Foreign affairs

On March 17 2015 ACRI held the first event in our China Correspondents Series.

Our panel comprised Australian journalists who reported from Beijing. What were their bottom line conclusions about how China works? How did they cultivate sources? What do their experiences tell us about China's current role in world affairs?

Helene Chung was an ABC Beijing correspondent during 1983-1986, the first non-white reporter on Australian TV and the first female posted abroad by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

On February 24 2015 ACRI hosted His Excellency Dr Marty Natalegawa. Dr Natalegawa's visit was sponsored by Macquarie Bank.

A gifted professional diplomat who served from 2009 until 2014 as Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Dr Natalegawa also served as Indonesian Ambassador to the United Nations and Ambassador to the United Kingdom.

Watch the video to hear Dr Natalegawa in conversation with Bob Carr, ACRI Director and former Australian Foreign Minister, on China, South East Asia and Australia.

Although Australia and China’s bilateral relations were formally established in 1972, Gough Whitlam initiated the process in 1971. As Leader of the Opposition, Whitlam met with Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in Beijing. Whitlam took a political risk in the face of staunch anti-Communist sentiments and the McMahon Government’s unwillingness to recognise China.

On June 4 2015, in the second instalment of the ACRI Prime Ministers Series, former Prime Minister Bob Hawke discussed his China policy with the ABC's Geraldine Doogue.

Mr Hawke explored the role of personal rapport in the bilateral relationship and how it was rebuilt after Tiananmen. He also provided broader insights into the Australia-China relationship, based on his extensive contact with China in the last 25 years. 

The Hon Bob Hawke was Prime Minister from 1983 to 1991 during the period of Deng Xiaoping’s reforms, the crisis of Tiananmen and the rise of Jiang Zemin.