Richard McGregor

Senior Fellow for East 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.

Chinese coercion, Australian resilience
Analyses
Chinese coercion, Australian resilience
As bilateral relations stabilise, Australia should work to entrench its position as an indispensable supplier of key commodities to China.
How the war in Ukraine is putting Australia on Xi Jinping’s radar
Commentary
How the war in Ukraine is putting Australia on Xi Jinping’s radar
As he approaches a third term in power, the Chinese leader shows no signs of retreating from his global ambitions but the unfolding disaster in Ukraine could force him to change…
For pirate captain Xi Jinping, party congress will be a coronation
Commentary
For pirate captain Xi Jinping, party congress will be a coronation
What does ‘Pirates of the Carribean’ have to do with the CCP? Under President Xi, the party’s rules have turned out to be guidelines which he can follow, or dispense with, as the…
Why this Taiwan crisis is more dangerous than the last one
Commentary
Why this Taiwan crisis is more dangerous than the last one
In the decades since the last Taiwan crisis, China’s rapid military build-up has shifted the balance of power around the island decisively in its favour. Originally published in…
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.
Top