Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 167

China’s men soccer team faces fan backlash after humiliating loss to arch-rivals Japan

China’s men’s soccer team fell to a 7-0 loss to arch-rivals Japan on Thursday night, a startling new low for a soccer-obsessed nation where the game has been plagued by corruption scandals and ever-worsening performances. Players in top European leagues led the way for Japan, with Liverpool’s Wataru Endo and Brighton’s Kaoru Mitoma both scoring in the demolition at the Saitama Stadium, north of

Annual White Paper: «Defense of Japan 2024»

Japan’s 2024 defense white paper, released on July 12, pursues a policy of strengthening its own military power by warning against China’s and North Korea’s buildup. The white paper reiterated strong concerns about China’s military trends. It claims that the Chinese mainland has intensified military activities around the Taiwan region aimed at establishing a fait accompli while simultaneously

Pew Research Center: Views of China and Xi Jinping

Across the 35 countries we surveyed, more have unfavorable views of China than favorable ones. The same is true when it comes to Chinese President Xi Jinping: People mostly lack confidence in him to do the right thing regarding world affairs. But opinions vary widely across regions and across levels of economic development. For example, in the high-income European countries included in the survey

China’s Evolving Fortress Economy

China’s leadership, under Xi Jinping, has initiated a significant strategic shift toward a "fortress economy" designed to bolster national self-sufficiency and resilience against external shocks, and ultimately allow the nation to withstand “extreme situations” including protracted armed conflict. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the evolution of China’s fortress economy policy,

China’s Economy Has Peaked. Can Beijing Redefine Its Goals?

Nothing in economic development is certain, but China’s economy has probably already peaked in size as a proportion of the global economy, reaching the peak in 2021. Read more

Torbjørn Færøvik: Vår statsminister skal møte Den allmektige

Han ynder å posere som Den allmektige og Den allvitende. Men er han det?Xi Jinping har styrt Kina i tolv år. I neste uke mottar han Jonas Gahr Støre i Folkets store hall i Beijing. Vår langveisfarende statsminister får møte en oppblåst diktator som har for vane å slå an en faderlig tone overfor sine gjester, for Xi har alltid rett.Støre får neppe tid til å besøke noen av bokhandlene i Beijing. Om

The Perils of Vilifying Chinese Migrants

With intense political debate focused on the U.S. southern border, an unexpected trend has captured a great deal of attention. Chinese migrants are among the fastest growing national populations crossing the border, and their numbers have increased exponentially since 2022. In 2023, approximately 37,000 Chinese nationals entered the United States this way, compared to less than 2,000 the year

From China's Past: The Boxer Rebellion. Bluejackets and Marines in China, 1900–1901

The Boxers’ first targets were not foreigners, but Chinese Christians. Local Chinese resented their neighbors who had converted, labeling them as “rice Christians,” driven not by faith but by the resources and power provided by the churches. Initial Boxer attacks included the burning of churches, but escalated into gruesome, ritualistic murders of Chinese Christians. The event that drew the eyes

An Incomplete List of Everything Threatening China’s National Security

What do snapping turtles, tissue boxes and college students looking for part-time jobs have in common?They all might be hiding threats to China’s national security. That, at least, is the message being pushed by the Ministry of State Security, China’s main intelligence agency, in a flurry of recent social media posts. Every few days in the past month, the agency has published an addition to its

China's mission to win African hearts with satellite TV

As African leaders gather in Beijing this week for the triennial China-Africa summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping may have one thing under his belt to boast about - satellite TV. Almost nine years ago, President Xi promised the heads of state attending the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Johannesburg that China would provide over 10,000 remote villages in 23 African countries with