Asia Rising

By La Trobe AsiaNews Politics

Asia Rising episodes

November 30, 2017 Event: Reading Duterte's Reign
President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte has been called many names: The Trump of the East, a dictator-in-waiting, the bastard child of Philippines’ democracy.
Beyond these colourful labels, however, are critical social transformations occurring in the Philippine society that accompany Duterte’s rise to presidency.
SPEAKERS:

Dr Nicole Curato (ARC Discovery Early Career Research Fellow, Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance, University of Canberra).

Professor Nick Bisley (Executive Director, La Trobe Asia, La Trobe University)
This event was the book launch of a new book edited by Nicole Curato: 'The Duterte Reader: Critical Essays on Rodrigo Duterte’s Early Presidency'.
Held at the City Campus of La Trobe University on 30 November 2017.
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November 28, 2017 Event: China-Australia Relations: Affluence, Influence and Soft Power
China and Australia have relationship anchored by strong trade bonds, and there is a respectful prime-ministerial level dialogue between the two countries.
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 will discuss the key challenges and opportunities confronting the bilateral relationship of China and Australia.

SPEAKERS:

Professor Nick Bisley (La Trobe Asia, La Trobe University)

Professor Chen Hong (Australian Studies Centre, East China Normal University)

Professor Hou Minyue (Australian Studies Centre, East China Normal University)

Assoc Professor James Leibold (Politics and Philosophy, La Trobe University)
Recorded on November 21, 2017 at East China Normal University, Shanghai.
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November 28, 2017 Lecture: China-Australia Relations: Affluence, Influence and Soft Power
China and Australia have relationship anchored by strong trade bonds, and there is a respectful prime-ministerial level dialogue between the two countries.
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 will discuss the key challenges and opportunities confronting the bilateral relationship of China and Australia.
SPEAKERS:
Professor Nick Bisley (La Trobe Asia, La Trobe University)
Professor Chen Hong (Australian Studies Centre, East China Normal University)
Professor Hou Minyue (Australian Studies Centre, East China Normal University)
Assoc Professor James Leibold (Politics and Philosophy, La Trobe University)
Recorded on November 21, 2017 at East China Normal University, Shanghai.
2 hr 12 min
November 16, 2017 Event: The Changing World Order?
Australia has a vital set of relationships with its Asian neighbours, built on the foundation of shared geography, security interests and mutually beneficial trade. Over recent decades Japan and China have become global powerhouses and India may yet join them. Having strong, beneficial relations with these countries will only become more important.
One of the most important figures in building these relationships is Gareth Evans. When he became Foreign Minister in September 1988 he prioritised building a strong relationship between Australia and Asian countries, navigating the troubled relationship with Indonesia, working closely with China and other regional powers in initiating the UN peace plan for Cambodia, and playing key roles in the creation of new regional economic and security policy architecture with APEC and the ASEAN Regional Forum.
This conversation reflects on Gareth Evans’ time in office, discuss his thoughts on Australia’s place in Asia and how our region’s future may unfold. He is in conversation with Professor Nick Bisley, executive director of La Trobe Asia.
Gareth Evans was a member of parliament and Cabinet member throughout the Hawke-Keating years. His newbook, Incorrigible Optimist: A Political Memoir is published by Melbourne University Publishing.
Recorded at the State Library of Victoria on 15 November, 2017.
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November 16, 2017 Lecture: The Changing World Order?
Australia has a vital set of relationships with its Asian neighbours, built on the foundation of shared geography, security interests and mutually beneficial trade. Over recent decades Japan and China have become global powerhouses and India may yet join them. Having strong, beneficial relations with these countries will only become more important.
One of the most important figures in building these relationships is Gareth Evans. When he became Foreign Minister in September 1988 he prioritised building a strong relationship between Australia and Asian countries, navigating the troubled relationship with Indonesia, working closely with China and other regional powers in initiating the UN peace plan for Cambodia, and playing key roles in the creation of new regional economic and security policy architecture with APEC and the ASEAN Regional Forum.
This conversation reflects on Gareth Evans’ time in office, discuss his thoughts on Australia’s place in Asia and how our region’s future may unfold. He is in conversation with Professor Nick Bisley, executive director of La Trobe Asia.
Gareth Evans was a member of parliament and Cabinet member throughout the Hawke-Keating years. His newbook, Incorrigible Optimist: A Political Memoir is published by Melbourne University Publishing.
Recorded at the State Library of Victoria on 15 November, 2017.
1 hr 25 min
November 08, 2017 #83 Rethinking Education in China
Western countries are impressed by the performance of China's schools in international tests and search for the secrets of their success, but are we overlooking the punishing nature of elite schooling in China and its role in increasing inequality?
Guest:

