China and the Rules‑Based Order
Seven experts debate China’s approach to the rules‑based international order
Tuesday 29 Sep 2020 | 05:23 | SYDNEY
What's happening on 
Get behind Southeast Asia with clear policy against China bullies
Originally published in The Australian
By Malcolm Cook
Regional security depends on making order from chaos
Originally published in The Australian
The sharp sword: China and the drone threat to Australia
In Saudi Arabia, a combined drone and cruise missile attack conducted by still-unknown forces (either Iran, Iraqi proxy groups, Yemeni militia forces, or a combination of all three) caused significant damage to the Kingdom’s most important oil facility. Defence writer Tyler Rogoway is alarmed
What China’s defence paper tells us about Beijing’s regional ambition
Beijing, over the years, has become more focussed and explicit in recognising and explaining its security threat perceptions. China last week released its 11th national defence paper, and such white papers have come a long way since 1995, when US activity in Asia wasn’t presented as an immediate
By Pooja Bhatt
China’s intelligence gathering ships change the equation
Exercise Talisman Sabre has finished, and the Australian, American and Japanese units involved have dispersed to their bases or operational deployments. So has the Chinese ship which monitored their activities.
The Type 815G intelligence gatherer (AGI) No. 853 Tianwangxing (in English Uranus) was
China’s head-spinning defence white paper
Readers of the white paper China’s National Defence in the New Era can be forgiven for their headaches as they move from one conflicting statement to another in Beijing’s latest effort to help “the international community better understand China’s national defence”. This best of times/
China may only seek a limited naval role in the Indian Ocean
Among the many questions raised by the massive modernisation and expansion of China’s Navy in the last few years is its future role in the Indian Ocean. Will the Indian Ocean become a Chinese lake?
China has gone from essentially zero presence in the Indian Ocean around a decade ago to a fairly
China’s expanding navy
Recent reports of problems with the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLA-N) carrier-borne J-15 jet fighters have opened a small window on challenges facing China’s expanding navy, presenting a narrative counter to the recent wave of triumphalist advertisements of new capabilities. Stresses on
Has the PLA really overlooked its amphibious force?
It might surprise the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to learn they’ve short-changed themselves on amphibious capability. Sam Roggeveen wrote on The Interpreter recently (“Why China isn’t planning to storm Taiwan’s beaches”) that “China’s navy has grown dramatically over the past two
Deterrence under the dragon’s shadow: Vietnam’s military modernisation
On 5 March the USS Carl Vinson made a port call to Danang, in central Vietnam. It was the first time since the War (the Vietnam War to Americans, and the American War to Vietnamese) that a US aircraft carrier anchored in Vietnamese waters – by invitation this time – for an official visit.
The
By Wu Shang-Su
China and the military balance
The International Institute for Strategic Studies has launched the 2018 edition of The Military Balance, which tracks the development of military forces around the world. It contains a striking stat about China’s naval development:
OK, this is an isolated factoid, but it illustrates a
The 19th Party Congress: A more assertive Chinese foreign policy
In a landmark address that kicked off the 19th Party Congress, President Xi Jinping articulated his vision for China's future. The three-and-a-half-hour reading of the work report saw Xi wax poetic about the priorities of rejuvenating Chinese power and realising the Chinese Dream. Though Xi's
Xi Jinping's moment
Xi Jinping, a politically daring, economically cautious, Chinese leader is certain to win a second five-year term at the 19th Party Congress, but his harsh line against his opponents, and his timidity on the economy, may come back to haunt him in his second term
Exercise Joint Sea 2017: A new step in Russo-Chinese naval cooperation?
On 18 June, a small Chinese task group consisting of the Type 052D air warfare destroyer Changsha, the frigate Yungchen and a replenishment ship, together with embarked marines, sailed from Sanya in Hainan bound for the Baltic and Exercise ‘Joint Sea 2017’ with the Russian Navy.
The exercise,
China’s new warship and the strategic challenge to America
Last Wednesday the People’s Liberation Army-Navy launched the first of its new air warfare ships, designated the Type 055 destroyer. At approximately 10,000 tons displacement and 180m in length, this is not a small ship, and for good reason. It is intended to provide the air defence for an
Countering China’s submarine operations in South Asia
As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Sri Lanka earlier this month, reports emerged that the Sri Lankan government had turned down China's request for a submarine docking in Colombo harbor. Beijing, apparently, wanted one of its submarines (ostensibly on its way to the Gulf of Aden for '
China's defence spending: What's behind the slowdown?
China’s 2017 defence budget, announced earlier this week at the National People's Congress in Beijing, has the lowest rate of increase in years. At 7%, it is lower than the 7.6% for 2016, and represents the second year in a row that growth in defence spending has been kept below 10%, which has
PLA Air Force unveils its pride and joy
Yesterday at the Zhuhai Air Show, China's air force officially unveiled its worst-kept secret, the J-20 stealth fighter.
What is China hoping to achieve by showing off this new weapons system? In earlier times China would have waited until a new fighter entered squadron service before even
The perception gap: reading China's maritime objectives in Indo-Pacific Asia
In this Lowy Institute Report Nonresident Fellows Linda Jakobson and Rory Medcalf identify both the real differences in interests between China and other powers in the Indo-Pacific, but also the sharp divergences in perceptions regarding China’s maritime strategic objectives
Divining the fluid element: from cooperation to conflict in Japan-China maritime relations
“Divining the fluid element: from cooperation to conflict in Japan-China maritime relations” first appeared in Security Challenges, Vol. 11, No. 1 (2015), pp 51-73.
Posted here with the kind permission of the publisher, The Kokoda Foundation. http://www.kokodafoundation.org/
By Euan Graham
China’s unpredictable maritime security actors
In this Report, Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow Linda Jakobson argues that despite Chinese president Xi Jinping’s image as a strongman, China’s approach to maritime security will continue to be shaped by a diverse set of actors pushing their own agendas. Consequently, China’s behaviour will
Chinese subs lurk under the Indian Ocean: cause for concern?
Chinese subs lurk under the Indian ocean: Cause for concern? James Brown The National Interest 29 September 2014 Please click here for the full text
By James Brown
China Australia relationship needs to broaden from trade
China-Australia relationship needs to broaden from trade James Brown The Saturday Paper 30 August 2014 Please click here for the online text
By James Brown