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The Last Correspondent
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.
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.
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Published April 26, 2021
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268 people want to read
About the author
Michael Smith
22 books35 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads' database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Michael Smith gave up a 30 year career as a leading business and political journalist to write the bestselling biography, An Unsung Hero - Tom Crean. He was formerly Political Correspondent and Industrial Editor of the Guardian, City Editor of the London Evening Standard and Business Editor of the Observer. He has a long-standing interest in Polar expedition. He lives in East Sussex.
Michael Smith gave up a 30 year career as a leading business and political journalist to write the bestselling biography, An Unsung Hero - Tom Crean. He was formerly Political Correspondent and Industrial Editor of the Guardian, City Editor of the London Evening Standard and Business Editor of the Observer. He has a long-standing interest in Polar expedition. He lives in East Sussex.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
October 5, 2021
I keenly followed this drama last year and was saddened that Sino-Australian relations had reached a point whereby we now have no Australian foreign correspondents residing in China. Reading this book provides some of the inside story of this drama.
The book is written in bite-size chapter dispatches covering the period of Smith's time as an Australian foreign correspondent organised in 5 main parts: Evacuation, China's Awakening 1993/97 and 2019, China's Rise 2019, The New China and Escape. The big issues are therefore reported on: Hong Kong, Taiwan, COVID-19, North Korea, Australian diplomacy, China's economic boom and it's new role as a global superpower. The dispatch style gives Smith the ability to take the reader on location and report on some unique interviews.
The book is written in bite-size chapter dispatches covering the period of Smith's time as an Australian foreign correspondent organised in 5 main parts: Evacuation, China's Awakening 1993/97 and 2019, China's Rise 2019, The New China and Escape. The big issues are therefore reported on: Hong Kong, Taiwan, COVID-19, North Korea, Australian diplomacy, China's economic boom and it's new role as a global superpower. The dispatch style gives Smith the ability to take the reader on location and report on some unique interviews.
Want to read
April 20, 2021Interview with the author on Please Explain: https://pca.st/episode/c43d326d-6395-...
September 8, 2022
這一本雖然以一名澳洲記者逃出中國（完全字面意義上的逃）的事件做為主軸，但「國際記者逃離中國」可說是自席近平完全掌權，並帶領中國（中國共產黨）的路線轉為左傾，乃至2020年的武漢肺炎疫情爆發及中國反應的一連串連鎖反應的結果。
作者在2018年被派駐到中國，在那之前，他曾經長期停留香港（甚至有一位香港籍的伴侶）。
在這樣的經歷下，本書可以說是以一個相當個人的視角（以及經歷），見證了西方對現代中國曾有的想像（特別是文化上）、期待（民主化及更加開放），然後一步步因為中共的左傾及緊縮，轉向認清短期內中國做為一個專制獨裁政權難以改變，也或許不應該期待依靠中國改變的現實，脈絡上吻合現今主流西方對中國的體悟，尤其是，他個人不得不逃出中國更可說呼應了諸多外商正在逃出中國（當然，時至2022的今日，我們可以看見就連做得到的中國人也在「潤」）。
書中不能說詳細，但概括提及了包含席近平個人權力和造神化的確立；香港反送中的脈絡以及民主遭剝奪的過程；台灣2018-2020執政黨的立場和（在外國媒體眼中，對於）台灣大選所呈現的民眾意志；新疆「再教育營」實則為勞改營的高度質疑、對少數民族的人權侵害，甚至是或許人們已漸漸習以為常，但實則日益嚴苛的大規模人民監控等近年逐漸被國際社會關注的中國現狀。
