Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 187

Vietnam Says It’s Ready to Hold Talks With Philippines on Overlapping Continental Shelf Claims

Vietnam is ready to hold talks with the Philippines to settle their overlapping claims to the undersea continental shelf in the South China Sea, official Vietnamese media said Friday, in a diplomatic approach that contrasts with China’s increasingly assertive actions to fortify its claims in the contested waters.The Philippine government said over the weekend that it has asked a United Nations

China Sets the Stage for the Third Plenum by Unveiling Financial Reforms and Monetary Policy Direction

The 2024 Lujiazui Forum, held in Shanghai from June 19 to 20, continued its tradition as a pivotal platform for China’s financial discourse. Since its inception in 2008, the forum has become instrumental as a venue where government officials, financial regulators, and industry leaders gather to share insights on pressing economic issues and make significant announcements related to China’s

Xi Jinping visits Mao’s caves

President Xi Jinping has led top military brass on a pilgrimage of caves that were a key revolutionary base for the late supreme leader Mao Zedong, state media reported, a move analysts said was aimed at strengthening grip over the People's Liberation Army. The cave complex of Yan'an, in northeast China, where Mao spent the formative years of the Chinese Communist Party leadership during the war

China threatens death penalty for supporters of Taiwan independence

China on Friday warned that supporters of independence for Taiwan could be tried in absentia and sentenced to death for "splitting the country," in a move designed to step up pressure on the democratic island. China's law enforcement agencies and courts should "severely punish Taiwan independence diehards for the crimes of splitting the country and inciting secession ... and resolutely defend

In Retrospect: The Taiwan Relations Act

The Taiwan Relations Act enacted April 10, 1979 is an act of the United States Congress. Since the formal recognition of the People's Republic of China, the Act has defined the officially substantial but non-diplomatic relations between the United States of America and Taiwan (Republic of China).The Act was passed by both chambers of Congress and signed by President Carter in 1979 after the

‘Only pirates do this’: Philippines accuses China of using bladed weapons in major South China Sea escalation

The Philippines has accused China’s Coast Guard of launching a “brutal assault” with bladed weapons during a South China Sea clash earlier this week, a major escalation in a festering dispute that threatens to drag the United States into another global conflict. Footage released by the Philippine military on Thursday showed Chinese coast guard officers brandishing an axe and other bladed or

US reputation on the line at Second Thomas Shoal

Taiwan, Ukraine and Gaza get most of the attention these days. But the United States’ reputation as a reliable ally is nowhere more at stake than in the Philippines. And that reputation is on the verge of going down the drain.June 17 saw the most recent and most violent effort yet by the China Coast Guard to prevent the Philippines from resupplying the BNP Sierra Madre, an old navy ship

Putin visits Vietnam, aiming to renew Cold War ties

Russian President Vladimir Putin was given a grand welcome with a 21-gun salute on Thursday after arriving in old ally Vietnam on a trip that is likely to be promoted by Moscow as more evidence of the West’s failure to isolate him over the invasion of Ukraine. Presiding over the ceremony was Vietnam’s new president, To Lam, and not the Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong, due to the latter’s

World Refugee Day: China's political refugees remain at risk long after leaving country

Chinese nationals are seeking political asylum in ever larger numbers, but face transnational repression from China and lack of understanding from foreign authorities as they flee persecution, refugees and those who help them told RFA Mandarin in recent interviews. A Chinese activist who supported an online free speech campaign that saw its leader arrested in Laos and is “terrified” of being sent

In Retrospect: Full Text of Clinton's Speech on China Trade Bill (2001)

In 2001, China was admitted to the World Trade Organization, WTO. In Congress, as in US as whole, opinion was divided, but President Clinton's arguments won the day: "We understand that America has a profound stake in what happens in China and how China relates to the rest of the world. That's why, for 30 years, every president, without regard to party, has worked for a China that