Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 177

Walz has history with China - it's more hawkish than critics claim

Within hours of Tim Walz being declared winner of the Democratic "veepstakes", Republican accusations that he is pro-China came thick and fast. "Communist China is very happy," Donald Trump's former ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, said on Twitter/X. "No one is more pro-China than Marxist Walz."Tom Cotton, a Republican senator, said Mr Walz owed an explanation "about his unusual, 35-year

China launches satellites to rival SpaceX’s Starlink in boost for its space ambitions

China has taken a major step forward in its bid to create a rival to SpaceX’s Starlink this week by launching the first of what it hopes will be a constellation of 14,000 satellites beaming broadband internet coverage from space. Eighteen satellites were blasted into low Earth orbit (LEO) on Tuesday in the inaugural launch for the government-backed Qianfan, or Spacesail, constellation, state

From China's Past: The Forgotten Women Who Shaped China in the 20th Century

The three Soong sisters were precocious from a young age. But few could have predicted the level of influence they eventually had on the course of history in 20th-century China. Born in Shanghai in the 1890s to Charlie Soong, a wealthy merchant and missionary, the sisters were all educated at Wesleyan College in Georgia, traveling to the U.S. without an accompanying guardian. “Big Sister” Ei-Ling

From China's Past: "I was a teenager when I first met Mao Zedong"

I was a teenager when I first met Mao Zedong. In October 1950, Mao gave a big dinner party at Zhongnanhai to celebrate the first anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic. My father, an old friend of Mao — or rather of his father-in-law — was invited. I still don’t know why, but guests were allowed to bring their children.It was a big party with more than 100 guests. Mao approached my

Win for World's Richest Monarch As Top Thai Party Banned

The party that won most votes in Thailand's last election has been banned by the country's constitutional court over its campaign promise to reform laws that set long jail sentences for criticizing the powerful monarchy of King Maha Vajiralongkorn.Thailand has long been torn between a conservative establishment seeking to preserve the power and status of the monarchy versus those who are

China Tests Train That Could Be Fastest in World

China has successfully tested its new ultra-high-speed (UHS) maglev train, which can reach speeds up to 621 mph, making it the fastest train in the world. The demonstration, carried out in Shanxi Province, marks a significant milestone in China's efforts to remain the global leader in rail technology. The new maglev, or magnetic levitation, train was tested in a 2-kilometer-long low-vacuum tube

China's Expanding Arctic Ambitions Challenge the U.S. and NATO

As the Arctic summer melts the polar bear tracks on the sea ice around Norway's Spitsbergen Island, dozens of Chinese scientists are arriving at a facility guarded by a very different kind of white creature—stone lions from Shanghai.About 50 researchers from China are expected this year in the Norwegian science station of Ny-Ålesund in the Svalbard archipelago, where a male and a female lion

In Retrospect: Just Where Exactly Did China Get the South China Sea Nine-Dash Line From? (2016)

First the dotted line on Chinese maps lost two of its hyphens in 1952, when, in a moment of socialist bonhomie with Vietnam, Chairman Mao Zedong abandoned Chinese claims to the Gulf of Tonkin. Then, on July 12, 2016, an international tribunal ruled that the now nine-dash demarcation could not be used by Beijing to make historic claims to the South China Sea, parts of which are claimed by six

Impacts of Cambodia’s Funan Techo Canal and Implications for Mekong Cooperation

Cambodia has every right to construct the Funan Techo Canal, a project that gives Cambodia water access the Gulf of Thailand for commercial and other uses. But the way Cambodia’s government has communicated its intents to build the canal is creating diplomatic friction with its neighbor Vietnam. Regional tensions and environmental impacts of the project will be reduced if Cambodia follows the

Cambodia starts work on canal linking Mekong River to sea

Cambodia has launched a controversial canal project to link the Mekong River to the sea. Work on the $1.7bn project kicked off on Monday. Phnom Penh hopes the canal will boost the country’s economy. However, concern over the impact on the region’s environment and foreign relations is rife. The Funan Techo Canal will run from a spot on the Mekong River about an hour’s drive southeast of Phnom Penh