The Last Correspondent

Dispatches from the frontline of Xi's new China

Michael Smith

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English

Ultimo Press
26 April 2021

Memoirs; History; General & world history; Society & culture: general; Black & Asian studies; Politics & government

The ultimate insider's account: living and working in China in a period of unprecedented economic and social upheaval.

It was just after midnight when China's notorious secret police came knocking.

A late-night visit to his Shanghai laneway house by China's notorious secret police triggered a diplomatic storm which abruptly ended Michael Smith's stint as one of Australia's last foreign correspondents in China. After five days under consular protection, Smith was evacuated from a very different China to the country he first visited 23 years earlier.

The visit marked a new twist in Australia's 50-year diplomatic relationship with China which was now coming apart at the seams. But it also symbolised the authoritarianism creeping into every aspect of society under President Xi Jinping over the last three years.

From Xinjiang's re-education camps to the tear-gas filled streets of Hong Kong, Smith's account of Xi Jinping's China documents the country's spectacular economic rise in the years leading up to the coronavirus outbreak.

Through first-person accounts of life on the ground and interviews with friends as well as key players in Chinese society right up to the country's richest man, The Last Correspondent explores what China's rise to become the world's newest superpower means for Australia and the rest of the world.

By: Michael Smith
Imprint: Ultimo Press
Country of Publication: Australia
Edition: Trade Paperback
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 153mm,
Weight: 420g
ISBN: 9781761150005
ISBN 10: 1761150006
Pages: 336
Publication Date: 26 April 2021
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Michael Smith has been covering China for over 20 years and is currently the China correspondent for the Australian Financial Review. He lived and reported from China up until September 2020, when the Chinese government compelled the last Australian journalists to leave the country. He currently resides in Sydney with his partner. Their dog Huey, however, remains in China awaiting his opportunity to be reunited with his family.