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This paper explores public discourses of race and nation in Australia and Singapore, focusing on their historical and contemporary relationship with China and the Chinese. Both countries are govern...

The sustained growth and importance of Asia as a hub of economic, social and political activity has attracted significant foreign direct investment and opportunities for economies from the West and other parts of the world to invest in this fast growing region. Regional headquarters and global innovation hubs of large multinational corporations (MNCs) are evidence of an Asian century phenomenon. The proliferation of tax havens in the region or the use of tax havens by firms in the Asian region is no surprise. This is evidenced through a complex and systematic policy choice by power coalitions, to facilitate their interests as well as trade and growth in the region. This proliferation has also had an impact on the changing identity of Asian MNCs in Asia. In this paper, we highlight this new and pervasive trend by presenting findings from recent research in the region on the topic of tax havens and identities of Asian MNCs.

Twenty-first century world politics is increasingly multipolar with the rise of China, Russia and other regional powers. In this new global and regional context, Australia’s relations with the United States (US) and China are increasingly important. Since its signing of the ANZUS security alliance in 1951, Australia has followed US foreign policy. Australia must now attempt to continue to follow its principal military ally while being increasingly economically reliant on China, its major export market. Although Australia is an island continent separate from Southeast Asia, its trade and wealth are dependent on Asian markets, especially China. Australia continues to serve a policing role in the Asia–Pacific region on behalf of the US. It is for this reason that Australia plays a crucial security role in Washington’s Indo-Pacific Strategy. Nevertheless, as China’s Belt and Road Initiative continues to develop globally and involves Australian infrastructure, Australia’s US dependency and foreign policy must be re-evaluated to focus on Australia’s positioning in the Asia–Pacific region. This chapter explores Australia’s precarious position poised between US geo-strategy and China’s global economic development. Although China is Australia’s primary economic partner, Australia is critical of China’s human rights record and its military expansion in the South China Sea and continues to serve the military security strategy of the US in the Indo-Pacific region. The twenty-first century heralded the arrival of the “Asian Century”, and Australia is both a key country in the Asia–Pacific region and in the struggle between China’s Belt and Road Initiative the US Indo-Pacific Strategy for dominance.

The rise of two Asian powerhouses in world politics has prompted the current century to be dubbed as ‘The Asian Century’. This chapter investigates the concept of hegemony in this emerging global order, especially focusing on the role of India in this new configuration. The postcolonial state of India has faced a different dynamic of multiple hegemonies and struggle of counter-hegemonies, often intersecting with one another, both in contestation and collaboration. India's historical experiences with colonial rule and the intricacies of postcolonial state formation provide a different perspective to understand the hegemonic contestations among various elite groups and counter-hegemonic resistance. The rapidly changing global order enables a postcolonial rupture that challenges existing Eurocentric approaches to international relations and presents some promising opportunities to the Indian state. The chapter explores India's track record in the global community in challenging the existing hegemonic order. It highlights how India with its specific experiences with multiple hegemonies could participate in imagining an alternative framing of the global order.

This article analyses the policy discourse of Australian right-wing governments, exploring how such governments have combined neo-liberal economic policies with social conservatism, populism, cultu...

Every several years there is a new book reviewing Australia’s relationship with Indonesia, looking at the state of play and making suggestions for the future. They tend to follow a common pattern, ...

After a period of significant gains, achieved largely through the establishment of institutions that promoted international liberalism, the global order today finds itself at a crucial juncture. Rising inequality, the proliferation of nationalist politics, technology-induced disruptions and the resurgence of zero-sum geopolitics, are all beginning to shake the foundations of the global governance architecture built assiduously over the past 70 years. It is clear that the liberal order, as it is frequently referred to, will not be able to sustain its influence in the 21st century unless it finds new torchbearers in Asia, where politics and economics are scripting a story very different from that of post-war Europe. To some, it is evident that India, which has successfully combined economic growth with its own liberal traditions, will indeed be the heir to and guarantor of this system as an emerging and leading power.

