Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 10

China’s attempt to pivot away from the U.S. starts with this trading hub

Three young boys eating lollipops joined me on the elevator inside the five-story Yiwu “International Trade Market,” which ships the majority of the world’s Christmas decorations. The kids ran out before I got off. There were more children than buyers when I visited what is one of the world’s largest wholesale markets in late August, just days before the end of summer vacation in China. Lego

China fires water cannons at over 10 Philippine ships

The China Coast Guard yesterday said that it fired water cannons at Philippine ships near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island) in the South China Sea, accusing Manila of an “illegal” intrusion and the ramming of one of its vessels.The confrontation comes a week after China approved plans to turn the shoal, that Taiwan also claims, into a national nature reserve, a move that defense

Taiwan: New civil defense handbook released

The Ministry of National Defense’s All-Out Defense Mobilization Agency yesterday released its updated civil defense handbook, which defines the types of potential military aggression by an “enemy state” and self-protection tips in such scenarios. The agency has released three editions of the handbook since 2022, covering information from the preparation of go-bags to survival tips during

How China rewrote the history of its WWII victory

On 2 September 1945, Japanese forces officially surrendered to the Republic of China, ending the brutal occupation which began in 1937. Since the end of the subsequent Chinese Civil War, this victory has been marked separately by the People's Republic of China, and the Republic of China (Taiwan).In mainland China, the communist government's role in the victory over Japan has been largely

After Indonesia, Nepal — is the Philippines next to erupt?

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on Monday said police would not stop a nationwide protest planned for this Sunday, while vowing to investigate alleged massive corruption in state infrastructure projects. Filipinos have been glued to their television sets in recent days as both houses of Congress probed graft allegations tied to state-funded flood control projects.The news has coincided with

US ‘pivot to Asia’ never happened and likely never will

More than a decade after President Barack Obama first announced America’s “pivot to Asia” in 2011, it’s time for an honest autopsy of what was supposed to be the defining strategic reorientation of the 21st century.What we find is a textbook case of strategic overreach meeting geopolitical reality—a familiar pattern for anyone who has studied America’s post-Cold War foreign policy adventures. The

China is quietly saving the world from climate change

The People’s Republic of China is still the world’s biggest single source of environmental harm. China overfishes the world’s oceans, blasts mercury and nitrous oxide and other pollutants into the atmosphere, and dumps plastic waste into the sea. It has made progress on many of these problems, but when you’re the biggest global manufacturer, it’s very hard not also to be the biggest global

B-21 rollout nears as China boasts it can shoot it down

The US Air Force has doubled its B-21 Raider test fleet, flying a second prototype in a milestone that signals faster progress toward its next-generation nuclear and conventional strike arm. This month, multiple media sources reported that the US Air Force confirmed the maiden flight of its second B-21 stealth bomber, marking a significant milestone in testing the next-generation

The Scholars Helping to Keep WWII Sex Slavery From Being Forgotten

This year, China’s core scholars on “comfort women” — women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese army in World War II — published two career-defining books.One, “A Comprehensive History of the Japanese Military ‘Comfort Women’ System,” offers an in-depth analysis of wartime female slavery and is considered the most comprehensive, systematic, and authoritative multi-volume study of

Cultural Resistance: China’s Other War During the Japanese Invasion

From the Mukden Incident in 1931 to Japan’s surrender in 1945, China endured 14 years of war, marked by foreign occupation and fierce domestic resistance. What began with a Japanese incursion into northeastern China escalated into a drawn-out, nationwide conflict and one of the major fronts of WWII.The war claimed tens of millions of lives and displaced countless more, as entire cities were