Articles | Lowy Institute

21 May 2019
United Nations

China

Technology
China’s Digital Silk Road and stopping divergent technology standards

Chan Jia Hao

Existing international organisations cannot afford to diminish their multilateral role of connecting nations digitally.
16 May 2019
United States

Australia

China
Peeling back the label in Australia’s America and China relationships

Katherine Mansted

Whether “friends”, “customers” or more, a definitive policy stamp is not needed to navigate security and economic ties.
15 May 2019
China

Russia
The Sino-Russian relationship is being misunderstood

Andrey Panevin

An outdated view of tension between Beijing and Moscow is blinding many Western analysts to the shared Eurasian ties.
14 May 2019
Cambodia

China
Hun Sen’s natural bilateral “bestie”

Lucy West , Sovinda Po

Cambodia’s tilt to China is abundantly clear after a slew of new deals and rumours of a potential Chinese military base.
13 May 2019
Global Economy

United States

China
Trump’s tariff tussle

Stephen Grenville

Given America’s cherished belief in free enterprise, Washington should be delighted its rival is handicapping itself.
6 May 2019
China

Africa
Belt and Road: colonialism with Chinese characteristics

Anthony Kleven

In Beijing’s scramble for Africa, history is repeating and locals are once again missing out.
3 May 2019
China

Technology

United Kingdom
Huawei reaches into Britain

Kerry Brown

A British minister’s harsh career lesson might also expose the Western mindset of perpetual technological superiority.
18 Apr 2019
China
Seeing what you want in Belt and Road

Nick Bisley

China’s sprawling infrastructure program has become a test of attitudes that tells us more about the analyst than BRI.
15 Apr 2019
China

Germany
The souring mood towards Beijing from Berlin

Björn Alexander Düben

Germany was a major Western country to keep on side with China, only ties are now plagued by wariness and suspicion.
8 Apr 2019
China

Hong Kong
Closing the umbrella? The verdict on democracy in Hong Kong

Graeme Smith

A case against a group of non-violent protestors will be read as a comment on China’s one country, two systems approach.
28 Mar 2019
China

Technology
Stockholm Syndrome: social media can shape China’s foreign policy

Thomas Olsen-Boyd

Social media is sometimes deployed as a weapon but public attitudes can – and have – cut both ways for Beijing.
20 Mar 2019
Diplomacy

United States

China
Why reciprocity matters: the US Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act

Natasha Kassam

China’s days of treating the US as a peer and expecting special treatment at the same time appear to be running out.
20 Mar 2019
China-Australia Relations

Australia

China
Responding to China’s not-so-secret influence campaign

Euan Graham

There are downsides to China’s economic value proposition and politicians could do more to prep the public.
18 Mar 2019
China
China’s Social Credit System: the black market and inequalities

Wu Shang-Su , Gulizar Haciyakupoglu

Could Beijing’s new governance method erode trust between the public and the Party?
18 Mar 2019
China

Solomon Islands

Taiwan
Diplomatic switch? Solomon Islands relations with Taiwan or China

Denghua Zhang , Transform Aqorau

Honiara might break with Taipei after the April election, and may not be the last in a tug of war with Beijing.
15 Mar 2019
Afghanistan

China

India

Pakistan
China’s “South Asia challenge” for the Belt and Road Initiative

Antara Ghosal Singh

Chinese strategists have identified three trends that pose severe challenges to the promotion of the BRI in South Asia.
14 Mar 2019
Global Economy

United States

China
What might a US-China trade deal look like?

John Edwards

A deal will imply that economic separation – or “decoupling” – of the two giant economies has not been pursued.
12 Mar 2019
The Americas

China
China’s growing Latin America ties also matter for Australia

Erin Watson-Lynn

Australia should focus on the southern cone of Latin America to strengthen its own ties with China.
7 Mar 2019
China
China cabinet: Two Sessions, W-We’ve got Two Sessions

Kelsey Munro

Forget concerns about Xi Jinping’s all-consuming leadership – gangsta attitude and Party time is on the agenda today.
6 Mar 2019
China
Hail for the chief: loudspeakers return to China’s villages

Graeme Smith

Of all the Cultural Revolution hangovers, the return of Party cant via noisy “la ba” was the last thing expected.
5 Mar 2019
United States

China
The Huawei indictments: allegations and politics

Elise Thomas

The Justice Department’s allegations are serious but the Chinese company doesn’t seem versed in intelligence tradecraft.
4 Mar 2019
China

North Korea

Nuclear Weapons

United States
Four reasons why China supports North Korea

Wang Chenjun , Richard McGregor

China’s policy on the Korean peninsula is based on geopolitical calculus. Its support of North Korea will stay intact.
21 Feb 2019
United States

China

Technology
The tremendous impact of a US-China investment and technology war

Michael Thawley

The impending bifurcation of the world internet economy will disrupt many industries, companies and national economies.
21 Feb 2019
China
China cabinet: the not-so-secret hack, plus the enemy of Freeman

Kelsey Munro

The strange reluctance to call out a “sophisticated state actor”, and Xi Jinping Thought now policed via a mobile app.
15 Feb 2019
Pacific Islands

China and the Pacific

China
A rising China and the future of the “Blue Pacific”

Dame Meg Taylor

China’s growing economic and political strength globally brings both challenges and opportunities for the Pacific.
11 Feb 2019
Myanmar

China

Thailand

Laos
The fight to preserve the Khon Pi Luang rapids

Milton Osborne

China is pushing to expand its navigation of the Mekong River, raising tricky questions of sovereignty and environment.
11 Feb 2019
Defence & Security

China's Military

India's Navy

India's Military

China

India
China may only seek a limited naval role in the Indian Ocean

David Brewster

Many assume that China intends to replace American predominance in the Indian Ocean. But sea control seems unrealistic.
8 Feb 2019
Trade

China

The Trump Presidency
Is Australia wise to pick sides in US-China trade war?

