Australia's military footprint in the South China Sea has expanded steadily, but that presence may become harder to sustain under changing geopolitical conditions, UTS:ACRI Adjunct Fellow Frank Yuan writes in South China Sea Newswire.

The PRC’s beef safeguards will reduce Australian exports by around 100,000 tonnes in 2026. UTS:ACRI Adjunct Industry Fellow Murray Davis explores in Perspectives what the measures reveal about PRC policy priorities and their impact on trade outcomes.🔗 bit.ly/4voPyUo

On July 7, @j-laurenceson.bsky.social attended the 9th International Workshop on Building Regional Security Architecture in Asia Pacific, co-hosted by Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS) and Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Indonesia.

Australia-China Weekly Brief | July 2-9 2026 The latest edition is out now, with @elenacollinson.bsky.social tracking the week in Australia-China relations. 📖: bit.ly/3Rf44QD

Wanning Sun unpacks in @crikey.com.au why some Chinese-Australians continue to support Pauline Hanson despite her anti-Asian rhetoric, and what this reveals about political identity in multicultural Australia.🔗https://bit.ly/3QS93GE

In comments given before the PRC’s July 6 missile test, @j-laurenceson.bsky.social tells @nytimes.com 🇦🇺 and 🇨🇳 have so far managed sharp differences without a 2020-style deterioration - though on the South Pacific, Australia is “not hedging at all.” 📰 bit.ly/4vcRKOC

@j-laurenceson.bsky.social and Glenda Korporaal presented key findings from the UTS:ACRI report ‘Closing the door: Why Chinese investment is collapsing in Australia even as investors go global’ (April 2026) at a seminar hosted by the Australia China Business Council NSW Branch on July 1.

On June 22, Marina Zhang spoke at a Committee for Sydney event on how policy intervention and industrial clusters have driven the PRC's EV rise and what cities like Sydney can learn from large-scale fleet electrification in Shanghai and Shenzhen.

Australia-China Weekly Brief | June 25-July 2 2026 The latest edition is out now, with @elenacollinson.bsky.social tracking the week in Australia-China relations. 📖: bit.ly/3Rf44QD

Ahead of the 10th anniversary of the 2016 South China Sea arbitral award on July 12, @elenacollinson reflects in Perspectives on what the ruling means today. 🔗: bit.ly/3RcoF87

On June 25, @j-laurenceson.bsky.social joined a keynote at the China Business Summit in Auckland and unpacked what “great power competition” means in practice for 🇳🇿 and 🇦🇺 businesses navigating a more contested Indo-Pacific.

As 🇨🇳 and 🇺🇸 race to build AI computing infrastructure in space, Marina Zhang tells The Strait Times that the contest has shifted beyond models and chips – space computing could be a "detour catch-up" for the PRC. 📰: bit.ly/4oVEX1v

Pauline Hanson’s June 17 NPC address, One Nation’s resurgence and what its rejection of multiculturalism could mean for Chinese-Australian communities' sense of identity, belonging and political choices is examined by Wanning Sun in Perspectives.🔗Read: bit.ly/4eLK9jZ

Australia-China Weekly Brief | June 18-25 2026 The latest edition is out now, with @elenacollinson.bsky.social tracking the week in Australia-China relations. 📖: bit.ly/49INNJQ

@j-laurenceson.bsky.social joined @nzherald.bsky.social to discuss how Australia and New Zealand are navigating an increasingly complex economic environment shaped by 🇺🇸 🇨🇳 tensions. Watch▶️: www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9DI...

“The writings... in this volume remind us that the early Chinese-Australians’ interaction w/ 🇦🇺 as a society was more elaborate than contemporary headlines sometimes suggest.” Wanning Sun reviews Sinophone Australia (Sydney University Press, 2026) in The Australian: bit.ly/4vWqhSa

In @bloomberg.com’s Asia Trade, Marina Zhang discussed the strategic implications of the G7's latest critical minerals agenda and the challenges of building more resilient supply chains outside the PRC, while highlighting the opportunities and trade-offs facing Australia. Watch ▶️: bit.ly/44mB24m

Australia’s military activities in the South China Sea, the policy parameters Canberra has maintained and the operational dynamics shaping recent encounters are examined by UTS:ACRI Adjunct Fellow Frank Yuan in South China Sea Newswire🔗: bit.ly/4vhDK7b

Australia-China Weekly Brief | June 11-18 2026 The latest edition is out now, with @elenacollinson.bsky.social tracking the week in Australia-China relations. 📖: bit.ly/49INNJQ

Last week, @j-laurenceson.bsky.social and UTS:ACRI Adjunct/Prof Mark Beeson participated in the APEC Economies China Studies Scholars Forum in Shenzhen, sharing insights on APEC and the 🇦🇺🇨🇳 experience of sustaining economic interdependence amidst geopolitical tension.

