China’s deadliest weapon: the debt bombChina’s most powerful weapon isn’t its three-million-strong army or its nuclear bomb: it’s the $789 billion stranglehold it has over the US economy, putting America and the West at its mercy.
Politics / The World / Asia-Pacific
Danby: Damn it Downer, China is tricky
Recently, ex-foreign minister Alexander Downer blasted the government’s relationship with China, leaving MP Michael Danby none too happy about the criticism. China is more aggressive and friends with the most oppressive nations in the world now. Patronising advice by old timers isn’t needed, says Danby.
North Korea: a nation of racist dwarves
By keeping North Koreans in the dark — both literally and figuratively — Kim Jong Il has created a nation of hysterically nationalistic, xeonophobic, physically stunted slaves, says Christopher Hitchens.
China: Confucian or Cartman?
The Chinese government likes to use Confucianism as a justification for its authoritarianism, but in reality, it subscribes far more to the ideology of Cartman’s “Respect mah authorithay!” than anything ever written by Confucius, says Dave Bath.
Are Australians racist? The view from India
The local press has been full of “Are Australians racist?” op-eds over the past few weeks, and the issue is just as popular amongst pundits in India. A look at what the country’s commentators have been saying.
Bishop: Let’s send India a peace offering — uranium
Deputy Opposition leader Julie Bishop has a novel idea for how Australia can repair its relationship with India over that whole “beating up Indian students” thing: agree to start selling the nuclear state uranium again.
Is the US at war with Pakistan?
Three American soldiers have been killed in Pakistan, where the US has been launching missile attacks, drone strikes and raids since last year. Can we start using the “w” word yet? asks Noah Shachtman.
Inside the gun markets of Pakistan
Vice journalist Suroosh Alvi visits “the most dangerous place in the world” — a massive open-air gun market in Pakistan’s tribal area, where members of the Taliban and jihadists go to buy their firearms.
leaked A fascinating look inside the espionage tactics of Chinese spies
A leaked MI5 document reveals the tricks Chinese spies in Britain have used to bug, burgle and blackmail UK business executives, allowing them to hack into the computer networks and email accounts of major companies.
Australia rolls out the welcome mat for war criminal retirees
If Canberra fails to take its global responsibilities seriously, another chapter will be added to the already dismal history Australia has of allowing sanctuary to killers, brutes and generals.
India: Australia, a nation of repressed racists
A fascinating article from Indian magazine Outlook India on the recent spate of violence against Indian students in Melbourne, suggesting the attacks stem from Aussies’ “latent racism” that has been inflamed by the GFC.
Richardson: Elections matter — just ask the Tamils
If more Tamils had voted in the last Sri Lankan election, there might have been no renewal of the war, no large-scale human rights abuses, and even no boatloads of refugees off the Australian coast, says Charles Richardson.
Chinese censors pull the plug on Avatar
Hollywood may love it, but the Chinese don’t. The Chinese government has decided to stop screening Avatar on the advice of the censors, who say that it may cause unrest, explains Peter Craven.
Costello’s $600 million Cambodian crusade
Peter Costello’s $600 million private equity foray into Cambodia will struggle to avoid the corrupt taxes and charges attached to nearly all commercial deals in the mostly-peasant nation, write Bernard Keane and Andrew Crook.
Inside China’s baby trade
Chinese orphanages are paying poor farmers hundreds of dollars for their newborns to feed the lucrative Western adoption market.
BBC: Melbourne is still Australia’s “most successfully multi-racial city”
Melbourne’s self-declared reputation as “one of the world’s most harmonious and culturally diverse communities” has taken a blow with the recent killing of Indian student Nitin Garg — but the vilification is unfair and unfounded, says the Beeb.
Why violence against Indians is about way more than racism
Locking the debate of violence against Indian students into either racist or not-racist means the issue becomes highly polarized and hysterical. Let’s have a rational debate about the cultural and economic issues, minus the rhetoric, pleads Tejaswini V. Patil.
Sheridan: Why Hilary is Asia’s golden child
From praising our PM as an Asian leader, to actually turning up to diplomatic meetings, Hillary Clinton gets a thumbs up in managing Asian and American relations, writes Greg Sheridan.
revealed 
China’s secret army of cyberterrorists
A classified FBI report claims China is operating an 180,000-strong army of “cyberspies”, launching 90,000 attacks a year just against US Defense Department computers.
China stamps all over Antarctica
China has come out and said what other countries have previously not dared: they want to mine the natural resources of Antarctica. Can the Antarctic Treaty hold or will China flex its muscles like it did in Copenhagen?
China only knows the “throw another shrimp on the barbie” Australia
China is our biggest economic trading partner, yet most their knowledge of Australian culture is limited to the kangaroo and Nicole Kidman basics. More federal funding is needed to promote cultural diplomacy, writes Dan Edwards.
Japan cuts the crap on whaling
Japan has a new government, and unlike the previous administration, this one isn’t pulling any punches on the country’s love of whale meat, says Peter Alford.
The Whale War: 2010-?
The crash between Sea Shepherd boat Ady Gil and a Japanese whaler may be the catalyst for finally ending Japan and Australia’s long time feud over the legality of whaling in Australian waters. Stop diplomacy and get ready for the Whale War, argues Natalie Klein.
Turmoil on the high seas: how Australia can stop Japan
Australia still has several diplomatic and legal options it can take to try and halt Japan’s ‘scientific’ whaling, and there’s historical evidence that it wouldn’t destroy our relationship with Japan, argues Donald Rothwell.
Bartlett: The developing politics of tweeting
When it comes to politics and social media, the greater potential for improving genuine public engagement lies in developing countries and democracies using the technology, not just the Anglosphere, argues Andrew Bartlett.
