Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 1310

The Truth About Chinese Corruption

The current corruption campaign has the strong support of the public, but its immediate economic implications are more mixed. Officials appear hesitant to make decisions and conspicuous consumption has declined – all of which have accentuated the current economic slowdown. Read more

Chinese fakes are destroying Ghana's textile industry

"Ghana, two, three decades ago, was a prime producer of textile products across Africa, feeding quite a lot of markets," says Selorm Branttie, mPedigree’s strategy director. "There was a whole value chain around it, the cotton farmers and the jobs it created for the designers. These things were a source of pride for the nation." Read more

China and America's South China Sea Clash: What Do U.S. Allies Think?

As the "war of words" between China and the U.S. in the South China Sea escalates, questions arise as to exactly what are Australia's interests in this contested maritime zone. Read more

Washington Needs a More Assertive China Policy

For all of the endless hype surrounding America's so-called pivot - its strategic rebalance toward Asia - the Obama administration has failed to stop China's growing dominance in the region. CNN's fantastic reporting in the South China Sea makes the scale of the problem abundantly clear. Read more

China is gambling Obama doesn’t have will to respond to its massive land grab

China has engaged in a massive reclamation project, dredging up sand and creating islands on shallow reefs. The US government estimates that up to 2,000 acres of new land has been built. On these “fantasy” islands, China is building airstrips and ports, erecting barracks and establishing radar systems. Guns and fighter jets are next. Read more

The 2015 Chinese Defense White Paper on Strategy in Perspective

In order to address the maritime challenge, the white paper makes a “new” statement that turns the PLA’s traditional approach to operations and strategy on its head, or at least on its side: “The traditional mentality that land outweighs sea must be abandoned, and great importance has to be attached to managing the seas and oceans and protecting maritime rights and interests.” Read more

The China Sinocism Newsletter, June 1, 2015

Get smarter about China. Read more

Interview with Chinese Artist Ai Weiwei: 'The State Is Scared'

If human rights are supposed to have any meaning, then they have to be discussed openly. Any politician who respects China's government should tell it openly what is in his heart. It is disrespectful to keep quiet about such issues -- both vis-a-vis the government and the people concerned. Read more

Business interests propel change in China's global role

One of the chief tasks of any government is to ensure the safety of its citizens abroad. Sometimes this might even require military action to evacuate or maybe even extricate people from some crisis in a far-flung country. In this sense, China is fast becoming no different from any other major player in the world. And in the process, its foreign policy and its global footprint are

Pollution and Health in China: Confronting the Human Crisis

China’s health statistics reveal that the country ranks second in the world for lung disease and 12th for
lung cancer. Chinese people also suffer from the world’s third highest rates of stomach cancer and the
third highest rates of liver cancer, ill health that is highly likely to have environmental causes. Read more