Professor Edward Vickers (Comparative Education, Kyushu University), co-author of Education and Society in Post-Mao China (Routledge 2017).
Follow La Trobe Asia on Twitter: @LaTrobeAsia
25 min
October 31, 2017 Lecture: Asia's Reckoning
For more than half a century, American power in the Pacific has successfully kept the peace. But it has also cemented the tensions in the toxic rivalry between China and Japan, consumed with endless history wars and entrenched political dynasties.
Now, the combination of these forces with Donald Trump's unpredictable impulses and disdain for America's old alliances threatens to upend the region, and accelerate the unravelling of the postwar order. If the United States helped lay the postwar foundations for modern Asia, now the anchor of the global economy, that structure is now crumbling.
Richard McGregor is a journalist and an author with extensive experience in reporting from East Asia and Washington. He is the author of Asia's Reckoning: China, Japan, the US and the Struggle for Global Power.
A La Trobe Asia seminar recorded on 1st August, 2017.
31 min
October 24, 2017 #82 Modi's Economic Leadership
India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, is a man with strong views on economics. He came into office in 2014 with a vision for India to be a global manufacturing power, and promises that his leadership will usher in economic revival.
Has Modi's economic leadership paid off, or is India still waiting for the cheque to clear?
Guest:

Adam Roberts (former South Asia correspondent for the Economist, current Europe business correspondent, author of "Superfast Primetime Ultimate Nation: the Relentless Invention of Modern India”)
Follow Adam Roberts on Twitter: @ARobertsJourno

Follow La Trobe Asia on Twitter: @LaTrobeAsia
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October 19, 2017 #81 China's New Era
China’s Communist Party Congress has begun in Beijing and opened with an address from General Secretary Xi Jinping. The country’s most powerful leader in decades, Xi game himself a glowing report card and set an ambitious agenda for his second term, keeping a captive audience of delegates entranced 205 minutes.
What did the address have to say about the successes of China, the new era it approaches, and the role of Xi Jinping moving forward?
Guest:

Professor Nick Bisley (Executive Director, La Trobe Asia, Professor of International Relations)
Follow Nick Bisley on Twitter: @NickBisley

Follow La Trobe Asia on Twitter: @latrobeasia
0 min
October 17, 2017 Event: Education and Society in Post-Mao China
Recent years have witnessed mingled alarm and envy in the West at the supposed excellence of China's education system - epitomized by Shanghai's PISA success. But much public discussion of the context for that success, and of the nature of the education system that has produced it, remains worryingly superficial.
Drawing on a new monograph, Education and Society in Post-Mao China (Routledge 2017), this talk re-examines the educational record of China during the four decades of 'Reform and Opening'.
It argues that evaluation of this record depends very much on the evaluator's comparative perspective and ethical assumptions. Notwithstanding its impressive performance on many counts, education in Post-Mao China has played a key role in fostering radical social stratification - a role that is not accidental, but intrinsic to the system's design.
Edward Vickers is a Professor of Comparative Education at Kyushu University. His research focuses on the contemporary history of education in Chinese societies (mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong), with a particular focus on the role of schools and other public institutions in political socialization.
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