The late George Shultz, United States (US) Secretary of the Treasury under President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan, was one of the finest public servants in recent American history. When I was the last British governor of Hong Kong, he once offered me wise advice about dealing with the People’s Republic of China.
Asian energy officials on Wednesday disputed a call from the International Energy Agency (IEA) for no new oil, natural gas and coal investments for the world to be able to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, viewing that approach as too narrow.The IEA, which has previously championed the oil and gas industry, this week outlined a path to net-zero emissions that suggested stopping new investments in oil, gas and coal supply, retiring coal-fired plants in advanced economies by 2030, and ba
Australia has scrapped agreements tied to China's Belt and Road initiative (BRI), prompting anger from Beijing and adding further strain to tense relations between the countries.The federal government used new powers to rip up two deals made between the state of Victoria and China.Canberra said it was backing away from the agreements to protect Australia's national interest.The Chinese embassy in Australia branded the move "provocative".It said the action by Canbe
An Australian couple was released from house arrest in Myanmar and allowed to leave the country, as protests against the military junta continued Monday.Myanmar has been in turmoil since a 1 February coup ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and derailed the country's experiment with democracy.Business consultants Matthew O'Kane and Christa Avery, a dual Canadian-Australian citizen, tried to leave the country on a relief flight in late March but were barred from departing and pla
A “plague” of the world’s most venomous spiders could swarm Sydney after torrential rain and flooding, the Australian Reptile Park said on Wednesday, warning that the deadly arachnids could seek refuge in homes as they escape the deluge.Relentless downpours have caused vast flooding in New South Wales state, with parts of suburban northwest Sydney still under water.Residents welcomed sunshine on Wednesday after days of rainfall, only to receive an “urgent warning” to brace for an influx of th
India will produce more than one billion more COVID vaccine doses by the end of next year in an initiative launched Friday with the United States (US), Japan and Australia, challenging China as the four leaders held their first-ever joint summit.US President Joe Biden, who has vowed to reinvigorate alliances in the face of growing worries about China, met virtually with the three nations' prime ministers as they pledged together to defend a "free and open" Indo-Pacific region.&
It is easy to forget that for a long time – long before Google and Facebook went head-to-head with the Australian government last month – there wasn’t a proven business model for the internet.
Australia’s China problem – official contacts frozen and many of our exports under siege – is now gaining attention far beyond our shores.
The signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) on 15 November, 2020 marks a milestone for East Asian regionalism. It shows ASEAN’s determination to unify existing ASEAN+1 trade agreements and to showcase the bloc’s central role in regional cooperation. As former Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa noted recently, the RCEP was “a response by ASEAN leaders to a series of initiatives that did not provide for ASEAN centrality”.
The Quad, a loose strategic coalition of the Following a recent meeting of their top foreign-policy officials in Tokyo, Australia, India, Japan, and the United States (US) are now actively working toward establishing a new multilateral security structure for the region. The idea is not to create an Asian version of NATO, but rather to develop a close security partnership founded on shared values and interests, including the rule of law, freedom of navigation, respect for territorial
In his most recent New Year’s speech, Chinese President Xi Jinping declared that 2020 would be “a milestone.” Xi was right, but not in the way he expected. Far from having “friends in every corner of the world,” as he boasted in his speech, China has severely damaged its international reputation, alienated its partners, and left itself with only one real lever of power: brute force. Whether the prospect of isolation thwarts Xi’s imperialist ambitions, however, remains to be seen.
The United Kingdom’s (UK) decision to ban Huawei from its 5G networks has dealt a painful blow to China. Until recently, China was still counting on the UK to stick to its earlier decision to allow the Chinese telecom giant to supply non-core equipment for the country’s 5G networks.But two recent developments made such a decision untenable. The first was the United States’ (US) escalation of its war on Huawei.
