Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 21

America’s $100,000 talent tax vs China’s free welcome mat

President Trump’s decision to impose a US$100,000 annual fee on new H-1B visa applicants represents more than immigration policy—it’s a strategic miscalculation that risks accelerating America’s decline in the global competition for talent while inadvertently strengthening China’s hand in the very contest the US seeks to win.Asian professionals, particularly from India, constitute the

America’s H-1B visa loss is India’s tech industry gain

India is poised to turn a headline shock into a long-term prize. Washington’s abrupt move to slap a US$100,000 charge on new H-1B visa applications has rattled markets, hitting India’s flagship technology shares and trimming both the Nifty 50 and Sensex. To many investors, it looked like a gut punch to a sector that depends heavily on sending engineers and developers to the US. But history shows

All is not lost for China in US TikTok deal

Beijing is signaling a green light to American investors’ takeover of TikTok’s operations in the United States, a rare opening in the grinding US-China tech standoff.The breakthrough follows a September 19 call between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, during which the TikTok issue reportedly featured prominently.The control of TikTok’s algorithm is being addressed

Trump's $100,000 H-1B visa shock: Why US may lose more than India

Panic, confusion and then a hasty White House climbdown - it was a weekend of whiplash for hundreds of thousands of Indians on H-1B visas. On Friday, US President Donald Trump stunned the tech world by announcing an up to 50-fold hike in the cost of skilled worker permits - to $100,000. Chaos followed: Silicon Valley firms urged staff not to travel outside the country, overseas workers scrambled

Hong Kong, southern China brace for powerful Typhoon Ragasa after it batters the Philippines

A huge and powerful typhoon is headed toward southern China after lashing the Philippines with destructive winds and torrential rain, putting the region’s megacities on high alert with cancelled flights and disruptions to schools and businesses. Tens of millions of people could be impacted by the storm, which is expected to pass south of the major cities of Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen and

Torbjørn Færøvik: Solen går ned i Soloppgangens land

Den siste geisha? Ikke helt, men det tynnes i rekkene. I gamle dager talte de flere titusener. Nå er bare noen hundre igjen, og de fleste er å finne i Tokyo eller Kyoto. Men også Japan som nasjon krymper. Folketallet toppet seg i 2010 med vel 128 millioner innbyggere. Nå har det sunket til 124 millioner, og færre skal det bli. Et slør av pessimisme hviler over det japanske øyriket, og mange er

A Chinese international student and activist goes missing during a trip home

A Chinese international student and activist has gone missing during a trip to China to visit family. Rights and advocacy groups are saying it’s the latest case of transnational repression. On July 5, Zhang Yadi, 22, who has been studying in France, returned to Changsha, Hunan province, to visit family. On July 30, she disappeared in Shangri-La, Yunnan province. Zhang is an editor for the digital

China, Russia’s gray zone tactics raising risk of wider war

Almost in tandem, Russia and China have expanded their hostilities with Taiwan and Ukraine, respectively, to allies of each. Russia sent fighter aircraft into the territory of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which is supplying weapons and intelligence to help Ukraine fend off Russia’s full-scale invasion.At sea and in the sky, China is moving to tighten its grip in areas around

Trump’s immigration war pivots to Asian talent

In the past, if you asserted that the Republican Party is anti-immigration, someone would always pop up to angrily retort that the GOP is only against illegal immigration. Occasionally, someone would say that what conservatives really want is to shift our immigration mix from low-skilled to high-skilled.If this were 1995 or 2005, perhaps conservatives really would be satisfied with policies that

When the US cedes Asia to China

It’s the aftermath of a phone call between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping that both sides described as positive, and before a bilateral meeting scheduled for October that is expected to yield some results for both. In this uncertain period, it’s unclear how the conversation went or what the meeting will produce. Still, there are rumors that America might be considering