Fortunes of war: why the Australian media won’t change how it writes about China
April 20 2023
Australian journalists have adopted a 'cold war' mindset on China. And as it turns out, warmongering may be a sound business strategy. Click to read more.
TikTok bans could be the canary in the coalmine for global economic and technological fractures
April 14 2023
How Western governments decide to deal with TikTok could have massive ramifications for relations with China. Click to read more.
The troubled love lives of China’s rural migrants
April 10 2023
For the past decade or so, the Western media has been critical of the Chinese state, the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party. This criticism has been made in the context of a small number of issues, such as human rights in Xinjiang, political dissent in Hong Kong and Western citizens detained in China. Click to read more.
‘The media normalises war-mongering’: how Chinese Australians respond to talk of war in mainstream media
March 30 2023
Early this month, the Daily Mail published a story online implying three Chinese men taking photos at the Avalon Airshow in Melbourne were spies. After complaints and an open letter condemning the paper for racially profiling the Chinese communities and throwing around baseless accusations, the story disappeared from the Mail’s site without explanation. Click to read more.
Who can win the hearts of NSW’s Chinese-Australian voters?
March 16 2023
As the election looms, different parties are trying to court the state’s Chinese-Australian voters. Some approaches have been more genuine, and successful, than others. Click to read more.
Red Alert: news media ‘Sleep-Walking’ into US war propaganda
March 15 2023
One of the best-known writers on public opinion, Walter Lippmann, tells us that every conflict is fought on two fronts: the battlefield and the minds of people via propaganda. ‘We must remember that in time of war what is said on the enemy’s side of the front is always propaganda, and what is said on our side of the front is truth and righteousness’. Click to read more.
‘Don’t mention the war’: China and Japan’s diplomatic row and history’s long arm
February 16 2023
The ambassadorial stoush between the two outspoken consuls has stirred up antagonism and lots of hurt feelings. Click to read more.
Pearls and Irritations refuses to follow the pack mentality
February 02 2023
A tonic for readers who are drowning in news about China, climate change and socioeconomic problems… Click to read more.
COVID-19 tests for Chinese arrivals pose a wicked problem for Labor
January 23 2023
China ending its zero-COVID policy left Australia facing a conundrum: to test or not to test Chinese travellers. The jury is still out on its decision. Click to read more.
The Liberals’ review of Chinese-Australian voters betrays more blind spots
January 04 2023
The Liberal Party’s problem with Chinese-Australian voters became apparent after its loss in the May 2022 federal election. Post-election number-crunching reveals that in 15 seats with large concentrations of Chinese-Australian voters, the swing against the Liberals was 6.6 percent, in contrast to 3.7 percent in other seats. Click to read more.
Libs alienated Chinese Australians. Labor listened, learnt, and got their votes
November 29 2022
Anti-Asian racism and hostility from right-wing media and politicians helped Dan Andrews regain power in Victoria on Saturday. Click to read more.
Misconstruing China’s ‘demands’, Australian media beat the drums of war
July 13 2022
Do journalists deliberately mistranslate statements or are they just ignorant as they continue the Chinese 'threat' narrative? Click here to read more.
The Liberals’ anti-China rhetoric cost them votes and, likely, key seats
May 23 2022
The Coalition's gamble with its 'China threat' stance backfired spectacularly. The question now remains, will Labor prove worthy of the Chinese Australian vote? Click to read more.
WeChat’s positive influence on Mandarin speakers this election — and on democracy
May 19 2022
Despite being a platform controlled by the Chinese government, WeChat has become a wellspring of open political discussion this election. Click to read more.
Mandarin-speaking voters are more engaged this election — for obvious reasons
May 18 2022
Many Liberal-leaning Chinese Australians are turning away from what appears to be the Coalition's deliberately hawkish anti-China rhetoric. Click to read more.
“Bad China” makes good news stories — but who benefits and who suffers?
November 15 2022
Positive energy is in the air in anticipation of a possible meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and many are evidently encouraged by the positive vibes from the recent telephone conversation between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Australian counterpart Penny Wong. Click to read more.
What Scott did, and what Labor needs to undo: How to retain the Chinese-Australian Vote
June 02 2022
‘Is there anything that you specifically think Anthony Albanese would do better?’ a journalist in the National Press Club asked Grace Tame, the 2021 Australian of the Year, and a fearless champion for women in Australia. Tame answered, ‘All Anthony would have to do is none of the things that Scott’s done.’ Click to read more.
Ill informed media led a merry dance by ‘hack’ on Morrison’s WeChat account
January 30 2022
The ‘hijacking’ of the Prime Minister’s account is a complicated story that, when simplified, fits neatly again into the anti-China narrative. Click to read more.
