Since the release of my book The Blogging Revolution (latest edition just out in India) the use by China of Western and local security firms to monitor citizens has only grown. This piece in the New York Times signals the depth of the problem: Chinese cities are rushing to construct their own surveillance systems. Chongqing,…
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False lure of mining riches in Papua New Guinea
My following investigation appears in New Matilda today: Papua New Guinea has a new leader but the country’s relationship to mining remains complex. Locals who aren’t happy about the growth of the industry are left with few options, reports Antony Loewenstein from Port Moresby At Port Moresby international airport in Papua New Guinea sits piles…
The Commonwealth needs relevance bypass
John Kampfner is spot on in the Guardian last weekend: The death knell of the Commonwealth has been sounded for as long as there have been summits. By accident rather than design, this anachronistic gathering of 54 states may actually say more about the state of global priorities than the participants realise. And the direction…
The silent horrors of Sri Lanka still resonate
My following book review appears in today’s Sydney Morning Herald: An insider reveals the tortuous history of Sri Lanka’s conflict. The United Nations recently released a report into war crimes committed in Sri Lanka in the final stages of that country’s brutal civil war between the Tamil Tigers and the Colombo regime that ended in…
9/11 legacy is an Israeli/American catastrophe
My following essay is published today on ABC online: The 9/11 attacks had barely happened and the smouldering wreckage in New York and Washington was still shocking America and the world. Israel already saw an opportunity. Then former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was asked to express his feelings about the terrorist action in the immediate…
So now we know who has been talking to the US covertly
Philip Dorling writes in Fairfax in Australia that there are serious questions about who holds vital information, who releases it, who should horde it and where responsibility lies in an age where Wikileaks (rightly) forces governments and journalists to own up to their own culpability in human rights abuses and cover-ups: Confirmation that the full…
Standing up against Chinese repression; release Ai Weiwei
I’m proud to have signed the following statement, just released publicly, that asks the Chinese regime to release famed artist Ai Weiwei: This is an open letter from members of the Australian creative community to the Chinese Ambassador in Australia about the disappearance of artist and activist Ai Weiwei To Chen Yuming, Chinese Ambassador to… Australia,…
Global dissidents may not want US openly backing them
Promoting web freedom is a noble idea, especially since so many autocratic regimes and Western multinationals are working together to stop citizens accessing the glories of information on the internet. But this idea is full of potential problems (via the New York Times), not least because Washington has a shocking record of supporting dictatorships at…
An interview on Palestine, boycott, Jews, Zionism, Australia and blindness
My following interview, conducted by Sarah Irving, appears in the Electronic Intifada: Antony Loewenstein (“antonyloewenstein.com) is a writer and journalist based in Sydney, Australia and a founder of Independent Australian Jewish Voices. His first book, My Israel Question, was an Australian best-seller and was short-listed for the 2007 New South Wales Premier’s Literary Award; an…
Chinese prisoners forced to earn web game credits
A surreal environment in a country where human rights campaigning is an issue largely seen as a Western plot to undermine Beijing: As a prisoner at the Jixi labour camp, Liu Dali would slog through tough days breaking rocks and digging trenches in the open cast coalmines of north-east China. By night, he would slay…