Skip to content
Global sound
Face-Off

Face-Off

The Rugby Gambit

· 33 min · Season 3 Episode 5

Show notes

The strangest geopolitical deal you've never heard of: Australia trades rugby league spots for an agreement not to make an agreement with China. Papua New Guinea's players get to compete Down Under and in return, China gets locked out of a strategic Pacific island. Sports diplomacy at its most serious.

Guest: Oliver Nobetau, Papua New Guinea Government Lawyer & Fellow at the Lowy Institute

Book Recommendations

Lost In Shangri-La: A True Story of Survival, Adventure and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War 2 by Mitchell Zuckoff

If you are looking for other interesting books about China, do check out the China Books Review section of the Asia Society webpage at https://chinabooksreview.com/

Face-Off: The U.S. vs. China is produced in partnership with ⁠Rowhome Productions⁠.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Live, last hour: 14,060 songs on 5,930 stations in 122 countries

Discover the world through radio

More ways to discover (9)

Heard something good? Save it, or open it straight away in Spotify.

Amplifier4JCContinue listening