Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 258

The Long Arm of Chinese Censorship Has Reached Europe, Forcing Artists and Institutions to Watch What They Say Against Beijing

Some artists and curators of Chinese descent, living and working in Europe, have said they feel like they must self-censor their work for fear of retaliation by Beijing authorities against their families back home. Others have had shows cancelled through diplomatic pressure by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), or been surveilled by suspected government actors. And several institutions and

China Covid: Hospitals under strain in wave of infections

China's hospitals are already under so much pressure, following the country's rapid 180-degree shift in Covid policy, that doctors and nurses could be infecting patients. It seems frontline medical workers are being told to come in even if they have the virus themselves because of staff shortages. A Chinese professor specialising in health policy has been monitoring the crisis in his home country

China diplomats leave UK over Manchester protester attack

China has removed six officials from Britain - including one of its most senior UK diplomats - two months after violence at its Manchester consulate. The UK had requested the officials waive their right to diplomatic immunity to allow detectives to question them about October's incident. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly expressed his disappointment that none of the six would now face justice. The

Torbjørn Færøvik: Kan India bli verdens nye fabrikk?

Den enes død, den andres brød. Mens Kina lider og millioner av mennesker står i fare for å dø, lyser Indias statsminister Narendra Modi av optimisme. I år vil landet få en økonomisk vekst på rundt seks prosent, mot Kinas skarve tre prosent. ”Vi skal gjøre landet vårt stort igjen”, ropte han på et valgmøte i høst. Modi følger utviklingen i Kina med argusøyne. Som alle andre ser han at ”Midtens

MICHAEL SCHUMAN: ZERO COVID’S FAILURE IS XI’S FAILURE

For three years, China’s leader, Xi Jinping, fought a remorseless battle against COVID-19. He called it a “people’s war”—a national struggle to defeat an unseen foe and save lives. The contest locked families in their homes for weeks, strangled the economy, and closed the country to the world. Other governments that failed to contain the pandemic may be indifferent to death and suffering, the

China Planting the Flag in Mosques and Monasteries

Over the last few years, the Chinese Communist Party has physically remade places of religious worship in western China to its liking. This includes not only the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, but also other areas with mosques or Tibetan Buddhist temples and monasteries. Eight Chinese government procurement notices, issued between 2018 and 2021, show local officials seeking to sinify

John Arne Moen: Naivt å tro at demokratiet må vinne

I dag er Kina verdens fremste kolonimakt – for å holde oss i et bilde europeere flest har et forhold til. En moderne form for kolonialisme, ja visst, men like fullt klassisk kolonibygging. Gjennom målrettet bruk av sin nye økonomiske styrke investeres det målrettet slik at mindre land skal få redusert sin reelle suverenitet, og slik bli støttespillere for makthaverne i Beijing. Landet er mye

Hanne Skartveit: Norske politikere la seg flate for Kina

 NATOs generalsekretær Jens Stoltenberg advarte i sterke ordelag da han denne uken møtte en fullsatt aula ved Universitetet i Oslo. – Kina utfordrer våre verdier og vår samfunnsmodell, sa han. Og videre: – Vi kan ikke la kortsiktige økonomiske interesser styre våre sikkerhetspolitiske interesser.Stoltenberg vet hva han snakker om. Mens han var statsminister, havnet Norge i Kinas fryseboks, etter

Anders Magnus: Justisministeren er et dårlig forbilde for norsk ungdom

Justisminister Emilie Enger Mehl er et dårlig forbilde for ungdom når hun anbefaler bruk av kinesiske TikTok. Norges sikkerhetsmyndigheter må rive seg i håret av en sjef med slike holdninger. Det sosiale nettstedet TikTok tilbyr morsomme videoer til publikum. Her kan du legge ut dine egne artige danse-moves, gjerne med etteraping av kjente poplåter. Da sier det seg selv at både mikrofon og kamera

China’s COVID Wave Is Coming

In China, a dam seems on the verge of breaking. Following a wave of protests, the government has begun to relax some of its most stringent zero-COVID protocols, and regional authorities have trimmed back a slew of requirementsfor mass testing, quarantine, and isolation. The rollbacks are coming as a relieffor the many Chinese residents who have been clamoring for change. But they’re also swiftly