Asia is Europe’s largest trading partner and EU-Asia trade relations have undergone a rapid change since the global financial crisis. On a global scale, the new multilateral trade agreements such as the now stalled Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) involving European Unions’ (EU) major trading partners such as Japan, Singapore and Vietnam also have the potential to change the trade equations. In this paper, we evaluate the new EU trade policy which has been designed to ensure that the EU benefits from the changing global trade scenario and also look at the steps which have been taken by the EU to promote trade relations with its major trading partners in Asia in the predicted ‘Asian century’. We look into the Free Trade Agreements, which are being negotiated with its Asian partners and seek to understand the reasons which have resulted in delays in their signing and negotiations. We evaluate new policies pushed forward by its Asian partners such as the One Belt One Road policy by China and Japan’s policy of securing a large number of trading agreements in the America. Moving ahead, we also shed light on the indirect factors that may influence the success of EU trade negotiations in Asia such as the EU policy on granting China market economy status and the commencement of the ‘Brexit’ process. Lastly, we try to present a list of immediate priorities for EU in Asia, which will ensure that it secures a toehold in trade with the region. All in all, it is shown that the EU has not one and the same approach for all Asian countries but it negotiates flexibly and individually country by country. Because of this “country by country approach” the EU is also not ready to enter into general EU-ASEAN trade negotiations again.

A largely forgotten history exists of extensive connections between Asia and Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) in the first half of the nineteenth century. Although it was a harsh and deadly place for Indigenous people and incarcerated convicts, Van Diemen’s Land offered opportunity for a growing society of merchants, farmers, bureaucrats, governors, judges, retired military men and their families. Asia was a lived presence in everyday life through the purchase and consumption of foodstuffs, clothing and furnishings from India and China. Cashed-up Vandemonians in the 1820s and 1830s could buy rice, silk, bamboo furniture and at least five different types of tea. Many colonial administrators had experience in Asia and brought Indian servants with them. Due to its climate, the island was touted as the perfect retirement destination for British military families retiring from India and other Asian postings. Asian ship crews were an everyday sight in port. Today, however, these past connections have been forgotten. Tasmania’s current turn to Asia as a key strategy for the state’s future economic prosperity appears to be something new. This article argues that revealing the heterogeneous past challenges contemporary views of historical Tasmania as isolated and monocultural and is essential in reshaping Tasmania’s imagined Asian future.

Since President Jokowi came to power in October 2014, Indonesia’s foreign policy has undergone fundamental change, most obviously in the state’s emphasis on domestic priorities rather than global e...

The 21st century may well be marked as the century of Asia. The rise of Asian countries in world politics provides conditions for the possible emergence of an Asian-influenced international system and an Asian perspective on global governance. In this aspect, Asian values would be suggested for the philosophical foundation for Asian-centric version of global governance. However, without examining the core concept of Asian values thoroughly, advocacy of Asian values grounded in de facto crude material powers of Asian countries would not have any chance to make their voice heard rightly. Also, just projection of Asian values as the tool to blame Western countries for greedy imperialism and to suggest a brand new political and philosophical basis for global governance unilaterally does not make a huge contribution to the international society so long as Asian values totally disregard core value system, including human rights, democracy and liberalism prevalent in a global relations. In this regard, any claims concerning Asian values should be tested in terms of both possible merits and demerits for a new basis for global governance. For the purpose of gaining meaningful support from the international society, Asian values should make an attempt to reflect current development of the global society, such as fostering human rights, establishment of democratic governance and laying a sound foundation for economic liberalism. Needless to say, advocacy of Asian values point rightly out that these development of the international society are mainly made by interests of Western countries and that Non-Western countries do have difficulty to adjust themselves to these development. However, as noted above, just suggesting Asian values as the alternative basis for the global governance without correcting Asians values inherent weakness would be understood as another grumbling about well established principles of the global governance. Reexamining the core concept of Asian values, rectifying Asian values" weakness and adapting Asian values to current development of international relations, Asian values ultimately make a huge contribution to international society through correcting international injustices brought by Western values. With a view to expanding the core value of Asian values, it is high time for Asian values to review its merits and demerits as the possible candidate for new political philosophy in the age of Asian century.