Yesterday, UTS:ACRI hosted a delegation from the Asia New Zealand Foundation for a discussion on the changing geopolitical landscape and implications for Australia and New Zealand. Topics included were public perceptions of the PRC and the US, regional travel trends and people-to-people ties.

In @timeshighered.bsky.social, @j-laurenceson.bsky.social and Wanning Sun assess 🇦🇺's approach to research collaboration with 🇨🇳. Drawing on interviews with Chinese-background STEM researchers in Australia, they highlight the potential costs of overcorrection 🔗: bit.ly/4xAIcja

"Chinese-background scientists are leaving Australian universities for China 'at all levels', from senior professors to postdocs". @elenacollinson.bsky.social covers a recent UTS:ACRI panel discussion on the pressures on 🇦🇺-🇨🇳 education and research ties in The Koala News. 🔗: bit.ly/4gkWGNE

Wanning Sun joins Ben Doherty and Peter Hartcher on the Fourth Estate podcast hosted by @tinamq.bsky.social, to discuss how the PRC 🇨🇳 is framed in Australian media and how the nature of coverage has shifted over the past decade. 🎧Listen: bit.ly/4fB2UJ3

In @crikey.com.au, Wanning Sun writes that the AUKUS public inquiry opens up deeper questions about Australia’s place in the world, including whether its future lies with the Asia-Pacific region or with its longstanding alignment with the UK and the US. 🔗 Read: bit.ly/4v2PxGi

Australia-China Weekly Brief | June 4-11 2026 The latest edition is out now, with @elenacollinson.bsky.social tracking the week in Australia-China relations. 📖: bit.ly/49INNJQ

UTS:ACRI contributed to discussions at the ACBC International Education & Visitor Economy Forum 2026 on June 9, with @j-laurenceson.bsky.social speaking on 🇦🇺 university strengths & 🇦🇺🇨🇳 education engagement and Wanning Sun joining a panel on international student experience & communities connection.

Following the Shangri-La Dialogue 2026, Marina Zhang examines how pressure from both Washington and Beijing is narrowing Australia’s room for manoeuvre, and what this means for its long-term policy choices in @thediplomat.com.🔗 bit.ly/4ftfj1K

UTS:ACRI Adjunct A/Prof Michael Clarke unpacks the PRC’s framework of "constructive strategic stability" in Asia Times, noting it signals a more self-confident approach to managing competition and cooperation. 🔗: bit.ly/4ulJxHr

Video, audio and a transcript from UTS:ACRI's webinar ‘Australia-China education and research ties at a crossroads?’ with speakers Angela Lehmann, John Ross, Wanning Sun & moderator @j-laurenceson.bsky.social are available: bit.ly/4uO1rUn

In a world where both the PRC and the US can generate similar kinds of strategic and economic risk, is "hedging" still the right way to describe middle power diplomacy? UTS:ACRI Research Associate Lai-Ha Chan discusses in Perspectives. 🔗 Read: bit.ly/4vjI05E

WEBINAR | Australia-China education and research ties at a crossroads Join us online next Wednesday to hear from Dr Angela Lehmann, John Ross and UTS:ACRI Prof Wanning Sun on a panel moderated by @j-laurenceson.bsky.social. June 3, 12.30pm AEST.🔗Register: bit.ly/4eXPSoB

On May 21, Marina Zhang joined the ACYD Alumni Symposium 2026 for a panel discussion on the stabilisation of Australia-PRC relations, global AI governance, sports diplomacy and shifting youth perspectives on the PRC.

