Jocelyn Chey

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Articles

Lunar New Year predictions for Xi and Trump

Jan 12, 2025 | johnmenadue.com | Jocelyn Chey

The Year of the Snake begins on 29 January. Over the next couple of weeks, fortune tellers will flood the press with their views, each with as much weight and reliability as the mottos in fortune cookies. Predicting the future by reference to zodiac signs may be as unscientific as other astrological or phrenological forecasts, but if enough people believe and rely on this practice such forecasts may be self-fulfilling.
A chairman and a president walk into a bar: Review of Donald’s Inferno

Dec 28, 2024 | johnmenadue.com | Jocelyn Chey

Only in Australia could such an edgy political satire be put on stage. Sharp and witty, Donald’s Inferno, written and directed by Jon-Claire Lee, was launched in Sydney this month to a modest but discerning audience. Buried in its wacky story, the comedy pulled no punches in its description of current tensions between the Chinese Mainland and Taiwan. It concluded with a surprising message of hope.
Pearls and Irritations

Nov 11, 2024 | johnmenadue.com | Jocelyn Chey

Axis is a four-letter word that should be banned or at least binned for the time being. The US uses the term in a distinctly hostile way, and now Andrew Shearer, Australia’s chief security adviser, has adopted the same language. When the world teeters on the edge of uncertainty following the outcome of the US presidential elections, presaging fears of unimaginable catastrophes, all security chiefs should be ultra careful not to use such inflammatory language.
Kevin is here to help US–China relations - Pearls and Irritations

Oct 29, 2024 | johnmenadue.com | Jocelyn Chey

With the United States and China locked in an ongoing battle and no solution in sight, Kevin Rudd from Queensland is here to help. His new book explains President Xi Jinping’s thinking and suggests a way forward. Are people paying attention? If they are, will they learn anything useful? In March 2023 Kevin Rudd became Australia’s Ambassador to the US. At the time, people wondered about the appointment of a noted China expert.
Pearls and Irritations

Oct 22, 2024 | johnmenadue.com | Jocelyn Chey

Exports to China were worth over $700 million in 2019. Trade barriers were imposed by China following Scott Morrison’s call for an enquiry into the origin of Covid, putting an end to direct trade in this commodity. Last week PM Albanese announced the imminent lifting of restrictions by the end of the year and credited the improvement of bilateral relations. Things however are a little more fishy.
Pearls and Irritations

Oct 11, 2024 | johnmenadue.com | Jocelyn Chey

While elsewhere the China discourse in the Australian media may have been on geopolitical tensions and defence and security concerns, community leaders, students and academics from seven universities in Australia and 15 universities in China and Taiwan met in Parramatta on the campus of Western Sydney University a few days ago.
Do we need universities?

Oct 2, 2024 | johnmenadue.com | Jocelyn Chey

Australian universities are starved of funds and forced to operate as commercial entities focused on profit, not the pursuit of knowledge. While increasingly Australian universities depend on international students as a source of revenue, they are losing their appeal as places of quality education, and it is becoming harder for students to enrol and to obtain visas. In 2022, Australia ranked fifth in the world as a destination for international students.
For a pacific Pacific: thoughts about how to promote peace

Sep 16, 2024 | johnmenadue.com | Jocelyn Chey

Naval and air standoffs, sabre-rattling and accusations of underhand dealings are heightening tensions in the Asia-Pacific region and causing a security dilemma. It does not have to be like this. Diplomacy and referral to international dispute resolution mechanisms can make a difference.
Aiming for the messy truth: The first Australian journalist returns to China

Sep 1, 2024 | johnmenadue.com | Jocelyn Chey

Will Glasgow’s report from Beijing in the Weekend Australian of 24/25 August is cause for celebration. Since the last Australian journalist left China four years ago, reports on this most important neighbour and on matters of concern to both countries have been either second-hand or coming from non-Australian sources.
Pussy cat pussy cat, where have you been? Feral cats in the bush

Aug 25, 2024 | johnmenadue.com | Jocelyn Chey

I love cats, furry and friendly. I love kittens chasing feathers and butterflies. I do not love cats in the bush. It is estimated that there are 5-6 million feral cats in Australia, and they are found in every part of the country from Tasmania to the Northern Territory. A single cat in the bush kills about 420 birds, mammals and reptiles every year. The death toll is growing as the cat population expands. They can breed twice a year and raise up to nine kittens in a litter.