After its gradual establishment, the investment policy of the European Union experienced turbulent times when the EU and the United States commenced negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Trade and Investment Partnership. While the public and political focus concentrated on the transatlantic relations with the United States (TTIP) and Canada (CETA), the EU has steadily progressed at different paces with third countries in Asia where it commenced trade and investment negotiations with Singapore, Vietnam, Myanmar, China, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia among others. This paper seeks to evaluate how the Union has been successful in its “Asia strategy” in the field of investment negotiation and promotion of its reform approach to the investment protection regime. It offers an overview of the EU investment negotiations with the individual partners in the Far East and explores these relationships and their potential implications. It concludes that it is not surprising that the EU already persuaded the first countries in this region about its novel approach because of their strong motivation to conclude agreements with the EU that will ‘modernise’ and ‘harmonise’ the existing investment protection. On the other hand, challenges persist as it remains to be seen in which direction Asian actors will push for in the development of global investment governance.

The organizers of this Colloquium provided a number of prompts to help shape our conversation. These included a theoretical question—which agendas are most promising for the future development of the discipline?—and some political ones: What political concerns— within Australia, and internationally—shaped cultural studies’ practical engagements in the late 1990s? How have these changed? And which are now the most pressing? This short article attempts to respond to

As Australia propels towards a so-called ‘Asian Century', pro-diversity discourses have begun to permeate organizations and society. Yet despite this outward commitment to ethno-cultural diversity, mainstream diversity discourses and practices have been critiqued for subordinating social justice agendas and reinforcing the dominance of whiteness. This article analyses in-depth interviews with 18 Chinese Australian managers and local councillors engaged in various forms of diversity advocacy and practice. By reading their voices via the Chinese philosophy of Daoism, I offer an anti-racist praxis of diversity that bears the potential to disrupt white supremacy through the strength of softness and the power of non-action.

This article provides a comparative analysis of foreign language policies in Asia and Australia with reference to policy contexts, motivations and processes. The analysis is specifically motivated by the recent publication of theAustralia in the Asian CenturyWhite Paper that represents Australia’s renewed desire to engage with Asia by developing “Asia literacy” including the development of national proficiency in selected Asian languages. It is argued that, although foreign language policies in the two regions present interesting similarities in terms of policy contexts and goals, there is notabledisconnectbetween Asia and Australia that potentially undermines Australian policy desire toconnectwith Asia. Furthermore, although languages, like other national resources, are planned to address social needs and aspirations, subjecting languages to economic imperative reflects not only misconceptions of languages but also misappropriation of their potential.

Declining fertility and mortality rates in the second half of the twentieth century have led to the twenty-first century being characterised as the century of the aging population. Concurrently, the decline in the numbers of young people entering the labour force is exacerbating the problems arising from the aging population. Implications of these trends are analysed for a variety of Asian countries. Labour force growth in India and Pakistan will be sufficient to compensate for the shrinking labour forces in Europe and Asia excluding the massive fall in China; outsourcing labour to South Asia will be an increasing trend in the twenty-first century. The Asian countries with less problematic demographic structures are instead facing economic challenges and require education and training to improve labour productivity.

Asia is a region of economic miracles, and this festschrift for the esteemed development economist Prema-Chandra Athukorala highlights a major driver of Asia’s success: globalisation. Economic prog...

[Extract] The seeming “rise of Asia” and the advent of the “Asian century” has resulted in significant shifts to the gaze Western-orientated countries cast to Asia. Countries such as Australia, New Zealand, and Canada are increasingly challenging their colonial origins to ponder the possibilities of realigning themselves along new geo-political, cultural, and geographical orientations. This realignment takes many forms. In Australia it is referred to as “Asia literacy”, a term of debated origins but one that has nevertheless proved itself to be enduring, though inherently problematic, policy speak. Promoted primarily as an education solution to various economic, strategic, and cultural problems, it has failed to gain traction and widespread acceptance despite over 50 years of promotion by government bodies, policies, and interest groups. A major recurring criticism of the promoted solution is its inherent articulation within dominant instrumentalist discourse and colonial constructs (Salter, 2015; Singh, 1996; Takayama, 2016; Williamson-Fien, 1996).

This chapter argues that Western social democracy is facing a major challenge in attempting to reduce inequality because of a changing geo-economics that is resulting in a relative decline of the West. Given its geographic location, Australia is at the forefront of encountering such issues. Yet, Australian Labor, like many social democratic parties internationally, has often underestimated the challenges involved. In particular, information technology has facilitated phenomena such as offshoring for both unskilled and skilled workers and this tendency is likely to continue. If Australia, with its geographical proximity to Asia and resource rich economy, is feeling the challenge then that will be even more so for other Western social democracies. While the chapter predominantly focuses on Australian social democracy, international examples are given from other countries, including Britain, France, Chile and India. The international literature on globalisation and a changing geo-economics is also examined.

