Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 164

Specter of China hovers over U.S. colleges

The leaves were turning red and orange at Georgia Institute of Technology on a recent afternoon, and students were studying for midterms. Yet within this quiet haven, a global conflict has raged. Georgia Tech, as the university is known, has been pulled into the geopolitical strife between the United States and China. A group of U.S. lawmakers say that Chinese officials have been trying to pilfer

As Trump Threatens a Wider Trade War, the U.S. Confronts a Changed China

Eight years ago, when a newly elected Donald J. Trump promised to apply the powers of the Oval Office to start a trade war with China, the target of his ire was widely viewed as a juggernaut. China was the indispensable factory floor to the world and a swiftly developing market for goods and services.As Mr. Trump now prepares for his second stint in the White House, he is vowing to intensify

China nears record $1 trillion trade surplus as Trump returns

China’s trade surplus is on track to hit a fresh record this year, increasingly leaving it on a collision course with some of the world’s biggest economies by aggravating an imbalance in global commerce that risks provoking President-elect Donald Trump.The difference between Chinese exports and imports is set to reach almost $1 trillion if it continues to widen at the same pace as it has in the

From China’s Past: The ‘Empress of China’ and the beginning of U.S.-China trade

New York City is in the midst of one of its mildest winters ever, with its latest first snow ever, and even that just a dusting. Such was not the case in 1784, when an exceptionally cold February kept the Hudson River and much of the harbor frozen.Among the ships kept in port by the cold was a 360-ton schooner named the Empress of China. While her captain, John Green, waited anxiously, “the

Chea Mony: Leader of Cambodia’s new opposition party

It was in his first job as a teacher 30 years ago that Chea Mony, who last month became head of Cambodia’s newest opposition party, got involved in activism. Together with another young teacher, Rong Chhun — who later became a prominent labor activist — they formed a teachers' union to combat what they viewed as injustices at the school.“We were called ‘democratic teachers,’” Chea Mony, 55, told

Vietnam faces Trump era with awkward trade surplus with the US

While the Vietnamese public watched the U.S. election with curiosity, the leadership in Hanoi probably looked at the results with trepidation. While Hanoi’s “bamboo diplomacy” of building balanced strategic relationships with major global powers gives it a measure of comfort, Vietnam is far more vulnerable to changes in U.S. economic and trade policies, not to mention security policy, than almost

China expecting harder times after Trump victory

When Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message to Donald Trump on his election victory this week, he warned that both countries stand to “lose from confrontation,” amid growing concerns that a Trump administration could be further bad news for China’s flagging economy. “Xi Jinping noted that history tells us that both countries stand to gain from cooperation and lose from

China uses London travel show to promote its narrative of Xinjiang in the West

China used a London travel show to promote its narrative of Xinjiang in the West and encourage tourism in the far-western region, despite the government’s ongoing repression of the nearly 12 million mostly Muslim Uyghurs who live there. The event sparked criticism from human rights activists, who have spoken out against Beijing’s efforts to falsely show foreign visitors that Uyghurs in Xinjiang

Why China Won't Stop Ally North Korea From Fighting Ukraine

China has remained mum about the deployment of thousands of North Korean troops to Russia in recent weeks. The U.S. and its allies view the development, which followed the signing in June of the first Russia-North Korea military agreement since the Cold War, as a dangerous escalation of Vladimir Putin's 33-month war against Ukraine and tensions on the Korean Peninsula.Yet China is likely

Will China Invade Taiwan Under Trump? What Experts Think

When China's President Xi Jinping called U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to congratulate the Republican on his resounding victory, he delivered a warning too: The two powers "gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation".Trump and Xi have already had a taste of economic confrontation in the form of a trade war, kicked off under the former's first term as U.S. president when he introduced