The ABC’s Stephen Dziedzic joins once again this episode. PM Albanese is visiting China later this week, and Darren frames a new bargaining phase of the relationship, in which both sides (but especially Australia) must manage multiple, complex, and cross-cutting equities. He imagines a ‘ledger’ of ‘wins’ for both sides, and the discussion revolves around what might lie behind some of the recent policy decisions made by the government that appear favourable to Beijing’s interests, such as Darwin port and anti-dumping duties.
The PM has also just returned from a state visit to Washington DC, and so Darren and Stephen discuss the prospects of AUKUS getting through congress, the extent to which there are differences between the Biden Administration and the Albanese government on China, and some other interesting details from a speech delivered by the PM. Stephen then discusses his recent article with Lice Movono on the Fijian government reversing an apparent decision to join a statement criticising China on human rights. The podcast concludes touching upon the fact that Stephen just spent the past week sitting in senate estimates hearings – for what purpose, and what did he learn?
Australia in the World is written, hosted, and produced by Darren Lim, with research and editing this episode by Corbin Duncan and theme music composed by Rory Stenning.
Relevant links
Stephen Dziedzic, “Why did Beijing choose this moment to release Cheng Lei, and what might it signify?”, ABC News, 13 October 2023: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-13/cheng-lei-analysis-xiao-qian-beijing-albanese-visit/102972204
Stephen Dziedzic, “Federal government will not cancel Chinese company Landbridge's Port of Darwin lease”, ABC News, 20 October 2023: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-20/port-of-darwin-chinese-company-lease-not-cancelled/103003452
Stephen Dziedzic and Lice Movono, “Fiji to withdraw name from list of nations criticising China's human rights violations of Uyghur and Muslim minorities”, ABC News, 27 October 2023: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-27/fiji-backs-united-nations-china-human-rights-violations-xinjiang/103025888
Evan Osnos, “China’s age of malaise”, The New Yorker, 23 October 2023: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/10/30/chinas-age-of-malaise
Jonathan Jones, Earthly Delights: A History of the Renaissance (Thames and Hudson, 2023): https://thamesandhudson.com.au/product/earthly-delights-a-history-of-the-renaissance/
Ep. 9: US-China rivalry through the lens of regional summitry
Ep. 8: Australian foreign policy speeches, China and Australia's South Pacific pivot/balance, Victoria on the Belt and Road, US midterms and Brazil’s new president
Ep. 7: Jerusalem and the Iran nuclear deal, Khashoggi and Myanmar, Trump vs. the INF and UPU, and quieter Australian diplomacy
Ep. 6: Mike Pence’s Hudson Institute speech and the state of Sino-US relations
Ep. 5: UN General Assembly Meetings; US-China trade war; Australian foreign aid
Ep. 4: Change at the top; Huawei and 5G, PM Morrison to Indonesia
Ep. 3: Turnbull’s “China reset” speech, Australia’s soft power review, and interview with Miles Kupa
Episode 1: The rules-based international order with Allan Gyngell and Darren Lim
Episode 2: Elections in Pakistan and Cambodia, the new trilateral infrastructure investment fund, and how worried should Australia be about the United States?
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