Mike Callaghan

Reported comments by Australia’s ambassador to the US warning Trump against a “pyrrhic” win with China seem out of step.
7 Feb 2019
Australia

China
China cabinet: Huang Xiangmo’s visa strife, and outlook downbeats

Kelsey Munro

Is Australia stepping up pushback against Beijing? And why is China worried about economic bad views?
1 Feb 2019
China

Malaysia
Malaysia and China: breaking up is hard to do

Ben Bland

Mahathir’s promise to scrap or renegotiate “unequal” infrastructure deals with Beijing – a plan easier said than done.
31 Jan 2019
United States

Asia and Pacific

China
Pacific collateral from the INF Treaty collapse

Clive Williams

Leaving the treaty would allow the US to quickly build up regional arsenal of new nuclear weapons to challenge China.
25 Jan 2019
China
The dark harvest of Chinese “black ships”

Zhang Hongzhou

Strange behaviour by Chinese vessels in the South China Sea cannot be attributed simply to militarisation.
24 Jan 2019
China
China cabinet: black swans, grey rhinos, an elephant in the room

Kelsey Munro

A rare acknowledgement of economic risk, the detention of Yang Hengjun, and the changing air around Xi Jinping.
23 Jan 2019
China

Climate change
Just how green is the Belt and Road?

Kumuda Simpson

China readily claims the mantle of environmental leadership, but its flagship infrastructure project has a cost.
23 Jan 2019
China's Economy

China
2019: a rough road ahead for Xi

Thomas Olsen-Boyd

The fortunes of China’s president have quickly soured, with economic troubles at home and pressure abroad.
22 Jan 2019
United States

China

Canada
The fate of three Canadians may now rest with Donald Trump

Donald R Rothwell

Beijing can justifiably be concerned about the detention of a citizen, but not hold foreigners in arbitrary retaliation.
17 Jan 2019
China's Economy

China
Why China’s financial system remains closed

Stephen Joske

Large scale liberalisation of a financial system created by a decade-long credit binge would be reckless.
14 Jan 2019
China
Why governments criticise China and then sign deals with Beijing

Roshni Kapur

Despite anxiety about China’s growing footprint in South Asia and Africa, countries see a chance to balance past ties.
11 Jan 2019
China
Religious freedom in China: better than before?

Fabrizio Bozzato

Beijing has loosened rules on public worship, but its approach to religion is bound to the Party's political interests.
31 Dec 2018
Global Economy

United States

China
Best of The Interpreter 2018: The US-China trade war

The Interpreter

The two largest economies in the world have spent the year exchanging threats of retaliatory tariffs.
21 Dec 2018
China
Kovrig case casts pall over China research ties

Andrew Chubb

The arrest of the Canadian researcher sends a chill China-watching communities around the world.
20 Dec 2018
United States

China

Africa
The new US Africa strategy is not about Africa. It’s about China

Cornelia Tremann

A US Africa strategy should focus on US-Africa relations, not on China-Africa relations.
19 Dec 2018
United States

China
What I missed this year: America pushes back

Sam Roggeveen

There has been a clear shift in US thinking regarding China's long term trajectory.
19 Dec 2018
China

Russia

Climate change
Russian gas will not stop China’s air pollution

Dmitriy Frolovskiy

Current measures are clearly insufficient to drastically improve air quality.
17 Dec 2018
Global Economy

United States

China
US-China tensions: is this about economics or security?

Stephen Grenville

The challenge might seem to be China’s economic behaviour rather than old-fashioned power rivalry.
13 Dec 2018
China

Canada
Playing the hostage card: the Meng Wanzhou & Michael Kovrig cases

Kim Richard Nossal

China’s tit-for-tat diplomacy with Canada has a recent precedent, yet Donald Trump is hardly helping.
12 Dec 2018
China
Meng Wanzhou: China’s “tantrum diplomacy” and Huawei

Elliott Zaagman

China’s technology firms are paying the price for its conduct.
11 Dec 2018
China
Xi Jinping in 2018: Any closer to the truth?

Kerry Brown

Are we misinterpreting this figure and seeing a mirage of great power rather than the real thing?
10 Dec 2018
China
China takes off for the Moon, tethered by politics at home

Morris Jones

A special space mission would usually get blanket coverage, but the timing is awkward for Beijing to showcase science.
7 Dec 2018
United States

China
US-China competition is all about us

Peter Layton

Everybody else will be the objects of China-US competition, called upon to make choices in favour of one or the other.