Asia Rising

The 2022 Winter Olympics will be held in Beijing, and with the collision of sports, politics and covid this is proving to be an olympiad to remember. Guest: Assoc Professor Geoff Dickson (Director of the Centre for Sport and Social Impact, La Trobe University) Recorded on 1 February, 2022.

As we enter year three of the covid-19 and settle into our schedule of working from home, home-schooling and hopefully not catching a deadly plague, how are health systems in Asia coping and adapting with the pandemic? Guest: Professor Vivian Lin (Executive Associate Dean of LKS Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong and Adjunct Professor of La Trobe Asia). Recorded on 16 January, 2022...

The Himalaya and the adjacent Tibetan plateau house the globe's third biggest ice packed are the source of most of Asia's major rivers. Over the past century of the people of these mountains have had to endure colonisation unstable geopolitics, and now a climate changing at twice the global average. Despite this they have survived and in some cases thrived, coming up with innovative ways to approa...

Since the mass internment of Uyghurs and other indigenous groups in China was first reported in 2017, there is now a rich body of literature documenting recent human rights abuses in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. However, there is little knowledge of the actual perpetrators inside China’s vast and opaque party-state system. A report published by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (...

After a period of turmoil, Malaysia’s new Prime Minister, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, has a tenuous hold on leadership. A politician of the UMNO (United Malays National Organisation) coalition, his party returns to power a few short years after their first ever electoral defeat when former Prime Minister Najib Razak was tied to the 1MDB scandal involving RM 2.67 billion (close to $900m AUD) in missing fu...

After a quiet start to his presidency, United States President Joe Biden has made some recent decisive steps in engaging with Asia by selling nuclear submarines to Australia and establishing the AUKUS pact, outlining an approach to trade with China, and hosting a Quad summit at the White House, gathering with key U.S. partners in Asia. A major part of this strategy is building up alliances to offe...

Australia, the UK and the US have announced a historic security agreement, dubbed ‘AUKUS’, in response to regional security concerns about China’s rising power and influence in the Indo-Pacific. Under the deal, Australia will build nuclear-powered submarines for the first time, using technology provided by the United States. It also signals to a greater presence of the three powers in the region w...

The Islamic fundamentalist group the Taliban have returned to power in Afghanistan twenty years after being ousted by the United States, sparking concern for a harsh rule imposed on Afghans, a neglect of human rights and the beginning of a humanitarian crisis for the region. For neighbouring countries the initial shock of transition is being met with pragmatism of coping with the aftermath. The Ta...

In June 2020 there was a clash between India and China at a disputed border site in the Himalayan Galwan Valley, in which twenty India soldiers were killed. A wave of anti-Chinese sentiment swelled across India, with Chinese-made televisions thrown from balconies, restaurants boycotted and Chinese goods burnt. With the covid-19 pandemic devastating India the anti-Chinese sentiment has only worsene...

While the twentieth century saw the collapse of monarchies across Europe, recent events are a reminder that hereditary monarchies still matter in Asia. In some countries like Malaysia and Bhutan the institution is thriving, but they can struggle for relevancy given the pro-democracy movement in Thailand and fast-modernising landscape of Japan. In an era of autocratic populism, does constitutional...

As strategic competition between the US and China increasingly shapes the region, Vietnam has reoriented its national foreign and defence policy. Vietnam has a major stake in the international rules-based order. One of its key priorities is defending sovereignty and maritime claims in the South China Sea, which are coming under challenge by an assertive Beijing. Vietnam has been increasingly vocal...

Modern China is seen variously as an economic powerhouse, an icon of urbanisation, a propaganda state or an aggressive superpower seeking world domination. From kung-fu to tofu, tea to trade routes, sages to silk, China has influenced cuisine, commerce, military strategy, aesthetics and philosophy across the world for thousands of years. China’s history is full of heroes who are also villains, pro...

