China
China’s Priority Next: Faith or Freedom?
In my previous article "China 2024 and Beyond", I argued that China, amid its troubles, is in desperate need of a visionary leader akin to Deng Xiaoping. Such a leader could rejuvenate China's economy through policies that prioritise freedom. The esteemed former senator, Bob Day, responded by emphasising the power of the Gospel when contemplating China's future trajectory. It's a...
What should the Australian Defence Force do?
Hint: the answer is in the name The Australian Defence Force (ADF) does lots of things it shouldn’t. Restrict the trading of others The Australian Defence Force (ADF) helps to enforce sanctions. It contributes in varying degrees to efforts to enforce sanctions endorsed by the United Nations Security Council, like sanctions against North Korea, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and various countries in Africa,...
Decommissioning Solar & Wind Projects: A Costly Endeavour
Over the last decade, decommissioning and waste management of solar and wind energy projects has grown into a thriving industry. In the decades to come, with the continued deployment of projects all over the world, it will massively expand. Solar and wind projects require highly specialised recycling and waste management processes. Decommissioning large plants can run up costs of millions,...
Good Reasons for Suspicion
Worldwide outrage engendered by the SWIFT Affair seems rather quaint today. Operating since 1973, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication is the messaging system that accounts for almost all international financial transactions. Evidence emerged in 2006 that the United States government had been covertly monitoring SWIFT transactions since the late 1990s and in collaboration with SWIFT since 2001. SWIFT’s...
China’s Dystopia II: The Digital Panopticon
During my recent one-month stay in China's bustling metropolises, the omnipresence of technology, particularly WeChat (a “Super App” Elon Musk wants X to be for the West), was starkly evident. QR codes adorned nearly every surface, from restaurant menus to market stalls, making WeChat an indispensable part of daily life. The 'everything app' seamlessly integrates functions akin to WhatsApp,...
The Death of Li Keqiang
Li Keqiang, China’s former Prime Minister, passed away on 27th October 2023, at the age of 68. His death has plunged many in China and around the world into mourning, particularly those who supported his vision of greater economic freedom rather than increased state control in China, and towards more political diversity instead of ever-increasing centralised power. Li Keqiang was...
Laughing In The Face of Tyranny, $1 Million Bounty On Their Heads
Imagine you lived in Australia and enjoyed a great life. Then the government became tyrannical, you protested for democracy, but an anti-democratic security law was passed and you were intimidated and arrested. Released, you fled to New Zealand and were granted a visa there. But the Australian Federal Police placed a bounty on your head of $A190,202 (US$127,728) and...
INTERVIEW: Former Chinese Diplomat Embraces Liberty
Since a new Labor government in Australia was elected in 2022, there has been a warming trend in Australia-China relations. Our ministers are back engaging with Beijing officials and trips to China by our elected leaders are resuming. The CCP influence whistleblower, Sydney based former Chinese diplomat Mr Yonglin Chen, who defected to Australia in 2005, issued a warning many...
Betrayal for Bucks: A Seduction Story
If Foreign Interference is still a strange concept for laid-back Aussies, we will all soon be familiar with it – directed, supervised or financed foreign meddling and, unfortunately, citizens who knowingly assist with such foreign meddling for various reasons. The most common reason, of course, is financial benefits. And the most rampant meddler is not Iran, or even Russia, but Communist China,...
INTERVIEW: Undaunted, He Still Fights For Freedom
Australia is home to nearly 3,000 Tibetans. This number has increased steadily by around 100 new Tibetans a year. Almost all are on humanitarian visas. 3,000 is not a huge number, but it fills up the whole town of, say, McLaren Vale, a well-known wine-producing region in South Australia. Whilst it may sound quite cozy, the reality of life for these Tibetans, of...