以我來看，作者對中國依然有著深厚的個人情感，但這並沒有讓他扭曲了中共做為專制政權，一切人制、無法制以及反人權的現實，只是那個個人情感還是讓他下筆稍微輕了一些。但，也不見得是壞事就是了。
對西方媒體如何看待現代中國有興趣的話，算是書寫流暢好讚的一本書，不特別深入但脈絡完整，結語稍嫌輕輕放下（所以我看完沒兩小時已經只剩這印象了XD），但就算是客觀吧。
作者在2018年被派駐到中國，在那之前，他曾經長期停留香港（甚至有一位香港籍的伴侶）。
在這樣的經歷下，本書可以說是以一個相當個人的視角（以及經歷），見證了西方對現代中國曾有的想像（特別是文化上）、期待（民主化及更加開放），然後一步步因為中共的左傾及緊縮，轉向認清短期內中國做為一個專制獨裁政權難以改變，也或許不應該期待依靠中國改變的現實，脈絡上吻合現今主流西方對中國的體悟，尤其是，他個人不得不逃出中國更可說呼應了諸多外商正在逃出中國（當然，時至2022的今日，我們可以看見就連做得到的中國人也在「潤」）。
書中不能說詳細，但概括提及了包含席近平個人權力和造神化的確立；香港反送中的脈絡以及民主遭剝奪的過程；台灣2018-2020執政黨的立場和（在外國媒體眼中，對於）台灣大選所呈現的民眾意志；新疆「再教育營」實則為勞改營的高度質疑、對少數民族的人權侵害，甚至是或許人們已漸漸習以為常，但實則日益嚴苛的大規模人民監控等近年逐漸被國際社會關注的中國現狀。
以我來看，作者對中國依然有著深厚的個人情感，但這並沒有讓他扭曲了中共做為專制政權，一切人制、無法制以及反人權的現實，只是那個個人情感還是讓他下筆稍微輕了一些。但，也不見得是壞事就是了。
對西方媒體如何看待現代中國有興趣的話，算是書寫流暢好讚的一本書，不特別深入但脈絡完整，結語稍嫌輕輕放下（所以我看完沒兩小時已經只剩這印象了XD），但就算是客觀吧。
May 5, 2021
A recount of Michael Smith’s tenure as the AFR’s China Correspondent, ‘The Last Correspondent’ shows us that truth can be stranger than fiction. Essentially charting the vast changes that have happened in China over the past 50 years, untold rapid growth and development, is overshadowed by the more sinister developments since Xi Jingping announced his lifetime rule.
_________
Touching on issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Covid-19, North Korea and Uyghurs from a first-person perspective, the findings are unsettling. The extreme lengths of censorship and control play out to almost comical examples of completely staged events and overbearing authorities. Smith shows us a world, albeit heavily scripted in many respects, that many would be unaware of. It ultimately ends with his widely-known story of escaping a nation that is shutting out foreign influence, but it paints a clear picture of the iron fist with which Xi Jingping rules.
_________
The Last Correspondent is a look at China as a whole through the experience of the author as a foreigner living in it, it paints a picture of a deeply complex and flourishing society that has had unbelievable development in recent decades. With heart and hope, friends and those met over Smith’s years reveals a promising future, but leaves us with a hurried escape and an age of uncertainty with crumbling ties between nations and no clear resolution in sight.
_________
Touching on issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Covid-19, North Korea and Uyghurs from a first-person perspective, the findings are unsettling. The extreme lengths of censorship and control play out to almost comical examples of completely staged events and overbearing authorities. Smith shows us a world, albeit heavily scripted in many respects, that many would be unaware of. It ultimately ends with his widely-known story of escaping a nation that is shutting out foreign influence, but it paints a clear picture of the iron fist with which Xi Jingping rules.
_________
The Last Correspondent is a look at China as a whole through the experience of the author as a foreigner living in it, it paints a picture of a deeply complex and flourishing society that has had unbelievable development in recent decades. With heart and hope, friends and those met over Smith’s years reveals a promising future, but leaves us with a hurried escape and an age of uncertainty with crumbling ties between nations and no clear resolution in sight.
