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Last month a trilateral pact bringing together Australia, the US and the UK (AUKUS) was established, with its first major initiative being the roll-out of nuclear submarines in Australia. While the countries have maintained that the pact is not directed at any one country, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) likely features prominently in the partnership's thinking.

How does this change the strategic landscape and what are the big picture implications for Australia, especially within the context of its relationship with the PRC? Will it effectively enhance Australia’s defence capabilities? How has it been received in the region? How is it viewed by the PRC and what might Beijing’s response be?

The Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS:ACRI) hosted a webinar with Professor Allan Gyngell, National President of the Australian Institute of International Affairs and former Director-General of the Office of National Assessments; Professor Caitlin Byrne, Director of the Griffith Asia Institute at Griffith University; and Jingdong Yuan, UTS:ACRI Adjunct Associate Professor and Associate Professor at the University of Sydney, moderated by Glenda Korporaal, UTS:ACRI Adjunct Industry Fellow and columnist for The Australian, to discuss these questions and more.

Time: 12.30pm - 1.30pm AEDT

 

About the speakers

Allan Gyngell AO

Professor Allan Gyngell AO was appointed the National President of the Australian Institute of International Affairs (AIIA) in September 2017, having previously been named a Fellow of the AIIA in 2010.

He is an honorary professor with the Australian National University’s College of Asia and the Pacific and was most recently Director of the ANU Crawford Leadership Forum.

Mr Gyngell has had an extensive career in Australian international affairs. He was the Director-General of the Australian Office of National Assessments (ONA) from 2009 to 2013. Prior to leading the ONA, he was the founding Executive Director of the Lowy Institute for International Policy from 2003 to 2009. Additionally, he has worked at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, serving as an Australian diplomat in Rangoon, Singapore and Washington. He was Senior Advisor (International) to Prime Minister Paul Keating between 1993 and 1996.

Mr Gyngell was appointed as an Officer in the Order of Australia in 2009 for services to international relations. In 2007, he co-authored Making Australian Foreign Policy with Michael Wesley. His most recent book, Fear of Abandonment: Australia in the World Since 1942, was released in 2017 to considerable acclaim.

Caitlin Byrne

Professor Caitlin Byrne is Director of the Griffith Asia Institute. She is a Fellow of the Australian Institute for International Affairs (AIIA) and Faculty Fellow of the University of Southern California's Centre for Public Diplomacy (CPD). Professor Byrne's research is focused on Australian diplomacy with a special interest in Australia's engagement in the Asia-Pacific region. Most recent research projects explore the role of leadership, soft power and public diplomacy-including people-to-people connections developed through international education, culture and sport-in developing Australia's regional influence, relationships and reputation. Professor Byrne brings expertise in executive education and currently delivers training on Soft Power & Public Diplomacy, and International Policy & Tradecraft through Australia's Diplomatic Academy in Canberra. She consults on occasion to government in the areas of strategic foreign policy and diplomatic practice. Prior to joining academia, Professor Byrne had established a professional career spanning strategic management, legal, foreign and social policy roles in government, business and community sectors.

Jingdong Yuan

Dr Jingdong Yuan is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Australia-China Relations Institute, University of Technology Sydney.

Dr Yuan is also an Associate Professor at the Department of Government and International Relations, University of Sydney.

Dr Yuan’s research focuses on Indo–Pacific security, Chinese foreign policy, Sino–Indian relations, and nuclear arms control and nonproliferation. He has held visiting appointments at the National University of Singapore, University of Macau, East–West Center, National Cheng-chi University, Mercator Institute for China Studies, Fudan University, Berlin Social Sciences Centre (WZB), and United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR). He is the co-author of Chinese Cruise Missiles: A Quiet Force-Multiplier (2014) and China and India: Cooperation or Conflict? (2003), and co-editor of Australia and China at 40 (2012). His publications have appeared in Asian Survey, Australian Journal of International Affairs, Contemporary Security Policy, International Affairs, International Journal, Journal of Contemporary China, Journal of International Affairs, Nonproliferation Review, Washington Quarterly, and in many edited volumes. He is currently completing a book manuscript on China-South Asian relations.

 

About the moderator

Glenda Korporaal OAM

Glenda Korporaal is an Adjunct Industry Fellow at the Australia-China Relations Institute, University of Technology Sydney (UTS:ACRI).

Ms Korporaal is a Sydney based journalist with The Australian newspaper specialising in business, financial affairs and international relations. She is a former London, Washington and New York correspondent of The Australian Financial Review (AFR) and was the first woman deputy editor of the AFR (1986-1988).

She has been business editor of The Bulletin magazine, editor of The Australian’s monthly business magazine, The Deal, and associate editor (business) of The Australian.

She has a strong interest in Asia, particularly China, since her first visit to the People's Republic of China (PRC) on a 'farm study tour' in 1978. She was the China correspondent for The Australian in 2018 and 2019. She has lived and worked in Hong Kong (2001-2003) and Singapore (1998-1999).

She has had a strong interest in the Olympics having covered Games in Atlanta (1996), Nagano (1998), Sydney (2000), Athens (2004), Beijing (2008) and London (2012).

She is the author of several books including Making Magic. The Marion Mahony Griffin Story, An Olympic Life (with Kevan Gosper), The Bid. How Australia won the 2000 Games (with Rod McGeoch), The AARNet Story, 20 years of the internet in Australia, and Yankee Dollars. The Story of Australian Investment in the US.

She holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and a Master of Arts (Economics) George Washington University, Washington DC.

She was awarded an OAM for her contribution to print journalism in the Australia Day honours of January 2019.

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