http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/foreign-affairs/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-world-puzzles-over-australias-prime-minister/ Even in Chicago, they are puzzling over Labor’s long march to oblivion. In 1987, prior to becoming chief of staff to a president, Rahm Emanuel spent a fortnight with a couple of Australian nurses as he travelled up the east coast to Cairns. The charismatic 52-year-old Chicago Mayor joked with me this week - his city was hosting the NATO summit - that it had given him a “great respect for the Australian healthcare system”. “I told your previous prime minister this,’’ he said clearly amused as he relived a conversation with Kevin Rudd. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-world-puzzles-over-australias-prime-minister/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-world-puzzles-over-australias-prime-minister/#item8589 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 The first and last time I was in mainland China was 1988. I caught a train from Guangzhou to Shanghai. There was a Chinese girl in my cabin, being molested on a top bunk by a Frenchman. He spoke English and Chinese and between their activities I took the opportunity to interrogate her. I asked her what had changed in China since Mao Zedong’s death. She said: “Mao Zedong is not dead.” I assumed this was one of those “cultural things” they go on about with the Chinese. Perhaps she regarded the Great Helmsman as an Eternal Spirit, or such. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Mao-is-dead-but-his-doublespeak-lives-on/ The first and last time I was in mainland China was 1988. I caught a train from Guangzhou to Shanghai. There was a Chinese girl in my cabin, being molested on a top bunk by a Frenchman. He spoke English and Chinese and between their activities I took the opportunity to interrogate her. I asked her what had changed in China since Mao Zedong’s death. She said: “Mao Zedong is not dead.” I assumed this was one of those “cultural things” they go on about with the Chinese. Perhaps she regarded the Great Helmsman as an Eternal Spirit, or such. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Mao-is-dead-but-his-doublespeak-lives-on/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Mao-is-dead-but-his-doublespeak-lives-on/#item8140 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 The first and last time I was in mainland China was 1988. I caught a train from Guangzhou to Shanghai. There was a Chinese girl in my cabin, being molested on a top bunk by a Frenchman. He spoke English and Chinese and between their activities I took the opportunity to interrogate her. I asked her what had changed in China since Mao Zedong’s death. She said: “Mao Zedong is not dead.” I assumed this was one of those “cultural things” they go on about with the Chinese. Perhaps she regarded the Great Helmsman as an Eternal Spirit, or such. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/PM-gabs-on-drumming-up-support-for-the-dodgy-Bongo/ UPDATED 31/03 at 2:00pm (below) The Prime Minister Julia Gillard yesterday issued a statement “warmly” welcoming an influential foreign dignitary to Kirribilli House: President Bongo of Gabon. The Punch was immediately taken with the headline potential of this visit from the leader of our third-largest two-way trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa. But there’s more than a funny headline to this story. It turns out the PM was hanging out with a rather dodgy character yesterday. If you somehow haven’t heard of Gabon, it’s an oil and resources rich nation in West Africa. It’s next to Equatorial Guinea, the Republic of Congo, and a number of other countries you haven’t heard of. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/PM-gabs-on-drumming-up-support-for-the-dodgy-Bongo/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/PM-gabs-on-drumming-up-support-for-the-dodgy-Bongo/#item8138 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 The first and last time I was in mainland China was 1988. I caught a train from Guangzhou to Shanghai. There was a Chinese girl in my cabin, being molested on a top bunk by a Frenchman. He spoke English and Chinese and between their activities I took the opportunity to interrogate her. I asked her what had changed in China since Mao Zedong’s death. She said: “Mao Zedong is not dead.” I assumed this was one of those “cultural things” they go on about with the Chinese. Perhaps she regarded the Great Helmsman as an Eternal Spirit, or such. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/kony-2012-just-do-something-anything/ The massive YouTube viewing of Invisible Children’s film “Kony 2012” is nothing short of phenomenal. People are engaged, outraged and quite rightly calling on the International community to do something - in this case, arrest, charge and try Kony in the Hague. People have found their voice against one of the world’s cruelest, most evil men and his regime of hate and terror. The call for justice is both reasoned and reasonable. I go to Uganda almost every year and see firsthand the impact of Kony’s violence and terror. He should be brought to justice and it should be now. People quite rightly are asking what Africa is doing about it. Uganda’s inaction against Kony should be seen through the lens of lack of capability not will, though the inaction of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a lack of will not capability. Kony has a following and a degree of Government protection within the DRC and the country’s civil war with estimates of some 6 million killed simply makes Kony another part of the nation’s woes. It is a tragic part of the world where human life is often cheap. However, it doesn’t have to be this way. