Following the Honiara riots in November last year, the Chinese Communist Party has pushed false narratives in coordinated information operations in an attempt to shape Solomon Islands public perception and to undermine the country’s relations with Australia and the US. To discuss this, David Wroe speaks to Blake Johnson, the lead author of an ASPI report ^[1] on the subject.

With Indian Foreign Minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar visiting Australia, ASPI’s Baani Grewal asks Griffith University professor Ian Hall for his assessment of how India sees its relationship with Australia and Jaishankar’s role in shaping it. They also discuss India’s relations with China and Russia.

And ASPI’s Olivia Nelson and Katja Theodorakis speak about reports the government is planning to repatriate Australian families of Islamic State members from Syria. They discuss the risks associated with bringing the 16 women and 42 children home, as well as the risks of leaving them in Syria, where they have been held since the collapse of IS in March 2019.