When Xu Yanjun travelled to Belgium in April 2018, he wasn’t there as a tourist but as an officer of China’s Ministry of State Security. Xu had been lured to Belgium by US authorities who …
Given the global rise of authoritarian powers with very active repressive security and intelligence regimes that, as the European Commission noted in March this year, pose a systemic challenge to the liberal democratic model, it’s …
Scott Morrison likes using the phrase ‘delicate moment in time’ to describe the international dynamics Australia is now faced with. It’s a time to build friendships on many fronts, as the government understands well. But …
Sea state China’s first domestically built aircraft carrier, known as the Type 001A, has sailed into the South China Sea. The Chinese navy says the vessel is there to conduct ‘scientific tests and routine drills’. …
In many ways, the American label of ‘great wall of sand’ that was applied to the artificial islands in the South China Sea encapsulates a key element of Chinese thinking. The same desire to protect …
Melbourne car dealer Nick Zhao may or may not have been approached by Chinese state operatives offering $1 million for the Liberal Party member to run for parliament. He’s dead and a coronial inquiry is …
On 11 November, California and 22 other US states sued the US Environmental Protection Agency, requesting that a federal appeals court block the Trump administration’s revocation of a Clean Air Act waiver that has historically …
On a recent episode of ASPI’s Policy, Guns and Money podcast, analysts Marcus Hellyer and Andrew Davies debated the question of whether Australia needs an additional long-range strike capability. The issue had just been raised …
Shinzo Abe became Japan’s longest serving prime minister on 20 November. Staying atop a parliamentary democracy seems a herculean task these days, but it is especially hard in Japan, where prime ministers have tended to …
Journalism has always been a tough trade in the South Pacific. Living and working in island communities exposes editors and reporters to unusual political, personal and professional pressures. A statement warning about ‘growing threats to …
In this special episode, ASPI Executive Director Peter Jennings and Defence, Strategy and National Security Director Michael Shoebridge discuss the unprecedented leak of hundreds of pages of internal Chinese government documents. The trove of information …
The world Kicking us off in the US, the second impeachment hearing has dropped a bombshell on a key part of President Donald Trump’s defence. The US ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, has …
Joko Widodo’s campaign to turn back the rising tide of Islamisation in Indonesia may become the dominant preoccupation of his second five-year term as president, overshadowing his far-reaching infrastructure program and perhaps even efforts to …
Dili is a mere 55-minute flight from Darwin. The proximity creates a natural partnership between northern Australia and Timor-Leste that brings benefits to both countries and contributes to greater regional economic integration, including with Indonesia. …
The collapse of the Soviet Union three decades ago meant that its once-formidable presence in the Middle East collapsed as well. Today, however, as the United States has withdrawn from the region, Russia has rushed …
Petrol rationing and major fuel price hikes in Iran, and the rioting that followed, have demonstrated the extent to which international sanctions are hurting the oil-rich nation. Protests broke out in more than 50 cities …
The beat Italian police recover ancient treasure trove Officers from a unit of the Italian Carabinieri have arrested 23 people involved in trafficking stolen archaeological artefacts. With support from police in the UK, Germany, France …
Once again, the United States is undergoing the profound drama of presidential impeachment proceedings. But, unlike in the past, this time the implications for the rest of the world could be substantial. Consider the two …
There is something a little disconcerting about the work done jointly by the Department of Communications and the Arts and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in their report of the review of Australian …
The great irony of the Iranian intelligence reports obtained by The Intercept and published jointly with the New York Times is that they don’t necessarily expose Iran as the bad guy that Washington and others …