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/kony-2012-just-do-something-anything/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/kony-2012-just-do-something-anything/#item7965 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 The first and last time I was in mainland China was 1988. I caught a train from Guangzhou to Shanghai. There was a Chinese girl in my cabin, being molested on a top bunk by a Frenchman. He spoke English and Chinese and between their activities I took the opportunity to interrogate her. I asked her what had changed in China since Mao Zedong’s death. She said: “Mao Zedong is not dead.” I assumed this was one of those “cultural things” they go on about with the Chinese. Perhaps she regarded the Great Helmsman as an Eternal Spirit, or such. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/icb-playing-heroes-and-villains-with-kony-2012/ Welcome to this week’s I Call Bullshit. Today we’re looking at the super-viral Kony 2012 campaign by Invisible Children, a group dedicated to stopping African warlord Joseph Kony. Doesn’t it feel good, battling evil African terrorists with your Facebook, your Twitter, maybe even your credit card? The Kony story is such a good yarn. It has the perfect villain, who eats small children for breakfast. Then with all the trappings of modern-day warfare – that is, a viral video and social media campaign – we can all be keyboard heroes marching to save the poor kids. Millions of people have now seen the Kony 2012 film by NGO Invisible Children. When I started writing this piece it was around 7.3 million, right now it’s almost at 10 million. And that’s just on YouTube. It’s on Vimeo and a bunch of other sites as well. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/icb-playing-heroes-and-villains-with-kony-2012/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/icb-playing-heroes-and-villains-with-kony-2012/#item7957 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 The first and last time I was in mainland China was 1988. I caught a train from Guangzhou to Shanghai. There was a Chinese girl in my cabin, being molested on a top bunk by a Frenchman. He spoke English and Chinese and between their activities I took the opportunity to interrogate her. I asked her what had changed in China since Mao Zedong’s death. She said: “Mao Zedong is not dead.” I assumed this was one of those “cultural things” they go on about with the Chinese. Perhaps she regarded the Great Helmsman as an Eternal Spirit, or such. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Hes-smart-and-he-knows-his-qing-from-his-ming/ It’s not often in Australian politics when a Prime Minister can go beyond Parliament, and select the best possible candidate in Australia for a Ministerial position. Not so in the United States, where the President selects his Cabinet Secretaries not on the premise whether they are in Congress or Senate, but whether they are the best possible candidate for high office. Prime Minister Gillard selected one of Australia’s best candidates to the Ministry, not the best candidate in Parliament (at the time of the appointment). Let me clear, Australia is the beneficiary by having Bob Carr installed as Minister for Foreign Affairs. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Hes-smart-and-he-knows-his-qing-from-his-ming/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Hes-smart-and-he-knows-his-qing-from-his-ming/#item7922 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 The first and last time I was in mainland China was 1988. I caught a train from Guangzhou to Shanghai. There was a Chinese girl in my cabin, being molested on a top bunk by a Frenchman. He spoke English and Chinese and between their activities I took the opportunity to interrogate her. I asked her what had changed in China since Mao Zedong’s death. She said: “Mao Zedong is not dead.” I assumed this was one of those “cultural things” they go on about with the Chinese. Perhaps she regarded the Great Helmsman as an Eternal Spirit, or such. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/reaching-out-to-syria-was-a-delusional-miscalculation/ In October 2010, Syria’s heavy-weight ambassador Tammam Sulaiman left Australia a disappointed man. He had failed to convince Australia to reopen our embassy in Damascus. In 2008-10 Syrians were very anxious that Australia bolster its credibility building exercise with the United States. Just before the beginning of the Arab Spring, President Obama had very unwisely reopened an American diplomatic post in Syria.  Looking back it’s hard to re-imagine the Middle East before the successful revolutions against authoritarian leaders in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Then, the received wisdom in Western foreign policy circles was that Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad was a “man we could do business with”. Democrats would now be horrified to recall the prevailing view in Western chanceries that this “London” ophthalmologist and his glamorous wife (who subsequently appeared in Vogue magazine) was a closet democrat. