Today I spoke with John Blaxland and Qinduo Xu. John is an outspoken commentator and researcher on topics such as Australian military history and strategy, public policy, security, defence, and international relations. Qinduo Xu is a political analyst who frequently contributes to international media outlets on China’s rise and its interactions with the rest of the world. We discussed roots of the AUKUS partnership, difference in Australian and Chinese perspectives, China’s economic and military growth, COVID-19, Double standards, lack of transparency, projection of strength, culture and many other topics.
You can follow John and Qinduo on their respective Twitter accounts @JohnBlaxland1 and @xuqinduo.
I briefly mentioned an article I recently published on the state of Western democracy, grey zone warfare by authoritarian states and the dangers of social media. You can view the article here.
---
Full show notes
My guests today are John Blaxland and Qinduo Xu. My audience might already be familiar with John Blaxland, who’s previously been on the show. He is a Professor of International Security and Intelligence Studies and former Head of the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University.
Prior to his academic pursuits, John enjoyed an extensive career as an Intelligence Officer in the Australian Army including as the principal intelligence staff officer for the Australian contingent deployed to East Timor in 1999, as the Director Joint Intelligence Operations at Headquarters Joint Operations Command and as Australia’s Defence Attaché to Thailand and Myanmar. John is an outspoken commentator and researcher on topics such as Australian military history and strategy, public policy, security, defence and international relations.
Qinduo Xu hosts Dialogue Weekend at China Global Television Network (CGTN), a talk show that offers in-depth analyses of current affairs. He also works as a producer of the TODAY show at China Radio International. As a political analyst who follows Chinese foreign policy closely, Qinduo frequently contributes to international media outlets such as The New York Times, Press TV, NPR, Turkey’s TRT, ABC, RT, and others.
Qinduo majored in both English and international studies. His focus of research has been on China’s rise and its interactions with the rest of the world. Qinduo has spent years in the US as the chief correspondent for China Radio International and one year in Australia as a visiting scholar at the University of Melbourne. He is a Senior Fellow at the Pangoal Institution and an Adjunct Professor at Renmin University of China.
Some of the topics we covered are:
91. Dr Greta Uehling - Understanding the Donbas: Identity, People, and its role in the Russia-Ukraine War
90. Dr David Kilcullen - Decoding Geopolitics and the emerging Multipolar World
89. Ambassador Robert ‘Bob’ Bowker - Understanding the Middle East: Lessons from Five Decades of Life and Work in the Region
88. Will Storr - The Status Game: Understanding Its Significance, Implications, and Why We Play It
87. Special Release: Robert Hartley - From War Zone to Ketamine: A Veteran’s Journey Through Trauma and Healing
85. Dr Elizabeth Boulton - Tackling the Climate Change Hyperthreat: Plan E, Entangled Security and harnessing a Hyper-response
84. Amos Fox - Beyond the illusion of manoeuvre: Navigating the clash between intentions and reality in modern warfare
83. Dr Alison Broinowski - How Australia goes to war and the prospect of war powers reform
82. Dr Samir Puri - Decoding the echoes of empire: how imperial legacies shape today’s geopolitics
81. Professor Greg Barton - Understanding radicalisation, extremism and terrorism
80. Dr Alex Lim - On veterans’ mental health: the good, the bad and the promising
79. Announcement of a significant change to The Voices Of War
78. Ye-Min Wu - Multilateral negotiations: on the trials and tribulations of building peace
77. Special Release: Natalia Konstantinova - How Russians view the invasion of Ukraine
76. Andrew Quilty - ’August in Kabul’ and the return of the Taliban
75. Dr Pauline Shanks Kaurin - On obedience and the fine line between hero and villain
74. Special Release: Jasmin Mujanovic - On the unfolding constitutional crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina - Part 2
73. Special Release: Jasmin Mujanovic - On the unfolding constitutional crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina - Part 1
72. Special Release: Wolfgang Sporrer - On diplomacy alongside combat operations in Ukraine
71. Dr Alexander Bellamy - R2P, Just War and prospects of World Peace - Part 2
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Modern West
Just Dumb Enough Podcast
Voices of Misery Podcast
House of Whimsical Terror
Stuff You Should Know
Timcast IRL