Amid the attention given to the installation of a new government in Canberra, the Australian media didn’t, as far as I’m aware, notice the death in September of Chin Peng. That name probably means little …
In his words about the argument with China, Tony Abbott quickly scored the trifecta: alliance, interests and values. These are the three things nations go to war for. And within days of China’s announcement on …
It’ll be an awkward Christmas in Pyongyang. North Korea said today that Kim Jong-Un’s uncle, Jang Song Thaek, has been executed. The official North Korean news agency KCNA said: The accused Jang brought together undesirable …
The puzzle that is the Chinese policy making process has been taunting analysts over the last few weeks. First, a handful of Strategist posts (here, here and here) discussed whether incidents involving China’s maritime law …
Last week, Defence Minister David Johnston spoke at ASPI’s National Security Dinner. As usual, security pundits and journalists read between the lines of the Senator’s speech in terms of deeper meanings for Australia’s strategic and …
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has travelled to Jakarta to meet with her counterpart Marty Natalegawa to help mend a rift in Australia–Indonesia relations, which has come in the wake of a recent spying scandal that led to …
The effective management of the fish stocks in the Pacific is important for the food security, healthy ocean ecosystems and livelihood security for those regional states. In many ways, sustainable fisheries help to underpin regional …
When you change the government, you change the country, a previous Prime Minister once said. And one of the many things that changes is the way a new government thinks about international relations and the …
Well, what a week. On Saturday, China announced an Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea. The area overlaps Japanese and South Korean (and Taiwanese) claims—here’s a good graphic from the NYT. …
On 23 November, Beijing declared an East China Sea Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ), which not only overlaps significantly with Japan’s but also with Taiwan’s and South Korea’s ADIZs. While the Chinese Ministry of Defense insists …
In a recent post, I introduced a new PRC book entitled ‘China Is Not Afraid — New Threats to National Security and Our Strategic Responses’, (中国不怕——国防安全新威胁与我们的战略应对). I suggested that the volume is part of a …
The story of the week has been, of course, the deterioration of Australia–Indonesia diplomatic ties in the wake of a spying scandal concerning the Indonesian President. And while there’s been no shortage of news stories …