Posts in Faultlines
Australia-China relations: Where to now?

Written by Elena Collinson

After seven years marked by bullying and heavy-handed tactics by Beijing, episodes of diplomatic inelegance by Canberra, and the asperity of mutual criticism, Australia-China relations have tentatively shifted to a more normalised state.

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NZ: Maori foreign policy to manage increasingly challenging relationship with China

Written by Bonnie Holster and Nicholas Ross Smith

Beyond the changing language of New Zealand’s strategic communications, its experimentation with a kaupapa Maori foreign policy has the potential to be transformative.

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The EU’s Anti-Coercion Instrument — A new step in EU-China escalation?

Written by Sjorre Couvreur

The adoption of the Anti-Coercion Instrument entails an important step for the EU’s adjustment to an increasingly geoeconomic context in international trade policy.

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Walking a tightrope: Balancing research security concerns with a need for China competence

Written by Dr Hannes Gohli

To make judgements on research security, but also business transactions and diplomatic relations with China, establishing a knowledge base on the country is of vital importance. Yet precisely at this critical moment, when European governments are calling for more China competence, student numbers in Sinology are declining.

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Player or pawn? The geopolitics of the Nuclear Suppliers Group

Written by Syeda Saba Batool

Whether the NSG can impartially assess India’s and Pakistan’s bids for membership is a litmus test for the group’s credibility.

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Forum: The Israel-Palestine conflict and the Indo-Pacific

Recent events have again shaken the decades-long conflict between Israel and Palestine leading to new unspeakable levels of suffering.

Here, 9DASHLINE brings together a group of experts to provide us with a view from the Indo-Pacific and explore the conflict’s significance for the region.

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Fukushima’s waters: discharge decision, politics, and nuclear safety standards

Written by Shivani Singh and Chetan Rana

The fact that different states in the region, despite being exposed to similar risks, are not aligned in either supporting or protesting Japan’s decision is an indicator of the divisions being caused by the great power politics at play.

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Faultlines9DLFukushima’s waters: discharge decision, politics, and standards of nuclear safety, 9dashline, Chetan Rana, Shivani Singh, Fukushima, nuclear, nuclear technology, Fukushima nuclear plant, International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, discharge water, Japan, Fukushima disaster, nuclear accidents, Indo-Pacific, Tōhoku earthquake, tsunami, nuclear reactor, core meltdown, radioactive materials, safety culture, nuclear industry, seismic, reform, earthquake preparedness, seismic designs, nuclear facilities, phenomena, plant operators, Tokyo Electric Power Company, TEPCO, Nuclear and Industry Safety Agency, NISA, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, METI, mismanagement, safety inspections, power plant, international standards, commercial power reactors, Nuclear Regulatory Authority, Ministry of the Environment, disaster management, radioactive water, contaminated water, Fukushima reactors, ocean, Natural Resources and Energy, laws on nuclear safety, natural hazards, natural disasters, operational negligence, lax regulatory oversight, man-made disaster, China, Russia, North Korea, Sino-American great power competition, Pacific Islands, Solomon Islands, Fiji, ecological concerns, economic concerns, atomic tests, Runit Dome, US nuclear tests, Yoon Suk Yeol, Taiwan, Philippines, Cook Islands, Advanced Liquid Processing System, carbon-14, tritium, dilution, WHO, National Association of Marine Laboratories, NAML, UNCLOS, Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy, Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage, Convention on Nuclear Safety, CNS, earthquake, and nuclear safety standards, Pacific
Hold on tight! The US, Indo-Pacific, and expectations for a second Trump term

Written by Blake H. Berger

If Trump prevails in the 2024 election, and if his first term indicates what the region can expect from a second one, hold tight because it will get ugly.

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China’s uncertain future as a global security provider

Written by Lukas Fiala

The key question is whether Xi’s growing assertiveness and inadequacy of existing means to ensure the security of Chinese entities abroad will lead to a more pronounced security footprint over the coming decade, featuring new military base arrangements and, potentially, institutionalised security guarantees.

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Faultlines9DLChina’s uncertain future as a global security provider, Lukas Fiala, 9DashLine, China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Beijing, Global South, security, mediator, Riyadh, Tehran, Middle East, Washington, diplomacy, isolation, COVID-19, pandemic, United States, China’s overseas security strategy, strategy, foreign policy, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary Xi Jinping, mediation, peace and security, peace broker, non-state actors, intrastate conflicts, statist approach, Ukraine, Russia, Israel, Palestine, security and defence cooperation, Hu Jintao, United Nations peacekeeping (UNPK) missions, South Sudan, Mali, Africa, Latin America, multilateral, Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), military base in Djibouti, Global Security Initiative (GSI), security actor, US-led global security order, global security governance, UN Charter, indivisible security, sovereignty, 1975 Helsinki Accords, Vladimir Putin, NATO expansion, NATO, Russia’s war in Ukraine, Western imperialism, imperial history, Western colonial powers, century of national humiliation, Soviet Union, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), Western hegemony, principle of non-interference, non-aligned movement, Cold War, non-intervention, 干涉, 干预, security provider, Sudan, Libya, ‘Go Out Strategy’ (走出去战略), Chinese state-owned enterprises, natural resources, raw materials, multilateral lenders, development finance, human rights, good governance, 2008 Beijing Olympics, al-Bashir regime, African Union, Darfur, Libyan civil war, People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA), Wolf Warrior Diplomacy, Chinese interests, power projection, security-development nexus, liberal peace, developmental peace, Ethiopia, civil war, Pakistan, South Asia, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Islamic extremism, Islamabad, sovereign lender, arbiter, Abiy Ahmed, Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), Horn of Africa, Xue Bing, Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Saudi-Iran rapprochement, Iraq, Afghanistan, global war on terror, piracy, Gulf of Aden, 9dashline
No country for asylum-seekers: The complexity of refugee protection in South Korea

Written by Dr Angela Y. McClean

South Korea’s migration agenda has primarily been utilitarian, prioritising migrant populations that are deemed undisruptive to the Korean social and ethnic makeup, and necessary to the development of the nation, while imposing restrictions on those who are not.

