Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 1363

China is hosting the World Internet Conference. Let’s take a moment for the insanity of that to sink in.

Yes, China, which blocks thousands of websites and dozens of social media apps, today opened the World Internet conference. Read more 

India tops slavery index with 14.3 million victims

For the second year, the index of 167 countries found India had by far the greatest number of slaves. Read more

Kina setter sitt preg på Afrika

Det har blitt snakket om en god stund, men nå begynner det å bli veldig synlig. En ny stormakt setter sitt preg på det afrikanske kontinentet. I stedet for å fly inn til timer i passkø i en varm og sliten ankomsthall, ankommer man nå nye, temperaturregulerte haller i glass og betong, skriver Maren Sæbø i en kommentar i Dagsavisen. Les mer

Abe’s Humiliation in Beijing

Not only was Abe left standing in the Great Hall of the People while he waited for Xi’s entrance (in a complete reversal of normal protocol), but when the two leaders actually did meet, Abe extended his hand in a friendly gesture, smiled and said a few words. This was barely reciprocated. Xi just shook Abe’s hand, said nothing and turned away. Read more

North Korea accountable for alleged crimes against humanity

The world's boldest effort yet to hold North Korea and leader Kim Jong Un accountable for alleged crimes against humanity moved forward Nov. 18 at the United Nations, where a Pyongyang envoy threatened further nuclear tests. Read more

Chinese Interests Look to Malaysia for Cheap Iron Ore, and Profits

Giant mining equipment has stripped away the palm trees and other vegetation from a jungle bluff here with a Malay name that translates to “Iron Hill.” Huge power shovels gouge long furrows down cliffs of fuchsia clay, scooping out the shiny black iron ore at their base. Read more

African presidents ‘use China aid for patronage politics’

China says it spends more than half of its foreign aid in 51 African countries, sending $80bn between 2000 and 2012. But most of that aid went to areas where national leaders were born, indicating a strong political bias, according to a geotagged database of aid contractspublished by AidData, an open-source data centre. Read more

US-China climate deal's ambition fails to impress India

The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a research and advocacy NGO based in Delhi, called it a “self-serving and business-as-usual” deal and complained it was neither historic nor ambitious. The US and China had set targets that would cause a catastrophic 4C rise in global temperature, much higher than the 2C target set by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Read more

China blocks websites in 'censorship campaign' ahead of major internet conference

The Chinese government has blocked access to a host of websites in what an internet monitoring group said on Tuesday was a blunt censorship campaign days before the country plays host to a major web conference. Read more

What ‘Democracy’ Means in China Is Not What Australia’s Abbott Thinks

“I have never heard a Chinese leader declare that his country would be fully democratic by 2050,”  Prime Minister Tony Abbott said, speaking at a banquet on Monday evening, Australian news media reported. He later thanked the Chinese president for what he called a “historic, historic statement.” The only problem: Mr. Xi made no such promise. Read more