Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 1434

Foreign Correspondents in China Do Not Censor Themselves to Get Visas

Let's just clear up that little misunderstanding, shall we? Read moreBeing a foreign correspondent is a strange job. You’re tasked with trying to interpret an entire culture and set it in context, even as it shifts in utterly unexpected ways. Having your phones tapped or your e-mail account hacked or your Chinese staff questioned by state-security agents — all of which have happened to me and

Kvalmt kinesisk Mandela-hykleri

Kinesiske har de siste dagene hyllet Nelson Mandela for hans bidrag i anti-apartheidkampen og til "nenneskehetens fremskritt". Samtidig fengsket ledelsen i Beijing sine egne frihetskjempere, blant dem fredsprisvinner Liu Xiaobo. Les mer

Har Kina-korrespondentene en fremtid?

Et stort antall utenlandske korrespondenter i Kina trues med utkastelse. Den nye partiledelsen fremstår som enda tøffere enn den forrige. Les mer

China hackers 'target EU foreign ministries'

Chinese hackers spied on the
computers of five European foreign ministries over the summer, according to
research from US security company FireEye. The hackers sent emails with malware-ridden attachments purporting to detail
a possible US intervention in Syria. Read more

So many secrets in the East China Sea

The only way to defuse the Diaoyu/Senkaku/ADIZ problem would be for Beijing and Tokyo to sit at the table and work out a security treaty for these East China Sea lanes - ideally arbitrated by the United Nations. The problem is Tokyo simply does not admit there is a problem. Read more

Why is China relaxing its one-child policy?

Demography was the reason Chinese leaders had to act. China’s fertility rate of 1.5 to 1.6 children per woman is below the replacement rate (of about 2.1), and the fertility rates in the biggest Chinese cities are among the lowest in the world at well below 1.0. The demographic costs are becoming painfully obvious. China’s labour pool declined in 2012 (by 3.45m) for the first time in almost 50

Gratulerer enda en gang, Liu Xiaobo!

Tre år er gått siden Liu Xiaobo ble tildelt Nobels fredspris. Mange av oss husker den vakre seremonien i Oslo rådhus, Thorbjørn Jaglands overbevisende tale, den gripende musikken - og den tomme stolen. Lius stol. Nå soner prisvinneren på fjerde året i en fangeanstalt i det nordøstlige Kina. Sitter han tiden ut, blir han værende i sin celle i sju år til. Hans "forbrytelse" var at han dristet seg

Thorbjørn Jaglands tale for Liu Xiaobo

I dag for tre år siden var Oslo Rådhus fylt til siste plass til ære for fredsprisvinner Liu Xiaobo. Selv om Liu ble forhindret fra å delta, ble seremonien en sterk opplevelse, ikke minst på grunn av Thorbjørn Jaglands tale for prisvinneren. Se talen på video

China's Government Is Scaring Foreign Journalists Into Censoring Themselves

"The visa question has insidious ways of sowing the seeds of self-censorship,” Dorinda Elliott, the global affairs editor at Condé Nast Traveler, wrote on ChinaFile last month. “I am ashamed to admit that I personally have worried about the risk of reporting on sensitive topics, such as human rights lawyers: what if they don’t let me back in?” Elliott is a longtime China hand who worked as

China’s ancient capital rises again

As the capital of China’s Shaanxi Province, Xi’an’s long history was aptly
summed up by our English-speaking guide: “If Xi’an is the grandmother of cities,
Beijing is a youth and Shanghai is just a baby in the womb.” Read more