Richard McGregor

Senior Fellow for East Asia
Areas of expertise

China’s political system and the workings and structure of the communist party; China’s foreign relations, with an emphasis on ties with Japan, the two Koreas, and Southeast Asia; Australia’s relations with Asia.

Richard McGregor
Biography
Publications
News and media

Richard McGregor is Senior Fellow for East Asia at the Lowy Institute, Australia’s premier foreign policy think tank, in Sydney.

Richard is a former Beijing and Washington bureau chief for the Financial Times and the author of numerous books on East Asia.

His most recent book, Xi Jinping: The Backlash, was published by Penguin Australia as a Lowy Institute Paper in August 2019. His book on Sino-Japanese relations, Asia’s Reckoning: China, Japan and the Fate of U.S. Power in the Pacific Century (Penguin Books, 2017), was called “shrewd and knowing” by the Wall Street Journal and the “best book of the year” by the Literary Review in the United Kingdom. In late 2018, it won the Prime Minister of Australia’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction. His book, The Party (Penguin Books, 2010), on the inner-workings of the Chinese Communist Party, was translated into seven languages and chosen by the Asia Society and Mainichi Shimbun in Japan as their book of the year.

Richard is a Senior Associate (Non-resident) at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in the United States. He was also a visiting scholar at the Wilson Center and George Washington University in Washington DC from 2014-2016.

Why deglobalisation brings war closer over Taiwan
Commentary
Why deglobalisation brings war closer over Taiwan
Decoupling was thought to be the path to stabilising superpower competition. But greater self-sufficiency may make the US and China think they can survive a military conflict and…
China thaw? It’s from the freezer to the fridge for Albanese government
Commentary
China thaw? It’s from the freezer to the fridge for Albanese government
Originally published in the Sydney Morning Herald.
What should we talk to Beijing about?
Commentary
What should we talk to Beijing about?
There no longer seems to be a question of whether Australia and China should be talking. It’s now down to how we actually do so. Originally published in the Australian Financial…
Duelling diplomacy in the Pacific should dispel the notion of a China-Australia reset
Commentary
Duelling diplomacy in the Pacific should dispel the notion of a China-Australia reset
However much either side tempers their rhetoric, regional competition is the name of the game. Originally published in the Guardian.
China's own hotheadedness reinforces Quad's strategic importance
Commentary
China's own hotheadedness reinforces Quad's strategic importance
Biden aiming to shore up what the body stands for with first trip to the region. Originally published in Nikkei Asia.
Xi Jinping steps up China’s political divorce from the West
Commentary
Xi Jinping steps up China’s political divorce from the West
China’s leader has dug in over his COVID-zero policy and his loyalty to Vladimir Putin – and his reasoning does not bode well for the West. Originally published in the Australian…
Conversations: Being Chinese in Australia - Public Opinion of Chinese Communities
Podcasts
Conversations: Being Chinese in Australia - Public Opinion of Chinese Communities
In this episode of Conversations, Jennifer Hsu talks with Natasha Kassam and Richard McGregor about the results of the second Lowy Institute’s Being Chinese in Australia survey…
China is squirming under pressure to condemn Russia. It can’t hold out forever
Commentary
China is squirming under pressure to condemn Russia. It can’t hold out forever
Beijing is struggling to settle on a clear message over Ukraine because it is trying to reconcile the irreconcilable. Originally published in The Guardian.
For Xi, Putin’s invasion is a test run for Taiwan
Commentary
For Xi, Putin’s invasion is a test run for Taiwan
Having learned from the collapse of Soviet Union, China may yet have to send its officials back to school to learn how not to put an empire back together again. Originally…
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