The Australian Diversity Council’s 2015 report Leading in the Asian Century: A National Scorecard of Australia’s Workforce Asia Capability discloses that lack of diversity is a liability for the Australian workforce. While the importance of strong economic and diplomatic links between Australia and Asia is widely agreed on, this is at odds with hegemonic popular culture. Australian popular culture is overwhelmingly anchored within the Anglosphere, with the exception of broadcaster SBS. The proliferation of media content providers in the digital age, however, allows audiences to seek out popular media outside mainstream and broadcast outlets. The small but established popularity of Korean popular culture (hallyu) and music has been enabled by YouTube, music streaming, and file-sharing. Crucially, this allows Australian audiences to explore popular culture beyond the Anglosphere. Capitalizing on K-pop’s trendiness, Korean language courses and institutes (such as the Sejong Institute) have seen significant growth. This chapter explores the K-pop audience in Sydney, and how interest in it affects perspectives and behaviours beyond music. It finds that K-pop provides an access point for audiences to increase their knowledge of Korean and East Asian culture as well as the Korean language, stimulating interest and engagement with Asia.

This paper discusses the issue of whether the 21st century will be an “Asian century.” According to a study commissioned by the Asian Development Bank, Asia 2050: Realizing the Asian Century, Asian countries will keep growing and eventually account for more than half of global GDP by 2050. The study, however, cautions that developing Asia may fall into the “middle-income trap” where growth stagnates due to the lack of productivity growth. This paper provides baseline projections for the world economy up to 2050 and argues that the “Asian century” scenario may be interpreted as one of the high growth cases for the model, and Asia may face the risk of stagnation due to the middle-income trap and/or “Asian conflict” resulting from political, security, and military tensions in Asia. The paper argues that in order to realise an “Asian century,” developing Asia needs to focus on technological progress, inclusive growth, environmental sustainability, institutional and governance quality, and regional cooperation and integration. It also points to possible global governance structures which are alternatives to an Asia-centric world, such as those of a “China century,” “American century 2.0,” “G-2,” “G-0,” and a “multi-polar” world. As the two major powers in this region, China and Japan need to cooperate with each other to maintain regional peace and security, and help realise the “Asian century.” The paper concludes that even when the “Asian century” arrives and Asia dominates the world in terms of economic size, it does not necessarily mean that Asia will dominate the world politically, institutionally, militarily, or in soft power. The 21st century will likely be a “multi-polar” world where the traditional powers of the West (the United States and European Union countries), Japan, and new rising powers (China, India, and other major emerging economies) collectively manage global economic and political affairs.

This article explores the utility of a constructivist-media communications approach to understanding the production of national identity in Australia through a case study of the Australian Labor Party's 2011 decision to allow uranium sales to India. The decision came at a time when Australian foreign policy, political debate and news media discourse were increasingly concerned with India and China, as ‘rising’ superpowers whose prominence offered opportunities for economic prosperity even as it undermined settled regional power balances. This article finds that, rather than a matter of rational strategy, the decision was made in a context of considerable anxiety about the ‘Asian century’ as the Australian public, politicians and policymakers struggled to comprehend geopolitical change. It further argues that the constructivist project in international relations can benefit from engaging with insights from media and communications methodologies and by taking a less hierarchical approach to ‘elite’ ...

It is now widely rumoured that the ‘Asian century’ is upon us. But what does this really mean? As late as 1988, Deng Xiaoping—in remarks made before the Indian prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi—expressed some scepticism about the facility of the formulation. As Deng stated then:In recent years people have been saying that the next century will be the century of Asia and the Pacific, as if that were sure to be the case. I disagree with this view. If we exclude the United States, the only countries in the Asia-Pacific region that are relatively developed are Japan, the ‘four little dragons’, Australia and New Zealand, with a total population of at most 200 million. (. . .) But the population of China and India adds up to 1.8 billion. Unless those two countries are developed, there will be no Asian century. No genuine Asia-Pacific century or Asian century can come until China, India and other neighbouring countries are developed. By the same token, there could be no Latin-American century without a developed Brazil. We should therefore regard the problem of development as one that concerns all mankind and study and solve it on that level. Only thus will we recognize that it is the responsibility not just of the developing countries but also of the developed countries.Whatever the doubts about his standing as a Marxist, then, we may say that Deng remained resolutely universalist in his perspective, at least outwardly.

