Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 233

Why do Chinese billionaires keep vanishing?

The disappearance last month of technology industry dealmaker Bao Fan has rekindled interest in a recent Chinese phenomenon - vanishing billionaires. The founder of China Renaissance Holdings - with a client list that has included internet giants Tencent, Alibaba and Baidu - is seen as a titan in the country's tech sector. Mr Bao's case has followed a well-trodden path: he went missing for days

Simon Leys — the cosmopolitan scholar who broke the rules of Sinology

‘There’s a new book about China by a fellow called Simon Leys,’ said my history tutor, the late Norman Stone, at the end of one testy supervision in the 1970s, ‘you should go and get it.’ Professor Stone, who seemed to think he had a teenage Maoist on his hands, felt it would improve his student’s perspective.The book was Chinese Shadows. I hurried back from Heffers bookshop clutching the Penguin

In Xi’s ‘New Era,’ China’s Foreign Policy Centers on ‘Struggle’

China’s new foreign minister, Qin Gang, had his first annual press conference on Tuesday on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People’s Congress. His first lengthy interaction with the press (albeit under the carefully controlled conditions of Chinese official press briefings) served as a useful corrective to the previous theory that Qin would somehow use a lighter touch as

Xi Jinping hits out at US as he urges China’s private firms to ‘fight’ alongside Communist Party

China’s leader Xi Jinping hit out at the United States with unusually direct comments as he called on the country’s private companies to “fight” alongside the Communist Party at a time of mounting challenges at home and abroad. “[In the past five years,] Western countries led by the United States have contained and suppressed us in an all-round way, which has brought unprecedented severe

Threat of rising seas to Asian megacities could be way worse than we thought, study warns

Parts of Asia’s largest cities could be under water by 2100 thanks to rising sea levels, according to a new study that combines both the impact of climate change with natural oceanic fluctuations. Sea levels have already been on the rise due to increasing ocean temperatures and unprecedented levels of ice melting caused by climate change. But a report published in the journal Nature Climate

Member of Chinese parliament runs from CNN's questions

CNN's Selina Wang discusses the restrictions that journalists face at China's annual parliamentary meeting.Read more

Suppressing China won't make America great - Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang

China's foreign minister says China-US relations have "seriously deviated" while warning of potential conflict. "Containment and suppression will not make America great. It will not stop the rejuvenation of China," said Qin Gang.Mr Qin, China's former ambassador to the US, held his first press conference as foreign minister on Tuesday. The spy balloon saga has heightened tensions between the

Chinese cities hit record high temperatures for early March

Temperatures in more than a dozen Chinese cities have hit record seasonal highs this week, with central China’s Wuhan and Zhengzhou more than 10C hotter than average for early March, official data showed. Wuhan, located on the middle reaches of the Yangtze river, registered temperatures of 26C on Monday, 12 degrees higher than the long-term early March average, while Beijing and surrounding

China’s Increased Attention to Tibet’s Borders With India

During his visit to Nyingtri and Lhasa in July 2021, Chinese leader Xi Jinping showed a renewed resolve and fortitude to obliterate the cohesion of Tibetan nationalism, identity, and the Tibetan people’s steadfast faith in Buddhism. He spoke about the need to Sinicize Tibetan Buddhism, instill a collective sense of the “Chinese nation,” and make Tibetans identify with China, Chinese people,

Afghanistan: Hopes fade as universities reopen without women

Afghan universities have begun reopening after a winter break, but the new term is another painful reminder to young women of how their world is shrinking. The higher education ministry announced late last year that female students would be barred from returning to class, reversing policies that had allowed them to continue their studies after the Taliban government took power in Kabul in 2021."