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Vaughan Winterbottom

Vaughan Winterbottom is a postgraduate researcher at the University of Oxford’s China Centre. He has worked as a freelance journalist for media outlets in China, Russia and Turkey. 

Articles by Vaughan Winterbottom (31)

  • Vaughan Winterbottom 21 Aug 2014 12:15

    Why is violence spiking in China's northwest?

    Clive Palmer says the Chinese government shoots its own people. If he's talking about Xinjiang, he's right.  Last month saw the deadliest violence in years in the autonomous region, which has a sizeable Uyghur Muslim population. A knife attack in Yarkand on July 28 saw 100 deaths, including a whopping '59 terrorists' shot by security forces.
  • Vaughan Winterbottom 19 Aug 2014 11:20

    Chinese, Russian troops gather for military exercises

    Military personnel from China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are gathering for the fifth Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) 'Peace Mission' drill in North China this week. Seven thousand personnel  (around 5000 are Chinese while Russia is sending the second-biggest cohort of 900) are arriving in Zhurihe, Inner Mongolia, for the 24-29 August drill.
  • Vaughan Winterbottom 30 Jul 2014 08:30

    China's Zhou Yongkang under investigation: What it means

    Yesterday was International Tiger Day, and Chinese President Xi Jinping marked the occasion by hauling in the biggest kill of his 'Tigers and Flies' anti-graft campaign yet: Zhou Yongkang (pictured). Zhou is a retired member of China's most powerful committee and former head of the country's security apparatus.  The innocuously worded announcement on Zhou's fate came from China's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection last night.
  • Vaughan Winterbottom 10 Jul 2014 11:46

    China promotes dialogue with US while clamping down at home

    At the first day of the annual US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Beijing yesterday, China's leaders spoke of the importance of frank discussion for solving disputes.  But a number of reports this week highlight the sorry state of frank discussion within the country itself. Prominent Tibetan rights activist Tsering Woeser and her liberal-intellectual husband Wang Lixiong were placed under house arrest in Beijing on Tuesday.
  • Vaughan Winterbottom 11 Apr 2014 08:21

    Australia-China relations: Abbott benefits from Australia's MH370 search role

    In case you hadn't heard, Prime Minister Tony Abbott is in China this week, telling everyone within earshot that Australia is open for business. To prove the point, he's traveling with a bevy of business elite, including Kerry Stokes, James Packer and Andrew Forrest.  In this visit, Mr Abbott realised he needed to talk trade and nothing else in order to distract from his Government's early China missteps.  It looks like he is succeeding.
  • Vaughan Winterbottom 10 Apr 2014 08:05

    Trucks and trains: Why China isn't Afghanistan's economic saviour

    With generally fair elections held in Afghanistan last Saturday, talk will again turn to the country's future. Many see China as potentially playing a constructive role after the withdrawal of NATO-led forces at the end of this year.  Militarily, Beijing has little to offer Afghanistan; its military aid to the country is miniscule. The big hope for China in Afghanistan is economic. In The Diplomat, Richard Ghiasy and Fraidoon Sekander write:  Afghanistan ...
  • Vaughan Winterbottom 3 Apr 2014 09:51

    Hagel heads to Asia, first stop Hawaii

    US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ventured to 'Asia's third island chain' this week, rolling out the welcome mat for ASEAN defense ministers in Honolulu.  The first US-ASEAN Defense Forum, which concludes today, marks the first leg of Hagel's fourth official trip to the Asia Pacific. Subsequent stops will include Japan, Mongolia and China, to which Hagel is making his first visit as defense secretary.  Hagel is being made out as something of an old China hand by the Pentagon.