Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 207

Article 23: Local politicians hail new security law, as foreign gov’ts, NGOs slam ‘devastating’ effect on freedom

Foreign governments, politicians and NGOs have condemned the fast-tracked passage of Hong Kong’s new, local security law, whilst local political parties and government departments hailed Tuesday’s unanimous vote in the opposition-free legislature. Article 23 of the Basic Law stipulates that the government shall enact laws on its own to prohibit acts of treason, secession, sedition and subversion

What is Article 23, Hong Kong’s new draconian national security law?

Legislators in Hong Kong have approved a new national security law ­- referred to as Article 23 – that gives the government new powers to crack down on all forms of dissent on the grounds of alleged treason, espionage, sedition and external interference in Hong Kong’s internal affairs. Article 23 is the second such security law since 2020, when authorities cracked down on months of pro-democracy

Hong Kong: The New Security Law (full text)

Here is the controversial security law adopted by the Legislative Assembly in Hongkong. All 88 members of the assembly voted in favor of the law. Read more

Torbjørn Færøvik: Venezia hyller våren og Marco Polo

Vår i Venezia. Det finnes ikke noe bedre. Den kjølige tåken som i vintermånedene henger over byen, er som tryllet bort, og inn siver varmen. De siste dagene har en varm vårsol trengt seg opp kanalene og inn i alle byens kriker og kroker. Og på Markusplassen spankulerer duene like lykkelige som før.Løfter jeg blikket, belønnes jeg med synet av Dogepalasset i enden av plassen. Palazzo Ducale, som

EXHIBITION IN VENICE: "THE WORLDS OF MARCO POLO THE JOURNEY OF A 13TH–CENTURY VENETIAN MERCHANT"

Marco Polo (1254-1324) was certainly the most illustrious traveller of the Middle Ages and beyond. Before and after him others successfully made journeys to the East. But Marco Polo, by his extraordinary Travels (original entitled Il Milione), is undoubtedly the best-known and most celebrated figure to have travelled from the West to the Far East and to have left a full and richly documented

In Retrospect: Did Marco Polo go to China? A Critical Appraisal by I. de Rachewiltz

In her book Did Marco Polo Go To China? (first published by Secker & Warburg, London, in 1995), Dr Frances Wood claims that Marco did not go to China and that he 'probably never travelled much further than the family's trading post on the Black Sea and in Constantinople'. Her thesis, leading to the above conclusion, is based on a number of principal arguments and a few secondary ones as props

West decries Putin's landslide election win, China congratulates him

Western governments lined up on Monday to condemn Vladimir Putin's landslide election victory as unfair and undemocratic, but China and North Korea congratulated the veteran Russian leader on extending his rule by a further six years. The contrasting reactions underscored the geopolitical faultlines that have gaped wider since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago,

In the busy waters between China and Taiwan, the de facto border is being tested

Motoring across the calm waters of the South China Sea, Taiwanese captain Lu Wen-shiung recalls the old days, when Chinese and Taiwanese fishers used to meet behind rocky headlands, anchoring their boats out of the authorities’ sight, to share a meal. There was less surveillance then, and the two sides were more friendly, fishing the same waters, occasionally selling to each other on the sly.“We

Underrepresented: Tibetans kept out of most leadership positions

It is the season of China’s annual meetings in Beijing of its National People’s Congress (parliament) and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (political advisory body). Popularly called the “Two Sessions,” China has also been using these sessions to tout how well Tibetans and others who are dubbed “ethnic minorities” are enjoying their rights.This claim was most recently reiterated

Torbjørn Færøvik: Tibetanerne minnes Dalai Lamas flukt til India for 65 år siden

Eksil-tibetanere i mange land markerer i disse dager oppstanden i Tibet for 65 år siden. Dramaet i mars 1959 endte med blod og tårer og Dalai Lamas flukt gjennom fjellene til India.  Verden holdt pusten. Jeg var bare ti år den gang, likevel gammel nok til å huske alvoret i nyhetssendingene. Ryktene fortalte at Dalai Lama hadde flyktet fra sin hovedstad på Verdens tak. Men hvor var han? Noen