June 8, 2021
Very insightful and exciting. A brief on Xi's China and its effects on not only the Chinese citizens but also Australia. Well written and informative but at the same time, engagingly anecdotal.
April 27, 2021
For me, this vivid, personal account of a Journalist innocently caught in the crossfire of strained relations, at the highest levels of government, and the need to rapidly navigate a safe passage home, makes for a highly engrossing and compelling read.
April 23, 2021
Definitely a must read. There is a lot to learn from the seasoned journalist about China, but also great anecdotes from a marvelous story teller. I’ll avoid spoilers and just say ‘get it’
May 17, 2021
Fascinating read on China. Great to see an up to date perspective through the lens of personal experience. A great book.
December 13, 2022
A few months ago, I read Bill Birtles’ similar text (The Truth About China: Propaganda, Patriotism and the Search for Answers.)
I have been interested in China for many years and have tried to read widely. In 2014 I travelled to Hong Kong, China, Tibet and Mongolia. A couple of years later I spent a month in Taiwan.
I clearly remember Whitlam’s visit in 1972. I remember driving some 300kms home on a Sunday morning in 1989 and listening to the reports of the massacre in Tiananmen Square on the car radio.
In the 1990s I read Chinese fiction and memoirs and over the last few years watched with interest as it grew both internally and on the world scene. I have been saddened and disappointed in how things have turned out in recent years with my country’s relationship with China and I can see faults on both sides.
Smith tells his story similarly to how Birtles structured his text. The book opens with a description of the days just before his forced departure from China, it deals with his Tasmanian childhood, his move into journalism, a stint in Hong Kong, his Chinese partner and then his appointment as AFR (Australian Financial Review) correspondent situated in Shanghai and living in the French Concession.
Smith and Birtles trod in each other’s footprints as they told the story of recent China through the major stories over the last decade. They both gave a Western view of events, the CCP’s reaction and complemented this by interviewing and quoting locals.
Hong Kong protests, Uyghurs in Xinjiang, the Chinese billionaires, specifically Jack Ma, Australian businesses and the people who run them in China. Chinese “wolf warrior diplomacy, Taiwan, China’s relationship with its neighbours, including Nort Korea, COVID 19 in China and finally the plunge to an icy cold level in the relationship between Australia and China. The consolidation of Xi Jinping dictatorial rule and the clamping down on any type of dissent and the control the CCP has over the nation.
If newspaper reports are the first history record, then books like this must be seen as the second line of history.
The book is a satisfying read, however, parts of it have become usurped by recent events. The outbreak of anti-COVID lockdowns and the change in government in Australia.
Both nations have contributed to the collapse in the relationship. The LNP has allowed the intelligent community to set policy development towards China. Diplomacy has been ignored and politicians (read Turnbull, Andrews, Morrison and Dutton) have said and done things for local political advantage that has contributed to the souring of relations.
Smith concludes by disclosing the ASIO raids on Chinese journalists in Canberra not long before his expulsion would have definitely contributed to his own raid and subsequent expulsion.
Smith enjoyed his time in China, and he admired many aspects of the country. But now both it and the rest of the world, and in this case, Australia must learn to deal appropriately with this most powerful nation without being submissive and by putting our interests forward but in a careful diplomatic manner.
I have been interested in China for many years and have tried to read widely. In 2014 I travelled to Hong Kong, China, Tibet and Mongolia. A couple of years later I spent a month in Taiwan.
I clearly remember Whitlam’s visit in 1972. I remember driving some 300kms home on a Sunday morning in 1989 and listening to the reports of the massacre in Tiananmen Square on the car radio.
In the 1990s I read Chinese fiction and memoirs and over the last few years watched with interest as it grew both internally and on the world scene. I have been saddened and disappointed in how things have turned out in recent years with my country’s relationship with China and I can see faults on both sides.
