Foreign affairs

By Marina Zhang and Wanning Sun

Note: This article appeared in The Conversation on March 20 2024.

By Wanning Sun

Note: This article appeared in Crikey on March 18 2024.

Australia’s 2023 Defence Strategic Review states that the country’s 'primary area of military interest' is to the North, spanning the Northeast Indian Ocean, maritime Southeast Asia to the Pacific. In this region, the principal source of Canberra’s strategic anxiety is the People's Republic of China (PRC). Yet absent from this definition of the Indo-Pacific is the southern flank and a continent on which Beijing is increasingly interested - Antarctica.

By Elena Collinson

Key points

- A Beijing court gives Australian citizen Yang Hengjun a suspended death sentence, with the possibility of commutation to life imprisonment subject to good behaviour. Dr Yang waives his right to appeal. Australian government advocacy continues on Dr Yang’s behalf

By Michael Clarke

Note: This article appeared in World Politics Review on February 29 2024.

By Corey Lee Bell and Elena Collinson 

Note: This article appeared in Australian Outlook on February 27 2024.

By James Laurenceson

Note: This article appeared in The Conversation on February 16 2024.

By Corey Lee Bell and Elena Collinson 

Note: This article appeared in E-International Relations on February 7 2024.

By Elena Collinson and Corey Lee Bell

Key points

- In a wide-ranging new year press conference, PRC Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian proposes restarting joint military exercises and calls for more science and technology cooperation

By Elena Collinson and Corey Lee Bell

Key points

- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese delivers a major foreign policy speech, placing ‘priority on communication over confrontation’ and outlining an approach of ‘patience and perseverance’