Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 1372

China’s Communist party expected to remain above the law after conference

The conundrum of bolstering the rule of law in Communist party-run China was on the agenda for its leaders on Monday at the start of a four-day conclave to guide policy for the coming year. Read more

On TV, Hong Kong Openly Debates Democracy

Five student leaders, hair disheveled, took on the the officials, who were old enough to be their parents, in a frank discourse. Read more

- Kina er en politistat

Det er veldig viktig å huske på at Kina er et diktatur og en politistat. Stasi i Øst-Tyskland var amatører sammenlignet med de kinesiske myndighetene, sier NRKs Anders Magnus, som i sommer avsluttet sin korrespondentperiode i "Midtens rike". Les mer

Beijing Marathon competitors brave 'hazardous' smog to run 42km

If running a 42 kilometer foot race was not tough enough, Sunday's Beijing International Marathon saw thousands of competitors brave a "hazardous" smog which engulfed the Chinese capital. Read more

Hong Kong leader C.Y. Leung: 'External forces' involved in protests

Hong Kong's embattled chief executive has said the city's pro-democracy movement is "out of hand" and being influenced by "external forces" from outside the city. Read more

Despite Poverty Efforts, China Still Faces Income Gap

China’s poverty level is now set at 2,300 renminbi a year, or a little over $1 a day. It did not specify what its previous poverty standards were. In a speech in June, Prime Minister Li Keqiang said that 200 million people remained in poverty in China, though the Xinhua report put the figure at 80 million. Read more

Presumed Guilty in China’s War on Corruption, Targets Suffer Abuses

China is in the midst of a scorching campaign against government corruption, one that has netted more than 50 high-ranking officials and tens of thousands of workaday bureaucrats as part of President Xi Jinping’s effort to restore public confidence in the ruling Communist Party. Read more

Crony Communism in China

Based on reports from the offices of provincial and municipal prosecutors, between one-third and two-thirds of all corruption cases in China today involve multiple officials and businessmen. In the 1980s, most corruption was committed by individuals acting alone. This newer, collusive form of corruption is far more pernicious because it is harder to detect and to stop, and it corrodes the

China Said to Pull the Strings in Hong Kong Crackdown

The Chinese leaders, however, are also deeply averse to concessions that could defuse the protests, fearing that the least sign of compromise could be taken as a sign of weakness that would embolden other challengers to their control across all of China. They have also indicated that they will not abandon Hong Kong’s embattled leader, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying. Read more

Booming Chinese frontier town reveals growing Russian ties – and old divide

Manzhouli is thriving as China sucks in Russian raw materials and exports its consumer goods, but mutual distrust persists. Read more