Smith tells his story similarly to how Birtles structured his text. The book opens with a description of the days just before his forced departure from China, it deals with his Tasmanian childhood, his move into journalism, a stint in Hong Kong, his Chinese partner and then his appointment as AFR (Australian Financial Review) correspondent situated in Shanghai and living in the French Concession.
Smith and Birtles trod in each other’s footprints as they told the story of recent China through the major stories over the last decade. They both gave a Western view of events, the CCP’s reaction and complemented this by interviewing and quoting locals.
Hong Kong protests, Uyghurs in Xinjiang, the Chinese billionaires, specifically Jack Ma, Australian businesses and the people who run them in China. Chinese “wolf warrior diplomacy, Taiwan, China’s relationship with its neighbours, including Nort Korea, COVID 19 in China and finally the plunge to an icy cold level in the relationship between Australia and China. The consolidation of Xi Jinping dictatorial rule and the clamping down on any type of dissent and the control the CCP has over the nation.
If newspaper reports are the first history record, then books like this must be seen as the second line of history.
The book is a satisfying read, however, parts of it have become usurped by recent events. The outbreak of anti-COVID lockdowns and the change in government in Australia.
Both nations have contributed to the collapse in the relationship. The LNP has allowed the intelligent community to set policy development towards China. Diplomacy has been ignored and politicians (read Turnbull, Andrews, Morrison and Dutton) have said and done things for local political advantage that has contributed to the souring of relations.
Smith concludes by disclosing the ASIO raids on Chinese journalists in Canberra not long before his expulsion would have definitely contributed to his own raid and subsequent expulsion.
Smith enjoyed his time in China, and he admired many aspects of the country. But now both it and the rest of the world, and in this case, Australia must learn to deal appropriately with this most powerful nation without being submissive and by putting our interests forward but in a careful diplomatic manner.
June 13, 2021
A quick and enjoyable read from an Australian journalist in China who had to make an emergency exit in late 2020 in the face of Chinese Government threats.
In some ways, it's a very Aussie and blokey kind of book. Smith, a business correspondent for the Australian Financial Review clearly loves being a journalist, and has a lifelong appreciation for China (two long periods living there, and his partner is from Hong Kong). He is the central figure in most of the stories, especially the well-told escape which forms the introduction and conclusion bookends.
Most of the chapters are efforts to re-tell key events and stories Smith found during his recent time in China. As such this is light but engaging portrait of modern China. While there are clear themes (Xi Jinping's hardening regime, the battles for Hong Kong) the book never gets very deep into how to understand China, either its people or government. Nor how Australians themselves should think of it. Instead, it offers enjoyably written snapshots of an important era as China under Xi took over Hong Kong, battled a pandemic and tried to punish Australia. Readers will likely take away the themes and messages they want from it.
On a personal note, this was the first book I've read which recounted the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, and I actually found it quite unsettling (even if my experience was very easy). Smith's pandemic was quite different from mine - and his insights onto how China's personal and social culture made a big different are important - but I still found it wasn't an era I was keen to dive back into reading about.
Would make a good book to read on the plane, or a few pages before bed. Still, I'm glad he wrote it. We need books like this as Australia tries to figure out China, each one offering a small part of the kaleidoscopic view necessary to bring this fascinating and confronting country into focus.
In some ways, it's a very Aussie and blokey kind of book. Smith, a business correspondent for the Australian Financial Review clearly loves being a journalist, and has a lifelong appreciation for China (two long periods living there, and his partner is from Hong Kong). He is the central figure in most of the stories, especially the well-told escape which forms the introduction and conclusion bookends.
Most of the chapters are efforts to re-tell key events and stories Smith found during his recent time in China. As such this is light but engaging portrait of modern China. While there are clear themes (Xi Jinping's hardening regime, the battles for Hong Kong) the book never gets very deep into how to understand China, either its people or government. Nor how Australians themselves should think of it. Instead, it offers enjoyably written snapshots of an important era as China under Xi took over Hong Kong, battled a pandemic and tried to punish Australia. Readers will likely take away the themes and messages they want from it.
