The Asialink Essays
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The Asialink Essays feature leading commentators exploring key issues in Australia's engagement with Asia. Editors and Contributors. |
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NOW AVAILABLE |
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Myanmar across the threshold [pdf, 3.2mb, 4 pages] By Hamish McDonald - Vol. 4, No. 1, April 2012 Aung San Suu Kyi’s participation in by-elections for Myanmar’s new parliament, her sweeping win, and the government’s endorsement of the result have completed a sea-change in the country’s politics – and as a result, its relations with the Western world including Australia. Hamish McDonald gives a concise but comprehensive assessment of the remarkable developments occurring in Southeast Asia's second largest country. This essay was published in The Diplomat magazine on Saturday 28 April. DOWNLOAD THE ESSAY |
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The Indian Market Entry Strategy: “Build a local business with skin in the game” [pdf, 1.4mb, 4 pages] Tejpavan Gandhok - Vol. 3, No. 6, November 2011 This essay outlines emerging market strategies for Australian companies to “build local” in India and create business opportunities by moving beyond the usual approach of shipping out a standard home product or licensing for intellectual property transfer. Entrepreneur and private equity investor Tejpavan Gandhok has worked for a range of business consultancy firms. He sets out tactics for success using three case studies, from the resources, manufacturing and education services sectors. An extract of this essay appeared in the Australian Financial Review on 16 November 2011. Watch an interview with Tejpavan Gandhok |
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India and Australia: Maritime Partners in the Indo-Pacific [pdf, 1.3mb, 4 pages] C. Raja Mohan – Vol. 3, No. 6, November 2011 Fresh from last week’s Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Perth, Australia’s relationship with booming India has come into focus. Indian academic and journalist C. Raja Mohan argues that New Delhi’s ‘Look East’ policy has acquired a distinct naval dimension. New imperatives are redefining the geopolitics of the region, opening the space for New Delhi and Canberra to consult more intensively on maritime issues. An extract of this essay appeared in The Australian newspaper on 2 November 2011 |
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Australia retreats from Asia [pdf, 209kb, 4 pages] Alexander Downer - Vol. 3, No. 4, April 2011 Former Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, reflects on the strength of Australia's current policies in the Asian region. He says "Australia has been vocal and busy talking about the need for a no fly zone in Libya... [But] to have an impact on the international stage, Australia has to play to its strength..." An extract of this essay appeared in The Australian newspaper on 12 April, 2011. |
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The Power of Yuan: China, Australia and the RMB [pdf, 1.3mb, 4 pages] Michael Smith OBE - Vol. 3, No. 3, March 2011 The introduction to the global economy of another significant currency – China's Renminbi (RMB) - has the potential to create a financial market as large and as deep as that of Europe's. In this essay ANZ CEO Michael Smith OBE looks at the implications of the internationalisation of the RMB - and says Australia's position as proxy for Asian investment is bound to shrink. The task for Australia will be to build consensus around a forward-looking economic strategy to extend our economic boom. Media Coverage: An excerpt from this essay appeared in The Australian on 17 March, 2011 - "Get ready for a rising yuan and waning dollar" "Global growth tipped to fuel resources rise", Rowan Callick, The Australian |
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A Critical Decision [pdf, 639kb, 3 pages] Maurice Newman AC - Vol. 3, No. 2, January 2011 Opponents of a proposed merger of Singapore’s stock exchange (SGX) with the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) are living in a “dream world” if they think Australia can become a regional financial hub alone, says Maurice Newman AC, a former head of the ASX. He says the ‘national interest’ case must consider the future - or lack of it - for ASX and Australia’s capital markets should the merger be blocked - as well as the benefits, if it proceeds. Media Coverage: "Say yes to Singapore merger or risk irrelevance", Maurice Newman, The Australian, 27 January, 2011. "ABC chairman Maurice Newman supports bourses merger", Jennifer Hewett, The Australian (online), 27 January, 2011. Reprinted in Canada's Financial Post. |
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WikiLeaks [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED] [pdf, 434kb, 7 pages] John McCarthy AO - Vol. 3, No. 1, January 2011 John McCarthy AO, who served as Australia’s Ambassador to the United States, Mexico, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, and as High Commissioner to India, says WikiLeaks has underlined a widening gulf between official and community attitudes towards information flow. Media Coverage: "WikiLeaks should propel less secrecy at the top", John McCarthy, The Australian (online), 13 January, 2011. Radio Australia interview; SBS "Insight" (January 2011) Reprinted in: The Canberra Times, "The Public Sector Informant", February 2011, and The East Asia Forum, 29 January 2011. |
