Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 212

Off the Books: Inside the Struggle to Save China’s Preschools

Facing low admissions, fierce competition from public schools, and financial pressures, China’s private kindergartens are upping marketing efforts and offering nursery classes. To boost enrollments, teachers are also increasingly taking on roles as sales reps.Read more

Xi Jinping takes off the mask: The Beijing tyrant has spent 12 years wrecking China’s image

Xi Jinping’s recent European tour was an unprecedented spectacle in international affairs: an Asian leader was arriving as representative of a great power to lesser nations of an anxious continent. China’s strongman landed in Paris on May 5, amid diplomatic pleasantries. Behind the gift exchange, including fine French cognac, any hopes French President Emmanuel Macron harbored that the visit

China’s ‘virtual invasion’ of India and the cultural genocide of Tibet

There is no border between India and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). In the northwest and northeast, India adjoins Tibet. It is not necessary for your Indian interlocutor to be a die-hard nationalist to think this way. As a matter of fact, this is what a large number of Indians have believed since 1949, when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) took power in Beijing. Their reasoning is that

More than 700,000 Tibetans forced to relocate, report says

For the past seven years, Tashi and his once-nomadic family been living in the outskirts of Tibet’s capital Lhasa after they were forcibly moved from their ancestral home in the grasslands of Tibet. They had made a living raising yaks and other livestock and engaging in sustainable farming in Damxung county, located two hours away by road from Lhasa, until they and others were forced to move to

Christian Asamoah Gyawu: Exploring the causes of conflict between India and China

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1950, the Republic of China and India have not had a good relationship. The two countries have had volatile engagements with many withstanding unresolved issues, especially in the land boundary disputes. The disputes have even resulted in different military wars experienced in the country. The Sino - Indian war that occurred in 1962, Nathu La and

Taiwan: Full text of President Lai Ching-te's inaugural address, May 20, 2024

President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) was sworn into office on Monday. The following is the full text of his inaugural address as released by the Presidential Office.Building a democratic, peaceful, and prosperous new TaiwanVice President Bi-khim Hsiao (蕭美琴), esteemed heads of state and guests from our allies, distinguished ambassadors and representatives, all visiting dignitaries, dear friends watching

Professor Arne Jon Isachsen: Kommunisme i dagens Kina

I et kommunistisk samfunn vil alle arbeide etter evne og motta etter behov. Om dette hadde vært praktisert i dagens Kina, ville kinesere flest hatt det bedre. Og verden ellers vært et mer fredfylt sted. De økonomiske forskjellene i Kina er enorme. At noen er veldig rike, får så være. Men at flere hundre millioner av kinesere lever uverdige liv i fattigdom er noe annet. Uten anledning til å flytte

Developing Taiwan’s own ‘Starlink’ crucial for island-wide emergency, space agency says

 Taiwan’s leaders are working on an ambitious new satellite system to keep the island online in case of disaster, as it deals with the constant threat of hostilities with China. Wu Jong-shinn, director-general of the Taiwan Space Agency (TASA), told CNN in an exclusive interview that Taiwan is at an “experimental development stage” in efforts to build new indigenous communication

Tsai Ing-wen: the leader who put Taiwan on the map and stood up to China

Tsai Ing-wen never set out to be a leader. Growing up shy, she aspired to become an archeologist, because “people that are dead already wouldn’t jump up and argue with you.” But instead of picking over the remains of history, the self-described introvert ended up charting a new course for Taiwan in some of the world’s choppiest geopolitical waters.“At this very moment, Taiwan faces a difficult

I am a love child, not a Chinese spy, says mayor

A mayor of a small farming town in the Philippines has said she is a "love child" and not a spy for China. Mayor Alice Guo who is being investigated for criminal operations, was unable to answer questions about her family history and upbringing during a senate hearing. This led one senator to ask whether she was an "asset" for Beijing."I want to tell the public: I am not a spy. I am a Filipino