Asia and Pacific

Defence White Paper 2013: Treading water in the Indo-Pacific
The Australian Government was right not to set up grand expectations for its 2013 Defence White Paper released today. This is a less ambitious and in some ways more sophisticated…
Chinese aid to Africa: A detective story
Philippa Brant is a Lowy Institute Research Associate. Earlier this week a massive database of Chinese development finance activities in Africa (warning: big PDF) was…
Australia's water wisdom in the Asian century
Michael Harris is Chief Economist for the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Science (ABARES). The Asian Century White Paper outlines a vision of…
Thinking and rethinking China's rise
In the interests of keeping alive the near constant discussion on this site about the significance of China's rise, three disparate but related sources worth flagging: If you…
PNG in the international spotlight
Donald Gumbis is a Lecturer in political science at the University of Goroka and a Lowy Institute intern. Papua New Guinea has found its way onto the international travel…
Beijing in the age of film
A fascinating short documentary below about a Frenchman living in Beijing who has made it his mission to save discarded film negatives portraying everyday life in China in the…
PNG Pacific leadership: Is Fiji the start?
Donald Gumbis is a Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Goroka and a Lowy Institute intern. Prime Minister Peter O'Neill (pictured) is acutely aware of the…
The Rhodes Scholarships of China?
Professor Don Markwell is Executive Director of the Menzies Research Centre and was formerly Warden of Rhodes House, Oxford, responsible for running the Rhodes Scholarships around…
Reader riposte: China's naval strategy
Pete Speer writes: Sam Roggeveen's article shows a limited understanding both of submarine warfare and the strategic implications of a multi-platform sea control mission in…
Reader riposte: Race in the Malaysian election
Chris Williams writes: Liam Hanlon's article usefully highlights Malaysia's fiscal risks in the runup to its election. A common oversight, however, is to mention UMNO and BN…