Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 108

World’s most populous nation saw a ‘staggering’ rise in hate speech last year, report says

India’s religious minorities have faced a “staggering” rise in hate speech over the past year, including from top leaders of the ruling Hindu nationalist party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to a report released Monday.The number of hate speech incidents targeting Muslim and Christian minorities rose to 1,165 in 2024 from 668 the year prior, a 74% increase, according to a report from

Report: The Chinese People’s Liberation Army in 2025

As a “partial power,” China will have significant limitations on its ability to project economic, military, and ideational power outside Asia and to force major changes in international rules and norms on a reluctant United States by 2025, even under the most optimistic assumptions about alternative futures. The ability of the U.S. to maintain its own economic growth, continue technological

China’s foreign investment sank in January. Can Beijing turn things around?

Inbound investment in China plummeted to a four-year low in January, as the world’s second-largest economy grapples with a flurry of headwinds. The Ministry of Commerce reported on Wednesday that 97.6 billion yuan ($13.4 billion) in foreign direct investment was utilized last month, a 13% drop from the same period last year.The weak start to the year came after a steep plunge of 27.1% in total

What China fears most about Trump’s turn toward Russia

US President Donald Trump’s push to end the war in Ukraine appears poised to hand key concessions to Russia, leaving Kyiv and its European supporters on the sidelines as they face the prospect of a peace deal made over their heads. But they aren’t the only major players grappling with the fallout of Trump’s pivot to Russia that has upended years of US foreign policy in a burst of rapid-fire

Inside the 48 hours that Trump turned on Zelensky

As the long-fraught relationship between President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky ripped apart Wednesday, a question that lingered among allies of both men was whether the fight would dash hopes for a US-brokered peace — or, potentially, help it along.Firing off an angry message on his social media platform, Trump labeled Zelensky a “dictator without elections,”

'We will unite with Kim Jong Un': Conspiracies grip South Korea

On a cold January afternoon, a young pharmacy student, Shin Jeong-min, waited restlessly outside South Korea's Constitutional Court, as the country's suspended president arrived to fight his impeachment. While Yoon Suk Yeol testified, she chanted along with hundreds of his incensed and worried supporters, who have rallied around him ever since his failed attempt to impose martial law. "Release

The A-level student who became an enemy of the Chinese state

Just over a year ago, Chloe Cheung was sitting her A-levels. Now she's on a Chinese government list of wanted dissidents. The choir girl-turned-democracy activist woke up to news in December that police in Hong Kong had issued a $HK1 million ($100,000; £105,000) reward for information leading to her capture abroad. "I actually just wanted to take a gap year after school," Chloe, 19, who lives in

Taiwan May Have Reason to Worry About Trump

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has framed the meeting as an early step toward ending the war. This has raised concerns in Kyiv and the European Union, which have insisted they be included in any peace talks. True to his dealmaking style, Trump has approached the talks with a more transactional mindset than his predecessor, former President Joe Biden.More than 4,000 miles away in

China Issues New Demands to Trump's America

China had a list of demands for Washington after the State Department removed a line about the U.S.'s opposition to the independence of Beijing-claimed Taiwan from a fact sheet.The government in Taiwan, officially known as the Republic of China, has ruled the island since retreating there after losing the Chinese civil war to Mao Zedong's communist forces. Taiwan has never declared independence—a

How China can really pivot to the Global South

The latest actions from the Trump administration have reaffirmed the imperative for Chinese firms to reduce their dependence on the American market. Trump’s 10% additional tariffs on all Chinese imports have predictably invited Chinese countermeasures. And markets remain fearful that Trump will continue threatening the 60% tariffs on all Chinese goods he promised to impose while on the campaign