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/reaching-out-to-syria-was-a-delusional-miscalculation/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/reaching-out-to-syria-was-a-delusional-miscalculation/#item7904 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 The first and last time I was in mainland China was 1988. I caught a train from Guangzhou to Shanghai. There was a Chinese girl in my cabin, being molested on a top bunk by a Frenchman. He spoke English and Chinese and between their activities I took the opportunity to interrogate her. I asked her what had changed in China since Mao Zedong’s death. She said: “Mao Zedong is not dead.” I assumed this was one of those “cultural things” they go on about with the Chinese. Perhaps she regarded the Great Helmsman as an Eternal Spirit, or such. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/love-and-lust-in-the-department-of-foreign-affairs/ Travel exposes us to foreign sights, tastes and sounds – and many are remarkable, yet after a while, what may surprise us even more than foreign sensations are foreign concepts. The first time a foreign idea stopped me in my tracks was in the midst of a heady love affair in Italy in my twenties. As twentysomethings, the two of us regarded ourselves as very adult in all the ways we valued, and accordingly, after a year or so we had certain conversations about The Future. One day he dropped a proverb into one of these conversations, which goes as follows: “mogli e buoi dei paesi tuoi”.  penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/love-and-lust-in-the-department-of-foreign-affairs/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/love-and-lust-in-the-department-of-foreign-affairs/#item7764 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 The first and last time I was in mainland China was 1988. I caught a train from Guangzhou to Shanghai. There was a Chinese girl in my cabin, being molested on a top bunk by a Frenchman. He spoke English and Chinese and between their activities I took the opportunity to interrogate her. I asked her what had changed in China since Mao Zedong’s death. She said: “Mao Zedong is not dead.” I assumed this was one of those “cultural things” they go on about with the Chinese. Perhaps she regarded the Great Helmsman as an Eternal Spirit, or such. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/foreign-diplomatic-service-a-deadly-serious-business/ The Mexican Ambassador to Venezuala was recently kidnapped. A ransom demand ensued and after five or six hours he was released.  The incident happened right outside his house in what was thought to be a safer part of town.  The attack was highly co-ordinated with three teams of assailants using sophisticated and powerful weaponry. While no-one was hurt, the episode was traumatic and by no means a one-off incident.  It has left the diplomatic community in this city thinking intensely about how to deal with this ever-present danger in as professional a way as possible. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/foreign-diplomatic-service-a-deadly-serious-business/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/foreign-diplomatic-service-a-deadly-serious-business/#item7712 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 The first and last time I was in mainland China was 1988. I caught a train from Guangzhou to Shanghai. There was a Chinese girl in my cabin, being molested on a top bunk by a Frenchman. He spoke English and Chinese and between their activities I took the opportunity to interrogate her. I asked her what had changed in China since Mao Zedong’s death. She said: “Mao Zedong is not dead.” I assumed this was one of those “cultural things” they go on about with the Chinese. Perhaps she regarded the Great Helmsman as an Eternal Spirit, or such. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/biggest-moments-of-2011-15-publish-and-be-damned/ What happened? With the strange exception of the Walkley Award judges, many people and media organisations revised their assessment of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange over the past 12 months. Assange shot to prominence last year with the explosive release of secret government documents from around the world, many of which revealed stories which were wholly in the public interest. They ranged from high level diplomatic assessments of foreign governments, to the more titillating but fascinating snippets of info which shed light on the personalities of world leaders. In the domestic setting we learned some interesting facts about our own government. We learned that, as Prime Minister, the Mandarin-speaking Kevin Rudd was of the view that Australia and its chief ally the US should prepare for the possibility of a war against China. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/biggest-moments-of-2011-15-publish-and-be-damned/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/biggest-moments-of-2011-15-publish-and-be-damned/#item7334 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 The first and last time I was in mainland China was 1988. I caught a train from Guangzhou to Shanghai. There was a Chinese girl in my cabin, being molested on a top bunk by a Frenchman. He spoke English and Chinese and between their activities I took the opportunity to interrogate her. I asked her what had changed in China since Mao Zedong’s death. She said: “Mao Zedong is not dead.” I assumed this was one of those “cultural things” they go on about with the Chinese. Perhaps she regarded the Great Helmsman as an Eternal Spirit, or such.