History & Area Studies / Area & Country Studies / East & Southeast Asia

Australia's Forgotten Panic: How a Spy Professor & a Secret Library Built ANU's China Obsession

China & ANU: Diplomats, Adventurers, Scholars

William Sima

Think the geopolitical tension with China is new? Think again. This deep dive into William Sima's book *China & ANU: Diplomats, Adventurers, Scholars* reveals a century of Australian amnesia, panic, and secret alliances. From a 1916 military spy who taught Japanese undercover to a gout-ridden diplomat predicting the post-war order from a bombed-out Chungking, we uncover how the Australian National University was literally born in a sheep paddock out of sheer existential fear. Discover the forgotten story of a 67-year-old envoy who carried art supplies over the Himalayas, the economist who warned the US was creating a 'capitalist monster' in China, and the professor without a degree who smuggled 20,000 priceless Ming dynasty books out of a war zone. This isn't a history lesson—it's a warning. We're still living in the unfinished 20th century, and the choices made then are slapping us in the face today. Watch to find out why Australia's first 'Asian engagement' was a secret Cold War, and what it means for our future.