On a personal note, this was the first book I've read which recounted the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, and I actually found it quite unsettling (even if my experience was very easy). Smith's pandemic was quite different from mine - and his insights onto how China's personal and social culture made a big different are important - but I still found it wasn't an era I was keen to dive back into reading about.
Would make a good book to read on the plane, or a few pages before bed. Still, I'm glad he wrote it. We need books like this as Australia tries to figure out China, each one offering a small part of the kaleidoscopic view necessary to bring this fascinating and confronting country into focus.
August 10, 2021
Michael Smith was the China correspondent of the Australian Financial before he was booted out. Why, no one knows, probably for being Australian and a journalist. His book is very interesting to anyone who wants to learn about how difficult it is to work as a western journalist in China, as simply getting the facts on which to base the story can be a trial in itself, particularly one who is trying to report on business and economics, Michael Smith was the last Australian journalist to be expelled by the Chinese, which was at the same time as the ABC's Bill Birtles. This leaves no Australian journalists reporting on China for a major Australian medium. This is a great shame as one of the major contributions that both these journalists did was to tell the story of the individual Chinese people, which can only foster empathy and understanding between our nations.
August 3, 2021
Great book. Michael being from a journalistic background has really accessible and engaging writing. Very interesting insight into Sino-Australian relations from someone who was in China and on the receiving end of the deterioration of bilateral relations. Michael paints a picture of a beautiful, culturally diverse China that makes me excited to travel to Shanghai eventually. Excellent read, I recommend to anyone interested in China.
September 11, 2025
Michael Smith is a brilliant storyteller. This is his account of working and living in mainland China/HK/Taiwan from HK's handover in 1997 to the COVID-19 years. Loved the balanced analysis with perspectives from within and outside China.
See also, the Drawing Room interview at: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/program....
See also, the Drawing Room interview at: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/program....
December 24, 2021
A memoir full of rich anecdotal insight, but one that also contains precise and detailed commentary on China's development. Add to this the drama and intrigue of Smith's flight from China and you are left with one remarkable book.
June 1, 2021
An excellent read. Tense, humorous, compassionate, caring for his friends and colleagues and working hard to write about the truth at considerable risk to friends, family and colleagues. Highly recommended. Thank you Michael.
June 26, 2021
Easy to read and captivating and informative. Couldn't put it down.
April 18, 2021
Such a great read - I just loved it. Entertaining, informative and a really interesting perspective on all things new China (and Hong Kong). Highly recommend.
August 30, 2022
All the troubles of Chi na can be concluded in two alphabets: XI.
August 31, 2021
Smith gives us insight into life in China under the strong, controlled leadership of Xi Jinping from someone who has been on the ground reporting about the administration for several years. He only learned after he safely returned to Australia the likely reason he was ousted as a foreign correspondent: in retaliation for Chinese correspondents being forced to leave Australia shortly before he was given the boot. Although he sees his expulsion from China as unfortunate and unnecessary, he seems to be able to maintain his objectivity and still has a deep appreciation for the Chinese people and their culture. He also has a partner who is Chinese.
This book covers the rise of Xi through the Communist Party (the only real political party in China), his consolidation and extension of power, his mixed success in pulling the Chinese population out of poverty, and his efforts to position his country as a global superpower, not so much militarily as economically. I think Smith recognizes that one of Xi's primary objectives is to show the world that Communism is not dead and that it can carry a nation of 1.4 billion people through the 21st century even more effectively than republics like the U.S. can. No doubt, Xi will use China's response to the COVID pandemic as a first example, and to the extent that an authoritarian style of government has certain advantages in such a global crisis situation, he probably has a strong argument.
