Foreign Reporting
Dispatches from Solomon Islands, China, Afghanistan, Timor Leste, Vanuatu, Mongolia, Cuba, and more.
Interviewing Richard Olita, secretary of a Malaitan independence movement, in Auki, Solomon Islands. November 2019.
The Small Pacific Islands at the Center of a Big Power Play
Washington Post, July 30, 2020.
Solomon Islands
“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.”
Australia deploys troops to Solomon Islands as riots continue
Al Jazeera, November 25, 2021.
Solomon Islands.
“Unrest rocks capital for a second day with rioters targeting Chinatown businesses amid escalating inter-island tensions.”
The unfolding of disaster in Tonga
The Saturday Paper, January 22, 2022.
Tonga, Fiji, New Zealand, by way of Adelaide.
“At first we thought it was thunder, but then we realised it was the volcano. It was like hearing a cannonball from the old movies”.
The Saturday Paper, January 15, 2022.
Solomon Islands by way of Adelaide.
““I suspected this all along”, said Kenilorea, "that there was going to be a shift in security [partnerships] from our trusted and true friends, Australia, towards our new friend, China.”
How a medical evacuation exposed Solomon Islands’ China challenge
Al Jazeera, June 9, 2021.
Solomon Islands by way of Adelaide.
“Tensions are mounting after a prominent opponent of the country’s ‘One China’ policy sought treatment in Taiwan.”
Solomon Islands province announces independence vote amid China tensions
The Guardian, September 02, 2020.
Solomon Islands by way of Adelaide.
“Malaita’s promised poll pits pro-Taiwan province against a pro-Beijing national government”.
Guardian, December 3, 2019.
Reporting from across Solomon Islands.
“The Pacific nation’s decision to sever ties with Taiwan reverberated around the world and has had far-reaching consequences inside the country”
China and Solomon Islands offered us huge bribes, say Solomon Islands MPs
Guardian, December 3, 2019.
Honiara, Solomon Islands.
“Politicians say they were offered hundreds of thousands of dollars for their support before country switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing”
Guardian, November 26, 2019.
Honiara, Solomon Islands.
"Prince Charles has delighted a crowd of Solomon Islanders by addressing them in their in their native pidgin on Monday, concluding his first visit to the South Pacific nation.”
Foreign Policy, October 18, 2018.
Dimaluo, Yunnan, China.
"While the Dimaluo of Tenzin’s childhood is not entirely lost, it feels more threatened than ever.”
Al Jazeera, August 26, 2017.
Pentecost, Vanuatu.
"Today, Viraleo's classroom is empty. On the chalkboard, notes from the last lesson are fading. A kustom bank, reportedly housing billions of Vatu worth of pigs tusks, is closed so long as the chief's handcrafted timber throne sits empty. And the Tuvatu remains just a dream, rather than the beating heart of a kustom economy."
South China Morning Post, July 14, 2018.
Ishkashim, Afghanistan.
"Ishkashim is a bright spot in Afghanistan’s long-suffering tourism industry as it attracts those seeking superb selfies. And it’s perfectly safe – just ask the locals."
I travelled 23,500km overland from Adelaide to London. This is what I learnt.
ABC News, October 20, 2018.
36 nations.
“After 23,500 overland kilometres, 242 days, 36 countries, 28 currencies, 26 languages, 83 buses, 23 shared cars, 14 trains, and 7 ferries, I arrived at my finish line in London.I may have left Australia with a clear idea of where I was heading. But I had no idea what would come of it. In the end, I took away five lessons that will last me a lifetime.”
Mongolia: where adventure tourists can now enjoy an Aussie-style latte on the steppe
ABC News, June 3, 2018.
Tsetserleg, Mongolia.
"You're more likely to run into a yak than a cafe in Tsetserleg, Mongolia. But Australian couple Liz and Murray Benn have set up a Melbourne-style cafe in the mountains, offering rare, year-round employment for scores of locals in the struggling countryside."
Trump, Kim, Mongolia? A Dream Fades in the Switzerland of Asia.
South China Morning Post, May 6, 2018.
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
"Mongolia hoped it would be put on the diplomatic map when speculation grew Ulan Bator would host a meeting between the Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un. Now those dreams seem as empty as its vast open plains"
The Diplomat Magazine, March 29, 2018
Dili, Timor Leste.
"Long an enabler of Timorese independence, the island’s mountains are now a chief adversary in Dili’s quest to link the nation."
The Diplomat, May 16, 2018.
Dili, Timor Leste.
"For the women who also 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."
Huffington Post, November 29, 2016.
Santa Clara, Cuba.
"Western populists and Cuban socialists sit at different ends of the left-right divide, but they are united in their inability to envisage a new future that embraces bold ideas and offers viable change. They are united in their attachment to mythologised versions of history that only prohibit contemporary problem solving to contemporary woes."
One Road to London, March 20, 2018.
Pulau Bidong, Malaysia.
"This island used to be the world's most densely populated place. Today, just three people remain."