Global Politics

For the most part, China has seen Australia as an especially agreeable and non-troubling partner, as a predictable American security ally but with a friendly twist. This is changing, and the pressure is intensifying for Australia to rebuild its standings with Beijing. Find out more about the La Trobe Asia Brief on Australia-China relations. https://www.latrobe.edu.au/news/announcem

When talking about Chinese international politics, the loudest voices are often western ones, and the Chinese perspective is limited to official party lines. In a rare interview, Professor Zhu Feng gives his thoughts on the US/China trade war, the South China Sea, China relations with Australia, and China's activity in the South Pacific. Guest: Professor Zhu Feng (Executive Directo

In recent years, the Indian and Chinese states have become increasingly assertive in the Himalaya. Driven in part by their mutual enmity and border disputes, both states have undertaken massive infrastructure developments, enabling vast new extractive projects, and a rush of troops and tourists from the plains to the mountains. These political tensions have dangerous ecological con

For decades in Australia we have assumed that America will prevent any serious emerging military threats to Australia, or defend us from them if they do, but now America's power in Asia is waning and those old assumptions are no longer valid. So what now? We have never really tried to defend ourselves independently, but now we may have no choice. Can it be done, and if so how? What

The relationship with China is of critical importance to Australia. It is also increasingly complex, being influenced by economics, domestic factors and strategic forces. Yet it is a relationship with underlying tension. China and Australia sometimes find themselves on different sides of the table in some bilateral issues, and disagreements over foreign investment in Australia, inf

Australia has implemented a wide range of policies which, while not explicitly anti-China, are definitely interpreted that way. Other countries are taking notice and inspiration from such actions. Find out more about the La Trobe Asia Brief on Australia-China relations. www.latrobe.edu.au/news/announceme…china-relations Guest: Dr Dan Hu (Deputy Director, Australia Studies Centre,

China and India share a 4000km long border, and it’s been a relationship that has had its tense moments. This situation is made all the more complicated by the Brahmaputra river - rivers recognise no borders, and its resources are always in high demand. Guest: Dr Ruth Gamble (David Myers Research Fellow, La Trobe University)

For most defectors the decision to leave North Korea is never an easy one, and there are major difficulties in addressing the refugee crisis. Those crossing into China risk arrest and deportation, and the safety of those left behind is often in question. Hyeonseo Lee defected from North Korea in 1997, and has since become an activist for human rights. Her memoir, The Girl with Seve

When Narendra Modi and the BJP won the 2014 election in India they did so under the slogan 'Achhe din aane waale hain' - Good days are coming. With an impending election, we give Modi's progress a report card. Have good days come to India? Guest: Emeritus Professor Robin Jeffrey (Politics, La Trobe University)

In the Chinese region of Xinjiang, tens of thousands of ethnic Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities have been detained inside enormous extrajudicial ‘re-education camps’. China claims the region faces a serious threat from Islamist militants and separatists, stirring up tensions between the mostly Muslim Uyghur minority and the ethnic Han majority. After months of denial, the Ch