Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 189

Illegal Chinese fishing off East Africa hurts local communities: report

A multibillion dollar global fishing industry backed by the Chinese government is driving a surge in Chinese vessels engaged in illegal activities and exploiting fishing grounds off East Africa, spoiling them for local people, according to a London-based environmental group."Before the Chinese fishing boats came here, we could expect a good catch when we cast our nets, even if we only cast the

Philippines seeks UN validation to extend continental shelf limits

The Philippines is seeking U.N. validation to extend its continental shelf in the South China Sea and secure “exclusive” rights to exploit undersea resources, Manila’s foreign office said, amid heightened territorial tensions with China over the waterway. The Department of Foreign Affairs said its mission to the United Nations had submitted documentation with the U.N. Commission on the Limits of

Philippines Promises To Protect Fishermen As China’s Maritime Trespass Rule Takes Hold

The Philippines reassured Filipino fishermen on Friday that it would keep them safe as China prepared to enforce a new trespassing regulation, starting this weekend, in Beijing-claimed waters in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard had issued an order on May 15 authorizing its personnel to detain foreign vessels and crews for up to 30 days – and as many as 60, in some cases. The regulation

Vietnam's South China Sea island building sets record in 2024: report

Vietnam’s island building in the South China Sea has reached a record with the total new land created in the first six months of this year equaling that of 2022 and 2023 combined, a U.S. independent think tank said. The Washington-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) said in its latest report that since November 2023, Vietnam has created 692 new acres (280 ha) of land across a total

EU officials to make rare Tibet visit to examine human rights

European Union officials are scheduled to make a rare visit starting this weekend to the Tibet Autonomous Region during their annual human rights talks with China, an EU spokesperson told Radio Free Asia. Although it isn’t clear how much access the officials will ultimately be granted, the spokesperson, Peter Stano, told RFA that the EU has put forth “concrete proposals” for the places the

Kina-advarsel: - Norsk ekspert på trusseletterretning advarer mot å gjøre seg avhengig av Kina

- Det er vel sånn at Russland er som en tornado, mens Kina er tsunamien som kommer sakte, men slår til med full kraft, sier Cathrine Lagerberg til Børsen. Hun er ekspert på trusseletterretning, strategiske sikkerhets- og risikovurderinger, skribent og fagprofil Strategem og UTSYN, og har tidligere jobbet i olje- og gassindustrien og i Forsvaret.Tidligere denne uka gikk hun ut på det sosiale

Torbjørn Færøvik: Krigsprofitøren Kina er ikke interessert i fred i Ukraina

I dag begynner fredskonferansen om Ukraina i Sveits. Nitti land og organisasjoner deltar, men ikke Kina, som er mer opptatt av å tjene penger på krigen og pleie sitt «ubrytelige vennskap» med Russland. Hva annet kunne vi vente?Siden det russiske overfallet på Ukraina for to år siden, er den kinesisk-russiske samhandelen fordoblet - fra 125 milliarder amerikanske dollar til 250 milliarder.

Professor Arne Jon Isachsen: Fattigdom i Kina

Det er slutt på fattigdom i Kina. Ikke fordi det faktisk er slik, men fordi kommunistpartiet har bestemt det.Les mer

Alexander Gabuev: Why China Is Sabotaging Ukraine. Beijing Has No Interest in a Peace Agreement It Can’t Help Broker

For a moment last August, it seemed that Beijing was finally ready to distance itself from its “no limits partnership” with Moscow. That month, Chinese leader Xi Jinping sent his special envoy for the war in Ukraine, Li Hui, to discuss Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s peace formula with diplomats from several countries, including Ukraine and the United States. The formula calls for Russia

Professor Odd Arne Westad: Sleepwalking Toward War. Will America and China Heed the Warnings of Twentieth-Century Catastrophe?

China today shows many of the same signs of hubris and fear that Germany exhibited after the 1890s. Leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) took immense pride in navigating their country through the 2008 global financial crisis and its aftermath more adeptly than did their Western counterparts. Many Chinese officials saw the global recession of that era not only as a calamity made in the