China

This week the Lowy Institute launched its latest Penguin Special, A Wary Embrace, on the future of China-Russia relations. The author, Dr Bobo Lo, is in Sydney for the launch, and he sat down with me to talk about why he thinks China-Russia relations will remain largely transactional, and why Russia

Ever since the popular John Tsang lost the Chief Executive election to the Beijing-anointed Carrie Lam on 26 March, Hongkongers are finding ways to accept a reality they wanted to avoid: a polarised Hong Kong under Beijing's grip for the foreseeable future. Despite being a pro-establishment

Rex Tillerson recently completed his first trip to Beijing as Secretary of State. Since then, a slew of critics have panned Tillerson for supposedly handing China a ‘diplomatic victory’ because a joint media conference includes phrases like ‘win-win’ and ‘mutual respect’ - notions these

How should we understand the motivation behind China's decision to cut-off imports of coal from North Korea? A conventional place to start might be from Chinese officials. Yet there were few relevant details that emerged from the Munich Security Conference, where Foreign Minister Wang Yi addressed

Last weekend Chinese authorities conducted mass parades of thousands of security personnel and military equipment in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The parades, described by the Global Times as anti-terrorism 'oath-taking rallies', were conducted in the major southern cities of Kashgar and

Most analyses of China’s relations with South Sudan begin and end with oil. Oil was the most important reason for China’s heavy investment in, and intensification of, relations with Sudan from the mid-1990s onwards (years prior to South Sudan’s independence in 2011). Dan Large and Luke Patey

Russia and China have just kicked off a joint naval exercise in the South China Sea, Joint Sea 2016. It is scheduled to last until 19 September, including a visit by the Russian surface contingent to China’s South Sea fleet headquarters at Zhanjiang. This is the latest in a series of Russo-Chinese

China’s first floating nuclear power plant is expected to be operational by 2019, and will likely be deployed to the South China Sea to support China’s outposts and oil drilling operations.  CNOOC, the state enterprise which owns the mobile oilrig that deployed to disputed waters with

The Permanent Court of Arbitration's decision places more pressure on the US than China, as Washington must now act to support this emphatic judgement. Failure to do so will further weaken America's credibility, and undermine the rules-based order it seeks to preserve. In order to determine how

Tuesday's South China Sea adjudication demonstrates that the UNCLOS framework is totally unsuited to sorting out the complex conflicting claims in the South China Sea in a way that the relevant parties will accept. By effectively announcing the Philippines as winner and China as loser, the tribunal'

Beyond aid spending and asylum seekers, foreign policy rarely rates a mention in Australian election campaigns. But with the Coalition and Labor squaring off on the issue of freedom of navigation operations (FONOPs), the South China Sea has emerged as a rare exception. Whereas Foreign Minister

Recently, The Interpreter published another post warning readers of the dangers of China's intentions and actions in the South China Sea. The piece argues that 'the real danger' is that 'China will take its notion of "sovereign rights" in the South China Sea too far, and that China's

For many outside observers, the Great Wall of China is a symbol of ancient China's strength, military might and power. The Xi Jinping Administration is currently undertaking land reclamation in the South China Sea, which has been dubbed by some as the 'great wall of sand'. Could the Great Wall

The latest buzzword of the South China Sea 'war of words', as observed in media reports, academic opinion and official press remarks is none other than 'militarisation'. But what does 'militarisation' mean? A test firing of a Chinese YJ-62 anti-ship missile, reportedly on Woody Island, South

Developments in the South China Sea are bringing India into a debate it generally maintains a distance from. India's shift in its maritime policies and a relatively vocal stand on the issue may be a signs of a future where India is willing to play a more direct role in the South China Sea.

China is once again causing concern in the South China Sea, this time by moving surface-to-air missiles to the Paracel Islands. Over several years, this dispute has evolved into a clash of opposing strategies, with China steadily expanding its territorial, economic and military footprint in the

By Jackson Kwok, an intern in the Lowy Institute's East Asia Program, and Merriden Varrall, Director of the East Asia Program, Lowy Institute. It has now been more than a week since the explosions in Tianjin occurred. Discussions on online social networks such as Weibo (China's version of Twitter)

Conflict has broken out across Asia. Militaries aren't involved and there are unlikely to be human casualties, but this conflict is already re-shaping our most important partners in Asia. Last week, under very different circumstances, two documentaries went viral online and now the Chinese and

Another month, another huge political street protest in Hong Kong. Last Sunday the territory's residents marched again, this time against the planned but so far unscheduled Occupy Central sit-in. Just as July's pro-democracy marchers comprised a broad cross-section of Hong Kong society, so did the