Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 268

Shanghai’s subway and shops reopen and streets fill up after two-month lockdown

Shanghai has eased a range of Covid-19 restrictions in a step towards returning to normal after a two-month lockdown that confined residents of the megacity to their homes and battered China’s economy. The commercial hub of 25 million people was closed down in sections from late March, when the Omicron virus variant fuelled China’s worst outbreak since Covid first took hold in 2020.After some

China bars Russian airlines with foreign planes

China has barred Russia’s airlines from flying foreign-owned jetliners into its airspace, the Russian news outlet RBK reported, after President Vladimir Putin threw the aircrafts’ ownership into doubt by allowing them to be re-registered in Russia to avoid seizure under sanctions over Moscow’s attack on Ukraine. The European Union, home to major aircraft leasing companies, banned the sale or

How Philippine Education Contributed to the Return of the Marcoses

Back in 2018, I spoke in front of big group of teachers from schools across the country about the challenges of Social Studies education. One of the challenges I mentioned at the time was the rise of negative historical revisionism, most notably in the form of efforts to present former dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos, his family, and the Martial Law period in a positive light.During the open forum,

Despite High Ambition, China’s Media Influence Operation Is Far From Successful

CGTN, China’s English-language news media, has nearly 5 million more followers than CBS News on Twitter, yet it receives less than a quarter of CBS’s average retweets and likes per post. Despite being directed to “tell China’s story well,” Chinese state media is clearly failing to gain an authentic following outside the Great Firewall. Its struggle to influence stems from the organization’s

Next Hong Kong leader says city must work harder at COVID-19

Hong Kong’s incoming chief executive, John Lee, said Tuesday the city still has to work hard at controlling the coronavirus and boosting vaccination rates. Lee, who returned home after meeting with Communist Party officials in Beijing, said Hong Kong needs to control the spread of COVID-19 to create favorable conditions for a resumption of regular travel with mainland China.“We still have cases

Japan, Emboldened by Biden and Wary Over Ukraine, Gets Tough on China

Traditionally pacifist Japan has begun to chart a new, more assertive course on regional security, especially toward China's ambitions in Taiwan, as U.S. President Joe Biden rallies Asian allies amid Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine.For years, Tokyo has drifted toward a more proactive defense posture. But the shift has taken on new meaning in the wake of Moscow's "special military operation"

China, Pacific islands unable to agree on security pact

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday urged the Pacific region not to be "too anxious" about his country's aims after a meeting in Fiji with his counterparts from 10 island nations was unable to agree to a sweeping trade and security communique.Wang hosted the meeting with foreign ministers from Pacific island nations with diplomatic ties with China midway through a diplomatic tour of the

Taiwan scrambles jets after China makes largest incursion into air defence zone since January

China has made the second largest incursion into Taiwan’s air defence zone this year with Taipei reporting 30 jets entering the area, including more than 20 fighters. Taiwan’s defence ministry said late on Monday it had scrambled its own aircraft and deployed air defence missile systems to monitor the latest Chinese activity.In recent years, Beijing has begun sending large sorties into Taiwan’s

Bachelet’s Xinjiang visit is emblematic of the growing divide between China and the west

UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet’s six-day trip to China began with some controversy, and ended with even more. On Saturday, western journalists left the virtual press conference without satisfying answers. Some complained Bachelet had dwelled too much on the US’s human rights problems but not China’s.Knowing a top envoy from the UN would be restrained in her tone and delivery, Beijing took the

Hong Kong churches drop Tiananmen tributes after 33 years amid arrest fears

For the first time in 33 years, church services to commemorate the Tiananmen Square crackdown will not be held in Hong Kong, erasing one of the last reminders of China’s bloody suppression of the 1989 protests. Since Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law in 2020 to snuff out pro-democracy demonstrations, once-packed candlelit vigils have been banned, a Tiananmen museum has been forced