Between watch dog and guard dog: the China threat and the Australian media
December 05 2021
What is the role of Australian media, especially news media, in shaping a sense of who we are as a nation, amidst talk of a Cold War with China? Click to read more.
Chinese whispers: in search of truth about the ‘China threat’ in the Australian media
November 25 2021
Recent claims have put Beijing's influence on the Australian media sphere at eye-watering levels. But where do the numbers come from? An academic tries to find out. Click to read more.
WeChat’s Potential for Social Activism and Civic Action in the Chinese Diaspora (GJIA Dec 10, 2020)
January 04 2021
WeChat is predominantly used by Mandarin speakers both within and outside China. Although this social media platform is owned by a Chinese company and is subject to China’s censorship and scrutiny, it nevertheless has the potential to enable social activism and civic action in the Chinese diaspora across the globe. Click to read more.
Australian universities and the anxiety of Chinese influence
July 04 2021
Sometime in 2010, a graduate journalism student from China asked to meet with me. She needed to interview at least two people for one of her assignments, and her chosen topic was the media in China and freedom of expression. She told me that she had already spoken with the well-known Australian writer Frank Moorhouse about his decision not to visit China as a protest against China’s treatment of political dissident Liu Xiaobo. Moreover, now she wanted to talk to me, too. Click to read more.
Fear and Loathing: Australian media on China and Covid-19
March 19 2021
The way various segments of the Australian media report on China’s COVID-19 experience reflects these media’s own fears and anxieties and their political, ideological, and cultural positions. More credible media outlets in Australia have mostly framed China’s efforts in political and ideological terms. Click to read more.
Many Australians with a Chinese background feel caught ‘between a rock and a hard place’
December 11 2020
I was invited to give the annual 2020 Henry Chan lecture at a time when Chinese-Australians had well and truly become objects of suspicion and distrust. I have been doing research on Chinese-language media in the Chinese diaspora for two decades. Click to read more.
Response to ‘Red Flag: Waking Up to China’s Challenge’ by Peter Hartcher
March 25 2020
Following the logic of his own argument, can we assume that Hartcher now wants to recant the position he has advanced in the Quarterly Essay? Click to read more.
China’s journey through Covid-19: A tale of one city and one family
March 20 2020
A difficult question is whether we can achieve similar results(as China) without the heavy-handed top-down control and significant incursions into individual liberty and freedom as we have seen in the City Y. Click to read more.
“When a scholar meets a soldier …”: Why I’ve decided not to speak to the senate inquiry on diaspora communities in Australia (ABC Oct 21, 2020)
October 23 2020
What purpose does Senator Abetz’s questioning of Chinese Australians serve, other than to make them feel that they will never belong, no matter how long they have lived here or how hard they have tried? Click to read more.
Issues with the Chinese diaspora’s political participation
July 19 2020
Australia’s public diplomacy agenda does not seem to have translated into concrete policies in regard to the Chinese diaspora, argues this excerpt from a submission to a current Senate inquiry. Click to read more.
Australia’s nation-building must start re-imagining Chinese-Australians as part of the ‘national self’, not the nation’s ‘internal Other
February 18 2020
Australia is now home to more than 1.3 million citizens of Chinese heritage. They have been profoundly alienated. Click to read more.
New Model of Public Diplomacy Is Needed in the Digital Era
August 18 2018
The Department of Communications is now reviewing submissions on the issue of Australian Broadcasting Services in the Asia-Pacific region. In my submission, I argue that public diplomacy in the digital era requires not simply a rejigging of the current broadcast transmission model; it also requires a complete paradigm shift. Click to read more.
How Australia’s Mandarin speakers get their news
November 22 2018
The question of how much influence the Chinese government wields on the Mandarin-speaking community in Australia has been of increasing interest in recent months...Click to read more.
Megaphone diplomacy is good for selling papers, but harmful for Australia-China relations
May 29 2018
The issue of China’s influence in Australia is complex. It ranges from worries about national security, political donations and media infiltration to concerns about scientific collaborations, Confucius Institutes, the patriotism of Chinese students, and allegiance of the Chinese community. Click to read more.
After the streaming ‘gold rush’ – a guide to China’s video crackdown
August 03 2017
When China’s government banned video streaming on the site AcFun (Site A) in June, little did we know that the days of Bilibili – its sister site, commonly referred as Site B – were also numbered. Click to read more.
China bans streaming video as it struggles to keep up with live content
June 28 2017
Streaming video is testing the limits of China’s media control. A recent ban affecting three of China’s biggest online platforms aimed at “cleaning up the air in cyberspace” is just the latest government crackdown on user-generated content, and especially live streaming. Click to read more.
