@mhar4
@mhar4
Taiwan, China, social theory, ideology and politics. mhar4_threads or http://mhar4.bsky.social
Thanks for making Revolutionary Taiwan by @catielila and me the number 1 book about Taiwan this week.
🇦🇺 PM @AlboMP fields a question on a Chinese media report of his comments to Xi Jinping about Taiwan.
Great piece on the recall elections in Taiwan from @heldavidson in @GuardianAus. theguardian.com/world/2025/jul…
"I was a diplomat in Taiwan. Australia’s security depends on it" Terrific defence of the Australia-Taiwan relationship from former representative Jenny Bloomfield. afr.com/policy/foreign…
Here's ChatGPT extolling the benefits of Australia-China youth exchanges.
Excellent from @BangXiao_ on a soft power initiative from Beijing to shape China discourse in Australia. Australian institutions fall for this use of a progressive aesthetic to serve the PRC system and its ideological and security interests every time. abc.net.au/news/2025-07-2…
Excellent from @BangXiao_ on a soft power initiative from Beijing to shape China discourse in Australia. Australian institutions fall for this use of a progressive aesthetic to serve the PRC system and its ideological and security interests every time. abc.net.au/news/2025-07-2…
"The status quo, in Australia’s view, is that Taiwan should not declare independence unilaterally and China should not retake the island without negotiations." From @paulsakkal on @AlboMP's visit to China. That's not really the "status quo", though. smh.com.au/politics/feder…
Former FM Gareth Evans frames Taiwan's lack of diplomatic recognition as a moral condition of the Taiwanese, arguing that their lives are less worthy than those of Ukrainians or Kuwaitis.
Former FM Gareth Evans repeats Beijing talking points that the Taiwanese are to blame for China's military threats against them and in any case a China-Taiwan war doesn't matter because Beijing is so far away and the PLA naval flotilla around Australia was just "cheeky".
Substantive and heartfelt commentary from @TaiwanAustralia representative Douglas Hsu in @australian.
Critique of @JAParker29's recent writing that concludes that, in the interests of the global mining giants, Australia should join China in an invasion of Taiwan.
1. @JAParker29 via @ASPI_org offers a truly abysmal analysis on so many levels "if deterrence fails, we must be ready to defend our vital interests" Not the least of which is conflating the fate of 🇹🇼 with 🇦🇺 vital interests aspistrategist.org.au/dont-kid-yours…
The author seemingly unaware or uninterested in the 23 million Taiwanese people who live in Taiwan.
To many Australians, including our political leaders, our alliance with the US keeps us safe from China. In fact the opposite may be true, writes Wanning Sun. crikey.com.au/2025/06/10/chi…
Important new essay by Mark Harrison on the terminal decline of Chinese studies in Australia at a time when knowledge about China is critical to Australia's national interest and future asaa.asn.au/on-the-decline…
From @JohnRHewson in @SatPaper. Needless to say, the idea that China could launch a military invasion and occupation of Taiwan and this would not completely upend security for the whole region is demonstrably absurd.
"Our federal opposition still apparently has little to offer by way of constructive contributions, beyond their vague commitment at the last election to increase defence spending by some $21 billion," writes John Hewson. satpa.pe/XgQoBn3
Fantastic from Nathan Attrill, putting away one of the hoariest and most nonsensical clichés of Taiwan analysis, that a Taiwanese government could suddenly "declare independence". aspistrategist.org.au/every-day-is-i…
This speech by Taiwan president @ChingteLai, no.3 in his 10 Talks on National Unity, locating the current LY and the recall movement within the history of ROC constitution and the role of social movements in Taiwan's democracy struggle is remarkable. cna.com.tw/news/aipl/2025…
"I believe that to truly understand China, one must first understand the CPC. So, what is the real CPC? I would like to share my perspective with our guests from afar from three dimensions." au.china-embassy.gov.cn/eng/dshd/20250…
Great power competition. PRC ambassador Xiao Qian given another public platform in Australia, this time to request that Australia refute US demands and not increase defence spending and to insist that Australia will prosper under China's hegemony.
