Asia Rising

The Himalaya and the adjacent Tibetan plateau house the globe's third biggest ice packed are the source of most of Asia's major rivers.

Over the past century of the people of these mountains have had to endure colonisation unstable geopolitics, and now a climate changing at twice the global average. Despite this they have survived and in some cases thrived, coming up with innovative ways to approach these changes.

Guest:

Tsechu Dolma (Co-founder and Director, Mountain Resiliency Project)

Host:

Dr Ruth Gamble (DECRA Fellow, History, La Trobe University)

Recorded on 8 December, 2021.

For all states across the Asia-Pacific women's representation in all sectors remains dismally low. The COVID-19 pandemic and responses to it have disproportionately affected women and girls across the Asia-Pacific, from alarming increases in domestic violence during extended lockdowns to the growing gender gap in employment opportunities.

Addressing these challenges requires policy-makers to implement gender-sensitive reforms, taking the voice and visibility of women and girls seriously in decision-making processes across both private and public sector spheres.

As we manage the difficult task of recovery and the ongoing long term impacts of COVID-19 there has never been a better time to lift ambition on women's representation and participation in leadership roles. But how do we make this ambition a reality?

This event is presented by La Trobe Asia and the Griffith Asia Institute.

Introduction provided by Professor Caitlin Byrne, Director - Griffith Asia Institute

Panel:
- Professor Vivian Lin, Executive Associate Dean, Professor of Practice (Public Health), LKS Faculty of Medicine, Hong Kong University and Adjunct Professor, La Trobe Asia
- Dr Dhara Shah, Senior Lecturer and Deputy Director Engagement in the Department of Business Strategy and Innovation, Griffith Business School
- Ryce Chanchai, ASEAN Governance, Peace and Security Lead, UN Women Indonesia
- Associate Professor Bec Strating, Director - La Trobe Asia (Chair)

Recorded on 15 March 2022.

The rise of China, Trump’s America First policies, division within Europe and successful defiance by authoritarian states are affecting the shape of the emerging new order. Human rights, rule of law, free media and longstanding global institutions all seem set to be weakened. Autocracies are exercising greater control over world affairs. Australia will need to engage heightened levels of diplomacy to forge relations with countries of opposing principles. It will need to be agile in pursuing a realistic foreign policy agenda if it is to be well positioned for this future.

A La Trobe Asia 'China in Focus' seminar, held in front of a zoom audience on 22 April, 2021.

Speakers:

Geoff Raby (former Australian ambassador to China (2007–11); ambassador to APEC (2003–5); and ambassador to the World Trade Organization (1998–2001). Member of the La Trobe Asia advisory board.

In 2020, Australia and China relations appeared to hit new lows. Diplomatic tensions flared over a range of issues, including Australia’s unilateral calls for an inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus, Beijing’s trade strikes on key industries, and raids on journalists.

In Australia, concerns about foreign interference and human rights violations have encouraged an increasingly hardline anti-China stance in some quarters, including among the so-called ‘Wolverines’. In Chinese media, Australia is presented as a lackey of the United States and a satellite of American interests in the Indo-Pacific.

Despite these challenges, China remains Australia’s biggest trade partner. Are Australia-China relations where they need to be? To what extent does Australia remain reliant upon trade with China? And is the Morrison government’s adoption of a more assertive, ‘sovereign first’ approach to Sino-Australian relations helpful, or likely to do more harm than good?

In this La Trobe Asia webinar a panel of experts will discuss these questions.

Speakers:
Dr Gerald Roche (Senior Research Fellow, Politics, La Trobe University)
Assistant Professor Dan Hu (Deputy Director, Australian Studies Centre, Beijing Foreign Studies University)
Richard McGregor (Senior Fellow, Lowy Institute)
Mike Smith (China Correspondent, Australian Financial Review)

Chair: Dr Bec Strating (Executive Director, La Trobe Asia)

Recorded live via zoom on 11 November, 2020.

It’s been four years since the Myanmar government was overthrown in a military coup, with the promise of a swift election never eventuating. Since that time the public sentiment has soured and resistance has grown, and a long civil war is being fought within its borders.

Guest: Hunter Marston (PhD candidate, Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, Australian National University and an Adjunct Research Fellow at La Trobe Asia)

Recorded on Friday 24th January, 2025.