One aspect of the ‘Asian Century’ has been the growing interest from Asian states in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean that surrounds the continent. There has been a significant shift in the approach by a number of Asian states to the Antarctic Treaty and the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) that has been built upon and around it. While Asian states continue to be under-represented in the ATS (there are seven Asian state parties to the Antarctic Treaty), participation has grown, and more significantly the view that the ATS is an ‘exclusive club’ dominated by developed states has given way to a more pragmatic, more cooperative and less ideological approach to Antarctic affairs. Broadening ATS membership and increasing interest from existing Asian state parties to the ATS, most notably China, prompts questions as to whether there are distinctive Asian–Antarctic issues, and if so whether the Antarctic regime can evolve to address them. Specifically, are the governance and law-making processes of the ATS, which have not changed significantly for decades, up to the task of providing an effective international system of Antarctic management in this Asian Century?

Contemporary discourses of “Asian Century” or “Chinese Century” lead to the belief that economic growth and participation of world politics of Asian nations are changing today’s world. However, we also wonder to what extent it will restructure our world, if today’s world and our common future are still conceptualized and imagined according to the foundation of knowledge that was and is still offered by the history of Western civilization and if we still remain as consumers of universal modernity within the language frame of development and modernization. This article offers some reflections on the decoloniality of knowledge in the Chinese context. To better understand the historic process as well as to open discussions to make possible changes from a broader perspective, we will look at two moments in Chinese academia: one is related to educational movements in the beginning of the last century and the second is in regard to some new trends in the current Chinese anthropological scene.

The worldwide media attention garnered by the Bo Xilai scandal in China and Anna Hazare’s hunger strike in India in 2011 highlighted a shared frustration with corruption as the two nations entered the Asian Century. This chapter examines the mobilization of state ideology in popular anti-corruption films from China (Fatal Decision, 2000) and India (Lage Raho Munna Bhai, 2006), arguing that they look to assuage the social pains incurred by the increased pace of modernization and globalization by presenting citizens with nostalgic solutions based in the founding principles of each nation. Both films, popular with audiences and the state, avoid a systemic solution to the problem of corruption, choosing rather to focus on individual behavior and conservative nostalgia in the face of an uncertain future.

This chapter interrogates theoretical complexities of the construal of Asia and Asia literacy in education policy in the Australian context. It explores the values and objectives at play in the representation of the ‘problem’ that requires an Asia learning ‘solution’. To a certain extent, the positioning of Asia learning in policy is ‘creative’ (Bacchi, Analysing policy: what’s the problem represented to be? Pearson Australia, Frenchs Forest, 2009, p 211) of neoliberal and neocolonial constructs of the problem in the first place. Asia learning is simultaneously positioned as both ‘problem’, in a perceived lack of Asian knowledge needed to ensure economic futures for Australia in the Asian century, and ‘solution’ as an imperative to increase this knowledge. Central to this ‘solution’ is the cross-curriculum priority in the Australian Curriculum. This chapter interrogates the trajectory of such policy from ‘text’ to ‘in context’ in the classroom and the way in which school actors both respond to and create space to reimagine narrative possibilities of the ‘solution’. These reimagined narratives can represent encouraging departures from governing neoliberal approaches; however, residual imperial notions of ‘Asia’ and ‘Asian culture’ enduringly haunt them. The latter highlights the importance of teacher’s intellectual engagement in theoretical work regarding how they will ‘know’ Asia, as a necessary precursor to ‘doing’, though ‘doing’ is often what dominates discussion of classroom enactment. This chapter concludes by exploring the possibilities for teachers to navigate the multiple and dialectical spaces for variation in the Asia literacy ‘policy gap’.

Moving deeper into the Asian Century, there is an ever-increasing need for Asia literacy and Asia capability in the workforce. Successive Australian governments have stressed the need for greater engagement with the region and the development of intercultural competency. Meanwhile, universities have stressed the need to internationalize their curriculums in order to produce outward-looking graduates with a global perspective. This chapter argues that outbound mobility experiences are the key to fulfilling both goals. Although the benefits of student mobility are well known, there are several barriers to participation. These must be addressed if outbound mobility is to become a mainstream aspect of the student experience in the Asian Century.

