Former Victorian Premier Dan Andrews made headlines when he was snapped in a picture with Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, amongst others, at China’s recent military parade. While Andrews’ activities were puzzling, they also raise bigger questions around both the opportunities and the limits of Australia’s bilateral relationship with China. Will Glasgow, The Australian newspaper’s North Asia Correspondent, based in Beijing, joins Darren for this episode. Will is winner of the Keith McDonald Award for Business Journalist of the Year and previously worked at The Australian Financial Review. The conversation begins with Will’s own story in his current role, beginning in Beijing in early 2020, then leaving China and reporting from Taipei, before returning to Beijing in 2024. The main focus however is the bilateral relationship, both from the perspective of Canberra and Beijing, but also from Australian states, especially Victoria, where Dan Andrews was Premier, and Western Australia.

Australia in the World is written, hosted, and produced by Darren Lim, with research and editing this episode by Hannah Nelson and theme music composed by Rory Stenning.

Relevant links

Will Glasgow (bio): https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/will-glasgow

Will Glasgow, “China’s warning to Australian delegation over ‘two-faced’ policy”, The Australian, 20 Sep 2025: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/beijings-warning-to-canberra-delegation-over-twofaced-policy/news-story/327ce23188ec4ed7e607e2f066ab010e

Will Glasgow, “Australia wined, dined and hectored on Xi’s diplomatic conveyor belt”, The Australian, 13 Sep 2025: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/wined-dined-and-hectored-on-xis-diplomatic-conveyor-belt/news-story/84d5771d3b9c925797850baf29c1627b

Will Glasgow, “Should Australian correspondents be based in Xi’s China?”, The Australian, 22 Jul 2025: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/should-australian-correspondents-be-based-in-xis-china/news-story/7b2375eb1343726f0d1a3cc5ea698e74

Geremie Barmé, “In a retro mood: The ethical dilemmas of cutting a deal with Xi Jinping’s China”, The China Project, 15 Sep 2023: https://thechinaproject.com/2023/09/15/in-a-retro-mood-the-ethical-dilemmas-of-cutting-a-deal-with-xi-jinpings-china/

Foreign Policy Live (podcast), “Adam Tooze on the End of Development”, 19 Sep 2025: https://foreignpolicy.com/podcasts/foreign-policy-live/adam-tooze-on-the-end-of-development/

Josh Rogin, Chaos Under Heaven: Trump, Xi, and the Battle for the Twenty-First Century, Harper Collins (2021): https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9780358449348/chaos-under-heaven/

Tanner Greer, “Bullets and Ballots: The Legacy of Charlie Kirk”, The Scholar’s Stage, 14 Sep 2025: https://scholars-stage.org/bullets-and-ballots-the-legacy-of-charlie-kirk/

Fuschia Dunlop, Invitation to a Banquet: The Story of Chinese Food, Penguin (2024): https://www.penguin.com.au/books/invitation-to-a-banquet-9780141997216

Qiu Xiaolong, The Inspector Chen Series: https://www.qiuxiaolong.com/books_inspectorChen.php

The Chinese Mayor (documentary): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w_LSNrpKPc

PM Albanese recently travelled to Solomon Islands for the Pacific Islands Forum as well as Vanuatu and PNG. The headlines focused on what didn’t happen – neither an ambitious deal with Vanuatu (Nakamal Agreement) nor a security agreement with PNG were finalised (though the PNG seems close). Today’s episode (recorded 18 Sep) considers these and other stories through the dual lenses of development policy and foreign policy with Bridi Rice, CEO of the Development Intelligence Lab, returning as guest. Development isn’t just isolated acts like building schools and hospitals but is very wide range of actions that are inevitably nested in a strategic context. How do we fit those things together?

Australia in the World is written, hosted, and produced by Darren Lim, with research and editing this episode by Hannah Nelson and theme music composed by Rory Stenning.

Relevant links

Examining 25 years of Australian international spending:

https://www.devintelligencelab.com/budget-lines

On Australian public perception of aid and development:

https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/australians-ahead-game-aid-debate-mps-should-follow

ANU DevPol Analysis on budget implications:

https://devpolicy.org/burden-shedding-the-unravelling-of-the-oecd-aid-consensus-20250307/

Lydia Khalil et al on democratic erosion:

https://interactives.lowyinstitute.org/features/democratic-erosion/

The FT on AI as the new foreign aid: https://www.ft.com/content/d02eb244-8b48-48b1-bd17-f5e48677e22b

Ezra Klein interviews Ben Shapiro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAqG00FUOK8

“Leave me lonely” by Hilltop Hoods: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vak9wUPkL3Q

In Darren’s own research, topics like tariffs, industrial policy and the decaying rules-based economic order are a daily focus. On these issues and many more relating to the global economy, financial markets, economic security, and US-China geoeconomic rivalry, there is no-one whose expertise and judgment Darren respects more than that of Brad Setser, today’s guest. In a conversation recorded on 1 September, three big themes are canvassed: (i) tariffs, (ii) China, and (iii) Australia’s position in a fraying economic order. As the hosts of the “Odd Lots” podcast would say, Brad is the ‘perfect’ guest, and Darren could not be more thrilled. What is motivating Trump, and what could constrain him? Which country has negotiated the best deal? Is China’s export-driven economic model locked in? Could other countries rein in Beijing’s overcapacity? Is the rules-based economic order finished?

Brad Setser is the Whitney Shepardson senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. His expertise includes global trade and capital flows, financial vulnerability analysis, and sovereign debt restructuring. Bred served as a senior advisor to the United States Trade Representative from 2021 to 2022 and as the deputy assistant secretary for international economic analysis in the U.S. Treasury from 2011 to 2015.

Australia in the World is written, hosted, and produced by Darren Lim, with research, co-hosting and editing this episode by Hannah Nelson and theme music composed by Rory Stenning.

Relevant links

Brad Setser (bio): https://www.cfr.org/expert/brad-w-setser

Odd Lots (podcast), "Liz Truss on the 'Doom Loop' Engulfing the UK Economy", 29 August 2025: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyQOEJ38kW8

Jonathon Sine, “Litigation Nation, Engineering Empire: A review of Dan Wang's new book Breakneck”, Cogitations (substack), 28 August 2025: https://www.cogitations.co/p/litigation-nation-engineering-empire

Bob Davis and Lingling Wei, Superpower Showdown: How the Battle between Trump and Xi Threatens a New Cold War (Harper Collins, 2020): https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9780062953070/superpower-showdown/

Mark Kurlansky, Salt: A world history (Penguin, 2003): https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9780062953070/superpower-showdown/