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China reclaimed its status as the second-largest bilateral donor to Pacific island countries (after Australia) following a pandemic lull, supplanting the United States with a surge in official development financing, loans and grants, according to findings published in a Lowy Institute report on Nov. 19.

China, Pacific Islands: Beijing Supplants U.S. as Second-Largest Bilateral Donor

Hong Kong SAR, China

Hong Kong's High Court sentenced 45 of the "Hong Kong 47" activists accused of holding unsanctioned democratic primaries in 2020 to four to 10 years in jail, Reuters reported on Nov. 19. 

Hong Kong: Sentencing of Democracy Activists To Rekindle Tensions With U.S., Australia

Cyber

Environment, Science & Technology

Science & Technology

The Australian government is set to pass legislation banning social media for children under 16, according to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as cited by the Australian Financial Review on Nov. 7.

Australia: Social Media Ban for Minors To Go Forward, Aiming for 2025 Implementation

France

Australia will invest up to $12 billion in its domestic munitions manufacturing by establishing a manufacturing facility with U.S. company Lockheed Martin, including for the manufacture of Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, or GMLRS, which it will make for the first time, according to an Australian Department of Defense readout released Oct. 30.

Australia: Canberra To Invest in Advanced Munitions Manufacturing Amid Defense Overhaul

China will lift trade restrictions on Australian lobster by the end of 2024, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said while meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Laos, Reuters reported on Oct. 10. 

China, Australia: Beijing Promises To Lift Final Trade Restrictions on Canberra by Year's End

Canada

Japan

New Zealand

South Korea

United Kingdom

Leaders of the AUKUS grouping (the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia) issued a joint statement on Sept. 18 revealing ongoing consultations with Canada, New Zealand and South Korea to collaborate on Pillar II of the agreement.

AUKUS: Joint Statement Hints at Expansion

United Arab Emirates

Energy

Australia and the United Arab Emirates reached a trade deal that will remove a wide range of tariffs and encourage Emirati investment in Australia's critical minerals and clean energy sectors, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported on Sept. 17.

Australia, UAE: Countries Strike Free Trade Agreement

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that his government will introduce legislation to institute legal age minimums for social media platforms before the end of the year, The Straits Times reported on Sept. 10, adding that the platforms' impact on minors has proven a ''scourge.''

Australia: Government to Introduce Social Media Age Restrictions

Assessments

Israel

Palestinian Territories

Samoa

Federated States of Micronesia

Fiji

Marshall Islands

Nauru

Palau

Papua New Guinea

Tonga

Tuvalu

Vanuatu

Ukraine

Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky holds a flag during a ceremony on Ukraine's Independence Day on Aug. 24, 2023, in Kyiv, Ukraine. 

Israel-Hamas Conflict

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

A look at what the coming week will bring -- and a list of recommended RANE articles from the week that was.

The Weekly Rundown: Gaza Cease-Fire Talks Resume, Ukraine Observes Third Post-Invasion Independence Day

Venezuela

Iran

Lebanon

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris listens as President Joe Biden speaks during a Women's History Month reception in the White House on March 18, 2024.

The Weekly Rundown: Escalation in the Middle East, Kamala Harris' VP Pick

Ghana

Kenya

Nigeria

Uganda

Philippines

India

A motorcyclist looks at his phone in front of a National Electoral Council poster promoting the upcoming presidential election in Caracas, Venezuela, on July 23, 2024.

Global Elections

The Weekly Rundown: An Election in Venezuela, Economic Reforms in the U.K.

Snapshots

Guinea

A stock photo shows a large, open-pit iron ore mine with various layers of soil.

If the project's completion is not derailed by renewed political instability in Guinea, the giant Simandou mine's iron ore exports will help China diversify its supplies and decarbonize its steelmaking industry. 

What Africa's Largest Mining Project Means for Guinea, China and the World

South Africa

Malaysia

Germany

Switzerland

President Cyril Ramaphosa is sworn in as member of parliament during the first sitting of the new South African parliament on June 14 in Cape Town, South Africa. Ramaphosa will be inaugurated to a second term in a ceremony scheduled to take place June 19 in Pretoria.

The Weekly Rundown: Ukraine's Peace Summit, South Africa's Inauguration

The Solomon Islands' newly elected prime minister Jeremiah Manele speaks during a press conference in Honiara on May 2, 2024.

