China, the South Pacific and Australia: A perfect storm?

The Oceania region faces major challenges in the immediate future: global economic instability; rising geopolitical competition; and the effects of climate change threaten to create a perfect storm for these small, open and exposed societies.

Professor Michael Wesley, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Culture and Engagement, at Melbourne University and previously board director of China Matters, will present a keynote about the effects of the growing threats facing Pacific Island nations. He will explore how these threats will affect Pacific Island states, and what may be their options for coping, including managing relations with Canberra and Beijing.

The inaugural China Matters-UTS:ACRI Fellow, Dr Edward Chan, will share key findings of his new policy research report about Beijing’s security ambitions in the South Pacific, and provide his assessment of how concerned Canberra should be. Dr Chan spent over 10 weeks in the PRC, Fiji and the Solomon Islands conducting research for this report. More about the Fellowship here.

Professor James Laurenceson, UTS:ACRI Director, will host a Q&A with both speakers. Linda Jakobson, founding director of China Matters, will participate (remotely) in the discussion.

Welcome drinks will be served from 5.30 pm. Formal proceedings will commence at 6.00 pm.

About the speakers

Michael Wesley

Professor Wesley is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Global, Culture and Engagement) at the University of Melbourne. He is an expert in international affairs with extensive experience in international strategy and relations, and has worked in higher education, government and the private sector. He has published on Australian foreign policy, Asia’s international relations and strategic affairs, and the politics of state-building interventions.

Previously, Professor Wesley was Professor of International Affairs and Dean of the College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University and the Director of the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs at ANU. He has also held positions as the Executive Director of the Lowy Institute for International Policy, Director of the Griffith Asia Institute at Griffith University, and Assistant Director-General for Transnational Issues at the Office of National Assessments. He has a PhD in International Relations from the University of St Andrews.

Edward Chan

Dr Edward Chan is a scholar, researcher, and policy analyst specialising in China’s maritime security. He is a Postdoctoral Fellow from the Australian Centre on China in the World, the Australian National University (ANU). With expertise in international relations, Indo-Pacific security, China’s foreign policy, and maritime security, his current research focuses on China’s evolving influence in oceans governance. He is the author of China’s Maritime Security Strategy: The Evolution of a Growing Sea Power (Routledge, 2021). He is also the Associate Editor of The China Journal. 

Dr Chan’s Fellowship project is titled, 'Australia-China relations and maritime security in the South Pacific'. It aims to strengthen understanding of how Australia can effectively navigate its various maritime interests in the context of China’s rising presence in the South Pacific region, while seeking opportunities for engagement between the two countries in non-conventional security issues.

Linda Jakobson

Ms Linda Jakobson is the Founding Director and former Deputy Chair of China Matters. A Mandarin speaker, she has lived and worked in the PRC for 22 years and written five books about the PRC and East Asia. She is internationally known for her publications about the PRC’s foreign policy, cross-Strait relations, and the PRC’s Arctic ambitions. She has served as a policy advisor on China to governments in seven countries. 

About the moderator

Professor James Laurenceson 

Professor James Laurenceson is Director of the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS:ACRI). His research interests relate to the Chinese economy and the Australia-China economic and broader relationship.