Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 199

China seeks to unite Palestinian factions with reconciliation deal

Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah have signed a declaration agreeing to form an interim "national reconciliation government" for the occupied West Bank and Gaza after the war with Israel, in a meeting brokered by China, China's foreign minister and Hamas officials have said.Representatives from the groups, along with 12 other Palestinian factions, pledged to work for unity after three

China to raise retirement age as population gets older

China will gradually raise its statutory retirement age in the next five years to try to cope with its ageing population and buckling pension system. Life expectancy in the country has now risen above the United States, to 78 years, from just 36 years at the time of the Communist revolution in 1949. But China's retirement age remains one of the lowest in the world - at 60 for men, 55 for women in

Beijing and Manila made a deal in the South China Sea. But they’re already at odds over what was agreed

An interim deal to smooth deliveries to Philippine marines marooned on a ship at a hotly disputed reef in the South China Sea appears to be in doubt after Manila and Beijing gave opposing accounts over what they had agreed to. Fears of a conflict with global implications have risen in recent months following a series of increasingly violent clashes between Chinese coast guard vessels and

Trump says Taiwan stole America’s chip industry. But that’s not true

Former US President Donald Trump raised eyebrows last week when he accused Taiwan of snatching America’s crown in the $500 billion business of making computer chips. In an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, the Republican presidential nominee repeated his assertion, first made last year, that the island democracy and US ally had taken “almost 100%” of the industry from the United States. “We

Trump says Taiwan should pay the US for its defence as ‘it doesn’t give us anything’

Donald Trump has said Taiwan should pay the US for protection from China, calling into question Washington’s support for the island democracy should he win back the White House in November’s presidential election.In response to Trump’s comments, premier Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and the US have good relations despite the lack of formal ties, but added that Taiwan was increasing its capabilities to

Guo Wengui: How a Chinese tycoon built a pro-Trump money machine

An exiled Chinese billionaire has now been found guilty of multiple charges, including fraud and money laundering. Here's a look into how Guo Wengui, who built up a real estate empire in China, went on to run a billion dollar scam in the US.In early June 2020, at the tail end of the city's first Covid lockdown, a fleet of small planes baffled New Yorkers. They circled overhead towing banners that

Tech stocks fall after report that Biden administration plans to crack down on China chipmakers

Tech shares fell Wednesday as investors shed the behemoths that fueled Wall Street’s monster stock rally this year. The Nasdaq Composite index tumbled 2.7% and the S&P 500 lost 1.3%. The Dow rose 0.5%. Shares of tech heavyweight Nvidia (NVDA) slumped 6.2% and rival chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) dropped by 7.8%.The selloff comes after a Tuesday report from Bloomberg&

A spate of stabbings has sparked online debate about China’s economic woes

The fatal stabbing of two people by a man at a residential compound in southern China has ignited an online debate that has amplified during a summer scarred by a spree of similar crimes across the country. Two days after those June 28 killings in the Guangxi region, national attention shifted to another stabbing incident, thousands of miles away – which was then followed by two others, also

Torbjørn Færøvik: Når Kina spionerer - i partilaget

Nærmer du deg Xiyuangaten 100 i Beijing, får du øye på en grå bygning hvor alvorstemte kinesere går inn og ut til alle døgnets tider. Bygningen er hovedkvarteret til Ministeriet for offentlig sikkerhet (MSS), en stor organisasjon med mer enn hundre tusen ansatte. Rundt ti tusen personer antas å ha sin arbeidsplass i denne bygningen og i et tilhørende bygningskompleks nær Den himmelske freds plass

China’s Third Plenum: What to Watch for Foreign Investors

The third plenum is, as the name implies, the third plenum of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which has been in session since the 20th National Congress held in October 2022. Plenums are usually held in the fall each year, but the expected plenum in October 2023 did not materialize and has been postponed until now.During the third plenum, the Central Committee will approve a draft document