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![Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and her partner Tim Mathieson walk through a doorway at the Forbidden City in Beijing. Ms Gillard says Australians need to engage more closely with their Asian neighbours. [Reuters] (AFP/Reuters)](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201205/r942084_9974845.jpg "Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and her partner Tim Mathieson walk through a doorway at the Forbidden City in Beijing. Ms Gillard says Australians need to engage more closely with their Asian neighbours. [Reuters] (AFP/Reuters)")
Living in the Asian Century
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The author of the much-anticipated White Paper on the Asian Century says Australia can't afford to be complacent about its place in the world.
![Elections in Papua New Guinea are due in June. [AFP: Torsten Blackwood, file photo] (AFP)](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201205/r941403_9960757.jpg "Elections in Papua New Guinea are due in June. [AFP: Torsten Blackwood, file photo] (AFP)")
A question of governments
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With elections due soon, Pacific Correspondent Sean Dorney asks the question 'Is the Westminster System of Government Right for PNG?'
![A Burmese bank worker counts money. [Reuters] (ABC)](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201205/r939292_9921057.jpg "A Burmese bank worker counts money. [Reuters] (ABC)")
Burma prepares for business boom
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There are predictions that Burma could be a new Asian tiger as sanctions ease and international companies are able to invest.
![A group of Indonesian punks jailed in Bandah Aceh last year. [AFP] (AFP)](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201205/r937631_9886428.jpg "A group of Indonesian punks jailed in Bandah Aceh last year. [AFP] (AFP)")
No anarchy in Aceh, Indonesia cracks down on punks
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Indonesia correspondent Matt Brown reports on Aceh's crackdown on punks.
![Former Cook Islands prime minister Sir Geoffrey Henry has died aged 72. [Reuters] (Reuters)](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201205/r939447_9923823.JPG "Former Cook Islands prime minister Sir Geoffrey Henry has died aged 72. [Reuters] (Reuters)")
Cook Islands farewells Sir Geoffrey Henry
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Sir Geoffrey Henry has died aged 72. Sean Dorney looks back on the life of a proud Cook Islander who led his country for more than a decade.
![Sir Michael Somare, the father of the Papua New Guinea nation and the man who took the country to independence from Australia 37 years ago. [AFP: Torsten Blackwood] (AFP)](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201205/r938527_9904923.jpg "Sir Michael Somare, the father of the Papua New Guinea nation and the man who took the country to independence from Australia 37 years ago. [AFP: Torsten Blackwood] (AFP)")
Sir Michael Somare: The Chief
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The father of the Papua New Guinea nation, who took the country to independence from Australia 37 years ago, Michael Somare, is finally about to retire.
![The improved economic fortunes of Indonesians are bringing their own challenges for those with money but little financial education. [Reuters: Enny Nuraheni] (Reuters)](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201205/r935341_9843493.jpg "The improved economic fortunes of Indonesians are bringing their own challenges for those with money but little financial education. [Reuters: Enny Nuraheni] (Reuters)")
More money, more problems
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Indonesia's economic development is creating a young, cashed-up middle class, who have little or no training in managing their money wisely.
![A third of China's population is expected to be 60 years and older by 2030. [Reuters] (Reuters)](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201205/r934600_9828477.jpg "A third of China's population is expected to be 60 years and older by 2030. [Reuters] (Reuters)")
China's population puzzle
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Within two decades, more than one-third of China's population will be aged over 60. Huey Fern Tay reports on China's demographic challenge.
![New tuberculosis laboratory at the Centenary Institute in Sydney, Australia. [ABC] (ABC)](http://www.abc.net.au/news/image/3923846-16x9-340x191.jpg "New tuberculosis laboratory at the Centenary Institute in Sydney, Australia. [ABC] (ABC)")
Vietnam fights TB
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Australian and Vietnamese researchers are working on an anti-tuberculosis program for a country where community attitudes often weaken the medical fight.
![Prime Minister Najib Razak and the UMNO party are facing increasing calls for change. [AFP: Saeed Khan] (AFP)](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201204/r932335_9786505.jpg "Prime Minister Najib Razak and the UMNO party are facing increasing calls for change. [AFP: Saeed Khan] (AFP)")
Malaysia: Mid Life Crisis or Fresh Opportunity?
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Sen Lam, the Malaysian-born host of Radio Australia's Asia Pacific program ponders the challenges facing Malaysia's ruling alliance, as elections loom.
![Tensions are boiling over between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea. [Reuters: Cheryl Ravelo] (Reuters)](http://www.abc.net.au/news/image/3970560-16x9-340x191.jpg "Tensions are boiling over between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea. [Reuters: Cheryl Ravelo] (Reuters)")
Report raises fear of South China Sea war
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A new International Crisis Group report is warning the stand-off in the South China Sea is getting worse, and major armed conflict could eventually break out.
![Rainforest in Indonesia, while at the edge of a protected area a lone tree stands isolated after peatland forest was cut and cleared. [AFP: Romeo Gacad] (AFP)](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201204/r929535_9730662.JPG "Rainforest in Indonesia, while at the edge of a protected area a lone tree stands isolated after peatland forest was cut and cleared. [AFP: Romeo Gacad] (AFP)")
Carbon scheme bogged down
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100 million trees were to be planted in Indonesia under an Australian carbon-reduction scheme. Five years on, only 50,000 seedlings are in the ground.
![Australia Network's Pacific correspondent Sean Dorney has lived and worked in Papua New Guinea for 20 years. He is the only foreign correspondent to have been both deported and awarded honours by PNG.[ABC] (ABC)](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201202/r887669_8874466.jpg "Australia Network's Pacific correspondent Sean Dorney has lived and worked in Papua New Guinea for 20 years. He is the only foreign correspondent to have been both deported and awarded honours by PNG.[ABC] (ABC)")
Reporting in, on and about PNG
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Pacific correspondent Sean Dorney on the privilege and pitfalls of reporting in, on and about Papua New Guinea
![Mahani Zainal Zbidin and Dr Shekhar Shah with Jim Middleton. [ABC] (ABC)](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201204/r928174_9702472.JPG "Mahani Zainal Zbidin and Dr Shekhar Shah with Jim Middleton. [ABC] (ABC)")
The Asian Century
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It is being called the Asian Century. But is the region ready for its new great role?
![Community groups say the number of Vietnamese women in jails in southern Victoria state is disproportionately high. [ABC] (Unspecified)](http://www.abc.net.au/news/image/3869182-16x9-340x191.jpg "Community groups say the number of Vietnamese women in jails in southern Victoria state is disproportionately high. [ABC] (Unspecified)")
Vietnam women's Australian trail to jail
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About 20 per cent of female prisoners in one Australian state are of Vietnamese origin.
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