Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 1305

The Chinese Want Their Art Back

The party has taken its new stance on culture at a time of rising nationalism. China openly promotes efforts to repatriate works pillaged during its self-defined “century of humiliation,” from the Opium Wars of the 1840s and 1850s to the establishment of the People’s Republic in 1949. Read more

Trying to avoid war, US and China build uneasy alliance

As US and China officials meet in Washington for high-level talks, the relationship between the countries is increasingly tense and awkward, even as they try to build an alliance. America and China of are playing a high-stakes game in the South China Sea. Things are tense in Washington, too. Read more

China says will welcome only anti-independence candidate for Taiwan president

China on Thursday said it would welcome only an anti-independence candidate at Taiwan's presidential election in January, offering its first comment on the likely contender for the island's pro-China ruling Nationalist Party. Read more

China Not So In Love With Russia After All

Shunned by the West, Russia may want to promote its new Chinese love affair to the world these days, but Czar Romeo shouldn’t get his hopes up. Read more

Foreign Groups Fear China Oversight Plan

Anthony J. Spires, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong who studies civil society groups in China, said the law could require a high school basketball team to get police permission before visiting China or give security officials veto power over a PowerPoint presentation by a visiting scholar during a lecture. Read more

Q. and A.: Peter J. Li on the Clash Over Eating Dogs in China

An estimated 10 million dogs are killed for food each year in China. About 10,000 are expected to be slaughtered as the Yulin Summer Solstice Lychee and Dog Meat Festival gets underway this weekend in the southern city of Yulin. Read more

Hong Kong Legislature Rejects Beijing-Backed Election Plan

In quiet negotiations as well as public protests, they have pleaded and demanded for nearly two decades that Beijing allow Hong Kong’s leader to be elected by the general public. But in a dramatic vote on Thursday, pro-democracy lawmakers here rejected a bill that could have been their last best chance to achieve that goal. Read more

Western Business Stands Up to China

While international human rights groups often protest China’s attempts to restrict freedoms of its people, foreign businesses, with profits on the line, have traditionally been less willing to do so. But now, many have joined Western governments in opposing Beijing’s latest plan to impose new controls on foreign organizations. Read more

The US-Korea Summit That Wasn't

Korean President Park Geun-hye’s visit to the United States was postponed less than a week before the planned summit with President Barack Obama, scheduled for June 16. With new cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) reported on a daily basis, there was speculation that Park would shorten the trip by cancelling her plans in Houston and continue as scheduled for the summit in Washington

Malaysia Responds to China’s South China Sea Intrusion

The country reacts strongly to Beijing's incursion into its waters. Read more