Global Politics

The relationship with China is of critical importance to Australia. It is also increasingly complex, being influenced by economics, domestic factors and strategic forces. Yet it is a relationship with underlying tension. China and Australia sometimes find themselves on different sides of the table in some bilateral issues, and disagreements over foreign investment in Australia, influence, and the interests of allied countries might prevent further successful co-operation or interaction. This panel discusses the key challenges and opportunities confronting the bilateral relationship of China and Australia. Panellists: Professor Nick Bisley (Head of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, La Trobe University) Dr Dan Hu (Deputy Director, Australian Studies Centre, Beijing Foreign Studies University) Rowan Callick (Journalist, author, advisory board member of La Trobe Asia) Professor John Fitzgerald (Centre for Social Impact, Swinburne University of Technology) Dr Euan Graham (Executive Director, La Trobe Asia, La Trobe University)(Chair) The Launch of Issue 2 of the La Trobe Asia Brief: Australia-China Relations: Finding the Elusive Balance. Recorded at the State Library of Victoria on 30 July, 2019.

Australia has implemented a wide range of policies which, while not explicitly anti-China, are definitely interpreted that way. Other countries are taking notice and inspiration from such actions. Find out more about the La Trobe Asia Brief on Australia-China relations. www.latrobe.edu.au/news/announceme…china-relations Guest: Dr Dan Hu (Deputy Director, Australia Studies Centre, Beijing Foreign Studies University) Recorded on 18 July, 2019.

For decades in Australia we have assumed that America will prevent any serious emerging military threats to Australia, or defend us from them if they do, but now America's power in Asia is waning and those old assumptions are no longer valid. So what now? We have never really tried to defend ourselves independently, but now we may have no choice. Can it be done, and if so how? What do we really need to defend? What forces do we need? How much would they cost and how serious are the threats? Speakers: Professor Hugh White (Emeritus Professor of Strategic Studies, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University) Dr Euan Graham (Executive Director of La Trobe Asia) The Melbourne launch of How to Defend Australia by Hugh White, published by La Trobe University Press. Presented at the State Library of Victoria on 17 July, 2019.

In recent years, the Indian and Chinese states have become increasingly assertive in the Himalaya. Driven in part by their mutual enmity and border disputes, both states have undertaken massive infrastructure developments, enabling vast new extractive projects, and a rush of troops and tourists from the plains to the mountains. These political tensions have dangerous ecological consequences. All Himalayan states are building large dams to facilitate development. The Himalayan ice pack moderates monsoonal rains in Asia and feeds most of the region’s large rivers. This system provides 40 per cent of the world’s population with water. To make matters worse, the Himalaya is experiencing climate change at twice global averages. With these political and environmental transformations, the lives of the region’s diverse peoples, including its refugee populations, along with broader ideas of citizenship and belonging, are being changed and challenged. Speakers: Associate Professor Sonika Gupta (IIT Madras) Dr Ruth Gamble (David Myers Research Fellow, La Trobe University) Dr Alexander Davis (New Generation Network Scholar, La Trobe University) Chair: Dr Gerald Roche (Senior Research Fellow, Politics, La Trobe University) Presented at the La Trobe University City Campus on 26 June, 2019.

When talking about Chinese international politics, the loudest voices are often western ones, and the Chinese perspective is limited to official party lines. In a rare interview, Professor Zhu Feng gives his thoughts on the US/China trade war, the South China Sea, China relations with Australia, and China's activity in the South Pacific. Guest: Professor Zhu Feng (Executive Director, China Center for Collaborative Studies of the South China Sea, Nanjing University) Interviewer: Dr Euan Graham (Executive Director, La Trobe Asia) Producer: Matt Smith Recorded 23 June, 2019.

For the most part, China has seen Australia as an especially agreeable and non-troubling partner, as a predictable American security ally but with a friendly twist. This is changing, and the pressure is intensifying for Australia to rebuild its standings with Beijing. Find out more about the La Trobe Asia Brief on Australia-China relations. https://www.latrobe.edu.au/news/announcements/2019/australia-china-relations Guest: Rowan Callick (Journalist, author, advisory board member of La Trobe Asia) Follow La Trobe Asia on Twitter: www.twitter.com/latrobeasia Recorded 30 May, 2019.

China and India share a 4000km long border, and it’s been a relationship that has had its tense moments. This situation is made all the more complicated by the Brahmaputra river - rivers recognise no borders, and its resources are always in high demand. Guest: Dr Ruth Gamble (David Myers Research Fellow, La Trobe University)

For most defectors the decision to leave North Korea is never an easy one, and there are major difficulties in addressing the refugee crisis. Those crossing into China risk arrest and deportation, and the safety of those left behind is often in question. Hyeonseo Lee defected from North Korea in 1997, and has since become an activist for human rights. Her memoir, The Girl with Seven Names, is a New York Times best seller. Guest: Hyeonseo Lee

