Following the award of the Korean “Jeju 4:3 Peace Prize” to former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans, it is good to note that Pearls and Irritations has taken up cudgels on the long-neglected question of the Jeju Island massacre of 1948 (articles by Heo Ho-joon and Alison Broinowski). And it is good to see Evans Continue reading »
Asia
Any plan to try and end the Ukraine war needs to be welcomed if sincere, well-considered, unencumbered, and authored by a respected source. None of those criteria applies to the peace proposal from Prabowo Subianto at the 20th Asia Security Summit this month. The Singapore speech was outside his portfolio. It was delivered without clearance from Continue reading »
Thirty-seven countries have imposed economic sanctions on Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The breadth of this campaign has few precedents in recent history. The sanctions covering finance, energy, technology, travel, shipping, avionics and commodities are aimed at one of the 10 largest world economies. Yet the economic pressure on Moscow is Continue reading »
The Western hope that Taiwan could serve as a catalyst for an attack of China seems likely to remain the fantasy it always was. I first knew Taiwan in the sixties – dirt poor and brutally oppressive. A well-known lawyer, Duan-Mu Kai, I came to know spent his time rescuing from execution people falsely accused Continue reading »
In Asian Media this week: Chinese see Biden Admin as ‘incompetent and ignorant’. Plus: China ready to sign no-nuke zone treaty; spending on nuclear weapons surging; Beijing, Delhi expel each other’s journalists; ambassador slams Seoul’s foreign policy; China passes 50pc non-fossil fuel power supply Anthony Albanese warned of the dangers of the diplomatic deep freeze Continue reading »
Admitting guilt for war crimes doesn’t come easily to many nations, as Australia knows from our extended investigations of the activities of some ADF soldiers in Afghanistan more than a decade ago. On 30 May, former Foreign Minister Gareth Evans challenged the United States to admit that that actions of its armed forces 75 years Continue reading »
A multipolar world is being forged by the Global South. Tectonic shifts are taking place between the “collective West” led by the United States and the “Global South” with China in this camp. Hong Kong’s predicament is that it lies on a fault line of the geopolitical plates. Political transitions are never easy for the Continue reading »
China’s power has replaced the United States’ in the eyes of most of our Asian neighbours, according to the latest Lowy Institute Asia Power Snapshot. What are the implications for Australia? The Lowy survey contains interesting findings. Over the last five years, Chinese influence in Southeast Asia has risen at the expense of the US, Continue reading »
Mainstream media frequently describes Taiwan as “an island that the PRC claims, but has never ruled”. This has given rise to an increasing perception of Taiwan as a separate sovereign entity. In both historical and legal terms it is not. Most countries and the United Nations Organisation have long accepted that Taiwan, despite being internally Continue reading »
In Asian Media this week: India Special: West’s one-two soft-soaping of country’s leader; anti-colonial Modi pushes ‘new’ future; forecasts of Indian century ‘magical thinking’. Plus: tighter US, Japan, South Korea ties; Timor-Leste’s ASEAN ambitions; Bangkok backing key to poll winner’s survival. India I: Anthony Albanese’s gushing greeting last month for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Continue reading »