Beyond the war of words: how might the Australian media’s coverage of China affect social cohesion?
September 22 2016
The Australian government’s Public Diplomacy Strategy points to the importance of “diaspora diplomacy”. It promises to take steps to “engage diaspora communities drawing on their linguistic skills, social networks and cultural community connections”, by making active use of “online and social media as public diplomacy tools”... Click to read more.
Shock horror: the big end of town has finally discovered Australia’s media is a whitewash
August 23 2016
A recent PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report on media diversity and a raft of other initiatives show corporate and quasi-government cultural agencies may suddenly have woken up to the fact that Australia’s media are, well, white. Click to read more.
Australian media deals with China – blind spot, or troubling hypocrisy?
June 07 2016
On a Saturday morning two weeks ago while browsing WeChat, I saw an announcement of the signing of a memorandum between the Australia-China Relations Institute and Xinhua, China’s official news agency. Intrigued, I searched Xinhua’s website, and, sure enough, found a news story confirming this post... Click to read more.
Looking behind the screens of the ABC’s China deal
April 22 2014
ABC International has reasons to be proud of its recent “landmark” deal to provide ABC content in China. Click to read more.
To block or not to block: do Chinese audiences actually want access to foreign media?
November 07 2013
International reporting on China is dominated by stories of the Chinese government’s propensity to block access to a number of foreign online media outlets, search engines and social media forums. Click to read more.
Different media: Why universities should learn from international students
November 03 2011
There is a vast difference between how China is reported inside and outside the country. And that extends to how media and communication is taught in China and Australia. Click to read more.
ABC Radio National The Minefield: National security or xenophobic conspiracy?
What role is the Australian media playing in casting Chinese Australians as ciphers for foreign influence, or as an undifferentiated (or essentialised) 'Other'? Is the Australian media’s persistently negative coverage of China having the effect of both alienating Chinese Australians and promoting a kind of countervailing pro-China nationalism? ...Prof Wanning Sun discusses these issues with Waleed Aly and Scott Stephens at ABC Radio National Programme The Minefield.
Saturday Extra, ABC Radio National: Is WeChat a problem for Australia?
Prof. Wanning Sun discusses the issue of Wechat with Geraldine Doogue, Saturday Extra, ABC Radio National.
Follow Prof Wanning Sun on 2SER's new show The Middle, exploring the complex and changing relationships between Australia, China and USA.
Episode 6: A Handshake and a Bow
China is one of Australia's key trading partners in the Asia Pacific. Have we built a partnership or dependence?
In this new episode, two guests were invited to talk about the issue:
Guests Wei Li, from The University of Sydney Business School
She is particularly interested in the transformation of state owned and private enterprises and the role of the state as promoter of international business activity.
Greg McCarthy, BHP Chair of Australian Studies at Peking University in Beijing
His research focuses on transitional change within and between nations, exploring how material, cultural and political forces create instability and how nations, institutions and people adapt to uncertainty.
调查：在澳普通话人群如何获取新闻资讯
由本项目举办的澳洲首次“中文数字和社交媒体在澳洲的使用情况调查”的部分结果近日在The Conversation发表，“今日悉尼”转载。
How Australia’s Mandarin speakers get their news
Our Chinese-Language Digital/Social Media in Australia: Rethinking Soft Power project held a survey on how the Mandarin-speaking population in Australia accesses news and information earlier this year and recently some findings of the survey has been published both in The Conversation and Sydney Today.
Click here to read English version
Click here to read Chinese version
Tensions in Australia-China relationship affect local community
ABC national Radio interview: The ongoing debate over Chinese influence in Australia is being felt by local Australian-Chinese who say that there’s a sense of guilt by association creeping into their professional and personal lives. Wanning Sun, Jackson Kwok and Kun Huang are urging caution against what they describe as a creeping anti-Chinese sentiment. Read more...
Chinese Students in Australia - with Wanning Sun
Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI) discussion: Prof Wanning Sun from UTS joins James Laurenceson from ACRI to discuss the challenges faced by Chinese students and their instructors in Australian universities, and how these challenges may be addressed. Read more...
Australian Financial Review questioned over deal to share content with China’s Caixin Global
ABC News: Questions have been raised about the Australian Financial Review's decision to sign a content-sharing agreement with a Chinese media outlet subject to Chinese Government oversight. Read more...
Is China a Surveillance State?
Regarding the rise of surveillance tech in China, Prof Wanning Sun shared a look into the historical roots of the social credit system of the country. Read more...