East Asia

Diplomats, politicians and mining executives like to say that there is always heat and colour in the iron ore trade and this year is no different to any other.

As a key player in the rise of neoconservatism within the US government, and author of the contentious treatise The End of History and the Last Man, Francis Fukuyama has an intimate understanding of the Washington scene that formulates so much of US foreign policy.

In his recently released Interim Report on climate change, Professor Ross Garnaut argues that, absent early and deep emissions cuts, rapid economic growth and escalating greenhouse gas emissions in China…

As China has globalised, it’s artists and their works have also found new markets. International buyers account for about 90 per cent of the current interest in mainland-Chinese art which, according to the Cultural Ministry, is worth about $US36 billion a year.

The hope that China will be “decoupled” from America, and so will not feel its looming recession, seemed to take a hit when Premier Wen Jiabao said that 2008 would be “a most difficult year”.

Australian companies are often drilled in the “three tenders, cheapest wins” philosophy, where relationships are irrelevant.

When Roger Olds took over Coffey International 12 years ago, he set his sights on taking the consulting company international.

Few industries appear as well placed as the engineering services industry. According to consultants Booz Allen Hamilton, the world’s urban infrastructure will need an extra $US40 trillion of investment…

On February 5, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith assured his Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi, that Canberra had corrected the feng shui of a disturbing piece of the region’s diplomatic architecture.