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.

Xi Jinping’s Strength is China’s Weakness
Commentary
Xi Jinping’s Strength is China’s Weakness
Unlike any other Chinese leader since 1949, he has no identifiable rivals and no likely successors. Originally published in The New York Times.
Xi Jinping speeds China's ascent
Commentary
Xi Jinping speeds China's ascent
China's leader is driving his country to match a declining America by 2035. That is only four or five Australian elections away. Originally published in the Australian Financial…
US election: Trump's China policy is here to stay, no matter who wins
Commentary
US election: Trump's China policy is here to stay, no matter who wins
Allies see America as tougher, but weaker. Originally published in Nikkei Asia.
COVIDcast: Wolf warriors in the age of Covid, with Shivshankar Menon and Richard McGregor
Podcasts
COVIDcast: Wolf warriors in the age of Covid, with Shivshankar Menon and Richard McGregor
In this episode of COVIDcast, Richard McGregor, Lowy Institute Senior Fellow, sat down with Shivshankar Menon to discuss the latest currents in Chinese foreign policy,…
COVIDcast: Wolf warriors in the age of Covid, with Yun Sun And Richard McGregor
Podcasts
COVIDcast: Wolf warriors in the age of Covid, with Yun Sun And Richard McGregor
In this episode of COVIDcast, Richard McGregor, Lowy Institute Senior Fellow, sat down with Yun Sun to get a Chinese perspective on Beijing’s latest foreign policy moves.
COVIDcast: Wolf warriors in the age of Covid, with Bilahari Kausikan and Richard McGregor
Podcasts
COVIDcast: Wolf warriors in the age of Covid, with Bilahari Kausikan and Richard McGregor
In this episode of COVIDcast, Richard McGregor, Lowy Institute Senior Fellow, sat down with Bilahari Kausikan to discuss Chinese foreign policy, with a particular emphasis on…
How will Japan's new leader handle growing China-US tensions?
Commentary
How will Japan's new leader handle growing China-US tensions?
After years warning others to be wary of Beijing, Tokyo is now adopting a low profile. Originally published in the Nikkei Asian Review.
Australian journalists’ case a reminder of what can happen when you challenge China, and it doesn’t bode well
Commentary
Australian journalists’ case a reminder of what can happen when you challenge China, and it doesn’t bode well
Australian reporters have become pawns in a much bigger game after the Trump administration’s ill-advised decision to cut the number of Chinese reporters in the US gave darker…
Journalists are just pawns in China’s bigger game
Commentary
Journalists are just pawns in China’s bigger game
Originally published in The Australian.
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