The leadership change will maintain the strategic Pacific Island nation's new pro-Beijing bent, driving the U.S. and Australia to scale up their own influence campaigns.

The Solomon Islands Elects Another Pro-China Prime Minister

Columns

On Geopolitics

Indonesia

North Korea

Singapore

Vietnam

A 3D rendering of Southeast Asia from space at night with city lights showing Southeast Asian cities in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

U.S.-China Relations

In the Asia-Pacific, countries are increasingly pursuing complex networks of political, economic and defense ties as part of a burgeoning "multi-alignment" strategy that seeks to avoid U.S.-China strategic competition.

Examining 'Multi-Alignment' in the Asia-Pacific

Europe

Chinese car manufacturer BYD's stacked electric vehicles wait to be loaded onto a ship at the international container terminal of Taicang Port at Suzhou Port in China's eastern Jiangsu province on Sept. 11, 2023.

As Chinese electric vehicles threaten to flood Western markets, Washington and Brussels prepare restrictions to protect domestic manufacturers and secure sensitive data. 

Chinese Electric Vehicles Prepare to Hit the Great Wall of Western Tariffs

Egypt

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on March 14, 2024, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.

The Weekly Rundown: Dueling U.S. and Chinese Diplomacy, a European Council Summit

A digital illustration of the Australian and Vietnamese flags.

The decision aligns with both countries' desire to diversify their regional partnerships amid U.S. policy uncertainty and China's growing assertiveness.

The Significance of Australia and Vietnam's Move to Upgrade Relations

Pakistan

Chinese officials at the Fifth Plenary Session of the National People's Congress on March 12, 2023 in Beijing. Beijing will host the annual Two Sessions meetings of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, an industry and societal consultative body, and the rubberstamp National People's Congress from March 4-11.

The Weekly Rundown: Pakistan Selects a New Premier, China's Two Sessions

A screen outside a shopping mall in Beijing, China, shows news coverage of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (left) shaking hands with Chinese Premier Li Qiang during their meeting in the Chinese capital on Nov. 7, 2023. 

The Australian prime minister's recent trip to Beijing represents the reset in relations both countries have sought since last year, but any gains may be short-lived.

Conflicting Security Priorities Will Haunt Australia-China Rapprochement

Australia is an island nation straddling the Indian Ocean basin and the South Pacific. Once a colony of the United Kingdom, the country began a move toward independence in 1901. Today, the Commonwealth of Australia encompasses the mainland of the Australian continent, Tasmania and more than 8,000 other islands in the continent’s surrounding waters.    Australia’s interior, known as the Outback, is mostly desert. This largely uninhabitable area is home to Australia’s iron and coal reserves, among the world’s largest. Mining has grown in importance for the Australian economy and remains a key driver of future economic growth.    The Melbourne-Sydney-Brisbane corridor forms the population core along the fertile South Eastern coastline, while the capital Canberra is situated in the interior near the Murray-Darling River System. The Murray-Darling Basin is Australia's agricultural heartland but is cut off from the core by the mountains of the Great Dividing Range.     Australia's main geographic challenge is managing its isolation and small population, which is stretched thinly along its coasts. These factors affect almost all domestic and foreign policy decisions. Distance and isolation mean that Australia relies heavily on shipping lanes for its economic security. This has led Australia to build close alliances with global maritime powers — first the United Kingdom and later the United States — to protect its access to ocean trade as well as deter attacks from other powers.     Increasingly, Canberra must balance its strategic, military and cultural ties to the United States and Europe with greater economic integration with East and Southeast Asia, and especially China — its largest trading partner.

The U.S. and the Balance of Power

Commodities: A Cautionary Tale

China in Transition

SITUATION REPORTS

China, Pacific Islands: Beijing Supplants U.S. as Second-Largest Bilateral Donor

Hong Kong: Sentencing of Democracy Activists To Rekindle Tensions With U.S., Australia

Australia: Social Media Ban for Minors To Go Forward, Aiming for 2025 Implementation

Australia: Canberra To Invest in Advanced Munitions Manufacturing Amid Defense Overhaul

China, Australia: Beijing Promises To Lift Final Trade Restrictions on Canberra by Year's End

AUKUS: Joint Statement Hints at Expansion

Australia, UAE: Countries Strike Free Trade Agreement

Australia: Government to Introduce Social Media Age Restrictions

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