Tag: China-Australia Relations

‘Deeply Troubled’: Government Concerned About Delays in Australian Writer’s Espionage Trial

The Australian government says it is “deeply troubled” by the ongoing delays in the trial of Chinese-born Australian writer and academic Yang Hengjun in China. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, in a statement on Jan. 19, said that the government’s thoughts were with Yang and his family as they mark the fourth anniversary of his…


Australian to Sit on Top Hong Kong Court

A former High Court of Australia judge is preparing to be appointed to Hong Kong’s top court and preside over some of the jurisdiction’s most major cases. The autonomous region’s chief executive John Lee Ka-Chiu accepted the recommendation to appoint Patrick Keane to the Court of Final Appeal bench on Friday. Keane was appointed a…


Removal of Beijing Trade Sanctions Still a Priority for Australian PM

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has continued publicly calling for Beijing to remove the trade sanctions on Australian exports. “What I’ve said very clearly is that I want to cooperate with China where we can, disagree where we must, but engage in Australia’s national interest. It is in Australia’s interest to be able to export without any…


A Question of Trust

Commentary An essential basis of international relations is that foreign parties can trust what they say to each other. If a world leader directly tells another leader a position or stance that his or her country asserts or adheres to, let alone an alleged fact, the other can believe it. If a nation enters into…


Australia and PNG Bilateral Security Treaty to Underpin Regional Security

Australia and its closest geographical neighbour Papua New Guinea (PNG), have agreed to a historic Bilateral Security Treaty (BST) that entwines both countries to each other and helps better secure the region. In a joint statement on Jan. 12 by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and PNG Prime Minister James Marape, both leaders noted that the BST…


Reaching for ‘Peace in Our Time’ Once Again

Commentary Peace in our time is an aspiration all, but the foolhardy would embrace. It is a superbly worthy goal. The person to whom the words “Peace in our time” are accredited is a man who, full of noble ambition, had those words thrown back at him as the deal he had struck unravelled in…


Chinese Ambassador Attempts to Break Strategic Alliance Between Australia and Japan

Beijing’s top envoy to Australia has attempted to drive a wedge into Australia’s growing ties with Japan by criticising his Japanese counterpart in Canberra and warning Australians against trusting their former World War Two enemy lest Japan launch another military attack on the country in the future. Chinese ambassador Xiao Qian made the comments during a…


Australia Denies Asylum to Defecting Chinese Spy Wang Liqiang

Wang Liqiang, who publicly defected from Beijing on Australian national television, has been denied asylum. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) said Wang could not be granted refugee status despite having “well-founded” concerns about returning to China because he committed fraud before entering Australia on a tourist visa, The Daily Telegraph reported. The AAT also doubted…


US and Australia Need to Rethink Approach to Pacific Engagement: New Fijian Prime Minister

New Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has called on Australia and the United States to rethink their approaches to the strategic partnership with the Pacific country. In an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Rabuka said he thought that Australia and the United States had an antiquated way of approaching diplomatic ties and engagement with Fiji….


US Senators Warn President Biden Against Providing Australia With Nuclear Subs

Two U.S. Senators have raised major concerns over the trilateral AUKUS deal between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, saying that the supply of U.S. nuclear-powered submarines (SSN) to Australia could weaken America’s submarine fleet. In a letter sent to the Biden Administration on Dec. 21, 2022, Senators’ Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and James…