Vehicles bearing police logos and Chinese-language markings have been spotted in Perth and Adelaide.

The story of a defector who likely starved to death with her son in Seoul has thrown a spotlight on the plight of North Koreans in the South.

The ‘Hong Kong No Riot’ event in Sydney calls on Chinese-Australians to resist efforts by the ‘outside world’ to split Hong Kong from China

Campus confrontations have erupted from Canada to New Zealand as mainland Chinese students react, sometimes violently, to public scrutiny of Beijing’s policies.

The meeting was co-hosted by the National Governors Association and a Chinese group thought to have ties to Beijing’s overseas propaganda wing.

CCTV captured four masked individuals entering the student union building on the campus before the wall was vandalised.

Delfin Lorenzana made the remark a day after expressing hope for closer military ties – a confused stance that analysts nevertheless say is consistent with President Rodrigo Duterte’s China policy.

Demonstrators taking aim at Beijing say they fear for their safety but are still planning another demonstration for Wednesday.

The Australian institution earlier this month named Xu Jie, Chinese consul-general in Brisbane, to a post, with no public announcement.

Pro-democracy students staged a sit-in supporting the anti-extradition protests in Hong Kong, before mainland students singing the Chinese national anthem allegedly attacked.

The newly uncovered trend has raised national security concerns and led to calls for greater due diligence in partnering with Chinese institutes, although others argue limiting engagement with the rising power will not improve its human rights record.

Ahead of the landmark election in 1987, the military-backed ruling camp so feared the loss of its hand-picked candidate, it drew up plans to fix the poll, declassified US intelligence shows.

China’s response to the current trip has been relatively muted, but past pressure tactics can be seen in letters obtained through US Freedom of Information requests.

‘If he is being detained for his political views, then he should be released,’ foreign minister Payne said.

Yang Hengjun, a visiting scholar at Columbia University and critic of Beijing’s suppression of democracy, was detained in January after arriving in China with his family on a flight from New York.

Tokyo’s decision to restrict exports of hi-tech materials to Seoul and a simmering row over forced labour have sent the relationship between the two countries tumbling.

Two Australian universities say they will review ties to Chinese tech companies implicated in rights abuses in the semi-autonomous region, while the Chinese embassy says the ABC’s Four Corners programme used ‘absurd logic’.

Analysts say part of the reason is that Pyongyang, the strongest argument for cooperation between Tokyo and Seoul, is seen to have receded as a threat.

The Pacific nation’s government has defended the actions as routine law enforcement, but critics fear its rule of law is being undermined as the case takes place against a backdrop of global misgivings about China’s legal system.

Minister says the 29-year-old should stay in Japan, go back to South Korea or Australia because his detention in North Korea could ‘have ended very differently

An Australian government source familiar with the details confirmed Sigley was in Beijing and would shortly travel to Tokyo.

Documents provided to the Post reveal the federal police feared ‘negative reporting’ of the raid – which drew international condemnation as an attack on press freedom – and dressed to avoid reputational damage.

Stockholm has long served as a channel for countries that don’t have formal relations with Pyongyang. The Nordic nation is ‘dealing with’ the case of student Alek Sigley, who is feared detained by the North.

Anti-nuclear advocate Rebecca Johnson hopes Trump will break with conventional wisdom to offer Kim a chance to build a prosperous future for his country in exchange for nuclear disarmament.

The Australian student was known for posting about his colourful life inside the secretive nation. But if his detention is confirmed, it would add him to a long list of foreigners whose fascination with North Korea landed them in hot water

Only 32 per cent of Australians trust China to act responsibly, according to an annual poll by the Lowy Institute – the lowest level since the survey began in 2005.

Washington hints that access to its spying capabilities could be under threat if South Korea does not play ball over China’s 5G giant. That leaves Seoul to weigh the demands of its security ally against those of its top trade partner.

The plans, if confirmed, would be a sign of ‘growing competition for access to infrastructure around the Indo-Pacific from both China and the US’, an expert says

Some have been driven by demands for political reform or a change of leadership, while others have been motivated by opposition to specific government actions or proposals.

A mutual suspicion of Beijing’s rising clout, particularly in the South China Sea, has led to deeper military cooperation between Hanoi and Washington but non-aligned Vietnam still has constraints on its defence ties.