While the US and its allies prioritise reducing supply chain risks, reshuffling away from China, repercussions from decoupling or de-risking might pose greater concerns than the risks themselves. Such actions could bifurcate the global economy, leading to fragmented supply chains and divergent technology standards. This could hinder global economic recovery, dampen investment flows, and impede Continue reading »
China
While Australia’s formal sovereignty resides with the British monarch as part of the Commonwealth, its real sovereignty is to be found somewhere in Washington. You need thick skin to be a politician. So Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, currently on a state visit to China, probably didn’t blush when he said Australia needed to pursue Continue reading »
We should be greatly encouraged by Prime Minister Albanese’s visit to China. Isolation is always a bad thing. Dialogue is essential for relationships to be sustained or nourished. This is the most important aspect of the visit, far outweighing in importance any specific outcome. The visit coincides with the 50th anniversary of Gough Whitlam’s visit Continue reading »
China’s offer to negotiate the removal of its ‘tariffs’ on imports of Australian wine is seen by many as a generous act to facilitate the current visit by the Prime Minister. There is little if any generosity involved. Simon Birmingham, trade minister at the time of the imposition of the ‘tariffs’, recently restated his long-held Continue reading »
“Your visit can be described as carrying on the past and opening up the future,” Chinese President Xi Jinping told visiting Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Beijing on Monday afternoon, citing the fact that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the trip made by Gough Whitlam, the first Australian leader to visit China. Continue reading »
Fifty years’ ago, the grainy black and white image of Whitlam with his ear pressed against the listening wall at Beijing’s Temple of Heaven, led to the joke: What is being said to Gough? Answer: ‘Mei you!’ The ubiquities response then by Chinese service staff in restaurants and stores in those day, loosely, ‘don’t have Continue reading »
Former Australian Trade Minister Andrew Robb, in an exclusive interview with People’s Daily Online, said he viewed the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to China as another step toward normalising political relations. Albanese is scheduled to visit China from November 4 to 7, 2023, during which he will participate in the sixth China Continue reading »
Vision, passion, and commitment of the forerunners in the Australian Studies community in China and Australia have paved the way for the emergence of such an exceptional intellectual community over four decades. It is a visionary and responsible question to ask: where should the community head in the next four decades? China’s area studies is Continue reading »
Australian Studies scholars in China are optimistic that relations can “get back to normal”. This is the impression I gained from a recent symposium at one of the major Australian Studies Centres in that country. University colleagues I met while in Beijing were all encouraged by news of the forthcoming visit by Prime Minister Albanese Continue reading »
You will receive briefings from many of your advisors, including from the Office of National Intelligence. My experience is that intelligence agencies have a lot of information but they often have poor judgement. The framing of issues by our intelligence agencies very often reflects the views and habits of the US and the Anglosphere. I Continue reading »