by Wanning Sun China Matters, April 2019 Over the past decade, Chinese-language digital and social media have grown into a vibrant and complex sector, both in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and globally. WeChat, the most popular of the social media platforms, is problematic in Australia because it… Continue reading
The rapid growth of the Chinese social networking platform WeChat, combined with China’s history of censorship and interference in its domestic media and technology organisations, has led to speculation about possible security risks and political interference within Australia, particularly in the run up to the 2019 federal election. However the… Continue reading
By Wanning Sun Professor of Media and Cultural Studies, University of Technology Sydney NSW Labor leader Michael Daley’s “young Asians with PhDs taking our jobs” blunder cost him dearly in the recent NSW state election. His defeat also offered a taste of the crucial role the Chinese social networking… Continue reading
By Wanning Sun. On March 27 this year, two weeks before the federal election was called, Mandarin-speaking voters in Australia were invited to take part in a novel political experiment – to interact, live, with Opposition Leader Bill Shorten on the popular Chinese social media platform WeChat. The event was… Continue reading
An ABC news story, ‘Chinese media mocks Australia and Prime Minister in WeChat posts’, fails to mention a few key points, and as a result, is potentially misleading, even confusing. The story cites a paper that makes a few claims. The first claim is that there has been a clear… Continue reading
Guest: Wanning Sun, Professor of Media and Communication at the University of Technology Sydney. Presenter: Waleed Aly / Scott Stephens LISTEN NOW The spectre of ‘Chinese influence’ rears its head within Australian public life and political debate with a disturbing regularity. Every few months, it seems, stories surface about… Continue reading
The discourse on China’s influence in Australia has recently shifted its focus to Chinese students on Australian university campuses. They are seen as pro-Chinese Communist Party nationalists who sing the Chinese national anthem and shout profane abuse at pro-Hong Kong-protest supporters in our universities in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide…. Continue reading
Reports on daigou (personal shoppers) in Australia have evoked mixed feelings about Chinese presence and influence in Australian everyday and economic lives. From the moral panic about Chinese invading and disrupting Australian way of economic life to the recent call to ‘embrace them’ by cross-border e-commerce and business communities, daigou… Continue reading
Earlier this year, a new app was launched in China to put the patriotism of Chinese citizens to the test. Named “Study Xi to Strengthen the Nation”, the app quizzes users on all things related to President Xi Jinping – his policies, activities, achievements, theories and thoughts. Users can earn… Continue reading
WeChat is the preferred social networking platform in China, as well as among the Chinese-speaking diaspora in Australia. Shutterstock Wanning Sun, University of Technology Sydney There are currently about 1.2 million people of Chinese origin in Australia. Approximtely half of them were born in China and speak Mandarin in the… Continue reading
