Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 269

Jack Ma to give up control of fintech giant Ant Group

The billionaire founder of Ant Group, Jack Ma, is to give up control of the Chinese fintech giant after a regulatory crackdown. Ant Group said that after the change no-one would have overall control. The formerly flamboyant Mr Ma has seldom been seen in public since criticising China's financial sector in 2020. Following that criticism, Ant Group's planned stock market flotation was abruptly

Sri Lanka's central bank urges China and India to reduce its debts

Sri Lanka's central bank has urged China and India to agree a write-down of their loans as soon as possible. The crisis-hit Indian Ocean state defaulted on its debt repayments and negotiated a $2.9bn (£2.4bn) bailout. But the International Monetary Fund will not release the cash until China and India first agree to reduce Sri Lanka's billions of dollars of debt.The governor of Sri Lanka's central

Attack from space would trigger collective defence, say US and Japan, amid China fears

The US and Japan have said that an attack in space would trigger their security treaty, as senior officials from both countries warned that Chinarepresents the “greatest strategic challenge” to regional security. “We agree that [China] is the greatest shared strategic challenge that we, our allies and partners face,” the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said on Thursday after meeting his

Nobel panel knew Kissinger Vietnam deal unlikely to bring peace, files show

The 1973 Nobel peace prize to top US diplomat Henry Kissinger and North Vietnam’s Le Duc Tho, among the most disputed in the award’s history, was given in the full knowledge the Vietnam war was unlikely to end any time soon, newly released papers show. Nominations to the Peace prize remain secret for 50 years. On 1 January, documents about the prize awarded to Kissinger and Hanoi’s chief

Zhao Lijian: China reassigns combative ‘Wolf Warrior’ diplomat

A controversial Chinese diplomat who epitomised China's "Wolf Warrior" approach to diplomacy has been moved to a less prominent post. Ex-foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian is now deputy head of the Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs. He will help manage China's maritime and land boundaries. It is unclear when he took up his new role.A high profile figure, Mr Zhao often hosted the

Satellite images capture crowding at China’s crematoriums and funeral homes as Covid surge continues

Satellite images taken over a number of Chinese cities have captured crowding at crematoriums and funeral homes, as the country continues its battle with an unprecedented wave of Covid-19 infections following its dismantling of severe pandemic restrictions.The images – taken by Maxar in late December and early January and reviewed by CNN – show a funeral home on the outskirts of Beijing, which

‘History might repeat itself’: Chinese ambassador warns Australia to be wary of Japan

China’s ambassador to Australia says Canberra should be wary of its relationship with Japan, reminding them that Japanese troops attacked Australia during World War II and could do the same again. “If we forget history, history might repeat itself,” said Xiao Qian, Beijing’s envoy to Australia, in a rare news conference Tuesday at the Chinese Embassy in Canberra. “During the Second World War,

XI MAINTAINS CLOSE TIES WITH RUSSIA AS WAR IN UKRAINE ENTERS A NEW YEAR

As Russia’s war against Ukraine spills into 2023, China continues its policy of “pro-Russian neutrality”—a balancing act that affords China enough diplomatic and economic cover to tacitly support Russian aggression, but not so much as to incur Western sanctions. At the turn of the new year, analysts took stock of the evolving dynamic between the two countries. Despite China and Russia’s divergent

LI WENLIANG’S WAILING WALL, NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2022: “ZERO-COVID IS OVER, BUT I’M AFRAID TO GO OUT.”

Nearly three years after whistleblower Dr. Li Wenliang’s death from COVID-19, the “Wailing Wall” that emerged in the comments section under his last Weibo post continues to serve as a repository for the hopes, dreams, worries, and opinions of countless Chinese citizens. CDT editors regularly collect and archive Wailing Wall content, including the selection of comments translated below.In November

Anjali Singh: The woman who was dragged to death in Delhi's hit-and-run case

Family members of Anjali Singh, the 20-year-old whose death in a horrific hit-and-run case has sparked protests in India, remember her as a cheerful person who loved making Instagram Reels and playing with children. BBC Hindi's Dilnawaz Pasha pieces together a portrait of the woman whose dreams came to a violent end on a cold winter night.On her now-deactivated Instagram profile, Anjali uploaded