Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 207

Chinese officials’ attempt to ‘block’ formerly detained journalist mars Australia goodwill tour

Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s four-day visit to Australia this week was set to be focused on repairing long-strained relations between the two countries. But apparent efforts by Chinese officials to stand in front of an Australian reporter during a press briefing have shone a spotlight back on frictions between the countries.Cheng Lei, a TV anchor who was held in detention in China for more than

China is trying to rescue its property market. Prices are still plunging

Prices of new homes in China suffered their biggest fall in nearly a decade last month, in a sign that Beijing’s “historic” real estate rescue has not yet revived demand. Prices in 70 major cities were down 0.7% in May from April, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) figures showed on Monday. That’s the steepest month-on-month drop since October 2014, according to Reuters calculation. According to

Norway just loosened China’s stranglehold on rare minerals critical to the global economy—and it’s a huge win for Europe and the U.S.

Norway just struck a gold mine. Well, a rare mineral mine. The Norwegian mining company, Rare Earths Norway, just uncovered the largest deposit of rare earth elements in Europe. The discovery has major implications not just for the company, which is certainly poised for a windfall, but for global geopolitics. Rare Earths Norway found the deposit in the Fen Carbonatite Complex located in the

Role of nuclear weapons grows as geopolitical relations deteriorate—new SIPRI Yearbook out now

The nine nuclear-armed states—the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) and Israel—continued to modernize their nuclear arsenals and several deployed new nuclear-armed or nuclear-capable weapon systems in 2023.Of the total global inventory of an estimated 12 121 warheads in January 2024, about9585 were in

TIDE OF INJUSTICE: Exploitation and Illegal Fishing on Chinese Vessels in the Southwest Indian Ocea

China’s distant-water fleet (DWF) is by far the world’s largest, both in terms of the number of fishing vessels it has and the volume of fish caught, operating across the world’s major fishing grounds. Increasingly, this fleet has been associated with a range of illegal, unsustainable and abusive behaviours towards marine ecosystems and crew alike. These behaviours, when considered alongside the

Illegal Chinese fishing off East Africa hurts local communities: report

A multibillion dollar global fishing industry backed by the Chinese government is driving a surge in Chinese vessels engaged in illegal activities and exploiting fishing grounds off East Africa, spoiling them for local people, according to a London-based environmental group."Before the Chinese fishing boats came here, we could expect a good catch when we cast our nets, even if we only cast the

Philippines seeks UN validation to extend continental shelf limits

The Philippines is seeking U.N. validation to extend its continental shelf in the South China Sea and secure “exclusive” rights to exploit undersea resources, Manila’s foreign office said, amid heightened territorial tensions with China over the waterway. The Department of Foreign Affairs said its mission to the United Nations had submitted documentation with the U.N. Commission on the Limits of

Philippines Promises To Protect Fishermen As China’s Maritime Trespass Rule Takes Hold

The Philippines reassured Filipino fishermen on Friday that it would keep them safe as China prepared to enforce a new trespassing regulation, starting this weekend, in Beijing-claimed waters in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard had issued an order on May 15 authorizing its personnel to detain foreign vessels and crews for up to 30 days – and as many as 60, in some cases. The regulation

Vietnam's South China Sea island building sets record in 2024: report

Vietnam’s island building in the South China Sea has reached a record with the total new land created in the first six months of this year equaling that of 2022 and 2023 combined, a U.S. independent think tank said. The Washington-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) said in its latest report that since November 2023, Vietnam has created 692 new acres (280 ha) of land across a total

EU officials to make rare Tibet visit to examine human rights

European Union officials are scheduled to make a rare visit starting this weekend to the Tibet Autonomous Region during their annual human rights talks with China, an EU spokesperson told Radio Free Asia. Although it isn’t clear how much access the officials will ultimately be granted, the spokesperson, Peter Stano, told RFA that the EU has put forth “concrete proposals” for the places the