Why does Australia continue to engage with an increasingly assertive 🇨🇳? Focusing on developments from 2017-2025, @elenacollinson.bsky.social examines how Canberra balances contestation and engagement with the PRC in a new article for The Pacific Review.📖: bit.ly/4wYk7CC

@j-laurenceson.bsky.social & Wanning Sun will speak at ACBC International Education & Visitor Economy Forum on June 9, discussing Australia-China education engagement & int’l student experience. Sign up now: bit.ly/4fqqIPV

“Chinese investment in 🇦🇺 is going backward at the same time as other countries are welcoming more and more Chinese investment, and when more and more Chinese companies are the tech leaders in their fields,” @j-laurenceson.bsky.social tells China Daily. 📰 bit.ly/49icFrD

As Australia continues to limit Chinese investment in rare earths projects, most recently Northern Minerals’ Browns Range, Marina Zhang examines what this means for Australia’s critical minerals ambitions and industrial capability in @aunz.theconversation.com 🔗: bit.ly/4nQxWPl

Australian businesses won’t take their cues from Canberra but will make their own risk assessments, @j-laurenceson.bsky.social tells The Sydney Morning Herald in comments on 🇦🇺 Trade Minister Don Farrell’s efforts to stabilise 🇦🇺 🇨🇳 trade ties following his recent visit 📰: bit.ly/4dywOLa

The Philippines is a key test case in the South China Sea, where 🇨🇳 grey zone pressure continues to test thresholds, writes @elenacollinson.bsky.social. She examines what this means for 🇦🇺 as it deepens 🇵🇭 defence ties amid a gap between present pressures and future capabilities. 📖: bit.ly/4v2iEsS

WEBINAR | Australia-China education and research ties at a crossroads Angela Lehmann, John Ross and Wanning Sun will discuss key challenges and what lies ahead in 🇦🇺 🇨🇳 education & research collaboration. 🗓️ June 3 2026, 12.30pm - 1.30pm AEST 💻Online 🔗Register: bit.ly/4eXPSoB

The Coalition’s plan to bar non-citizens from 17 welfare programs raises deeper questions about citizenship in a multicultural democracy, writes Wanning Sun in @crikey.com.au, including for Chinese-Australian permanent residents unable to hold dual citizenship.🔗 bit.ly/4fu1SOP

The Coalition’s proposal to bar non-citizens from welfare programs in 🇦🇺 will unlikely help rebuild support among Chinese-Australian voters and risks fostering an “us versus them” mentality, Wanning Sun tells @aapnewswire.bsky.social. 📰Read: aapnews.aap.com.au/glance/news/...

Marina Zhang joined ABC News Afternoon Briefing, offering her observations on the Trump-Xi summit and discussions from both sides around reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

@j-laurenceson.bsky.social joined ABC News to provide analysis on Trump-Xi summit, including its outcomes and the broader implications for Australia.

FAST FOCUS | Trump-Xi summit UTS:ACRI experts share insights on the key takeaways for Australia from the May 14-15 summit between US President Donald Trump and PRC President Xi Jinping. bit.ly/4tEilDM🧵

Wanning Sun examines in @crikey.com.au ASIO’s foreign interference approach & its implication for 🇨🇳 🇦🇺 communities. Drawing on views from @zhubochubo.bsky.social & @redrabbleroz.bsky.social, she makes the case for a rights-based framework protecting diaspora communities🔗Read: bit.ly/4tJaaGk

As 🇺🇸 President Donald Trump arrives in Beijing today ahead of meetings with 🇨🇳 President Xi Jinping, Marina Zhang explores in @thediplomat.com the key issues – from Taiwan, trade to AI and global security – and what this meeting could mean for middle powers, including Australia🔗 bit.ly/49v8rNj

Ahead of the Trump-Xi summit, competition over AI and tech ecosystems is becoming a central feature of US-PRC relations. Marina Zhang examines how this rivalry is reshaping global tech interdependence and the implications for Australia in Perspectives 🔗Read: bit.ly/4dmTRc0

How does the China Matters-UTS:ACRI Fellowship support the next generation of China scholars? Dr Edward Chan reflects on opportunities for field research, mentor engagement, peer exchange and deeper understanding of contemporary China.

UTS:ACRI hosted University of Hong Kong Assistant Prof Brian Wong last week for a roundtable on his forthcoming book, Geopolitics of Artificial Intelligence (Cambridge University Press, 2026), and the roles of the US, the PRC and Australia in the global AI landscape.