India and Australia stand to benefit greatly through deep and ongoing engagement. But despite some share interests between the two states, there is a shallow public interest and understanding of India in Australia, and the coverage of the country is often cursory and limited in scope. How can we better promote understanding of India in Australia, leverage shared interests, and strengthen national,...

Why does gender matter when thinking about security? In Asia, discussions and policies concerning conflict, peace and security remain dominated by male voices and views. The exclusion of women’s voices has significant implications for the types of ideas, strategies and policies that are proposed and adopted in security-related fields. A live recording of the Asia Rising podcast for 'India Week' -...

In 2019 a formal agreement between La Trobe University in Australia, the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and the Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani established the Asian Smart Cities Research and Innovation Network (ASCRIN). This network facilitates and enables the development of strong partnerships required to support ‘smart cities’ through a collaborative and comprehensive ap...

The recent emergence of China as an economic and military super-power, rivaling the United States, is one of the most significant and challenging developments of the present era. A La Trobe Asia / Ideas and Society event Speakers: - The Hon. Malcolm Turnbull AC (29th Prime Minister of Australia) - The Hon. Kevin Rudd AC (26th Prime Minister of Australia) - Professor John Dewar (Vice-Chancellor, La...

India had more than 10 million foreign tourists arrive in 2019, and more than a billion domestic tourists. A large portion of these are religious tourists, visiting the multitude of Hindu, Muslim and Buddhist sites scattered around the country. Guest: Dr Kiran Shinde (Senior lecturer and Convener of Planning program at La Trobe University)

As Asia grapples with a global pandemic the region has become less secure. China's ambitions in Taiwan and Hong Kong are growing, North Korea is uncharacteristically silent, and the United States, a long-time stabilising presence, continues to slowly withdraw. In this webinar, an expert panel considers where conflict is likely, who could be involved, and what can be done to mitigate the situation....

Australia’s relationship with China has been in sharp decline, fuelled by a critical government agenda and a hostile media environment. The trust, warmth and confidence towards China is at a record low, and the majority of Australians now see it as a major security threat. In his new book China Panic, David Brophy offers a progressive alternative to Australia’s relationship with China aside from p...

The relationship between Australia and Southeast Asian countries has grown substantially in the last decade, from a marriage of convenience to the development of regional agendas, strategic partnerships and shared economic interests. A global pandemic has shifted priorities, and vaccine diplomacy throughout the region has both shifted and strengthened existing allegiances. Has Australia’s actions...

Asia’s relationship with democratic governance is complicated. While some countries such as Japan and Indonesia pride themselves on transparent elections, the struggles for democracy continue in countries such as Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and the Philippines, where growing authoritarianism may be undermining long-term prospects for democratic institutions and civil liberties. Guest: Dr...

For the last seventy years Taiwan and mainland China has remained mostly separated. While China has encouraged interaction in the hope of a peaceful reunification, they have sought to isolate Taipei internationally, offering inducements and economic incentives to those who might engage. In recent months there could be signs that Beijing is contemplating taking Taiwan by force, with an increase of...

Regional security is a critical issue for The Philippines. Once closely aligned with western democracies, the strong-arm leadership of Rodrigo Duterte has guided it in a more authoritarian direction, leading critics to voice concern for the country’s democratic freedoms. In the international arena, tensions in the South China Seas have complicated a cooling relationship with China, leading the Phi...

Japan has been expanding its military roles in the post-Cold War period. While the conventional security threats associated with China’s military rise and North Korea’s nuclear weapons are still present, Japan’s participation in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations, the arms trade ban policy, regional maritime capacity-building and shaping international norms have become more influential in Japa...

In April 2017, Chinese Communist Party authorities in Xinjiang launched a series of “strike-hard” campaigns against “illegal births” with the explicit aim to “reduce and stabilise a moderate birth level” and decrease the birth-rate in southern Xinjiang. The crackdown has led to an unprecedented and precipitous drop, and the largest declines have been in counties where Uyghurs and other indigenous...