Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 307

Pandemic Lessons From Shanghai’s Socialist Housing Projects

The recent COVID-19 outbreak in Shanghai has once again highlighted the pandemic’s disparate impact on society’s most vulnerable members. While younger upper- and middle-class Chinese have largely been able to adapt to life under lockdown, the elderly, the disabled, and other marginalized groups have found life unbearable.And then there is another largely invisible group: working-class and poor

China Praises Russia for Preventing Humanitarian Crisis in Ukraine

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi praised Russia for its efforts to "prevent a large-scale humanitarian crisis" in Ukraine, saying that the relationship between China and Russia "maintained the right direction of progress" amid the war in Eastern Europe. Wang met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Anhui province on Wednesday during Lavrov's first visit to the country since the invasion

Solomon Islands says security pact will not allow China to build military base

Solomon Islands has said it won’t allow China to build a military base as it seeks to counter international fears over its new security alliance with China. But that insistence will do little to ease concerns about the pact from the nation’s traditional partners that include New Zealand, Australia and the United States.The leader of Micronesia added his voice to those expressing trepidation by

Russia and India will find ways to trade despite sanctions, says Lavrov

The Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, has afforded Russia’s foreign minister the honour of a meeting as Sergei Lavrov praised India’s refusal to condemn the Ukraine invasion. Lavrov, who is visiting the country, predicted Moscow and Delhi would find ways to circumvent “illegal” western sanctions and continue to trade. Modi had not met the string of other foreign ministers to arrive in Delhi

China's WeChat suspends some accounts linked to NFTs

China's popular WeChat messaging app has suspended some accounts linked to non-fungible tokens (NFTs), to prevent speculation in the digital assets. The platform says it has "rectified" accounts which it found to be promoting NFT market speculation, that can help to drive up prices. There are no regulations against NFTs in China, although the trading of cryptocurrencies was banned last year. NFTs

China: Shanghai hospital struggles with Covid infections

Authorities in Shanghai are struggling to deal with a suspected wave of Covid infections at a large hospital for the elderly, in a sign of how serious the outbreak is in China's biggest city. Shanghai has not declared any new Covid deaths in the city since the outbreak of the latest wave of the virus. But the BBC has spoken to people working at the Donghai Elderly Care Hospital in the city's

Sri Lanka imposes state of emergency amid protests

A nationwide state of emergency has been declared in Sri Lanka, a day after protests outside the president's house turned violent. Protesters stormed barricades and have been accused of setting vehicles ablaze near President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's private residence on Thursday. The military has since been deployed and now has the power to arrest suspects without warrants.Sri Lanka is in the midst

China's economy hit by double whammy in March

Activity in Chinese manufacturing and services simultaneously contracted in March for the first time since the height of the country's Covid-19 outbreak in 2020, adding to the urgency for more policy intervention to stabilize the economy. The official manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 49.5 from 50.2 in February, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Thursday, while

Chinese Communist party expels former justice minister in latest purge

Beijing has expelled its high-profile former justice minister and deputy police chief from the ruling Communist party, denouncing him as being “extremely despicable” and accusing him of befriending “political frauds”. Fu Zhenghua – who had reportedly helped bring down China’s former security chief Zhou Yongkang a few years ago – has been removed from public office over serious violations of party

China: Panic buying in divided Shanghai under lockdown

Shanghai's Covid lockdown has left thousands scrambling to stock up on supplies, while others quarantine in their offices to keep business running. After weeks of isolated compound lockdowns, the city of 25 million has been split into two. Earlier this week those living in Shanghai's eastern half were told to stay home, with the western half due to enter a lockdown on Friday. The move comes as