Foreign affairs

By Bob Carr

Note: This article appeared in the South China Morning Post on February 19 2018.

On September 7 2013 at Kazakhstan’s Nazarbayev University, Chinese President Xi Jinping for the first time outlined a vision for an overland ‘Silk Road Economic Belt’ connecting Central Asia and China’s western provinces. In an address to the Indonesian Parliament in October 2013, President Xi announced the development of a ‘New Maritime Silk Road’ spanning Southeast Asia.

In July 2017 the Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI) published the fact sheet ‘Australia’s tilt on China’, which details Australian government representatives’ statements on China and the Australia-China relationship in the first half of the year.[1]

Since this time, the messages sent on the bilateral relationship have been mixed..

By Bob Carr

Note: This article appeared in The Australian on December 12 2017.

Sooner or later Canberra is going to decide to reset its relationship with Beijing. In one year, or in five. Here are seven things that can make it possible.

By James Laurenceson

Note: This article appeared in The Australian Financial Review on December 10 2017.

There was only one direct mention of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Australia’s Foreign Policy White Paper, released on November 23, and it signalled the Australian Government would continue its cautious approach toward the initiative.

Chinese students in Australia have been a focus of media attention in 2017.

In recent months we’ve seen denunciations of Australian university lecturers who have offended Beijing’s patriotic sensibilities.

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Racial chauvinism is only one of the challenges that Beijing is exporting to universities.1

Chinese students at universities in Australia have their professors walking on eggshells.

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By James Laurenceson

Note: This article appeared in the Australian Institute of International Affairs' blog, Australian Outlook, on November 29 2017.

By Bob Carr

Note: This article appeared in The Australian on November 24 2017.

While the Australian government’s Foreign Policy White Paper was at the printers, it was being overtaken by events.

On November 23 Australia released its first Foreign Policy White Paper in 14 years. Developed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the 2017 paper enjoys broad bipartisan support. Shadow Foreign Minister Penny Wong, writing in The Australian, stated:[1]