The Chinese party-state’s technology-enhanced authoritarianism is expanding globally. But the way it’s doing it isn’t always distinctly coercive or overtly invasive. While there’s been an important focus on technologies such as 5G, surveillance and cyber-enabled …
The post mortems on Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s US visit and speech in Chicago on Chinese state trade distortions didn’t wait for the trip to finish. We’ve had the line from opposition leader Anthony …
Sea state Iran says it will hold joint naval drills with Russian and Chinese forces ‘in the near future’. According to General Ghadir Nezami Pour, the exercises will be held in international waters in the …
Sea state The UK Ministry of Defence has named Babcock International as the preferred bidder of a £1.25 billion (A$2.27 billion) contract to build five Type 31 frigates for the Royal Navy. The vessels will …
Sea state The Department of Defence is scoping ways to modernise its submarine shipyard in Adelaide so that the navy’s Collins-class submarines can continue to be serviced there. This comes amid political and industrial tensions …
Diplomatic relations may have been strained, but Australia’s trade relationship with China is growing ever closer. The latest trade report shows that China was the destination for a record 40% of Australia’s exports in June. …
The Chinese government’s surveillance state in Xinjiang, where an estimated 1.5 million Uyghurs are being detained in ‘re-education camps’, has created a booming business for high-tech surveillance companies. Koala AI Technology is one of the …
In March last year, Australia and Vietnam upgraded their diplomatic relations to a strategic partnership, stressing among other things the importance of a region ‘shaped by rules and norms’ and annual meetings between their defence …
Trade minister Simon Birmingham on Sunday weighed into the debate over Andrew Hastie’s warning about China rise. Birmingham said colleagues should ask themselves two questions before speaking out on ‘sensitive foreign policy matters’. These were: ‘Is …
Economic warfare is being fought with an intensity not seen since the period leading up to World War II as countries deploy tariffs, embargoes and economic sanctions to force policy changes or punish their adversaries. …
There’s been a lot of talk lately about lots of submarines and fighter jets playing a role in Australia’s security. But in all the excitement of contemplating future battles between fleets of submarines and fortuitously …
Recently I considered the differences between American and European understandings of technology in a strategic context. There’s a further wrinkle to be teased out concerning a specific group of Western nations: those that belong to …