When Narendra Modi and the BJP won the 2014 election in India they did so under the slogan 'Achhe din aane waale hain' - Good days are coming. With an impending election, we give Modi's progress a report card. Have good days come to India? Guest: Emeritus Professor Robin Jeffrey (Politics, La Trobe University)

In the Chinese region of Xinjiang, tens of thousands of ethnic Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities have been detained inside enormous extrajudicial ‘re-education camps’. China claims the region faces a serious threat from Islamist militants and separatists, stirring up tensions between the mostly Muslim Uyghur minority and the ethnic Han majority. After months of denial, the Chinese government now claims these camps are benign vocational training centers, but many outside observers assert that they are little more than prisons where detainees are subjected to political and cultural indoctrination without legal recourse. As more allegations come to light about the treatment of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities, China faces mounting pressure from international human rights groups, governments, and academics to provide access to these camps and put an end to any coercive and illegal practices. Speaking on Uyghurs in China and how the world should react are: - Nury A Turkel (Uyghur Human Rights Project) - James Leibold (Associate Professor, Politics and Philosophy, La Trobe University) - Louisa Greve (Uyghur Human Rights Project) - Euan Graham (Executive Director, La Trobe Asia) (chair) Co-hosted by the Australian Institute of International Affairs (AIIA) Victoria, on 7th December 2018.

There are 22 official languages in India, but more than 780 have been recognised. It can be a challenge to communicate across the country, and while the most common language is Hindi there’s communication of all sorts in a variety of dialects and scripts. Guest: Emeritus Professor Robin Jeffrey (Politics, La Trobe University) Dr Ian Woolford (Lecturer in Hindi, La Trobe University)

Religion and caste divides Indians in many ways - religion primarily between Hindu and Muslim, with Hindu further divided by a complex caste system which can influence how they work, how they live and even who they marry. While laws and social initiatives have tried to to counteract inequality and discrimination, it does still happen. Guest: Emeritus Professor Robin Jeffrey (Politics, La Trobe University)

With a fast-growing population and aspirations to join the throwaway prosperity of the developed world, India generates vast quantities of waste, sewerage and pollution. How does it live with and deal with the problem? Guest: Emeritus Professor Robin Jeffrey (Politics, La Trobe University) Assoc. Professor Assa Doron (College of Asia and the Pacific. Australian National University)

The Indian National Congress party in India has mostly looked to the Nehru-Gandhi family for leadership, making them powerful figures in India’s political landscape. Four members of the family have been Prime Minister of the country, but does the current leader, Rahul Gandhi, have what it takes? Guest: Emeritus Professor Robin Jeffrey (Politics, La Trobe University).

India goes to the polls in 2019, and the popular incumbent Narendra Modi is currently favoured to retain his position. With close to a billion people eligible to vote elections in India promises to be a busy time and an organisational quagmire. Guest: Emeritus Professor Robin Jeffrey (Politics, La Trobe University).

The vibrant fashion styles of Tokyo are notable for their colour and playfullness, and the shojo culture (girls) draw on anime, manga, literature, film and cosplay. The distinctive fashion movement has evolved to embrace culture and identity, and in this panel we will hear from four experts about shojo and kawaii (cute) studies. - Dr Lucy Fraser is a specialist on Japanese fairy tales and girl culture. - Dr Emerald L King is Japanese literature scholar and cosplayer. - Dr Masafumi Monden is an expert on Japanese fashion. - Megan Catherine Rose specialises in kawaii fashion communities in Tokyo. - Madman MC and cosplayer K (chair). It was co-hosted by La Trobe Asia and the Japan Foundation, Sydney. It was recorded on 1st November, 2018 at the State Library of Victoria.

In 2017 India celebrated 70 years of independence from British rule. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the country, calling for the people to set aside their differences. "India is about peace, unity and goodwill," said Modi. "We have to take the country ahead with the determination of creating a new India." Can a new India emerge from the old? How has it been shaped by its years in the British Empire? Guest: Emeritus Professor Robin Jeffrey (Politics, La Trobe University).

India will soon be unveiling the world’s tallest statue, the Statue of Unity. At 182m tall it towers over its nearest competitor by more than 50m. The statue in the Narmada district of Gujarat is of independence leader Vallabhbhai Patel. The project has been championed by India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and is not without controversy. Guest: Dr Alexander Davis (New Generation Network Postdoctoral Fellow with La Trobe University and the Australian India Institute).

The Bund, or Wai Tan in Chinese, is a waterfront strip in central Shanghai. It is within the former Shanghai International Settlement, and so all the buildings there have a grand colonial feeling, right across the river from the Pudong district, with some of the most modern and radical skyscrapers you’ll see. Guest: Associate Professor James Leibold (Department of Politics and Philosophy, La Trobe University)

Asia is at a dangerous moment. China is rising fast, North Korea may be assembling more nuclear weapons, Japan is building up its military and The United States, for so long a stabilising presence in Asia, is behaving erratically. What can the world’s major powers can do to avoid an eruption of war? Guests: Associate Professor Brendan Taylor (Strategic Studies at the Australian National University, author of ‘The Four Flashpoints: How Asia Goes to War’)