Smith's book also covers China's relations with its neighbors in southwest Asia, particularly Korea and Taiwan, the latter of which it still considers to be part of the homeland. The author provides enough backstory on the topics he covers to give context without getting bogged down in centuries of history. He offers an interesting perspective on a country that is mysterious to most of the western world, but he also makes it clear that the west cannot ignore the Sleeping Giant.
This book covers the rise of Xi through the Communist Party (the only real political party in China), his consolidation and extension of power, his mixed success in pulling the Chinese population out of poverty, and his efforts to position his country as a global superpower, not so much militarily as economically. I think Smith recognizes that one of Xi's primary objectives is to show the world that Communism is not dead and that it can carry a nation of 1.4 billion people through the 21st century even more effectively than republics like the U.S. can. No doubt, Xi will use China's response to the COVID pandemic as a first example, and to the extent that an authoritarian style of government has certain advantages in such a global crisis situation, he probably has a strong argument.
Smith's book also covers China's relations with its neighbors in southwest Asia, particularly Korea and Taiwan, the latter of which it still considers to be part of the homeland. The author provides enough backstory on the topics he covers to give context without getting bogged down in centuries of history. He offers an interesting perspective on a country that is mysterious to most of the western world, but he also makes it clear that the west cannot ignore the Sleeping Giant.
August 5, 2021
This was better than I expected. I had thought that it would mostly be the story of the incident in which two Australian journalists were extracted from the clutches of the thuggish PRC in 2020. The author did cover that, but there were also good explanations of related China news events such as the Uighur concentration camps in Xinjiang, the protests and imposition of the National Security law in Hong Kong, increased tensions over Taiwan, COVID-19 and many others. The big story is the acceleration of authoritarian creep under Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist party.
December 1, 2021
Absolutely enthralled by Smith's recount of living in China. From the protests in Hong Kong, to the reeducation camps in the western provinces, or the tee-lined streets of the Shanghai French Concession, he paints a visceral picture of modern China. He also manages to introduce contemporary affairs with their historical origins, and crucial information that is essential to understanding the current discourse. His experience as a journalist makes him an expert in highlighting the global giants relations with the rest of the world and had me captivated from start to finish.
August 14, 2021
A pawn in a political game of chess
Set to the backdrop of an emerging global pandemic intertwined and the rapid assimilation of Hong Kong into China's political sphere and the societal shifts that follow. Michael Smith provides exciting perspectives and retells his experiences of being a political pawn in the rapidly deteriorating Sino-Australian relations.
Set to the backdrop of an emerging global pandemic intertwined and the rapid assimilation of Hong Kong into China's political sphere and the societal shifts that follow. Michael Smith provides exciting perspectives and retells his experiences of being a political pawn in the rapidly deteriorating Sino-Australian relations.
September 26, 2021
An insightful yet somewhat lightweight reporting from the past couple of years of developments in China. Despite some stark observations on what unfolded in Hong Kong and China itself, as it began to transition to the Mao style totalitarianism, I feel the author chose diplomacy rather than brutal truth on many pages. It's an enjoyable and fast-paced read.
October 29, 2021
An easy-to-read blend of boots-on-the-ground stories from mainland China and an overview of the shifting internal political landscape there over the course of the last 5 years. Nothing particularly exciting or groundbreaking
December 4, 2021
I had intended to skim this book to get up to date.- But I found myself reading it front to back; the writing was so engaging, and the analysis so nuanced. Well worth reading to gain a greater understanding of events and issues.
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April 23, 2021I've always been fascinated by China and this book didn't disappoint. This book is well-reasoned and well-written, gripping and extremely human. A must read.
May 13, 2021
Enlightening and personal look at covering China, as well as how life has changed there and the political rise of Xi.
November 4, 2021
This is a very well written book which engages you to the end. It really opens your eyes to the power the CCP has over its people
December 21, 2021
An entertaining ride through a serious subject, there is an enjoyable lightness to Smith's writing but it's probably a bit long.
February 22, 2025
An interesting glimpse into China.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews