Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 244

China has had an unusually busy and bizarre week

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 ship, attempting to take supplies

Kinesiske ph.d.-studenter i Norge må signere en kontrakt som forplikter dem til alltid å følge kommunistpartiets vilje.

En rekke kinesiske forskere og studenter har de siste årene kommet til norske universiteter gjennom et program som krever lojalitet til kinesiske myndigheter. Det viser opplysninger Khrono har hentet inn. Programmet det er snakk om er Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC), som drives av det kinesiske regimet, og blant annet gir stipender for opphold ved universiteter i andre land.I perioden 2018-2019

China accuses US of ‘illegally’ flying balloons across its airspace

China has accused the United States of “illegally” flying high-altitude balloons into its airspace more than 10 times since January 2022, claims that drew an immediate rebuttal from the White House, as bilateral tensions flare in the fallout from a Chinese balloon that was shot down by American fighter jets after traveling across the continental US. The accusation, made by the Chinese Foreign

U.S. Congress plans full review of Chinese spy balloon incidents, Schumer says

The U.S. Congress will take a bipartisan look at unidentified aerial objects that have made their way into U.S. and Canadian airspace, and why they were not found sooner, the Democratic leader of the U.S. Senate said on Monday. Noting that U.S. officials said Chinese spy balloons were identified over the United States during former President Donald Trump's administration, Schumer said the issue

U.S. military says it recovers key sensors from downed Chinese spy balloon

The U.S. military said on Monday it had recovered critical electronics from the suspected Chinese spy balloon downed by a U.S. fighter jet off South Carolina's coast on Feb. 4, including key sensors presumably used for intelligence gathering."Crews have been able to recover significant debris from the site, including all of the priority sensor and electronics pieces identified as well as large

Straying off Course A Spy Balloon Q&A

On the evening of Friday February 3, about one day after news broke that a large balloon from China was surveilling the skies over Montana, ChinaFile’s Susan Jakes spoke with historian John Delury, whose recently published book, Agents of Subversion: The Fate of John T. Downey and the CIA’s Covert War in China, centers around a U.S. spy plane downed in China during the Korean War. Delury spoke

Torbjørn Færøvik: India minnes Mahatma Gandhi 75 år etter at han ble drept

Paris 27. januar 1973. Under en blek morgensol stanset en lang rekke svarte limousiner foran det elegante Hotel Majestic på Rue Laperouse. Ut av bilene strømmet et stort antall dresskledde menn som straks samlet seg rundt et bord i hotellets ballsal. En time senere var Vietnam-krigen offisielt over. ”USA vil stanse alle sine militære handlinger mot territoriet til Den demokratiske republikken

US and India to boost defense and technology cooperation as China threat grows

The United States and India are taking steps to strengthen their defense partnership, officials said Tuesday, the latest sign of cooperation between the two countries in the face of an increasingly assertive China. The plans emerged following two days of meetings in Washington between government and business officials from the two countries and include greater collaboration on military-related

Chinese province ends ban on unmarried people having children

A Chinese province of more than 80 million people will lift restrictions on unmarried people having children and remove caps on the number of babies as part of a national drive to increase the country’s birth rate. Sichuan’s health commission announced on Monday it would allow all people to register births with the provincial government from 15 February. It will also remove limits on the number

China winds back online study ban after students left scrambling to get to Australia

The Chinese government has wound back its snap ban on recognising online degrees obtained from foreign institutions after tens of thousands of students were left scrambling for flights. The ban, announced on Saturday, required all Chinese students enrolled to study online with overseas providers to be on campus for semester one – due to start in a matter of weeks in Australia. At the time of the