Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 239

There are many reasons why China may not be in a hurry to see Russia’s war in Ukraine end

President Joe Biden’s trip to mark the anniversary of the war in Ukraine is highlighting an even more grave challenge – a new era of simultaneous and sometimes intertwined US confrontations with nuclear rivals Russia and China. Biden’s dramatic visit to Kyiv Monday amid wailing air raid sirens and his soaring speech in Warsaw a day later reinforced the West’s remarkable support for Ukraine’s

China is helping to prop up the Russian economy. Here’s how

In the year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has been hit by unprecedented Western sanctions and shut out of much of the global economy. But China, which has declared “no limits” to its friendship with its northern neighbor, has thrown the Kremlin an economic lifeline, tempering the impact of its banishment from the global financial system.Underscoring the closeness of the

Ukraine war: China's claim to neutrality fades with Moscow visit

Vladimir Putin loves a really long table. Images of his meetings are famous,with the Russian leader at one end and the person he is speaking to so far away that you wonder if it is hard for them to hear one another. It was not like thatwhen he met China's top foreign policy official, Wang Yi. There they were,sitting within handshake distance, with an oval-shaped table in the middle. Itcould be

For China’s Migrant Workers, Retirement Often Brings More Work

“Retirement?” Upon hearing the word, Xia Zengming laughs. “This concept doesn’t exist in my hometown.”The 66-year-old works as an interior decorator in Shanghai. It’s a physically demanding job: He typically works over 12 hours a day, shifting heavy ceramic tiles and wooden panels around dusty, unfinished apartments. To save money and time, Xia lives inside the homes that he’s decorating. Once

Is China a Developing Nation? The US Congress Is Skeptical.

On February 9, U.S. Senators Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) introduced a bill entitled the “Ending China’s Developing Nation Status Act.” If enacted, the bipartisan legislation would orient U.S. policy to challenge the designation of China as a “developing nation” in international organizations and future treaties.While revising China’s development status may seem to be an

China’s Clouded Future in Afghanistan

More than a year since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the country is now facing a new terrorist threat that is making it more risky and difficult for China to commit to the region.While the Islamic State (IS) has been weakened globally since its territorial defeat in 2019, it continues to thrive in Afghanistan. A new U.N. report on the threat posed by the group published in early February

Neither China Nor Iran Will Get What They Want From Their Relationship

Behind the smiles from Iranian and Chinese leaders in Beijing this week, there may well be frustration. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi visited the Chinese capital with the hope of shoring up his country’s international support and extracting economic advantages from his country’s relationship with China. Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping wanted to use the visit to push for a resolution to

China’s top diplomat visits Moscow ahead of anniversary of Russia’s Ukraine invasion

China’s top diplomat Wang Yi arrived in Moscow on Tuesday, Russian state media reported, in the first visit to Russia by a Chinese official in that role since the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began nearly a year ago. Wang, who was named Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s top foreign policy adviser last month, is making the high-profile visit as the final stop in an eight-day international

Ukraine becomes a test of the US’ two-front clash with China and Russia

President Joe Biden’s trip to mark the anniversary of the war in Ukraine is highlighting an even more grave challenge – a new era of simultaneous and sometimes intertwined US confrontations with nuclear rivals Russia and China.Biden’s dramatic visit to Kyiv Monday amid wailing air raid sirens and his soaring speech in Warsaw a day later reinforced the West’s remarkable support for Ukraine’s

South Korea’s birthrate sinks to fresh record low as population crisis deepens

South Korea’s demographic crisis has deepened after new data showed the number of babies born last year reached another record low. According to figures released on Wednesday by Statistics Korea, 249,000 babies were born in 2022, a fall of 4.4% from the previous year and the third year in a row that deaths have exceeded births in Asia’s fourth-biggest economy.The birthrate also dropped to a