Stories

The State of Victoria and China’s Belt and Road Initiative: where does it leave Victorians?

Posted on 3 June 2020 by John Varano

The COVID-19 pandemic has ignited new debate on China’s flagship foreign policy, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Australia’s relationship with China remains vitally important in facilitating its economic recovery in a post COVID-19 world and determining what the roadmap will entail. In navigating through the Victorian state government’s signing to the BRI, the ramifications … more

The future of China’s nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine force

Posted on 1 June 2020 by Adam Ni

China finally achieved an operational underwater nuclear capability in recent years, almost six decades after it first launched its nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) program in the late 1950s. The deployment of the Jin-class (Type 094) SSBNs armed with JL-2 submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) marks a new stage in the evolution of China’s sea-based nuclear … more

Neican: 31 May 2020

Posted on 31 May 2020 by Yun JiangAdam Ni

China Neican is a weekly column of the China Story blog that brings you concise, timely, and policy-focused analysis. Neican 内参 or “internal reference” are limited circulation reports only for the eyes of high-ranking officials in China, dealing with topics deemed too sensitive for public consumption. But rest assured, everyone is welcome to read what we write. … more

Why Chinese can become a global language

Posted on 28 May 2020 by Jeffrey Gil

Most commentators, including those in academia and the media, maintain that the difficulty of its character-based writing system will prevent Chinese from becoming a global language. However, much of this discussion is founded on flawed assumptions about ‘proficiency’, technological advances in language learning and usage, an excessive focus on the challenging features of Chinese characters … more

China’s space ambition – to the moon and beyond

Posted on 27 May 2020 by Malcolm Davis

China has ambitious plans for its space program, that encompass a ‘China Space Dream’ which would see it become the world’s leading space power by 2045, and challenge the traditional leadership in space of the United States from the 2030s. The Space Dream extends from the edge of space, in low-Earth Orbit, to the Moon … more

COVID-19 and China’s soft power ambitions

Posted on 26 May 2020 by Anthea MulakalaHongbo Ji

For many years, China has been a major contributor to global development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Much of this Chinese South-South Cooperation (SSC) has flown under the radar of Western media and traditional aid discourse. Chinese aid, including its humanitarian assistance, is political and a core element of the country’s foreign policy. In … more

Coronavirus and techno-authoritarianism

Posted on 25 May 2020 by Olivia Shen

In my chapter for this year’s China Story Yearbook, ‘AI Dreams and Authoritarian Nightmares’, I explored China’s use of artificial intelligence for public security. Writing that chapter less than six months ago, I thought that a major, nationwide crisis would demonstrate how far the Chinese Communist Party would be willing to go to deploy these … more

Neican: 23 May 2020

Posted on 24 May 2020 by Yun JiangAdam Ni

China Neican is a weekly column of the China Story blog that brings you concise, timely, and policy-focused analysis. Neican 内参 or “internal reference” are limited circulation reports only for the eyes of high-ranking officials in China, dealing with topics deemed too sensitive for public consumption. But rest assured, everyone is welcome to read what we write. … more

Rising to the challenge of teaching Chinese students

Posted on 23 May 2020 by Diarmuid Cooney-O'Donoghue

Some Australian academics and commentators have accused Chinese international students of threatening freedom of speech in Australian classrooms by attempting to shut down discussions on controversial topics, such as on the status of Taiwan, and human rights in China. Yet others claim that these students bring much-needed diversity and different points of view into the … more

The legal basis of China’s COVID-19 response

Posted on 21 May 2020 by Ruiping Ye

China’s laws on emergency response and epidemic control are relatively complete. The laws deliberately leave room for the flexible exercise of powers by local governments to respond to the epidemic. However, it also leaves room for the misuse of powers. Further, while government and departmental orders are quick and effective in times of emergency, the … more