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Seeing Eye to I: The Power of Asian Literatures [pdf, 340kb, 8pages] Dennis Haskell - Vol. 2, No. 6, 2010 UWA Professor and Chair of the Literature Board of the Australia Council for the Arts, Dennis Haskell, celebrates the literature of Asia and argues that reading Asian literatures is a deep and pleasurable way to help understand complex societies. "Literature is a way of taking a culture's temperature," he says. |
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Strategic choices - Australia, China and the US in Asia [pdf, 277kb, 6 pages] Geoffrey Garrett - Vol. 2, No. 5, 2010 Foreign policy has played virtually no role in Australia’s race to the polls on 21 August, beyond the domestic hot button issues of asylum seekers and immigration, writes Geoffrey Garrett, CEO of the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. But whoever wins government this month will face important strategic choices in positioning Australia for the Asia-Pacific Century, beginning with our key relationships with China and the US. He says China's insatiable appetite for raw materials offers the prospect of a decades-long mineral boom for Australia, but economic engagement must be coupled with political and security wariness - and a strengthening of the Australia-US alliance. |
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Regionalism – An Asian Conversation [pdf, 178kb, 13 pages] Zhu Liqun, Tan Seng Chye, Prapat Thepchatree & Professor Tony Milner Vol. 2, No. 4, 2010 The appointment of a new Prime Minister provides an obvious opportunity for reflection. Whether we now press ahead with the Asia Pacific community venture or focus more sharply on the task of positioning Australia with respect to East Asian regionalism, we need to listen carefully to the conversation of the Asian region. Zhu Liqun of China, Tan Seng Chye of Singapore and Prapat Thepchatree of Thailand start the Asian conversation, introduced by Anthony Milner. |
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Unrestricted Access - perspectives on free trade [pdf, 312kb, 9 pages] |
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Immigration: Taking a Long View [pdf, 312kb, 9 pages] Professor Nancy Viviani - Vol. 2, No. 2, 2010 Asialink Dunlop Medalist and distinguished international relations scholar, Professor Nancy Viviani, addresses the "Big Country" immigration debate. We haven't thought enough about the social and economic impact of the latest anticipated increases in immigration, she says - the "explosive" mix created when a relatively low skilled local population comes under pressure from high levels of more skilled migration. Treasury, she says, thinks it is cheaper to free-ride on the educational investments by other countries in our migrants, while failing to properly build our own skill-levels. |
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Whales Apart: Tensions in Japan–Australia relations [pdf, 396kb, 7 pages] Trevor Wilson - Vol. 2, No. 1, 2010 Good relations with Japan are critical for Australia. On by far the majority of issues, our two countries tend to agree, but on whaling we have hit an impasse. Australians are strongly opposed and - says Trevor Wilson - the Japanese have adopted international behavior entirely out of their normal character. International thinking on whaling has changed: Japan could cease open sea whaling and win enormous international support, he argues. In the mean time, Australia would be wise to stop provoking Japan unnecessarily and allow it to back down with some grace. |
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Ignorance is Not Bliss; Art and its place in Australia-Asia Relations [pdf, 348kb, 9 pages] Media Coverage: "An art for blurring borders", Gabriella Coslovich, cover story, The Age, Holiday Edition [pdf, 540kb, 2 pages], also available online |
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Towards an Asia Pacific Community [pdf, 356kb, 4 pages] Richard Woolcott AC - Vol. 1, No. 9, 2009 Distinguished Australian diplomat and special envoy, Richard Woolcott AC, outlines the aims of Prime Minister Rudd's Asia Pacific community concept ahead of an international conference in Sydney in December 2009. |
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Don’t wait for Copenhagen: implications of the international climate change impasse for Australia and APEC [pdf, 344kb, 6 pages] Stephen Howes - Vol. 1, No. 8, 2009 Stephen Howes, ANU Professor of Economics and key contributor to the Garnaut Climate Change Review, says an effective response to climate change requires a mix of unilateral and multilateral action - and individual countries must demonstrate good faith. Just as APEC has promoted unilateral trade liberalisation, it should encourage its member countries to compete with each other to reduce emissions and develop new technologies. Waiting for Copenhagen would do nothing to discourage free-riding countries. |