In 2016, it was announced that the EBU had partnered with SBS to establish a new song contest for the Asia-Pacific region, but fans remain sceptical of the project’s viability. One challenge is the existence of other song contests in the region established by the Asian-Pacific Broadcasting Union. Other challenges emerge from regional politics and Australia’s own shifting relations within the region. This chapter explores fan perceptions of Australian foreign relations through the lens of the Eurovision Song Contest and the proposed Eurovision Asia Song Contest. Within this, it also considers other global forces, such as relations with the United States, Americanisation, and globalisation.

Within the Anglosphere, globalization is sometimes understood as in terms of Australia, Canada, the USA, and New Zealand engaging the politics and economics of Asia. In what is arguably the second global Asian century, Anglophone nations are confronted with the growing political, economic, and military influence of Asian governments, economies, migrant workers, students and tourists. Where current growth is hugely dependant on China and living standards falling throughout the Anglosphere, what happens there is perhaps more significant than elsewhere. Incomes are being squeezed at all levels with falling profits in resources industries, weak wages, huge family indebtedness, and government budgetary deficits. Responding by transforming their schooling policies, curricula, and teaching workforces is a major challenge. Global citizenship and Asia literacy are among the terms used by governments in these countries to have educators prepare students to work in a political economy increasingly mobilized and dominated by Asia. The chapter examines the relationship between Asia literacy and the political economy. A range of evidence relating to political claims for the economic significance of Asia literacy and the study of Asian languages is analyzed. This chapter argues that the increasing presence of multilingual students from Asia in Anglophone educational institutions provides a basis for expanding Asia literacy. International, migrant, and refugee students from Asia have linguistic capabilities that remain to be mobilized in further Asia literacy.

There is growing understanding that a vibrant innovation ecosystem is an important element of a healthy and prosperous nation. What is less known is what the role of Government is in nurturing this ecosystem. In this Chapter, we explore recent experiences in Australia and Asia with science and technology (S&T) policy. For example, we consider how university-industry collaboration occurs across different nations and its effect on the diffusion of technology. We reflect on what S&T policy can tell us about public policy in the Asian century and how we might manage the ongoing tension between national interests and global prosperity. We also delve into recent Asian experiences with S&T policies, examining a range of programs in Asia that have been introduced.

A key aspect of the Asian century discourse is the developmental state model. The chapter investigates the extent to which this model resembles similar models in Europe and whether it is an efficient model of economic governance in a post-industrial economy. The development state is sustained by specific political and cultural features typical to the countries where it has proven most successful, such as Japan and Korea, and therefore is not likely to function in other contexts. The chapter suggests that the development state model is most efficient in an industrial economy but will be less successful in post-industrial economies.

Since 1969, over 60 Australian government and non-government policies, documents, committees, working parties and organisations have explored the need to ‘know Asia’. In schools, this engagement is conceptualised as ‘Asia literacy’ and disseminated in the emerging Australian Curriculum through the cross-curriculum priority ‘Asia and Australia's engagement with Asia’. However, ‘Asia literacy’ often struggles for purchase in Australian education. I argue that finding traction requires disruption of the dominant discourse of ‘Asia’ as a unitary construct and questioning what constitutes ‘Asia’. This article explores how discourse can be reconceptualised to open up space for schools to engage with ‘knowing Asia’.

Many official and private commentators, particularly in Australia and in the Asian region, argue that the world is heading inexorably towards an ‘Asian Century’. They foresee a fundamental shift of economic and political power away from the West that will transform the world economy and global politics. I argue that, notwithstanding emerging Asia's undoubted economic achievements, this claim is premature and potentially misleading for three main reasons: implicit in many of these claims are implausible historical analogies with earlier eras of European and American dominance; linear projections of continued Asian growth outperformance may not be realised in practice; and even if rapid growth were to be sustained, the domestic and external obstacles to the collective global influence of Asia will probably remain profound. The implication is that businesses, citizens and policy-makers, especially those operating in the Asian region, will face a much more uncertain and challenging environment than is sometimes acknowledged.

