Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 128

Axing USAID: A loss for Taiwan

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has long been a cornerstone of US foreign policy, advancing not only humanitarian aid but also the US’ strategic interests worldwide. The abrupt dismantling of USAID under US President Donald Trump ‘s administration represents a profound miscalculation with dire consequences for global influence, particularly in the Indo-Pacific. By

Torbjørn Færøvik: Som manna fra himmelen

Kineserne har innledet det nye året, Slangens år, med å spise gode middager og gi hverandre gaver. Men de største gavene er kommet fra USA. Tenk å våkne hver morgen og lese at Donald Trump har signert nye idiotiske presidentordrer. Ordrer som blir mottatt med bestyrtelse og sviende kritikk i land etter land.I Zhongnanhai, de kinesiske ledernes forbudte by i Beijing, følger Xi Jinping utviklingen

No doctors for sick children. This is the reality of Trump’s aid freeze in remote northern Thailand

Plastic tubes meander from Rosella’s nose to a nearby oxygen tank that’s bigger than she is, as she flicks through a book of her drawings: a flower, a house, a chicken. The 9-year-old needs non-stop medical attention for the bone condition she was born with that has left her ribs pushing dangerously on her lungs, one of which is not working as it should.“She cannot breathe properly,” her mother,

Trade, tariffs and visas to dominate Trump-Modi talks

When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Washington and meets President Donald Trump later this week, there will be some warm hugs and shared laughs. But that will not be all. Trump and Modi have developed a strong personal rapport over the years, marked by high-profile meetings and joint appearances.Since their first meeting in Washington in 2017, their bond has grown through other events

Trump wants China to play a role in peace in Ukraine. Is Xi Jinping willing to help?

As the war in Ukraine grinds toward its fourth year, US President Donald Trump has made clear which world leader he thinks can help America end the conflict: Vladimir Putin’s ally Xi Jinping. “Hopefully, China can help us stop the war with, in particular, Russia-Ukraine … they have a great deal of power over that situation, and we’ll work with them,” Trump told political and business elites

New marriages in China crash to record low, while divorces on the rise

The number of new marriages recorded in China fell to a record low last year, despite sweeping government efforts to encourage young people to tie the knot and have babies to halt demographic decline in the world’s second-largest economy. Some 6.1 million couples registered their marriages in 2024, a plunge of 20.5% from the previous year, according to data released Saturday by China’s Ministry

Philippines says it won’t let China normalize ‘illegal’ ship deployments in EEZ

Newly released Philippine Coast Guard videos show Chinese coast guard ships remaining in South China Sea waters within Manila’s exclusive economic zone west of Luzon, where they have lingered for the past month, PCG officials said. In video footage taken from a PCG airplane over the weekend and released on Monday, several Chinese coast guard ships were tracked sailing in waters near

Freeze to US aid hits Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar hard

On the Thai-Myanmar border, sick patients are being sent home from hospital. In Laos, school meals have been interrupted. And in Cambodia, hundreds of staff at the agency responsible for clearing land mines have been furloughed.The U.S. State Department on Friday announced a 90-day freeze on nearly all foreign aid, followed one day later by a suspension of global demining programs, according to

Thousands rally against China’s ‘mega-embassy’ in London

Waving flags and carrying placards, protesters representing Tibetan, Uyghur, Chinese and Hong Kong rights groups rallied on Saturday against China’s proposed ‘mega-embassy’ in London, voicing fears that Beijing would use the building to harass and monitor dissidents living abroad.Organizers said around 4,000 people joined the protest at the proposed site of the embassy at the historic former

Gyalo Thondup, Dalai Lama’s older brother, dies aged 97

Gyalo Thondup, an elder brother of the Dalai Lama who played a crucial role in the history of modern Tibet, has died at his home in Kalimpong in northeast India aged 97. One of six siblings to the Tibetan spiritual leader, he leaves behind a legacy built on a lifetime of advocating against Chinese rule in Tibet.At different points in his life, Thondup made numerous – at times desperate – attempts