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Why China is an unlikely mediator in the Russia-Ukraine war

Written by Dr Eva Seiwert

Despite China’s interest in increasing its involvement in crisis resolution, it remains unclear whether Beijing is willing to mediate, and whether it can be a fair broker, in the Russia-Ukraine war.

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ASML, China, and Dutch national security interests

Written by Frans-Paul van der Putten

Given the potential geopolitical consequences of the Dutch assumptions for EU-China relations and Transatlantic security cooperation, the Dutch government should be more explicit about its considerations for further restricting semiconductor equipment exports.

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Farmers, Facebook, and Myanmar’s coup

Written by Hilary Faxon, Kendra Kintzi, Van Tran, Kay Zak Wine & Swan Ye Htut

Consistent with broader trends across Facebook in Myanmar, in the days and weeks that followed the coup, farming groups erupted with political news and calls to support the Civil Disobedience Movement.

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A law to rein in tech firms: the US is restricting China by emulating it

Written by Wendy Chang and Antonia Hmaidi

By expanding the definition of national security to address the newly antagonistic world that China and the US perceive themselves in, both countries seem ready to accept the fragmentation of their ever-more digital economies and societies as inevitable.

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Faultlines, Power Politics9DL9DashLine, Wendy Chang, Antonia Hmaidi, A law to rein in tech firms: the US is restricting China by emulating it, United States, China, RESTRICT Act, Beijing, national security, tech, technology competition, Washington, arbitrary power, weaponised trade, weaponised interdependence, weaponised legislation, TikTok, foreign adversaries, National Security, rules-based international order, global trade, Congress, President Joe Biden, Cub, Iran, Venezuela, Russia, North Korea, Secretary of Commerce, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Didi, cybersecurity, weaponisation of security laws, Cyberspace Administration of China, National Security Law, Measures for Cybersecurity Review, Cybersecurity Law, Micron, data security, chip exports, export control, chip-makers, Democratic Senator Mark Warner, authoritarian countries, Department of Commerce, user data, tech companies, lobbying, Patriot Act for the Digital Age, spying, internet freedom, Data Security Law, Huawei, 5G mobile networks, geo-economics, economic security, technological security, protectionism, World Trade Organisation, tariffs, Inflation Reduction Act, clean energy, electric vehicles, unfair competition, CHIPS and Science Act, semiconductors, semiconductor supply chains, semiconductor equipment, chip-manufacturing, R&D, quantum computing, artificial intelligence, technological superiority, industrial policy, free trade, great power competition, COVID-19, supply-chain disruptions, war in Ukraine, subsidies, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, China’s rise, open and free internet
Eyes on Asia: Shangri-La Security Dialogue's role in managing great power rivalry

Written by Hunter Marston

For Singapore, the advantages are inordinate. As a tiny island nation, the annual conference allows the country to exercise a degree of influence and statecraft on the world stage that its material resources and capacity might not otherwise grant it.

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The United States and China: Two alternative visions of regional order

Written by Dr Matteo Dian

Both US allies and non-aligned partners are deepening their security relationship with Washington as their main insurance policy against increasingly frequent Chinese coercion.

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Sabah is a flashpoint for Islamist extremism and separatism in Southeast Asia

Written by Dr Maurizio Geri

Both the Malaysian and Philippine governments should be careful not to allow pressure from these disparate groups to create discord which could unravel the critical progress made so far through the Bangsamoro peace process.

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Elephant in the room: Indonesia hesitates to strike India-Russia missile deal

Written by Andi Raihanah Ashar

Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia are unlikely to pursue a missile deal involving an India-Russian joint venture as long as they have to put their relationship with the US at risk.

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Faultlines9DL9DashLine, Elephant in the room: Indonesia hesitates to strike India-Russia missile deal, Andi Raihanah Ashar, Indonesia, China, Russia, India, Act East, strategic partner, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, defence exports, arms sales, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, New Delhi, BrahMos Aerospace, defence industry, Defence Research and Development Organisation, NPO Mashinostroyenia (NPOM), sanctions, Russian war against Ukraine, interoperability, India’s defence industry, Beijing, military equipment, defence budget, deterrence, cruise missile, supersonic cruise missile, United States International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), hypersonic missile, Atul D. Rane, Philippines, Philippine Marine Corps, sea-denial capability, Manila, Luzon, Palawan, South China Sea, Vietnam, Malaysia, territorial disputes, nine-dash line, Jakarta, National Armed Forces (TNI), Minimum Essential Force (MEF), Andika Perkasa, Prabowo Subianto, France, Qatar, Germany, Turkey, procurement, Rajnath Singh, Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak, coastal defence, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), PT Len Industri, Joko Widodo, Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), Washington, USA, Iran, North Korea, Sukhoi Su-27 SK/SKM, Su-30MKK/MK2, Mil Mi-17V5, Mil Mi35P, P-800 Oniks (3M55), army, navy, air force, KRI Oswald Siahaan, US Senate, Sukhoi Su-35, F-5 Tiger, Lockheed Martin F-16V, 22 BMP-3F, 21 BT-3F, Su-27/30, Belarus, Harry Roque, BrahMos, NPOM, Mashinostroyenia, Ukraine, Southeast Asia, International Traffic in Arms Regulations, ITAR, Palawan Islands, Nine Dash Line, Widodo, CAATSA, Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, Sukhoi, Maritime Security and Counterterrorism, Modi