Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 136

What Just Happened in South Korea?

The South Korean president’s imposition of martial law and the National Assembly’s rapid vote to demand an end to the decree have left the country with a slew of puzzling questions about the president’s political calculus and the country’s future.Late Tuesday evening, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol stunned his country and the world with an attempt to impose martial law. In his announcement,

China deletes warning that youth unemployment is tanking economy

Internet censors have taken down a speech by a top Chinese economist that went viral after he warned that a widespread lack of opportunities for young people was dragging down growth, which he said had been overstated by several percentage points in recent years. Instead of embarking on promising careers and pouring their disposable income into the economy, young people in today’s China are

Torbjørn Færøvik: Snart kommer en stor flyttebil til Det blå hus i Seoul

Gamle minner blir som nye når jeg leser om det siste døgnets politiske drama i Sør-Korea. For 45 år siden ble jeg vitne til at militære ledere grep makten i landet og innførte unntakstilstand. Jeg gikk til sengs i et spirende demokrati og våknet i et diktatur. På plassen utenfor hotellet i Seoul sto tanks og soldater i full mundur. I lobbyen forsikret en hesblesende utsendt fra

North Korea, Russia and China watch on as crisis unfolds in key US ally South Korea

A night of political upheaval in South Korea has upended stability in a key democratic US ally – sending shock waves through the region and Washington at a moment of acute global tension. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law on Tuesday night in a surprise decree that was reversed hours later following overwhelming opposition across the political spectrum for what was widely

South Korea’s president lifts martial law hours after declaring it

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol ended martial law, just hours after he declared it to counter “threats from North Korea” and “anti-state activities” by the domestic political opposition. According to Yoon’s declaration, martial law would begin at 11 p.m. Tuesday, but the National Assembly voted to lift the decree nearly three hours later as protesters rallied outside. After Yoon’s own party

China ‘deposits’ statement regarding disputed Scarborough shoal to UN

China “deposited” a statement regarding “baselines of the territorial sea” adjacent to the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea to the U.N., calling it “legitimate measures” to defend its territorial sovereignty. Scarborough Shoal, known in the Philippines as Bajo de Masinloc, is a triangular chain of reefs about 125 nautical miles (232 kilometers) from Luzon, the main Philippine

China, Philippines trade accusations over South China Sea confrontation

The Philippines and China traded accusations about a maritime confrontation on Wednesday around the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, a day after Beijing submitted a chart of the feature’s shore to the U.N. to bolster its claim over it. Scarborough Shoal, known in the Philippines as Bajo de Masinloc and in China as Huangyan Dao, is a triangular chain of reefs about 125 nautical

China hits out at latest US effort to block Beijing’s access to chip technology

The Chinese government has slammed America’s introduction of a slew of export controls on US-made semiconductors that Washington fears Beijing could use to make the next generation of weapons and artificial intelligence (AI) systems. The new measures, unveiled by the outgoing Biden administration, have raised the political temperature between the world’s top two economies ahead of the imminent

China denounces US arms sales to Taiwan, President Lai’s visit

China vowed to take “strong measures” following the decision by the United States to approve more arms sales to Taiwan, urging the U.S. to stop “sending out a wrong signal” to the island, hours before Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te made a transit through the state of Hawaii. The U.S. State Department approved the potential sale, worth an estimated US$385m, of spare parts and support for F-16

Tibetan environmental activist sentenced to 8 months in prison

A Tibetan environmental activist from China’s Sichuan province has been sentenced to eight months in prison, after he made a rare public appeal to authorities over a company he accused of illegally extracting sand and gravel from a river, two Tibetan sources told RFA. Tsogon Tsering, 29, from Tsaruma village in Ngaba prefecture, called Aba in Chinese, openly posted a 5-minute video in which he