Foreign Reporting
Dispatches from the field in China, Afghanistan, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, and more.
A nomadic Somalilander near Las Geel. 2022.
Somaliland doesn’t legally exist. But Taiwan has spied an opportunity to make its mark, for ABC News.
Across Somaliland, 2022.
“it’s impossible to miss the subtext of Taiwan’s mission in Somaliland. As it battles to retain independence against China’s increasingly aggressive 'One China' stance, emboldened by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Taipei's gambit in Somaliland appears a last-ditch attempt for political relevance on a continent that has all but abandoned it.”
A sign from an anti-China protest in Auki, Malaita, 2019.
When China Came Calling: Inside the Solomon Islands’ Switch, for The Guardian.
Across Solomon Islands, 2019.
“A Christian nation of 600,000 people that lies 1,800km east of northern Australia, many Solomon Islanders fear China’s oppression of religious minorities is incongruous with their way of life. Some worry Honiara’s institutions are incapable of dealing with the world’s largest nation. Others lament the exit of Taiwan, a friend which stuck with Solomon Islands, even during its civil war.”
The aftermath of the Waheen Market fire.
“I lost everything”: Somaliland fire upturns life, economy, for Al Jazeera.
Hargeisa, Somaliland, 2022.
Residents and traders say the Waheen Market in downtown Hargeisa was an entire financial district and pivotal to Somaliland’s economy.
About 300 metres (1,000 feet) away, former Somaliland head of mission to the United Kingdom, Ayan Mahamoud, was dining at the Damal Hotel. “We [first] thought it was a small fire. And just five to 10 minutes [later], we saw the fire literally in the sky,” said Mahamoud.
“The whole city was running,” she said. “At some point, we thought we’re all going to die.”
The Tsaikhir Valley, September 2022.
In Mongolia, climate crisis threatens herding traditions, for Al Jazeera English.
Tsaikhir Valley, Mongolia. September 2022.
“The nomads who have travelled around Mongolia’s Tsaikhir Valley for generations are struggling with intensifying drought.”
A family in Ishkashim, Afghanistan, 2018.
6 kilometers from the Taliban, tourism offers a lifeline, for The South China Morning Post.
Ishkashim, Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan, 2018.
‘“I ’m just crossing over to get a picture!” Tomas, a Czech Instagramer, proclaims as he forces me to take his photo at the Afghan border.
He’s one of hundreds of Westerners who will cross the remote Ishkashim border, separating Tajikistan and Afghanistan, this summer in search of adventure, untamed wilderness – and selfies.”
In Bhingzhongluo, Yunnan, April 2018.
Nowhere to Run in Xi’s China, for Foreign Policy.
Nujiang Valley, Yunnan, China, 2018.
“For centuries, Dimaluo’s villagers sought shelter from subjugation and religious persecution among the valley’s 13,000-foot-high mountain peaks. A decade ago, it was still hard to reach by car and was without power. Today, a road cuts the town in half, Chinese flags fly over every house, and living rooms are occupied by the sermons of a distant, foreign president for life.”
Malaitan Premier Daniel Suidani in Honiara, November 2019.
The small Pacific islands at the center of a big power play, for The Washington Post.
Solomon Islands, 2019-2020.
“Thousands of miles from their Taiwan Strait flash point, Beijing and Taipei are squaring off in another cross-strait dispute where old animosities collide with local grievances and coronavirus realpolitik.”
Zugvand, Tajikistan, half-way on the long road to London.
I travelled 23,500 kilometers overland to London. This is what I learnt, for ABC.
The Road to London, 2018.
“But for all the experiences — for all the lessons learnt — in the end my biggest take away was the simplest: The world, after all, isn't such a scary place.”
Pacific disaster, in print.
Pacific disaster, for The Saturday Paper.
Tonga & Fiji via satellite phone from Australia, 2022.
“With a sonic boom heard in Alaska, Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai erupted near Tonga on Saturday, causing a tsunami and spreading ash across the Pacific islands and cutting off communications”.
China switch, for The Saturday Paper.
Solomon Islands/Australia, 2022.
“Changing allegiances in the Solomon Islands - from Taiwan to China - have made unlikely heroes for Australia’s right wing media.”
Tsetserleg, Mongolia, 2018.
Mongolia: where adventure tourists can now enjoy an Aussie-style latte on the steppe, for The ABC.
Tsetserleg, Mongolia. 2018.
“In 2010, the Benns sold everything in Australia and moved to Tsetserleg with their four kids. They hoped to capitalise on a growing adventure-tourism industry while helping a struggling community. They bet on a business model untested in rural Mongolia — and it's paying off.”
Ulaanbaatar from a distance. 2018.
Trump, Kim, Mongolia? A dream fades in the ‘Switzerland of Asia’ for The South China Morning Post.
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. 2018.
“Mongolia hoped it would be put on the diplomatic map when speculation grew Ulan Bator would host a meeting between the two leaders.”
Maubisse, Timor Leste.
The Mountains: Timor Leste’s Blessing & Curse, for The Diplomat.
Across Timor Leste, 2018.
“For the East Timorese, the mountains hold a special reverence. While surrounded by bountiful oceans, rich in both contested resources and plentiful fauna, the East Timorese have always looked toward the highlands — towards the safety of their clouded, vast interior — not out to sea.”
A female battalion of Timor Leste’s military solutes their president. Dili, 2018.
Timor Leste’s Forgotten Female Rebels, for The Diplomat.
Dili, Timor Leste, 2018.
“For the women who played a central role in Timor-Leste’s independence war, recognition for their contribution is muted, constrained by policy settings that marginalize the essential role women played in liberating the nation.”
Sunset in Solomon Islands.
How a medical evacuation exposed Solomon Islands’ China problem, for Al Jazeera.
Solomon Islands, 2021.
“Daniel Suidani, the premier of Malaita – the Solomon Islands’ largest province – is in hospital in Taiwan receiving treatment for a suspected brain tumour. But the influential politician is also under fire from the Pacific nation’s government over a medical evacuation that has underlined the deep divisions over a 2019 decision to switch diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing.”
Malaita, Solomon Islands.
Australia deploys troops to Solomon Islands as riots continue, for Al Jazeera.
Solomon Islands, 2021.
“Australia is to deploy more than 70 security personnel to the Solomon Islands’ as two days of violent unrest continued to escalate in Honiara, the capital.”
The chief fighting for an indigenous Vanuatu nation, for Al Jazeera.
North Pentecost, Vanuatu, 2017.
“In the slums of Vanuatu’s capital Port Vila, Chief Viraleo Boborenvanua awaits trial on bail.The middle-aged chief spends his days processing kava root, an intoxicant experiencing an international boom, tending to a small taro plantation and dreaming of a triumphant return to his village of Lavatmengamu – the de-facto capital of the Turaga Nation of which he is the leader.”