Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 285

China Official Compares Taiwan to America's 'Concubine'

A Chinese government agency scrubbed a charged comment by an official spokesperson on Wednesday after he compared Taiwan's relationship with the United States to that of a mistress. Ma Xiaoguang, director of the information bureau at the Taiwan Affairs Office in Beijing, was responding to a March interview featuring Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, who said his country should be considerate

The China-Solomon Islands Security Deal Changes Everything

The controversial new security deal between the Solomon Islands and China has become a prism through which all other components of Pacific geopolitics, indeed the geopolitics of the greater Indo-Pacific, will now be refracted.A draft of the deal, leaked on social media on March 24, set off an immediate firestorm. A chorus of pleas came from domestic and international quarters alike, requesting

China’s Ukraine Response Is All About the US (Not Russia)

Beijing increasingly faces hard choices and high stakes as Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine is mired in miscalculations. Xi Jinping raised the stakes of China’s strategic cooperation with Russia with the characterization of relations with “no limits” at their February 4 meeting. China’s partnership with Russia, short of a formal alliance, serves Beijing’s long-term strategic priorities. China’s

Sri Lanka’s Oppressive Stability Starts to Crumble

On the evening of April 2, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared a weekend-long state of emergency on the island after protests erupted outside his Colombo residence. While Sri Lanka is no stranger to periods of state of emergency – the last was imposed as recently as 2018 due to anti-Muslim riots – this time was different.The protests surrounding Rajapaksa’s home followed weeks of

The Death of Hong Kong’s University Student Unions

Not long after the Pillar of Shame was dismantled on the University of Hong Kong campus and covered by bright yellow construction boards, there was another construction project underway not far away. A slogan, painted by the university’s student union on a paved road decades ago and also commemorating the Tiananmen Massacre, was covered with tar by workers, though the university insisted that it

Relatives of detained Uyghurs forced to work in Xinjiang factories

Hundreds of family members of detained Uyghur residents of a small community in northwestern China’s Xinjiang region have been forced to work in local government-run factories, a source with knowledge of the situation and a local police officer said. At least 100 residents from Sheyih Mehelle hamlet in Ghulja (in Chinese, Yining) county have been imprisoned by authorities, a security guard from

US human rights report cites China's violations in Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Tibet

China’s abuses targeting Uyghurs, Hongkongers and Tibetans are among some of the worst human rights violations around the world, the U.S. Department of State said Tuesday.“The Chinese government continues to commit genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang against predominantly Muslim Uyghurs among other minority groups, to erode fundamental freedoms and autonomy in Hong Kong, and to carry

Group-Buying’ Becomes a Lifeline for Hungry Shanghai Residents

In the hours before her building went into lockdown on April 1, Ye Qiwei did the same thing as millions of others in Shanghai: She placed a huge grocery order via a delivery app. The 33-year-old spent nearly 500 yuan ($80) on fruit, vegetables, and meat — far more than she’d need, she assumed, as the government said the lockdown would only last for four days. She was wrong. Over a week later, her

After Shanghai, Other Cities Brace for Potential Omicron Surge

As a highly transmissible Omicron sub-variant of the coronavirus rapidly spreads in Shanghai, other cities and provinces across China are potentially bracing for surges. The BA.2 sub-variant cluster has caused a record number of cases in the country’s financial hub, with Shanghai recording over 100,000 cases in the past week alone. The same variant also resulted in a spike of infections in the

Shanghai's chaotic Covid lockdown puts other Chinese cities on edge

As Shanghai's Covid-19 lockdown leaves residents struggling to access food or medical care, citizens elsewhere in China fear similar stringent measures are heading their way -- even as officials seek to assure the public they are well prepared. In the southern port city of Guangzhou, where all 18 million residents faced mandatory testing after a handful of infections were found last week,