Richard McGregor

Senior Fellow for East Asia
Areas of expertise

China’s political system and the workings and structure of the communist party; China’s foreign relations, with an emphasis on ties with Japan, the two Koreas, and Southeast Asia; Australia’s relations with Asia.

Richard McGregor
Biography
Publications
News and media

Richard McGregor is Senior Fellow for East Asia at the Lowy Institute, Australia’s premier foreign policy think tank, in Sydney.

Richard is a former Beijing and Washington bureau chief for the Financial Times and the author of numerous books on East Asia.

His most recent book, Xi Jinping: The Backlash, was published by Penguin Australia as a Lowy Institute Paper in August 2019. His book on Sino-Japanese relations, Asia’s Reckoning: China, Japan and the Fate of U.S. Power in the Pacific Century (Penguin Books, 2017), was called “shrewd and knowing” by the Wall Street Journal and the “best book of the year” by the Literary Review in the United Kingdom. In late 2018, it won the Prime Minister of Australia’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction. His book, The Party (Penguin Books, 2010), on the inner-workings of the Chinese Communist Party, was translated into seven languages and chosen by the Asia Society and Mainichi Shimbun in Japan as their book of the year.

Richard is a Senior Associate (Non-resident) at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in the United States. He was also a visiting scholar at the Wilson Center and George Washington University in Washington DC from 2014-2016.

COVIDcast - Episode 1: The global response to the coronavirus
Podcasts
COVIDcast - Episode 1: The global response to the coronavirus
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. Each week for the next few weeks, Lowy Institute…
The coronavirus outbreak has exposed the deep flaws of Xi’s autocracy
Commentary
The coronavirus outbreak has exposed the deep flaws of Xi’s autocracy
China’s political system was meant to be all-powerful, capable of dealing with any crisis. The death of one doctor has shaken that claim. Originally published in The Guardian…
How the coronavirus crisis has brewed a ‘revolt of the professionals’ in China
Commentary
How the coronavirus crisis has brewed a ‘revolt of the professionals’ in China
Doctors, scientists, lawyers and journalists are pushing back against Communist Party structures in a rare backlash against suppression of information. If Beijing can learn to…
How Beijing's silence helped spread the virus
Commentary
How Beijing's silence helped spread the virus
Beijing's blaming of local officials and signs on a clampdown on information about the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak has tragic echoes of the mishandling of the SARs virus more than…
Wuhan coronavirus: How upfront has Beijing been?
Wuhan coronavirus: How upfront has Beijing been?
So far, to authoritarian type – placing strict controls on information in the name of maintaining stability.
Taiwan’s 2020 elections
Research Notes
Taiwan’s 2020 elections
China has lost the battle for public opinion in Taiwan.
A vital cog in the leader's great plan
Commentary
A vital cog in the leader's great plan
Originally published in The Sunday Times.Richard McGregor
Japan can teach Australia how to carefully handle China
Commentary
Japan can teach Australia how to carefully handle China
Scott Morrison needs to study Shinzo Abe's resolve. Originally published in Nikkei Asian Review. Richard McGregor
Touted as ‘next Hong Kong’ Taiwan lives on the edge
Commentary
Touted as ‘next Hong Kong’ Taiwan lives on the edge
Originally published in The Australian. Natasha Kassam , Richard McGregor
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