Asia Rising

China’s political and economic growth in the past three decades has been rapid and impressive, and central to this transformation has been the role of the Chinese communist Party. It controls the government, courts, media and military, and its decisions have a global impact.

Guest: Richard McGregor, journalist and author of ‘The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist Rulers’.

Follow Richard McGregor on Twitter: @mcgregorrichard

A North Korean threat is a reality Asia has had to deal with for some time, but now that they have nuclear weapons that can reach the United States mainland the stakes of changed.

Tensions on the Korean peninsula remain high, and two unpredictable and strong-willed leaders, Kim Jong-Un and Donald Trump, could escalate the situation quickly.

Guests:

Follow Nick Bisley on Twitter: @NickBisley

Japan has a challenging future. Its population is declining, the economy remains anaemic while the country’s security environment is extremely challenging.

North Korea presents an existential threat, and China’s growing military power threatens the country’s long-term interests. Even though it is an affluent country the restrictive constitution forced on it after World War II places limitations on Japan’s military and makes it dependent on its ally, the United States.

Murray McLean (Former Australian Ambassador to Japan (2004-2011)) speaks to Professor Nick Bisley (Executive Director, La Trobe Asia) about the impact a more strategically influential Japan could have on Asia and the world.

Follow Nick Bisley on Twitter: @NickBisley

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.

In recent years, the English-speaking world has become wildly enthusiastic about India. India is a trusted ally, ‘the world’s largest democracy’, and it’s the ‘democratic counterweight’ to China.

Despite these pronouncements, India has continually defied and confounded the expectations of the English-speaking world. Dr Alexander Davis, (New Generation Network research fellow with La Trobe University Department of Politics and Philosophy and the Australia India Institute) speaks to Matt Smith about the English-speaking world's 'India problem'.

Follow Alex Davis on Twitter: @AlexEDavisNGN

The Great Wall has long been a symbol of China, but a problematic one - an authentic experience can be hard to find, and in the modern day China wants to be seen as open and inviting, but a wall closes off, and keeps people out.

Associate Professor James Leibold (Department of Politics and Philosophy, La Trobe University) and Dr Graeme Smith (Research Fellow at the Australian National University) take Matt Smith on a tour of the Great Wall of China.

Follow James Leibold on Twitter: @jleibold

Globalisation and major power rivalry are creating a China-centric integrated Asian strategic system, drawing together the once-discrete theatres of Northeast, Southeast, South and Central Asia. Nationalist ambition among the region’s giants will make integrated Asia an unstable place where cooperation among the great powers will be much harder to achieve than in the past.

Professor Nick Bisley (Executive Director, La Trobe Asia) speaks to Dr Andrew Carr (Senior Lecturer, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University) about changing strategic geography.

This podcast was recorded live at the launch the new Centre of Gravity Paper ‘Integrated Asia’ by Nick Bisley, on 20th June, 2017.

Download the paper from the Centre of Gravity website.

Follow Nick Bisley on Twitter: @NickBisley

Is Tibetanness under threat? As more young Tibet are lured towards a dominant Chinese education, Tibetans are faced with hard realities of ethnocultural survival.

Dr Adrian Zenz (European School of Culture and Theology, Germany) speaks to Associate Professor James Leibold (Politics, La Trobe University) about the challenges facing Tibetan language and culture in China.

Follow Adrian Zenz on Twitter: @adrianzenz

On 14 May this year 33 world leaders gathered in Beijing for what has been touted as the inaugural Belt and Road Forum for international Cooperation. Billed as the biggest diplomatic event in China this year the summit was ostensibly about improving economic integration between East and West and providing leadership to a global economy going through difficult times.

Dr Luca Anceschi (Lecturer in Central Asian Studies, University of Glasgow) joins Professor Nick Bisley (Executive Director, La Trobe Asia) to discuss the Belt and Road Initiative and its potential to usher in a new era of Chinese global dominance.

Follow Luca Anceschi on Twitter: @anceschistan

Since the fall of President Suharto’s new order regime in 1998, culture has exploded in Indonesia, and nowhere is this more evident than in the media. With increases in media providers comes increases in diversity of media forums and media content. With such an increasing in offering comes an altering of the public discourse that can further change democracy and modernity.

Professor Ariel Heryanto (Herb Feith Professor for the Study of Indonesia at Monash University) speaks to Matt Smith about the politics and development of Indonesian screen culture.

Follow Ariel Heryanto on Twitter: @ariel_heryanto