Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 155

Chinese military conducts patrol near disputed Scarborough shoal

The Chinese military held a large-scale maritime and airspace patrol near the Scarborough shoal, a disputed reef in the South China Sea known in China as Huangyan Dao, citing “instability” created by “certain countries.” Scarborough Shoal, known as Bajo de Masinloc in the Philippines, is about 125 nautical miles (232 kilometers) from the main Philippine island of Luzon. China now effectively

Torbjørn Færøvik: Ibn Battuta var Marco Polos overmann

På besøk i Tanger har jeg bare ett i hodet - å oppsøke graven til Ibn Battuta. Ibn hvem? vil du kanskje spørre. Svaret mitt er kort og greit: Ibn Battuta var middelalderens største reisende. Ikke engang Marco Polo klarte å tilbakelegge like mange mil.  «Jeg forlot Tanger, min fødeby, 13. juni 1325 for å dra på pilegrimsreise til Mekka. Jeg vinket farvel til alle vennene mine, kvinner som

VOLKSWAGEN EXITS XINJIANG AFTER CRITICISM ABOUT COMPLICITY IN HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES

On Wednesday, German auto manufacturer Volkswagen (VW) announced that it would sell its operations in Xinjiang. The move comes after years of pressure from rights groups that have documented the Chinese government’s grave abuses—including forced labor—against Uyghurs and other ethnic groups in the region, and the attendant complicity of Western corporations that operate there. However, based on

Trump has assembled a team of China hawks. How will Beijing respond?

One called China an “existential threat.” Another called for a “whole-of-society effort” to confront China and was sanctioned – twice – by Beijing. A third claimed the Chinese military was “specifically dedicated to defeating the United States of America.”US President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed cabinet is stacked with so-called China hawks who have made clear an ambition to confront America’s

China plans big data warning system to prevent public killings

China’s Communist Party is stepping up the use of big data to predict people’s behavior in a bid to identify “social risks” and prevent violent attacks on members of the public in the wake of the car killings in Zhuhaiearlier this month. “We should ... deeply tap into the rich seams of political and legal data, strengthen data identification, screening, analysis and evaluation, and find ways to

Beijing tests bilateral waters with US prisoner exchange

Three Americans who Washington says were wrongfully imprisoned in China have landed back on U.S. soil as part of a rare prisoner swap with Beijing, in a move analysts said could signal China’s willingness to do further deals with the incoming Trump administration.Mark Swidan, of Houston, Texas, Kai Li, of Long Island, New York, and John Leung, a permanent resident of Hong Kong, have been reunited

China probes top military official for ‘serious violations’

The ruling Chinese Communist Party has placed Miao Hua, a high-ranking defense official, under investigation for “serious violations of discipline,” a phrase often used to denote an internal party corruption probe.“Miao Hua, member of the Central Military Commission and director of the Political Work Department of the Military Commission, is suspected of serious violations of discipline,” defense

The 2024 China report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change

This is the fifth annual China report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change, the flagship report for tracking progress, or lack thereof, on climate change and health in China. Over the years, what began as the marginal effort of a few dedicated individuals has grown into a considerable movement at the forefront of global climate and health discourse. The report is led by the Lancet

2024 REPORT TO CONGRESS of the U.S.-CHINA ECONOMIC AND SECURITY REVIEW COMMISSION

In 2024, under the leadership of General Secretary Xi Jinping, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continued to pursue a technol ogy-focused strategy to drive rapid military modernization, expand internal political surveillance and suppression of dissent, and assert China’s political and economic agenda in the international arena. At the same time, amid a domestic property market collapse, weak

China seeks easing of Japan ties amid growing tension with US

China on Friday added Japanese passport-holders to a newly expanded list of people eligible for unilateral visa-free entry on a trial basis, foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian announced on Friday. China also notified Japan that it will remove a buoy near the Diaoyu Islands, which are also claimed by Japan as the Senkaku Islands, Kyodo news reported.Japan had objected to the installation of