Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 128

Former Taiwan presidential hopeful Ko Wen-je charged with corruption

Ko Wen-je, a former Taipei mayor and one-time presidential candidate, has been charged with bribery, profiteering, embezzlement and breach of trust and could face more than 28 years months in prison if convicted Ko, who won support among younger voters in a presidential election this year with promises to upend Taiwan’s political establishment, was indicted on Thursday and released on NT$30

South Korean parliament votes to impeach acting president Han Duck-soo

South Korea’s parliament voted to impeach prime minister and acting president Han Duck-soo on Friday, less than two weeks after parliament stripped President Yoon Suk Yeol of his powers over his short-lived martial law order that plunged the country into political disarray. A total of 192 lawmakers voted to impeach Han, more than the 151 votes needed in the 300-member legislature.Chaotic scenes

China launches new amphibious assault ship in a race to rival US military

China has launched its first next-generation amphibious assault ship, adding a powerful cutting-edge warship to the country’s fast-expanding navy as it races to rival the military power of the United States. The Type 076 amphibious assault ship entered the water on Friday at a launch ceremony at a shipyard in Shanghai, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) said in a statement.Named Sichuan

The mystery surrounding two severed Baltic subsea internet cables is getting murkier

A massive Chinese cargo ship suspected of intentionally severing a pair of fiber optic cables in the Baltic Sea has left the area amid an ongoing international investigation. Cables like these, which are the veins connecting the global internet, have been at the center of suspicious maritime activity in recent years that has resulted in an uptick of outages. In this case, the ship had remained

A dam ignited rare Tibetan protests. They ended in beatings and arrests, BBC finds

Hundreds of Tibetans protesting against a Chinese dam were rounded up in a harsh crackdown earlier this year, with some beaten and seriously injured, the BBC has learnt from sources and verified footage.Such protests are extremely rare in Tibet, which China has tightly controlled since it annexed the region in the 1950s. That they still happened highlights China's controversial push to build dams

China is positioning itself as an alternative source of AI technology for the global south

During a visit to the United Nations in September, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi launched a new international plan for AI development that focused on what has come to be called the “global south.” It was China’s resolve, Wang Yi announced, to work with other countries on data sharing and security, the production and supply of AI tech, building joint AI laboratories, educational exchanges, and

UK Parliament: UK- China relations. Recent developments

Over the last several years, relations between the UK and China have deteriorated sharply. This paper looks at some of the most significant aspects of the UK-China relationship, but does not attempt to cover all of its components.Several factors have contributed to the worsening of relations. Firstly, the hardening of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) rule over China, including efforts to

China trains African journalists as part of drive to boost influence

China is stepping up efforts to train African journalists in what analysts say is a bid to crank up its overseas propaganda operations and boost its ideological influence on the continent. The Chinese Embassy in Nairobi recently invited around 70 reporters and editors from the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, or KBC, to a media course, participants told Voice of America’s Chinese Service.“

Tibetans demand apology from the British Museum for use of ‘Xizang’

The British Museum’s use of the term “Xizang” to label Tibetan artifacts in its Silk Roads exhibition has prompted criticism from Tibetans and rights groups who have demanded that the museum remove the Beijing-promoted term and issue a formal apology. Using “Xizang” — a term China formally adopted in 2023 in all its official documents to refer to Tibet — plays into Beijing’s attempts to undermine

Chinese workers found in ‘slavery-like conditions’ at BYD construction site in Brazil

Brazilian officials found 163 Chinese nationals working in “slavery-like conditions” at a construction site for a factory owned by Chinese electric vehicle producer BYD in Brazil’s Bahia state, the local labor prosecutor’s office said Monday. According to the authorities, the workers were hired in China by another firm and brought to Brazil irregularly.They were laboring for long hours, in excess