Talking points

Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd will give a speech tomorrow at a lunch hosted by the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong and Macau at Kowloon's W Hotel. Rudd, now a key parliament member, will use the occasion to "reflect [on] Australia's changing place in Asia". Rudd, a former diplomat to China who is fluent in Putonghua, visited Tianjin this month for a World Economic Forum meeting.

Representatives in Asia from America's Republican and Democratic parties will take part in a debate hosted by broadcaster CNN on the US presidential election. Among issues to be discussed in the University of Hong Kong's Wang Gungwu Theatre in Pok Fu Lam is the November 6 election's impact on Asia.

The Liberal Democratic Party, now Japan's biggest opposition party after governing the country for half a century until 2009, holds a leadership election, amid calls for a more assertive response to China's territorial claims. Former defence minister Shigeru Ishiba seen as the main rival to the front runner, secretary general Nobuteru Ishihara, urged that Japan's pacifist constitution be revised to ease limits on military actions.