Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 303

Xi Jinping: China and the Philippines have "properly" handled the South China Sea issue

Seeking to put a positive spin on a relationship that never quite produced the hoped-for benefits, Chinese leader Xi Jinping told outgoing Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday that the two nations have “properly” handled the sensitive issue of the disputed South China Sea. Xi made his remarks in a phone conversation with Duterte, who nurtured closer ties with Beijing after taking office

John Lee: the hardline security official leading race to become Hong Kong chief

John Lee, a career police officer turned hardline security official, is running unopposed to take over the top job in Hong Kong’s elections next month. As the sole candidate with Beijing’s blessing, he is all but guaranteed to become the next chief executive, according to local media reports.Lee announced his intention to run after stepping down on Wednesday from his post as chief secretary, the

Kevin Rudd: How to stop China and the US going to war

As images of destruction and death emerge from Ukraine, and refugees flee the country in their millions, the world’s attention is rightly focused on the horror of what many once thought an impossibility in the 21st century: a large-scale modern war in Europe. In this grim moment, however, it is all the more important to think through and coldly reassess the dangers presented by other potential

Bangalore: How polarisation is dividing India's Silicon Valley

Last week one of India's richest women tweeted an unusual appeal to ruling politicians. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, who heads Biocon, a leading biotechnology firm, urged the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in Karnataka to "resolve the growing religious divide" in the southern state of 64 million people. Shah's enterprise is based in Karnataka's capital, Bangalore, India's booming info-tech hub.Her

Shanghai: Residents 'running out of food' in Covid lockdown

Some residents under lockdown in Shanghai say they are running out of food, amid the city's biggest-ever Covid outbreak. Residents are confined to their homes, banned from leaving for even essential reasons such as grocery shopping. Nearly 20,000 cases were reported on Thursday in China's biggest city - another near-record high. Officials have admitted the city is facing "difficulties" but say

Lockdowns in Shanghai and other Chinese cities pose a growing threat to the economy

China's unwavering commitment to stamping out Covid by locking down big cities such as Shanghai threatens to deal a hefty shock to its vast economy, place more strain on global supply chains and further fuel inflation.Shanghai — home to China's leading financial center and some of its largest sea and airports — has been under lockdown for 12 days, and there's no sign of it ending. Small

Shanghai Adjusts COVID-19 Policy Separating Children and Parents

Shanghai is allowing healthy family members of children infected with the coronavirus to stay together at the city’s centralized quarantine locations, relaxing a policy that previously separated minors from their families, local media reported Tuesday.The policy has been implemented at a “shelter hospital” — or fangcang — in the city’s Pudong New Area that can house nearly 15,000 patients with

Chinese stocks on Wall Street aren't in the clear yet

Investors are breathing a sigh of relief after regulators in Beijing extended an olive branch to the United States, indicating they could change their policies so that Chinese companies could avoid getting kicked off Wall Street. What's happening: Shares of tech giant Alibaba (BABA) in New York rallied almost 7% on Monday. E-commerce platforms Pinduoduo (PDD) and JD.com (JD) leaped 16% and 7%,

In Thailand, the war in Ukraine divides the generations

In March, as the devastating war in Ukraine raged, Russian diplomats in Bangkok sat down for a meeting with the leadership of Thailand’s military-owned TV station. They had met, a statement by TV Channel 5 said, to discuss ways to enhance “cooperation in exchanging news and information”. Russian officials were ready to support efforts to tackle fake news, and to verify information. A week later,

Watching a film about communism, I realised I had been lied to as a child in China

I was born in north-east China in a province that was particularly heavy-handed with party propaganda. I learned to march in formation before knowing how to write, and maybe even count. Every morning at school started with a flag ceremony and obligatory salutes to Mao Zedong. Textbooks were illustrated with watercolour Lenins and Stalins, drawn to look much more handsome than they actually were.