Over the last two decades the flow of Asians to Australia through legitimate immigration programs has accelerated. This is particularly the case for Asian nurses coming from countries that were once subjected to European colonisation. The difficulties encountered by nurses from Asian countries mirror those of earlier waves of migrants. These include navigating the language and differences in cultural mores, values, and beliefs, along with the loneliness that may come from leaving strong family ties at home. While racism has been evident for all earlier waves of migrants, Asians face an additional hurdle linked to the uneasy relationship Australians and the Australian state has with Asia. Australia is geographically in Asia, but culturally Anglo and European. The impact this might have on the working relationships of Asian and Australian born registered nurses is significant given the nature of their work in caring for the sick and elderly. This liminal relationship between the Australian state and Asians provides a theoretical insight into the particular difficulties experienced by Asian nurses and the integration programs that might assist them and their Australian colleagues to develop cohesive working relationships.

Australian teacher education programmes that prepare teachers of English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) are confronting the nexus of two facets of globalization: transformations in the Asian region, captured in the notion of the “Asian century”, and shifting conceptions of professionalism in TESOL in non-compulsory education. In booming Asian economies, English language learning is integral to the demand for high-quality education. This has produced increases in TESOL Teacher Education Programme (TTEP) enrolments of both domestic Australian students and international students from Asia. Growth in demand for TTEPs has necessitated that they cater to student diversity, and the intended contexts of practice. This demand has coincided with a concurrent movement towards professional standards for TESOL that, we argue, confronts complexities around quality, accountability, and professional identity and achieving conceptual and contextual coherence. Drawing on discourses of managerialism and performativi...

The Australian Government's White Paper ‘Australia in the Asian Century’ is the first large-scale official look in the twenty-first century at economic change in Asia and how it affects Australian opportunities and challenges. This paper comments on the analysis embodied in and the objectives defined by the White Paper, especially as it relates to Australian resources. This paper generally endorses the aspirations of the White Paper and notes that their achievement is going to require efforts and changes beyond those that are currently contemplated. It comments briefly on six things: the development context of twenty-first century Asian growth; growth and structural change in Asia and Australia's terms of trade; macroeconomic management of a resource-intensive Australian economy; restoring productivity growth; excellence in education; and linking Australia to Asian opportunity.

Two issues are addressed. Is a shift from U.S. primacy to a multipolar global power structure likely? If so, is it likely to be peaceful or conflictual? Discontinuities could disrupt linear trends but by 2050, China, the US, the European Union, and India are likely to be the four largest economies. Asian integration will reinforce Asia's increasing global economic share, suggesting the prospect of an Asian century from the mid-21st century, ending U.S. economic primacy. U.S. military primacy is massive and more durable than U.S. economic primacy, but the power conferred by it is limited in scope. A peaceful power shift is most likely because of four mutually reinforcing factors. Firstly, nuclear deterrence makes the consequences of major power conflict catastrophic, so political solutions are the only viable modes of dispute resolution. Secondly, complex interdependence based on economic integration confers major benefits from peaceful commerce. Thirdly, norms and practices in East Asia over three decades of peace are reinforced by East Asian Summits and other forums for peaceful dispute resolution, confidence building, and security cooperation. Fourthly, human agency is inherently unpredictable, but a gradual power shift need not involve existential conflict over vital Chinese, EU, Indian or U.S. interests.

The Asian Century can be understood as a historical conjuncture marked by new formations of economic hegemony and bold claims of Asian ascendancy. Situated at this historical moment, this essay examines a particular project of postcolonial government: inclusive growth. Taking up the example of India's recent Slum-free Cities policy, it shows how postcolonial government tackles the problem of urban poverty in order to make the Asian world-class city. Slum-free Cities marks a shift in city-making projects and indeed in the project of modernization—from slum evictions and demolitions to the integration of the poor into market rule. This essay provides an analysis of such emerging configurations of state, economy and poverty. Yet, such projects of inclusive growth are marked by paradoxes and limits, notably the complexity of transforming slum lands into legible and monetized property markets. These dilemmas are not new, and in fact, the archives of postcolonial government indicate repeated recitations of slum modernization. This longer history also indicates the need to view the Asian Century and its city-making projects, not as rupture or renaissance but instead as a citationary structure which enables distinctive teleologies of development and projects of postcolonial power.

