Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 201

Chinese workers killed in suicide bomb blast as Pakistan grapples with attacks on Beijing’s interests

Five Chinese workers and their local driver were killed in a suicide bomb blast in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday, authorities said, the latest in a string of terror attacks that the South Asian country’s military and government say aims to disrupt Islamabad’s close ties with Beijing.Senior police official Muhammad Ali Gandapur said the explosion occurred when the bomber rammed a vehicle into the

Water extraction and weight of buildings see half of China's cities sink

Nearly half of China's major cities are sinking because of water extraction and the increasing weight of their rapid expansion, researchers say. Some cities are subsiding rapidly, with one in six exceeding 10mm per year. China's rapid urbanisation in recent decades means far more water is now being drawn up to meet people's needs, scientists say. In coastal cities, this subsidence threatens

Why a deluge of Chinese-made drugs is hard to curb

When Sammy left her village in Sichuan province to attend university in northern China more than a decade ago, she was following a well-trodden rite of passage. The English language graduate was the first person in her family to go to university. She had a passion for foreign languages and dreamed of becoming a teacher. She had never heard of synthetic opioids before.After graduating, Sammy found

From China's Past: Was the Black Death in India and China?

Firsthand accounts of the Black Death in Europe and the Middle East and many subsequent historians have assumed that the pandemic originated in Asia and ravaged China and India before reaching the West. One reason for this conviction among modern historians is that the plague in the nineteenth century originated and did its worst damage in these countries. But a close examination of the sources

China’s economy expands by a surprisingly strong pace in the first quarter of 2024

China’s economy grew stronger than expected at the start of this year, mainly thanks to robust growth in high-tech manufacturing. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 5.3% in the first quarter from a year ago, according to the National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday. That beat the estimate of 4.6% growth from a Reuters poll of economists. It also marked an acceleration from the 5.2% growth in

Xi Jinping's conundrum fixing the Chinese economy

The slowdown in China’s economic growth is attracting global attention. The biggest reason is that the real estate industry, which has accounted for a quarter of GDP, is experiencing an unprecedented recession. Compared to 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic, 2023 witnessed a staggering decline in both new home construction and sales, with figures plummeting by 54% and 59% respectively.Due to

'World’s factory' status threatened as supply chain shifts away from China

Globalisation has not receded, and the US’s implementation of the CHIPS and Science Act is attracting foreign capital to the country. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is building factories in the US, with the first one due to begin operations in 2025 and the second one possibly starting operations in 2027. Operations at TSMC’s Japan factory are expected to start this year.At the

In Retrospect: Fifty years of China-US relations [Part 2]

In achieving stunning economic growth, there was a fundamental shift in China’s source of national confidence. In Mao Zedong’s era, the mainstream ideology among the Chinese people was to break away from the old world, build a new one without exploitation and with equality for all, unite the global proletariat and create a global revolution. But the Cultural Revolution proved that to be a pipe

In Retrospect: Qincheng, A Twentieth Century Bastille, by Wei Jinsheng (March 1979)

The Chinese dissident Wei Jinsheng spent years in Qincheng Prison outside Beijing. "Qincheng is strictly isolated from the outside world. Only former prisoners, their families, and close friends know about it. The prison is administered by the Fifth Section of the Ministry of Public Security, whose members are solely responsible for it. Regular policemen do not know the nature of Qincheng.

How Cambodia’s Chinese-backed Funan Techo Canal Risks Destabilizing the Lower Mekong Delta

In May 2023, the former prime minister of Cambodia – Hun Sen – led a cabinet meeting that gave the green light to the “Funan Techo Canal”, the first waterway system in Cambodia, which will connect Phnom Penh Autonomous Port to Kep Province of Cambodia. The canal is 180 kilometers long, stretching from Prek Takeo of the Mekong River to Prek Ta Ek and Prek Ta Hing of the Bassac River, and connects