Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 292

n Locked-Down Shanghai, Students Adapt to a Surreal New Normal

For Xixi, life now revolves around the color-coded QR codes installed on her smartphone. People across China have grown used to showing a green “health code” to enter public buildings like malls and office buildings during the pandemic. But since the Shanghai lockdown began, some schools have taken the technology much further. Xixi, a sociology student at Shanghai University, now has to show a

China grapples with political challenges as Covid death toll mounts

For two years, China's Communist Party has enforced a costly regime of strict border quarantines, snap lockdowns, and mass digital tracking in the service of a single goal: Zero Covid cases. And Beijing points to the past successes of this strategy -- including only two reported Covid-related deaths for all of 2021 -- to burnish its claims of superiority over Western governments."No effort should

165 million people impacted by China's Covid lockdowns. Here's what you need to know

China has introduced lockdown measures in its two biggest cities, Beijing and Shanghai -- the twin engines that power much of the nation's economy -- in an uncompromising bid to stamp out Covid-19 outbreaks.Shanghai is at the center of the latest outbreak, reporting upwards of 10,000 new cases a day.Authorities have responded with a city-wide lockdown that has lasted weeks, confining nearly all

Australia’s foreign minister denounces China’s ‘secret’ security deal with Solomon Islands

Marise Payne has denounced the “secret” terms of China’s security deal with Solomon Islands, while insisting “no document signed and kept away from public view” would change Australia’s commitment to answering Pacific countries’ needs. The foreign affairs minister said the agreement was “not transparent” – unlike Australia’s existing security treaty with Solomon Islands – and was also being

Beijing halts weddings and funerals and closes schools in Covid fightback

Beijing has closed schools and suspended weddings and funerals in the city of 22 million in a whirlwind effort to avoid plunging China’s capital into a Shanghai-style Covid lockdown. Fears that Beijing could soon be in lockdown have already prompted widespread stockpiling, leading to shortages in some supermarkets. The city’s Education Bureau ordered all city schools to end classes from Friday

Climate crisis – not China – is biggest threat to Pacific, say former leaders

Growing military tensions in the Pacific between China, the US and Australia do not address the most significant security threat to the region – climate change – former leaders of Pacific nations have warned. In a statement on Friday, the Pacific Elders Voice group, which includes former leaders of the Marshall Islands, Palau, Kiribati and Tuvalu, as well as Dame Meg Taylor, the former secretary

Denial of bail is silencing Hong Kong's democrats

China's national security law imposed on Hong Kong nearly two years ago has completely changed the territory's political landscape. Free speech has been curtailed, civil society groups have closed down and only Beijing-approved candidates can stand in elections. The law has also upended several long-standing legal principles - with one of the most radical changes relating to bail.Previously,

Jixian Wang: The Chinese vlogger broadcasting the Ukraine war

Earlier this year Chinese programmer Jixian Wang moved to the Ukrainian port city of Odesa for work. Months later, Russia invaded the country.Video

Why India is buying more Russian oil

As calls continue for India to keep its distance from Moscow after the invasion of Ukraine, its oil purchases from Russia have more than doubled from last year. The Indian government has defended the move to buy Russian oil, and said what it buys from Russia in a month is less than what Europe buys from Russia in an afternoon.India has taken advantage of discounted prices to ramp up oil imports

How the Lockdown Is Remaking Shanghai Neighborhoods

Late last month, Shanghai entered a “phased lockdown” as it confronted the country’s worst-ever coronavirus outbreak. The lockdown, now in its third week, has brought the lives of the city’s 25 million residents to a grinding halt. Although some neighborhoods have begun allowing residents to go outside for up to an hour a day, for the most part, only essential workers such as doctors, delivery