Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 241

India enjoyed a free and vibrant media. Narendra Modi’s brazen attacks are a catastrophe

In January, the BBC broadcast a two-part series, India: The Modi Question, which looked forensically at the role of Narendra Modi in fomenting the Gujarat anti-Muslim riots of 2002 in which at least 1,000 people were killed. Now the prime minister of India, Modi was then the chief minister of Gujarat.The response in India was swift. Kanchan Gupta, an adviser to the ministry of information and

Chinese peace plan for Ukraine greeted cautiously by the west

Western leaders have reacted nervously to a Chinese peace plan for Ukraine due to be revealed this week, but cautiously welcomed the move as a first sign that China recognises the war cannot be regarded solely as a European affair.Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, China’s senior diplomat Wang Yi, one of the few external politicians able to influence Russia, announced that China would

China’s new top diplomat to visit Russia as tensions with the US mount

China’s top diplomat will visit Russia this month, according to its Foreign Ministry, in the first visit to the country from a Chinese official in that role since Moscow’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Wang Yi, who was named Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s top foreign policy adviser last month, will visit Russia during an eight-day international tour starting Tuesday that will also include visits

China calls its Covid response a ‘miracle in human history.’ The data isn’t so clear

China has declared a “major and decisive victory” in its handling of the coronavirus outbreak that swept the country in recent months following an abrupt relaxation of its “zero-Covid” policy late last year. The ruling Communist Party’s top decision-making body made the assessment during a closed-door meeting on Thursday presided over by Chinese leader Xi Jinping, in the latest signal the country

Blinken and Chinese counterpart meet in first face-to-face since spy balloon shot down

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi on Saturday, in the first face-to-face between senior US and Chinese officials since the US military shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon earlier this month.In a meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Blinken “directly spoke to the unacceptable violation of US sovereignty and

US warns allies at Munich that China may increase support for Russia

The US has recently begun seeing “disturbing” trendlines in China’s support for Russia’s military and there are signs that Beijing wants to “creep up to the line” of providing lethal military aid to Russia without getting caught, US officials familiar with the intelligence told CNN.The officials would not describe in detail what intelligence the US has seen suggesting a recent shift in China’s

Holding out against China in a row over reefs

China has had an unusually busy and bizarre week. On Monday - as the saga over the alleged spy balloon dragged into its 11th day - a fresh spat erupted between Beijing and Manila. This one was over lasers. The Philippines accused China of using a "military grade" laser light on a Philippine coastguard boat. It said the incident had happened on 6 February when the boat was attempting to take

Distrust deepens over US-China balloon row

As the rift between the US and China over the balloon saga widens, so has the divide within the global community scrutinising their high-stakes dispute. The latest exchange took place on Friday, with US President Joe Biden insisting he would "make no apologies" for shooting down the alleged Chinese spy balloon. Hours later, the Chinese foreign affairs ministry said the US "can't ask for dialogue

China’s property crash is prompting banks to offer mortgages to 70-year-olds

The property market in China is so depressed that some banks are resorting to drastic measures, including allowing people to pay off mortgages until they are 95 years old.Some banks in the cities of Nanning, Hangzhou, Ningbo and Beijing have extended the upper age limit on mortgages to between 80 and 95, according to a number of state media reports. That means people aged 70 can now take out

Isolated Iran finds ally China reluctant to extend it a lifeline

Shortly before leaving for his first state visit to China on Tuesday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi issued a thinly veiled criticism of his powerful ally, saying the two countries’ relationship has not lived up to expectations.The first Iranian president to arrive in China on a state visit in two decades, Raisi was keen to tell Beijing that it has not given enough support to Tehran, especially