Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 163

In Retrospect: Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party since the Founding of the People’s Republic of China (1981)

"The Communist Party of China has traversed sixty years of glorious struggle since its founding in 1921. In order to sum up its experience in the thirty-two years since the founding of the People’s Republic, we must briefly review the previous twenty-eight years in which the Party led the people in waging the revolutionary struggle for New Democracy."Read more

In Retrospect: When Gorbachev Came to Beijing (1989)

The talks went well, if not spectacularly. For Gorbachev, the crucial tete- a-tete was with Deng, who had forced him to wait three years for the meeting, a ploy in a cunning strategy to further Chinese aims such as a reduction in Soviet armaments and a withdrawal from Afghanistan. Their lunch Tuesday was cordial and uneventful. The high point came when Deng upstaged his visitor, the great

Southeast Asia Doesn’t Want to Choose between China and the U.S.

“One lesson that I’ve learned after studying geopolitics for fifty years is that a benevolent great power is an oxymoron,” former Singaporean diplomat Kishore Mahbubani said at Asia Society, New York in March. “There is no such thing as a benevolent great power: All great powers, without exception, will pursue their own interests.”Mahbubani, who served two terms as Singapore’s representative to

'Please save me': The Indians duped into fighting for Russia

Last week, the Indian government announced that Russia had discharged dozens of the 91 Indians who were duped into fighting for Russian forces in the country's war with Ukraine. Several of them have since returned home, while the process to bring others back is under way. The BBC's Neyaz Farooquee spoke to some of the men about their struggles.“I am in panic. I am not sure if I will return safely

Still reeling from crisis, Sri Lanka holds pivotal election

“I thought I’d spend my whole life here, fighting a corrupt government - but the younger generation did something.”Samadhi Paramitha Brahmananayake is looking at the field where she spent months camped out with thousands of other demonstrators in Sri Lanka’s capital in 2022. She can’t quite believe that luscious green grass has replaced the hundreds of protester tents that filled the field

China and Russia are ramping up joint military drills. What’s their end goal?

As Russia’s military last week launched globe-spanning drills widely seen as a show of strength directed at the United States, President Vladimir Putin made clear which country he sees as standing by Moscow’s side. In an opening video address, Putin said 15 “friendly” nations would observe what Moscow claimed were some 90,000 troops and more than 500 ships and aircraft mobilized for the largest

In Retrospect The Real Deng Xiaoping, by Fang Lizhi

When a scientific experiment uncovers a new phenomenon, a scientist is pleased. When an experiment fails to reveal something that the scientist originally expected, that, too, counts as a result worth analyzing. A sense of the “nonappearance of the expected” was my first impression of Ezra Vogel’s Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China. The term “human rights” does not appear in its index,

U.S. Firms See Record-Low Profits in China: Report

U.S. companies in China are seeing record-low profits as geopolitical tensions and a slowing Chinese economy take their toll.According to a report released Thursday by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Shanghai, only 66% of American firms in China were profitable in 2023. This is the lowest level recorded in the survey's 20-year history.Business confidence is also at an all-time low.

China Converts Kindergartens to Nursing Homes Amid Baby Decline

As China's birthrate plummets, empty kindergartens are finding new life as nursing homes.These transitions come as the world's second-most populous country grapples with its lowest birthrates in decades and an aging population, forcing both the education and elderly care sectors to adapt. According to a recent report by Chinese state-controlled media outlet Global Times, a former kindergarten in

US Takes Action Against Temu, Shein and Other Chinese Companies

The Biden administration announced on Friday that it was taking new action against Chinese online companies like Temu and Shein. China-founded e-commerce platforms have been accused by the White House of abusing the "de minimis exemption." This exemption allows imports of an aggregate fair retail value of $800 or less to enter the U.S. duty- and tax-free.According to the White House, the number