An invitation to visit Beijing was issued late last year to Stephen Chow, Sau-yan, the Catholic Bishop of Hong Kong. His recently completed visit is the first by a Catholic Bishop of Hong Kong to the Mainland since the recovery of Hong Kong by China in July, 1997. It may help provide a strengthened framework Continue reading »
International Relations
The Australian government has released the declassified version of its highly anticipated 2023 Defence Strategic Review (DSR), and the war propagandists are delighted. Sydney Morning Herald’s Matthew Knott, most well-known for being told by former prime minister Paul Keating to “do the right thing and drum yourself out of Australian journalism” over his role in Nine Continue reading »
‘I’m proud of what we did in less than 24 hours.’ That was Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s 4 March comment this year on the time he took back in 2021 to decide on supporting the then Liberal government’s startling AUKUS agreement. ‘Incompetent’, exclaimed former Prime Minister Paul Keating at the National Press Club the Continue reading »
The deficiency of Australia’s Asia literacy — and as a subset, China literacy — has been recognised for decades by successive federal governments. Despite government investments to boost Asia literacy, the result has been dismal. A 2023 report published by the Australian Academy of Humanities highlighted the steady decline in China studies in Australia, especially in universities. Continue reading »
Having worked in all developing countries in East Asia and several in South Asia (World Bank definition), I am very conscious of the value of soft power. Australia is a very small country in all aspects except size and my experience has been that soft power is the best way of expressing our good intentions. Continue reading »
The two biggest television events of the year so far in the United States have been the all-cable-all-streaming-live-chopper-coverage of Donald Trump’s motorcade from Mar-a-Lago to the courtroom in Manhattan where he became the first former president to be indicted. And, in Succession, the death of media mogul Logan Roy on his plane en route to Continue reading »
When I first visited New York last September, I did not anticipate being physically assaulted in broad daylight within my first 24 hours in the country. In the short time I was in New York, I was sexually harassed and discriminated against multiple times, setting a precedent to be mindful of my safety. Almost six Continue reading »
When there has been so much loose talk about what would be a catastrophic war between the world’s two major powers, it is both significant and welcome that Foreign Minister Penny Wong has authoritatively stated her position that the Asia-Pacific is a multipolar region, and that this is Australia’s national policy at this time. In Continue reading »
In the Csergo case the big question is: does the prosecution have any evidence of a real crime and not just a breach of the ridiculous Reckless Foreign Interference law? How dangerous is it to meet a couple of foreigners and have a private cup of coffee? Can you quickly turn to your phone, do Continue reading »
The world, we have a problem. It is Houston. America is out of control, and is the main threat to the world’s peace, security and civilizations. America is out of control in its prosecution of war. No nation has loved war more, hot or cold. It has waged war in all but 17 years of Continue reading »