Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 1354

Inside Beijing's airpocalypse – a city made 'almost uninhabitable' by pollution

Beijing’s air quality has long been a cause of concern, but the effects of its extreme levels of pollution on daily life can now be seen in physical changes to the architecture of the city. Read more

Chinese state media face new competition from independent sources

As mainstays of state media like CCTV see their audiences declining, the propaganda system is testing the waters of this shifting environment with the new outfit ThePaper.cn. Read more

Inside an internet addiction treatment centre in China

At the Internet Addiction Treatment Centre in Beijing, children must take part in military-style activities, including exercise drills and the singing of patriotic songs. They are denied access to the internet. One of the first experiences internees undergo is brain monitoring through electroencephalography (EEG). Read more

Indonesia May Sink Chinese Vessels

Indonesia may consider sinking Chinese vessels that were caught illegally fishing in Indonesian waters, a foreign policy adviser to Indonesian president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo says. Read more

Thorbjørn Jagland: Hvem har opptrådt uavhengig?

De som mener at vi ville fått mye bedre priser om bare «ekspertene» slapp til, kunne jo ta seg bryet med å ettergå hvem disse ekspertene har forslått prisen til de senere år. Les mer

Why China Won't Accept International Arbitration in the South China Sea

The crux of the matter is that China does not believe that the arbitral tribunal has jurisdiction to decide the case. More broadly, China rejects the notion that the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) can be used to decide South China Sea sovereignty issues.

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The Rise of a New Smartphone Giant: China’s Xiaomi

Over the summer, a Chinese company, Xiaomi, took the No. 1 position in China’s competitive market and became the world’s third-largest phone maker in the process. Read more

Hong Kong activists fear they are being monitored by Beijing

“If you’re using a cellphone or landline in Hong Kong and you’re one of the protesters, you should absolutely expect that your phone calls are being listened to by the Chinese authorities,” said Dmitri Alperovitch, co-founder of CrowdStrike – a US-based cybersecurity company. Read more

China rules: Why the pope ducked meeting with Dalai Lama

Since becoming pope, Francis has given new impetus to the quiet discussions that have been ongoing between Rome and Beijing since the 1980s. Read more

Hong Kong’s Protests Are Over—for Now

In tactical terms, the protests’ conclusion is a clear victory for the Chinese government, which has stood behind Hong Kong authorities. Student leaders—including the precocious 17-year-old Joshua Wong, who appeared on the cover of Time—wanted universal suffrage and CY Leung, the territory’s chief executive, to resign. They got nothing. But the victory may be short-lived. Read more