In February, New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters announced a revised approach to the Pacific islands. Central to the coalition government’s ‘Pacific reset’ was a pledge to increase New Zealand’s diplomatic and development footprint in …
I admire the sophistication and drive of the Chinese state in manoeuvring within Australia’s federal system of government to secure official sign-up to President Xi Jinping’s signature geostrategic and economic initiative—the Belt and Road Initiative. …
Australia today sees its strategic interests in the South Pacific directly challenged by China. No longer is China given the benefit of the doubt as the rapidly expanding power coming to terms with its new …
On a recent official visit to China, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad criticised his host country’s use of major infrastructure projects—and difficult-to-repay loans—to assert its influence over smaller countries. While Mahathir’s warnings in Beijing against …
Now five years into its existence, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) appears to be attracting both new supporters and opponents on a daily basis. Included among the former is Papua New Guinea, which in …