Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 202

China gives monks a list of things they can’t do after the Dalai Lama's death

In the event of the Dalai Lama’s death, Buddhist monks are banned from displaying photos of the Tibetan spiritual leader and other “illegal religious activities and rituals,” according to a training manual Chinese authorities have distributed to monasteries in Gansu province in China’s northwest, a source inside Tibet and exiled former political prisoner Golok Jigme said.The manual, which lists

Canada asylum-seeker recalls 'all kinds of torture' in Chinese jail

A Chinese rights activist who recently arrived in Canada as a political asylum-seeker has said she and others who complain against the ruling Chinese Communist Party are subjected to "all kinds of torture" at the hands of the authorities. "Only people who have committed a crime should be sent to prison," Wei Yani told RFA in an interview shortly after arriving in Vancouver. "We weren't being

From China's Past: Fifty years of China-US relations [Part 1]

When US President Bill Clinton went to China in 1998, he visited an internet cafe in Shanghai, where he witnessed how the new generation of Chinese youth was using emerging internet technologies to gain new knowledge, establish domestic and international connections, and perhaps even taste the pleasures of online games. Shanghai was the most advanced city in China at the time, and yet there were

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida addresses Congress amid skepticism about US role abroad

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida addressed U.S. lawmakers at the Capitol on Thursday, urging them to consider the importance of global commitments at a time of tension in the Asia-Pacific and deep skepticism in Congress about U.S. involvement abroad.Kishida is in Washington this week visiting President Joe Biden as the White House completes hosting each leader of the Quad — an informal

Do China’s ‘Left-Behind’ Children Have a Delinquency Problem?

The tragic murder of a 13-year-old boy by his classmates in the northern province of Hebei earlier last month has once again raised public fears of rising delinquency among China’s 9 million “left-behind” children.Left-behind children are minors whose parent or parents have migrated for work and left them in the care of family in their home communities. Due to a mix of underdeveloped social and

Why the U.S. Is Building Out Partnerships in the Indo-Pacific—and How It Could Backfire

“Our alliances are America’s greatest asset,” President Joe Biden said in a joint press conference with Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House on Wednesday, a day before hosting a historic first trilateral summit between the U.S., Japan, and the Philippines on Thursday. Indeed, the U.S. has ramped up its partnership-building, particularly in the Indo-Pacific, as it seems to seek

From China's Past: The historical aftermath of Japan’s colonisation of Taiwan

From 1895 to 1945, Japan exerted 50 years of colonial rule over Taiwan. After World War II, colonialism was thoroughly rejected, and colonies in the East and West either became independent or returned to their original motherland. Most former colonies settled their status 50 years ago, but while Taiwan was returned to China in 1945, both sides of the Taiwan Strait remain divided today, and there

Ray Dalio: How China Will Be Challenged By a 100-Year Storm

A few years ago, President Xi Jinping started warning that a 100-year big storm is coming. As is typical of the early days of a hurricane, one can now feel it. The circumstances and the mood in China have indisputably changed to become more threatening. These changes are mostly due to big cycle forces.The most joyous and productive environments are ones that have freedom, civility, and creativity

From overcapacity to TikTok, the issues covered during Janet Yellen's trip to China

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and her team are leaving China and returning to Washington after trying to tackle the major questions of the day between the countries. Here's a look at what she tried to accomplish, what was achieved, and where things stand for the world's two largest economies:Yellen said she wanted to go into the U.S.-China talks to address a major Biden administration

The Angst Behind China’s ‘Lying Flat’ Youth

In halloween in 2022, outside a party the police had just disbanded in Beijing’s warehouse district, I saw a 20-something woman in a sparkly spandex suit and bunny ears run into the road. “Freedom, not testing!” she shouted. “Reform, not revolution! Votes, not dictators! Citizens, not slaves!”Those were familiar words at Tsinghua University, where I was studying for a master’s degree. From a