Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 115

Trump says banning TikTok won’t make Americans safer from China. He may have a point

President Donald Trump on Wednesday batted down the national security concerns surrounding TikTok, saying, “Is it that important for China to be spying on young people? On young kids watching crazy videos?”It was a surprising comment coming from the guy who first tried to ban TikTok from the United States over worries that the Chinese government could use the app to gather intelligence on

Philippines suspends South China Sea science mission after China ‘harassment’

Philippine authorities suspended a scientific survey in the disputed South China Sea after its fisheries vessels faced “harassment” from China’s coast guard and navy. Vessels from the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) were going to Sandy Cay for a marine scientific survey and sand sampling on Friday, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said in a statement on Saturday.“

Torbjørn Færøvik: Der det er farer, er det muligheter - for Kina

Der det er farer, er det muligheter, lyder et kinesisk ordtak.  Nå er farene flere enn på lenge, men Kina, alltid like parat, har gode muligheter til å sko seg på Donald Trumps øredøvende politiske comeback. Først og fremst ved å vinne terreng i det mye omtalte globale sør, men også i vårt eget splittede Europa.  Ser vi bort fra Trumps forrige presidentperiode, har USA vært en

Taiwan says 85% of national security cases involve retired army, police

Taiwan said 85% of its national security cases were found to involve retired military and police officers, adding China “systematically and organically cultivated” these forces in the island.Taiwan’s national security law is a set of legal provisions aimed at safeguarding its sovereignty and democratic system from internal and external threats. It includes measures against espionage, subversion,

South Korea's Impeached President Indicted on Insurrection Charges

South Korea's impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol has been indicted on insurrection charges over his brief declaration of martial law in December, according to reports. The charges are unprecedented for a South Korean president, and Yoon could face years in prison if convicted. South Korean media outlets, including Yonhap news agency, reported on Sunday that the Seoul Central District Prosecutors'

Five years after Wuhan lockdown, China still ‘struggling to recover’

Five years ago, authorities in the central Chinese city of Wuhan and surrounding areas in Hubei province imposed a travel ban on some 18 million people, just days after admitting that the newly emerging coronavirus was transmissible between people.The lockdown prompted a mass rush to leave the city that likely helped spread COVID-19 around the country and beyond. It also plunged China into three

Interview: Trump would like to resume personal diplomacy with Kim Jong Un

Fred Fleitz is the vice chair of the America First Policy Institute’s Center for American Security, and until recently he was a member of the Trump transition team. He previously served as a deputy assistant to the president during Trump’s first term and chief of staff of the National Security Council, among other U.S. national security positions over the years.He has written extensively on North

India Faces Looming Population Challenge

India is set to join many other countries around the world that are heading toward a population challenge by 2050. India is headed for an aging population, meaning people will live longer while fertility rates continue to fall.One of the biggest fallouts from this is that younger people end up living in an economy with less growth, due to the lower numbers of working-age people, while

Beijing opaque on its travel ban against Rubio

Chinese officials remain tight-lipped about how they plan to carry out diplomacy with the United States while America’s top diplomat, Marco Rubio, remains officially sanctioned for critical comments he made about Beijing’s treatment of Uyghurs and Hong Kong in 2020.Rubio, formerly a Republican senator from Florida, was hit with retaliatory sanctions for “interfering” in China’s domestic affairs

Professor Arne Jon Isachsen: Demokrati - den kinesiske varianten

Myndighetene i Kina er opptatt av demokrati, men ikke demokrati slik vi tenker på dette begrepet. Der de som styrer landet, velges ved folkeavstemning, og der ulike grupperinger eller interesser er samlet i ulike partier. Der det finnes klare regler for hvordan valg skal avvikles, og når valg skal finne sted. Der kutyme er etablert for hvordan resultatet av et valg skal tolkes, og der Kongen gir