This is an edited version of a lecture by economist and former Australian Treasury Secretary (2001–2011) Dr Ken Henry, delivered at a Colloquium in honour of Professor J.W. Nevile, held at the University of New South Wales on 10 October 2012. Taking a practitioner’s perspective, the article surveys the management of the Australian economy from the 1970s to the present, with a focus on the reasons Australia escaped the global financial crisis of 2008 and the lessons for macroeconomic policymakers to be drawn from that experience. The author concludes that macroeconomic policy practitioners have to think deeply about microeconomic connections and the potency of different instruments in addressing shocks with different sources. They also have to deal with considerable uncertainty. The global financial crisis demonstrated forcefully that there is no separation between macroeconomics, financial system stability, prudential regulation, micro-level incentive structures and market efficiency.

This paper examines the strategic arguments articulated in calls for the teaching and learning of Asia in schools. "Asia literacy" is currently framed as a necessary "solution" for Australian education, but acceptance of this "solution" into the mainstream educational policy agenda has been problematised as a neoliberal and neocolonial construct. Subsequent policy debate indicates the dominance of an economic rationale that is seemingly impossible to resist. This paper suggests that critical policy approaches can be used to identify alternatives to these dominant frameworks, which imagine Asia literacy in alternate ways. Re-imagining the "solution" offers three alternatives: working within an economic agenda; restructuring Asia literacy away from a distinct policy agenda; and treating policy gaps as spaces in which teachers can generate locally relevant possibilities.

The Waiting City (2009) and Wish You Were Here (2012) are amongst a number of twenty-first century Australian films made, wholly or partly, offshore, in India and Cambodia respectively; therefore, they form part of the corpus of ‘Asian Australian cinema’. The filmmakers’ experiences and the film narratives are discussed using Jane Mills’ (2014) concept of ‘sojourner cinema’. Comparison is made with earlier Asian Australian films, tracing the ambivalent paradigm of Asia as both threat and opportunity, described by Khoo, Smaill and Yue (2013), and reflecting on the productions with regard to the role outlined for the creative industries in the Australian Government White Paper, Australians in the Asian Century.

This article presents a critical analysis of the Hungarian government’s ‘Asian’ political discourse. It argues that in the wake of the economic recession, Hungary became more radical in its turn towards Asia, promoting a discourse that goes beyond economic relations and touches on sentiments of national identity and belonging. Via a discourse-historical analysis of three interrelated discursive events, the article shows how economic, cultural and racial discourses are reinforcing one another in building on the myth of cultural and racial affinity with Inner Asia and the Far East. This process is similar to the Eurasianist discourse in Russia and other ex-Soviet republics, and may have serious social and geopolitical repercussions.

This paper aims to build the case for a new Canadian Asia strategy. It begins with a historical review of the Canadian government's diplomatic relations with the region while revisiting the role of Canada in the global order as a middle-power state. It then introduces a framework that links Joseph Nye's concept of soft power with the pragmatic features of foreign public diplomacy (PD). It shows that a strategic, coordinated and informal approach to PD can bring important soft-power gains for Canada in the world's most dynamic region. Finally, it calls for a distinct Asia-focused diplomacy built on sustainable development, governance and education. It concludes by recommending that the government spearhead an annual regional forum on sustainability, strengthen relationships with Canada's Asia-based diaspora, as well as develop an incentive program to entice young Canadians to study and work throughout the region.

For Asia to realize the Asian Century in 2050 and reach per capita income levels similar to Europe today, its fast-growing converging economies must sustain their growth momentum. The slower growing countries must accelerate their growth to achieve convergence status during this period. The underlying requirement for both groups is continued rapid improvement in total factor productivity (TFP). Although it may sound ambitious and though it is definitely not preordained, Asia can reach this dream if its economies strive for excellence in the areas of productivity and innovation, while learning from the best practice in the region and beyond. This article addresses the TFP level and performance of Asian economies, the salient underlying factors, and the strategies that Asian economies must pursue to make further improvement.

Development of the corporate public affairs management function in Asia over the past three decades has occurred in three waves, from one with a focus on basic public relations, market access and product regulation, to a sophisticated management function that is central to how the corporation interacts with and seeks to influence the socio-political environment in which it operates. If this new millennium is indeed the ‘Asian Century’, the public affairs function will become more valuable to companies trading in Asia. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.