Asia Pacific Week

Pacific island nations suffered severe depopulation from introduced diseases as a consequence of contact with European vessels, a new study from The Australian National University (ANU) shows.

The research, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, indicates population declines were a lot larger than previously thought.

According to the study, the main island of Tonga had a population decline of between 70 to 86 per cent once Europeans made contact.

A group of international researchers has uncovered evidence of a super rare genetic condition that gives men an extra X chromosome, reporting the oldest clinical case of Klinefelter Syndrome to date.
 
The evidence comes from a 1,000-year-old skeleton from Portugal.
 
Klinefelter Syndrome is a rare genetic condition where individuals are born with an extra copy of the X chromosome, occurring in approximately one in 1,000 genetic-male births.
 

Professor Jane Golley presented the annual ANU China in the World lecture on Tuesday 23 August. Here is an abridged version of her lecture on the Chinese economy.

The Chinese economy has long been a source of contention, with predictions of its imminent collapse pitted against portrayals of its strength and resilience.

Is China’s competitive edge dying as it runs out of people, or is slower population growth not quite that catastrophic?

If three ancient bodies buried in Indonesia could talk, researchers from The Australian National University (ANU) say they would tell stories of the earliest humans in island Southeast Asia.

The discovery of the three bodies on Indonesia’s Alor Island, dating from 7,500 to 12,000 years ago, sheds new light on burial practices and migration through the area. 

With tensions again running high between China and Taiwan, a gathering storm threatens to erupt in the Taiwan Strait. Michael Weaver unpacks a turbulent history and what the future holds.

A high-profile visit to Taiwan by Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, saw China undertake its biggest-ever show of military force in the air and seas around Taiwan, including the firing of ballistic missiles.

Now, the world is watching – and holding its breath.

Workers in Australia’s retail sector are being left behind as a wave of rapidly-changing technologies reshape the industry, according to research led by experts at The Australian National University (ANU) and the University of Sydney.

A survey of workers in the industry, which comprises 11 per cent of the Australian workforce, found that increased surveillance, a lack of training and the impact of online shopping were just some of the issues having a detrimental effect on retail workers.

Australians in more than 400 remote or regional communities lack access to good-quality drinking water, while about eight per cent of Australia’s population is not included in reporting on access to clean water, according to researchers at The Australian National University (ANU).

The researchers reviewed public reporting by 177 water utilities to measure gaps in drinking water quality in regional and remote Australia.

China's free large-scale technology training in Indonesia poses a major security challenge to Australia and the region, according to a paper by experts at The Australian National University (ANU).

A massive congratulations to all our graduates on mid-year graduation day at the College of Asia & the Pacific (15 July).

We've compiled a few of the great stories from our people on their special day that you can read below.