The defence pact between Australia and Japan confirms already accelerating tendencies for both Japan and Australia to militarize their foreign policies, and forms the core of a nascent anti-China US-dominated multilateral alliance system writes Richard Tanter. He argues that Australia's decision to emphasize the military dimension of its relationship with Japan, in mutual concert with...

The competition for diplomatic recognition between China and Taiwan is destabilising Island states in the South Pacific, making Pacific politics more corrupt and violent. The Solomon Islands provides the clearest evidence of what happens when an island state becomes a battleground in this contest. Australia is in the front line in the South Pacific. Australia...

Australia and China negotiated a treaty on mutual assistance in criminal matters in 2006. Vic Adams considers the treaty and its possible implications in the light of China’s record on the death penalty. The treaty lacks safeguards to ensure Australia is not implicated in executions and could be in breach of a number of other...

Milton Osborne examines how China's relations with Southeast Asia have dramatically changed for the better in the last ten years. Free trade agreements and strategic partnerships have replaced decades of mistrust and uncertainty. China is now the paramount power in Southeast Asia with significant soft power resources and regional goodwill, posing new challenges for Japan...

China’s rapid economic growth rates are accompanied by military advances, a quest for markets, diplomatic assertiveness and increased national pride. Ross Terrill urges clear thinking by Australians about the strength of the US, the place of deterrence, the ways Beijing's mercantilism differs from free-market approaches and whether an authoritarian China can be an enduringly strong...