. But it also exposed differences that cannot be papered over with diplomatic niceties.
- by Lisa Visentin
Putin and Kim getting behind the wheel of new ‘alliance’
The Russian president’s first visit to North Korea in 24 years is being watched closely by Seoul and Washington.
- by Kim Tong-Hyung
China renames hundreds of villages in Xinjiang to scrub away Uyghur identity: Human Rights Watch
Villages once known by religious, historical or cultural terms of the Muslim minority group now carry names like “Red flag” or “Unity”.
- by Lisa Visentin
Opinion
China relations
Beijing is not on our side. Let’s not fall for a pair of therapy pandas
Premier Li Qiang’s visit confirmed the mask is back on and the tactics have changed, but China’s strategy has not.
- by Peter Hartcher
Trump-era Pentagon ran secret anti-vax social media campaign aimed at the Philippines
Hundreds of US-backed social media posts decried the quality of face masks, test kits and China’s Sinovac inoculation, the first vaccine that would become available in the Philippines.
- by Christopher Bing and Joel Schectman
‘Subversion of state power’: Chinese MeToo activist jailed for five years
Sophia Huang Xueqin was arrested the day before she was due to fly to Britain to study has been jailed for five years.
- by Katy Wong
The reality behind the headlines of Indonesia’s people smugglers
The men on Rote Island deny any involvement in two successful boat runs of illegal immigrants to Australia this year, but they know who we need to speak to.
- by Zach Hope
Newly built Tokyo units to be demolished for obscuring Mt Fuji view
The 10-storey apartment building on Fujimi Street – which translates to “Fuji view” – has 18 housing units ranging from $670,000 to nearly $1million.
- by Sarah Hilton and Mia Glass
This man fought on the front lines in Ukraine. Now he is preparing Taiwanese civilians for war with China
As China ramps up hostilities in the Taiwan Strait, citizens in the island democracy are joining self-defence groups, fearing one day soon they will become civilian resistance to a communist invasion.
- by Lisa Visentin and Daniel Ceng