Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 205

In Retrospect: The Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong (1984)

The Sino-British Joint Declaration was a treaty between the governments of the United Kingdom and China signed in 1984 setting the conditions in which Hong Kong was transferred to Chinese control and for the governance of the territory after 1 July 1997.Hong Kong had been a colony of the British Empire since 1842 after the First Opium War and its territory was expanded on two occasions; first in

Radio Free Asia closes its Hong Kong operation over safety concerns for its staff

U.S. government-funded Radio Free Asia is closing its Hong Kong operation out of concern for the safety of its staff and reporters, a move that comes after Hong Kong enacted a tough new national security law known locally as Article 23. Radio Free Asia President Bay Fang said in a statement Friday that the outlet's programming and content will continue without disruption. But, Fang said, actions

Starved of Affection at Home, Young Chinese Seek Out ‘Digital Parents’

Fan Xiaotong, a middle school student from Shanghai, likes to share everything with her parents. Whenever she feels stressed about a math test, or eats a tasty snack, the 13-year-old will pull out her phone and send a message to her mom and dad. The couple she is contacting, however, aren’t really her biological family. In fact, Fan, who spoke to Sixth Tone using a pseudonym to protect her

Philippine president warns of countermeasures in response to Chinese aggression at sea

The Philippine president said Thursday that his government would take action against what he called dangerous attacks by the Chinese coast guard and suspected militia ships in the disputed South China Sea, saying “Filipinos do not yield.” Ferdinand Marcos Jr. did not provide details of the actions his government would take in the succeeding weeks but said these would be “proportionate, deliberate

From China's Past: The fate of Japanese POWs and civilians in China after World War II

During the Japanese occupation of China in World War II, the Japanese government encouraged the people of Japan to migrate to China, where they were accorded many privileges as first-grade citizens. But when Japan eventually lost the war, these people found themselves cut adrift in an instant, neither belonging to China nor tied to Japan, especially the children born during the war. Many suffered

APT1, Exposing One of China’s Cyber Espionage Units (2021)

Since 2004, Mandiant has investigated computer security breaches at hundreds of organizations around the world. The majority of these security breaches are attributed to advanced threat actors referred to as the “Advanced Persistent Threat” (APT). We first published details about the APT in our January 2010 M-Trends report. As we stated in the report, our position was that “The Chinese government

UK imposes sanctions after Chinese-backed cyber-attacks

The UK government has formally accused China of being behind what it called "malicious" cyber campaigns against MPs and the Electoral Commission. Two people and a company have been sanctioned over cyber-attacks. Deputy PM Oliver Dowden said they were behind attempts to access details of MPs critical of Beijing, as well as the data of potentially 40 million voters.The Chinese embassy in the UK

Millions of Americans caught up in Chinese hacking plot - US

Millions of Americans' online accounts have been caught up in a "sinister" Chinese hacking plot that targeted US officials, the justice department and FBI said on Monday. Seven Chinese nationals have been charged with enacting a widespread cyber-attack campaign. They are accused of ties to a hacking operation that ran for 14 years. The US state department announced a reward of up to $10m (£8m)

Cambodia's Prince Group: A business empire built on crime?

In less than a decade, the Prince Group emerged seemingly out of nowhere to become one of Cambodia’s fastest growing and best-connected conglomerates. What lies behind this multibillion-dollar empire? For three years, RFA has dug through business records and tracked down sources everywhere from remote villages to international financial centers trying to answer this question.Radio Free Asia's

The Political Geography of the South China Sea Disputes

The South China Sea, one of the world’s most important and contentious bodies of water, constitutes a complex geopolitical space. It is frequently subject to misunderstandings and, in some cases, propaganda. The purpose of this Perspective is to provide essential background and context to the South China Sea dispute (which is, in reality, a series of disputes) from a political geography