Academic freedom as academic libertarianism. The Uni of Melbourne argues that universities are incapable of complex ethical arguments, that ethics is actually personal morality, and therefore the university cannot make ethical judgements.
theage.com.au/national/victo…

Excellent piece by Matthew Sussex on pro-Kremlin messaging being mainstreamed in Australia's media ecosystem.

Wait until China goes to war with the Taiwanese...

Wonder if this is what it felt like in the years leading up to the abolition of the Confucian imperial education system in 1905 at the end of Qing China.

That Defence Australia will have to be more forthcoming seems inevitable given the textbook disinformation campaign around this incident in the last two days.

Hitchcockian.

“We seem to espouse publicly liberal values around equity and diversity and inclusion and academic freedom, but what we do in pursuit of revenue doesn’t seem to support that.'

But ... China?😞
smh.com.au/national/nsw/t…

The concrete statue of 'Confucius' donated years ago to promote mutual understanding between China and Tasmania and situated outside the University of Tasmania library has been adorned with a keffiyeh as part of a Gaza student protest encampment.

New regulations for MotoGP from 2027. Engine capacity down to 850cc, reduced fuel capacity, banning holeshot devices, limiting aerodynamic bodywork, etc., to lower costs and lower speeds from the current 360km/hr+.
youtube.com/watch?v=DLKMFF…

ngl, as the Big Four retreat to parallel twins like its the 1950s and concede the entire MotoGP grid to (sigh) Europe, this absurd flat-8 motorcycle engine from Great Wall Motors rekindles some of that 1970s-80s practicality-be-damned engineering spirit.
drive.com.au/news/new-eight…

'We live in one of the most benign global security settings on the planet.'

AUKUS should be subject to critique but this is a failure by Greens senator David Shoebridge to understand the implications for Australia if China acts on its threat to go to war with the Taiwanese.

Ten Thousand Men of Harvard just sitting there staring as a Taiwanese woman activist is manhandled out of event with the PRC ambassador. 😞😞

Full disclosure that @mhar4 & I have a book 'Revolutionary Taiwan' out w/Cambria Press in June 🙂 'In TW, the outcome of democratization was nothing less than revolutionary, producing a new, de facto nation & people that can be justly called Taiwanese' 6/ cambriapress.com/pub.cfm?bid=11…

'We've got to hope that the Chinese retain the good sense ... never to contemplate a campaign of grey zone pressure on Taiwan or worse mount an amphibious invasion'

Bob Carr betting Australia's future on the hope Beijing doesn't mean what it says. youtube.com/live/zxfgMhFxk…

... 將5月19日這一天訂定為白色恐怖記憶日...

Wow.

Two excerpts from my public lecture last year on China knowledge in the Australian university sector.

At the National Press Club, defence minister Richard Marles describes in forceful and unambiguous terms a clear-eyed vision for Australia's place in a changing region.

Inline with Beijing's approach to define the sixteen recognised First Nations in Taiwan not as indigenous peoples but as a single 'ethnic minority' among the 56 of the PRC, but an affront to the global movements for First Nations identities, rights and representation.

A warm welcome to the cross-party delegation led by Shayne Neumann & Andrew Wallace, whose visit highlights #Taiwan & #Australia ’s strong ties. We thank you for speaking up in support of Taiwan’s democracy, and look forward to expanding our bilateral exchanges.

As I said, developing a full understanding the implications for Australia of a China-Taiwan war in the nation's public discourse is an important, even urgent, policy task.

A commentary that highlights how developing an understanding the implications for Australia of a China-Taiwan war in the nation's public discourse is an important, even urgent, policy task.
afr.com/policy/foreign…