Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 268

India targets China's dominance in mobile phones

Buying a new smartphone was a bit of a mission for Deepa Aswani, who works in marketing in Mumbai. "I am very particular about what phone I buy. I did not want to invest too much," she says. After two months of deliberation, she chose the OnePlus 10R, which in a sale cost her $400 (£329), a reasonable price for a smartphone, but still a significant sum in any country, and particularly in a

US-China chip war: America is winning

For more than a century the scramble for oil unleashed wars, forced unusual alliances and sparked diplomatic rows. Now the world's two biggest economies are battling over another precious resource: semiconductors, the chips that literally power our daily life. These tiny fragments of silicon are at the heart of a $500bn industry that is expected to double by 2030. And whoever controls the supply

China coronavirus: 60,000 Covid-related deaths in just over a month

China has reported 60,000 Covid-related deaths in just over a month, the first major death toll released since the country stopped its zero-Covid policy. China has been widely accused of underreporting coronavirus deaths, despite evidence of hospitals and crematoriums being overrun. According to officials, China recorded 59,938 Covid-related deaths between 8 December and 12 January. Most of those

Chinese flock to Hong Kong to get private Covid booster shots

Private services offering Chinese travellers access to mRNA vaccines are attracting droves of mainlanders to Hong Kong and Macau seeking a booster shot that their government has refused to approve. As part of its dismantling of the country’s zero-Covid policy last month, China’s government also lifted quarantine and other border restrictions. It prompted a wave of interest in overseas travel,

Chinese warned not to visit elderly relatives as Covid spreads from cities

People in China have been warned against travelling to visit their elderly relatives during the lunar new year holiday, as Covid spreads rapidly through cities and into regional and poorer areas. Prof Guo Jianwen, a member of the state council’s pandemic prevention team, urged people “don’t go home to visit them” if elderly relatives had not yet been infected. “You have all kinds of ways to show

China to take ‘golden shares’ in tech firms Alibaba and Tencent

China is to take “golden shares” in two of its biggest tech companies, Alibaba and Tencent, as Beijing extends its influence on the country’s star tech firms and its most powerful and wealthy business people. Beijing’s move marks a shift away from imposing hefty fines and sanctions in its two-year tech crackdown, which was launched after Alibaba founder, Jack Ma, criticised regulators,The

How COVID Misinformation Swamped Chinese Social Media

Last month, a self-identified “biologist with a Ph.D. from an American university” wrote on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo that he had tested positive for XBB — an offshoot of Omicron — just five days after a separate COVID-19 infection. The post, made as case counts were skyrocketing in China, was quickly reshared by well-known influencers, including Weibo CEO Wang Gaofei.The post tapped

In China, a Dark New Black Market Emerges: Fake COVID Medication

Chinese laboratories are raising the alarm over a new potential danger to public health amid a massive wave of COVID-19 infections: a growing trade in fake antiviral medication. China is experiencing a severe shortage of approved antivirals such as Paxlovid, manufactured by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, which has opened the door to a thriving black market for COVID medication in recent weeks.

The Forgotten Romantic Who Became Britain’s First Sinologist

When we think of great early Western scholars of Asia, Thomas Manning’s name does not come up in the same sentence as William Jones or Jean Francois Champollion. Yet Thomas Manning pursued fame with relentless self-confidence and energy. In the end, fame didn’t so much elude him as cease to interest him.As a young man, Manning set himself an especially challenging life goal, to become Britain’s

Ghana fishing: Abuse, corruption and death on Chinese vessels

When it comes to abuse and corruption on Chinese fishing vessels in Ghana, Bright Tsai Kweku has seen it all. He has seen Chinese crew treating local fishermen like "slaves", he says. "They beat them, they spit on them, they kick them," Mr Kweku says. "I have been through that before."Mr Kweku works as a bosun - an officer in charge of equipment and the crew. He says he has been forced to work