Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 1426

Sold! In China

The Shanghai financier Liu Yiqian went from taxi driver to multimillionaire. He is also one of China’s most prolific collectors of art. Video

Chinese Security Official Is Focus of Corruption Inquiry

One of China’s top security officials is being investigated by the Communist Party for “suspected serious law and discipline violations,” according to Xinhua, the state news agency. Read more

Danske aviser roser Torbjørn Færøviks bok "Maos rike - En lidelseshistorie"

Torbjørn Færøviks Bragepris-belønte bok Maos rike - En lidelseshistorie (2012) er utgitt i Danmark, og danske aviser er samstemte i sin ros. Denne høsten har den vært med på å prege salget i de danske bokhandlene.

Både Politiken og Weekendavisen omtaler boken over en hel side. Anmelderen i Politiken, Claus Bryde, karakteriserer den som fremragende forskningsbasert formidling: "Foruten en stor

Dreams of a Different China

Party leader Xi Jinping's definition of China’s dream has caused much discussion. While the slogan seems to directly mimic the term “American dream,” it is almost the antithesis of that dream of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—personal goals that in Xi’s vision are replaced by a collective, national pursuit. Read more

Ian Buruma: Reeducation Through Horror

Here are two snippets from a Chinese Communist journal called People’s China, published in August 1956: "In 1956, despite the worst natural calamities in scores of years, China’s peasants, newly organized in co-operatives on a nation-wide scale, produced 2,740 million Yuan’s worth more farm products than in 1955, an increase greater than the average annual increase in the previous three years…. "

Bao Tong: 'Freedom is Dead When a Tyrant is Canonized'

I hear that the Central Committee of the [ruling] Chinese Communist Party will be lavishly celebrating the 120th anniversary of the birth of Mao Zedong this month. There are lots of stories flying around, many of them dubious. But the Supreme People's Court and Procuratorate haven't determined whether they are rumors or not. I can only say I am flabbergasted, writes Bao Tong, former advisor to

Senior Tibetan Monk Beaten to Death in Chinese Police Custody

Chinese police have beaten to death a senior Tibetan monk less than a month after talking him into custody with two friends while they were vacationing in Tibet’s regional capital Lhasa, according to sources. Read more

Chinese Respondents Top Materialism Poll

A global poll of attitudes toward wealth has found what many domestic critics allege already: Chinese today are just too materialistic. The survey was conducted by the French market research company Ipsos in September and polled more than 16,000 adults in 20 countries. Chinese respondents topped the list in measuring success by their possessions, coming in more than double the global average,

China Targets Lavish Funerals in Crackdown on Official Corruption

After taking on lavish banquets and expensive gifts, the crackdown on official extravagance led by President Xi Jinping has a new target in its sights: opulent funerals. Read more

China Revives Mao-Era Self-Criticism

Wielded with often violent results in the days when Mao Zedong was China’s paramount leader, “criticism and self-criticism” sessions have been resurrected by President Xi Jinping as “the most powerful weapon” for rallying the Communist Party and the Chinese people behind his push to liberalize the economy while fortifying the party’s control over this nation of 1.3 billion People. Read more