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Asia Pacific Community: Reinventing the Wheel [pdf, 172kb, 8 pages] Colin Heseltine - Vol. 1, No. 7, 2009 Australia's former head of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Colin Heseltine, discusses Prime Minister Rudd's new Asia Pacific Community idea. With all the untidiness and built-in efficiencies of the current system of regional dialogue, there is still a system in place. More importantly, he says, much more workable solutions exist besides the fraught, and very likely doomed, option of starting all over again. Media Coverage: "Rudd's Asia community bid 'lacks detail', John Kerin, The Australian Financial Review, [pdf, 304kb, 1 page], Tuesday 6 October 2009 |
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Asian Democracy and Australia: No Gold Pass to a trouble-free future [pdf, 260kb, 11 pages] Greg Sheridan - Vol. 1, No. 6, 2009 In the latest Asialink Essay, released as Australia’s Ambassador to China returns to Canberra for high-level talks on the vital China-Australia relationship, Greg Sheridan, foreign editor for The Australian, says democracy in Asia is not a gold pass to a trouble free future for Australia. Both democracy and dictatorship in Asia throw up challenges, and Australia must relate intelligently in both cases. But one lesson is clear, he says, from the recent Rubiya Kadeer episode: that consideration for Asian relationships will not compromise Australia’s own democratic and pluralist culture. Media Coverage: "Asian democracy and Australia", Greg Sheridan, The Australian, Saturday 22 August 2009 |
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TALKING TOUGH: Defence White Paper 2009 [pdf, 380kb, 6 pages] Ross Cottrill - Vol. 1, No. 5, 2009 Ross Cottrill, currently a Visiting Fellow at the Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy, ANU, unpacks, with reference to China, the latest Defence White Paper, Defending Australia in the Asia Pacific Century: Force 2030. He notes that “In the case of the messages conveyed by the latest Defence White Paper, there have been complaints from China, and a leading specialist on China has suggested that the paper may have contributed to recent Chinese aggressive behaviour regarding the resources industry.” It may not be a new idea to speak softly to one’s neighbours, he suggests, but it’s good policy. Media Coverage: "Spruiking a China threat is foolish", Ross Cottrill, The Australian Financial Review, Tuesday 21 July 2009, Opinion, p.63. [pdf, 288kb] |
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Beyond the Sea Wall - Chronic neglect and Australia-India relations [pdf, 276kb, 7 pages] Hamish McDonald - Vol. 1, No. 4, 2009 Hamish McDonald, Asia Pacific Editor, Sydney Morning Herald, looks for an end to "neglect" in Australia-India relations and finds the usual reversion to cricket metaphors - talk of “dropped catches” in the games of diplomacy and trade - and an evident lack of understanding within Australian institutions of the vast changes taking place in India. What seemed an entirely positive trend – the rapid growth of Indian student numbers – was shown to have an underside when a spate of assaults and robberies against Indian students set off a media frenzy in India in May 2009. Rather than equipping ourselves to embark across the seas of ignorance, he says, we’ve recently been burning our boats. Media Coverage: "Australia is handling India badly", Graham Cooke, ON LINE opinion, Monday 10 August 2009. "India's rise demands more than just watching Bollywood films", Kama Maclean, The Age (online), Monday 7 September 2009 |
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NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT: Asia and Australia at the centre [pdf, 268kb, 7 pages] Ron Huisken - Vol. 1, No. 3, 2009 Ron Huisken, senior fellow with the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, ANU, writes for the Asialink Essay Series, published also in the Australian Financial Review, May 22, 2009. North East Asia, he says, is quantitatively trivial in the nuclear puzzle but it highlights the obstacles to nuclear non-proliferation. Getting to zero will really be an exploration into whether there is an alternative to the nuclear abyss as the foundation for a stable world order. Media Coverage: "Disarmament's dirty word", Ron Huisken, The Australian Financial Review, Friday 22 May 2009, p.4, Review. [pdf, 400kb] |
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INDONESIA: The Past is Past [pdf, 304kb, 7 pages] Howard Dick - Vol. 1, No. 2, 2009 Howard Dick, Professor in Management at The University of Melbourne and Conjoint Professor in Business and Law at The University of Newcastle, looks at Australia-Indonesia relations. He explores how Australia-Indonesia relations are not what they used to be. He outlines the “challenges and opportunities of a more prosperous, democratic and sophisticated neighbour” and the importance of not “squandering our intellectual expertise”. Media Coverage: "Are we taking Indonesia seriously?", Howard Dick, The Australian Financial Review, Friday 1 May 2009, p.3, Review. [pdf, 340kb] |
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CHINA: Never Mind the Panic [pdf, 116kb, 8 pages] Rowan Callick - Vol. 1, No. 1, 2009 Rowan Callick, Asia-Pacific Editor for The Australian and former China correspondent, looks at Australia-China relations and calls for "informed national debate about where this vital relationship is heading". It is too important to "leave to panicked shareholders and financial institutions." |