Good evening. John Garnaut is not exactly a household name, yet the little known Australian very much changed the China game — first in Australia, then in the United States and now in the private sector. This week’s cover story is the must-read account of Garnaut’s fascinating personal life and evolution from a child of the “engagement” era to a progenitor of the current hawkish era.
Elsewhere, we have infographics on the business leaders who recently got an audience with Xi Jinping; an interview with Sarah Bianchi on setting Biden’s trade agenda and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework; a reported piece on Ant Group’s renewed international push; and an op-ed by Stephen Roach on Hong Kong’s identity crisis. If you’re not already a paid subscriber to The Wire, please sign up here.
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The China Whisperer
John Garnaut is one of the men most responsible for the global shift in China policy. As a journalist and then Australian government official, he was early to argue that the West was misunderstanding China’s ideological underpinning. Now, with Garnaut Global, a consultancy for financial firms, he has teamed up with U.S. China hawk Matthew Pottinger to guide the private sector’s relationship with China. But can Garnaut continue to get China right? Katrina Northrop reports.
The Big Picture: China’s Red Carpet
This week’s infographics by Aaron Mc Nicholas look at the business leaders who recently got an audience with Xi Jinping and assesses how their red-carpet treatment in China compares with how they’ve handled rocky relations between the two countries.
A Q&A with Sarah Bianchi
Sarah Bianchi has been a longtime policy aide to a string of leading Democrats, including her most recent role as President Biden’s Deputy U.S. Trade Representative where she oversaw negotiations for the trade portion of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. Before Bianchi left office in early 2024, the IPEF parties failed to reach a trade deal because of disagreements on labor policies and other matters, although discussions continue. In this interview with Bob Davis — part of our ‘Rules of Engagement’ series — she talks about why the U.S. needs to be on high alert when dealing with China, and how the Biden administration’s approach has differed from its predecessor.
Sarah Bianchi
Illustration by Lauren Crow
Ant Group Renews International Push
A decade on, China’s mobile payment giant ventures out again, targeting merchants and tourists across Asia. Rachel Cheung reports.
Hong Kong’s Identity Crisis
Despite Hong Kong’s famed resilience, Stephen Roach argues in this week’s op-ed that it’s hard to make the case for an upturn in the city’s fortunes, given they now go hand-in-hand with those of mainland China.
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