Oz’s Reorientation White papers illustrate the country’s new Asia-centered priorities

Between 2009, under the government led by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in Australia, and 2013 when Julia Gillard was leader, Australia has produced two white papers on defense. The difference, at least in terms of their tone, is striking and has attracted much media commentary in Australia and abroad. These two important papers need to be put in context. Australia is geographically a huge country.     

THE POWERS OF XI JINPING

Since becoming head of the Communist Party in China in late 2012, Xi Jinping has accrued an impressive raft of titles. He has been compared to the founder of the regime, Mao Zedong, and is seen by some as sitting at the centre of a network of different power sources. But is power as personalised as this model makes out in contemporary China, with all its complexity and diversity? And can one person really rule the continental sized country in this paternalistic way? This article argues that Xi's powers are intrinsically linked with the organisation that he leads and which his power is sourced in – the Party itself. Far from him being the emperor of modern China, it is the Communist Party which acts as the all-seeing, all-powerful ruler. In this model, Xi is its servant, not its master.     

NEW CHALLENGES

<正>A diverse range of global issues puts Chinese diplomacy to the testThe National People’s Congress,China’s top legislature,opened its annual full session on March 5.Both the Report on the Government Work delivered by Premier Li Keqiang at its opening and the press conference held on March 8 by Foreign Minister Wang Yi on its sidelines made one thing abundantly clear:What happens inside China is linked to and profoundly affects the outside world.Likewise,     

The Middle-Income Kingdom

正The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) opened in Beijing on November 8. The first day consisted of the report made by Hu Jintao, General Secretary