Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 107

Taiwan: Cabinet decries US’ 32 percent tariffs

The Executive Yuan yesterday decried US President Donald Trump’s 32 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods announced hours earlier as “unfair,” saying it would lodge a representation with Washington. The Cabinet in a statement described the pledged US tariffs, expected to take effect on Wednesday next week, as “deeply unreasonable” and “highly regrettable.” Cabinet spokeswoman Michelle Lee said that

Are Trump's Asia tariffs a 'full-frontal assault' on China?

As US President Donald Trump laid out tariffs on virtually every one of America's trading partners on Wednesday, he had strong words for Beijing. "I have great respect for President Xi [Jinping] of China, great respect for China, but they were taking tremendous advantage of us," Trump said during his roughly hour-long address.Holding up a chart listing countries and territories that he said had

China urges U.S. to 'immediately' cancel reciprocal tariffs, vows countermeasures

China's Ministry of Commerce urged the U.S. to "immediately cancel" its unilateral tariff measures and vowed to take "resolute counter-measures" to safeguard its own rights and interests, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced what analysts described as the steepest tariff hikes in a century."The U.S. has drawn the so-called 'reciprocal tariffs' based on subjective and unilateral assessments

‘I Love Him’: A Suicide, a Student’s Diary, and a School’s Reckoning

Taiwanese author Lin Yi-han turned her pain into a groundbreaking novel about a teenage girl groomed by her tutor. Not long after its release in 2017, she died by suicide. Years later, a student surnamed Fu read the book and saw her own life in its pages. In her diary, she wrote: “I became guilty, only able to repeatedly tell myself, I love him.” This past January, she, too, took her own

Young, Tired, and Still Trying: China’s Next Generation Rethinks Success

Is your life better than that of your parents’ generation?For all the frustrations young Chinese face in the workplace and at home, many would still answer in the affirmative, says Peter Hessler, the well-known author of “River Town” and “Oracle Bones.” Hessler, who has spent most of the past three decades chronicling the changing lives of Chinese across the world, still sees the younger

US, Japan ‘Stand Firmly Together’ in the Face of Aggressive Chinese Actions

While there is wide-spread speculation about what the second administration of U.S. President Donald Trump will do with regard to its massive troop presence in Europe, the administration has made it clear that it intends to maintain and strengthen the U.S. military presence in Japan vis-a-vis an increasingly aggressive China – especially with a Taiwan emergency in mind.Speaking in Tokyo on March

Myanmar announces week of national mourning as hopes of finding quake survivors fade

More than 2,000 people in Myanmar have been killed following a magnitude 7.7 earthquake that affected areas as far as Thailand and China. Myanmar's military government has declared a week of national mourning, with a moment of silence to be held later on Tuesday at 12:51 local, the exact time the quake struck on FridayIn neighbouring Thailand, 20 people are known to have died, and thousands have

Trump has the world on edge as he mulls fateful tariffs decades in the making

He’s got the world hanging on his every word — and that’s how he loves it. President Donald Trump held court in the Oval Office on Monday evening, ratcheting up suspense over his promised tariff war “Liberation Day” on April 2 and riffing on his 19th-century worldview that threatens to rock the 21st-century economy.It was an extraordinary spectacle — an all-powerful president, surrounded by his

Why China Is Wary of a Trump-Xi Summit

In Washington, President Trump has said he is willing to meet with Xi Jinping, China’s top leader. In Beijing, Chinese officials and experts agree that a meeting between the heads of state must precede any broad reset of relations with the United States amid Mr. Trump’s aggressive approach to trade and foreign policy. But arranging a meeting is already proving slow and difficult.Senator Steve

Trump’s tariffs threaten to escalate a trade war. China wants to talk, but it’s ready to fight

As Donald Trump’s April 2 “Liberation Day” for announcing “reciprocal” tariffs on America’s trading partners approaches, the question in Beijing is whether this will be the moment when its nascent trade war with the US really escalates.Mixed messages have kept Chinese officials guessing. The US president has long railed against the gaping trade deficit between the world’s two largest economies –