Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 30

China’s gallium grip squeezing and eroding US military’s edge

China’s chokehold on gallium is quietly rewriting the rules of the arms race, leaving the US scrambling to keep its military electronics—and its edge—switched on. While the US remains the world leader in overall defense spending and innovation, China’s grip on gallium highlights how supply chain bottlenecks can offset traditional advantages.This month, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported

Kim has long sought recognition as a nuclear power. Xi may have just given it to him

Of the more than two dozen foreign leaders invited to Xi Jinping’s massive military parade in Beijing last week, no one reaped a bigger diplomatic windfall than Kim Jong Un.The reclusive North Korean leader seized the global spotlight with a high-profile debut in multilateral diplomacy, standing shoulder to shoulder with Xi and Russia’s Vladimir Putin in a defiant demonstration to the West that

China’s consumer prices fall more than expected in August as deflation woes persist

China’s consumer prices fell more than expected in August while deflation in wholesale prices persisted, as calls mounted for Beijing to ramp up measures to bolster sluggish domestic demand and cushion weakening exports growth. The consumer price index dipped 0.4% last month from a year earlier, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics released Wednesday, compared with

Trump presses European Union to impose 100% tariffs on India and China to pressure Putin

U.S. President Donald Trump has asked the European Union to hit China and India with tariffs of up to 100% over the countries’ Russia oil purchases, in a move aimed at turning up the heat on Moscow to end the war in Ukraine.The proposal, first reported by the Financial Times, was confirmed to CNBC’s Megan Cassella by two sources familiar with the matter. Trump made the request when he was

CENSORSHIP SMOTHERS CRITICISM OF MILITARY PARADE

A host of measures intended to stifle dissent allowed Beijing’s military parade last week to take place without any major disruptions. The following is a summary of some of these examples of censorship and control.Some of these measures were implemented before the parade began. A recent censorship directive, leaked online and later translated by CDT, advised cyber-regulators to remain vigilant

TWO MAJOR LEAKS ILLUMINATE CENSORSHIP AND SURVEILLANCE SALES INTO AND FROM CHINA

New reporting on two large collections of leaked documents sheds light on the trade of surveillance and censorship technology into and out of China. One, by Dake Kang and Yael Grauer for the Associated Press, builds on an initial collection of thousands of documents leaked from Chinese surveillance company Landasoft to demonstrate how "partnership between American firms and the Chinese police

The Chinese government’s external-propaganda efforts are receiving a boost from AI

The Chinese government’s external-propaganda efforts are receiving a boost from AI. A report published by Graphika last month analyzed what it described as a China-based network of domains and social media accounts using AI tools to “launder” Chinese state-media content and disseminate it in different languages. Here are the report’s key findings.Read more

China Drills for Oil in Rival's Economic Waters

Chinese oil rigs in waters claimed by Taiwan have stirred controversy in recent days, drawing a sharp protest from Taipei, with some analysts saying the structures are part of a strategy to normalize encroachment. First reported by The Guardian, the structures are situated in Taiwan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Under the United NationsConvention on the Law of the Sea, an EEZ extends 200

Where Asians want to travel in Asia in 2025

Bali. Bangkok. The Maldives.These destinations often top “bucket lists” for global travelers, but not for Asian travelers, search data from Booking.com this year showed. The data, which analyzes searches from Jan. 1 to June 30, showed Asian travel interest varies by country. However, one country ranked high in 70% of the analyzed territories: Japan.  While most Asians searched for

Torbjørn Færøvik: India Between the Dragon and the Donald

Both leaders were in a jovial mood. “Let the dragon and the elephant dance together,” China’s Xi Jinping told India’s Narendra Modi last week. The Indian prime minister had traveled to Tianjin, a city near Beijing, to attend a summit convened by Xi. Leaders from 25 other countries also joined the discussions under the umbrella of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a loose grouping of