Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 110

When Beijing Was China’s Most International City

Toward the end of the 13th century, while a guest in the court of Kublai Khan, Marco Polo was stunned by the beautiful grassland enclosed in the imperial palace, which teemed with fruit trees and breeding animals such as deer and goats.Roughly 300 years later, Beijing had become a crowded, windswept city; the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci often wore a veil when he went out, partly to move around

Mapping China’s influence around the Panama Canal

President Donald Trump has made repeated claims that China “operates” the Panama Canal in recent weeks and has threatened to take back the waterway to block what he sees as Beijing’s increasing influence. A BBC Verify analysis shows that the US remains the main user of the canal, but Chinese involvement in infrastructure projects around the waterway - which is operated directly by Panama - has

Calls grow for US to counter Chinese control, influence in Western ports

Calls are growing Washington for action to loosen Beijing’s influence stemming from Chinese and Hong Kong companies' control over key infrastructure on the Panama Canal and other port facilities in the Western hemisphere. At a recent meeting of the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security, Chairman Carlos Jimenez warned that Beijing has

OPINION: Banning Khmer Rouge denialism is a bad move for Cambodia and the world

Quite soon, possibly to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Khmer Rouge takeover in April, Cambodia will pass a new law making it a jailable offense of up to five years to “deny, trivialize, reject or dispute the authenticity of crimes” committed during that regime’s 1975-79 rule.The bill, requested – and presumably drafted – by Hun Sen, the former prime minister who handed power to his son

China Reacts to Trump and Putin's Ukraine War Talks

China said it welcomes increased U.S.-Russia dialogue following President Donald Trump's conversation with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on ending Moscow's war in Ukraine. In a Truth Social post on Wednesday, Trump said he had a "highly productive" phone call with Putin and that they had agreed to start negotiations on ending the conflict that began nearly three years ago. Trump also said he

Military Spending: China Finally Agrees With Trump

China has backed President Donald Trump's call to scale back military expenditures, saying the United States, as the world's top defense spender, should set the example.Newsweek reached out to the U.S. Department of Defense and the Russian Foreign Ministry by email with requests for comment. Trump on Thursday called for talks with the U.S.'s most powerful adversaries, China and Russia, to engage

Chinese exporters brace for 'rat race' in shift away from US

The trade war between Washington and Beijing, which escalated this month with U.S. President Donald Trump imposing additional 10% tariffs on Chinese goods as an "opening salvo," could deal a new supply shock to the rest of the world.Chinese producers, facing weak demand at home and harsher conditions in the United States, where they sell more than $400 billion worth of goods annually, have no

India’s Modi, Trump discuss China border tensions and upcoming Quad summit

U.S. President Donald Trump offered to act as a future mediator between China and India when asked about recent tensions on the border between the two countries. Trump spoke to reporters on Thursday after meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House. “I look at India and I do see the skirmishes on the border and I guess they continue to go on,” he said. “If I could be of

Vance turns on European allies in blistering speech that downplayed threats from Russia and China

US Vice President JD Vance vented at European leaders Friday, telling them that the biggest threat to their security was “from within,” rather than China and Russia. Vance used his first major speech as vice president to lambast European politicians, claiming they are suppressing free speech, losing control of immigration and refusing to work with hard-right parties in government.Read more

China expels 1,000 monks and nuns from Larung Gar Buddhist Academy

Chinese authorities have expelled over 1,000 Tibetan monks and nuns from the Larung Gar Buddhist Academy in the latest blow to the major center of Tibetan Buddhist learning, sources inside Tibet with knowledge of the situation said. Citing a lack of proper residency documentation, officials said they need to reduce the number of Buddhist clergy residing at the academy from 6,000 to 5,000, the