Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 315

Amid Ukraine Crisis, Japan Toughens Stance on Russia

Japan has announced economic sanctions against Russia in response to President Vladimir Putin’s decision to recognize the independence of – and deploy Russian troops to – two separatist-held areas in eastern Ukraine. On Wednesday Prime Minister Kishida Fumio condemned Russia’s actions as a breach of Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and international law.In recent days Japan has

Voices From China: What the CCP Doesn’t Want You to Hear

It is easy for people around the world to fall under the impression that China speaks with one authoritarian voice. The content promoted by state media to foreign and domestic audiences is dominated by glowing coverage of Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and the Chinese internet is fraught with xenophobic chatter and bullying by nationalistic netizens. But this impression is

China and Russia Want to Rule the Global Internet

As the Winter Olympics kicked off in Beijing, the Chinese and Russian presidents, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, stood in unity to offer mutual support and to challenge the dominance of the U.S. and Europe. There is more at stake in their renewed close partnership than NATO expansion and the crisis in Ukraine, or the supply of natural gas to China from Russia.The joint statement that the two

Xuzhou’s Chained Woman Highlights China’s Human Trafficking Problem

Senior officials in the Chinese city of Xuzhou found themselves in deep trouble after the Lunar New Year holidays, when a series of videos went viral on Chinese social media platforms showing a woman imprisoned by chains in an open air hut in the city’s rural area. Originally posted on social media to promote a man with eight children, these videos later triggered anger across China as more

Opinion: The world is awake to China’s and Russia’s malign ambitions

If Putin topples the freely elected government of Ukraine, that government will go into exile and should, like the governments of the nations toppled by the Nazis, be recognized by the West as the legitimate government of that country for as long as it takes to return. Former national security adviser Robert C. O’Brien has been making this argument for weeks, and it’s starting to get traction.

China Bans Online Criticism Of Russia, Blames US For Ukraine ‘Tensions’

Internet censors in China have ordered news outlets and social media accounts to avoid posting anything critical of Russia or favorable to NATO, after Russia began moving troops across the border into Ukraine, prompting a flurry of international sanctions against the country’s leaders. “With immediate effect, regarding all Weibo posts about Ukraine: Horizon News to post first [on this topic], to

Putin puts China in a bind

On the one hand, the Chinese are happy to issue vague pro-Kremlin statements, slamming NATO and Washington, while grumbling about Western aggression and the dangers of new Cold War faultlines. But the fundamental geopolitical dynamics underlying Putin’s invasion of Ukraine are anathema to sovereignty-obsessed Beijing. The idea that a minority area or ethnic group could simply claim independence

Putin’s Aggression Against Ukraine Deals a Blow to China’s Hopes for Taiwan

On June 25, 1950, with Joseph Stalin’s backing, North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung sent troops across the thirty-eighth parallel, hoping to unify the Korean Peninsula by force. China’s leader, Mao Zedong, lent his support to the effort, but soon found that doing so put Taiwan out of his reach. While the United States had essentially washed its hands of the nationalists one year prior, President

‘China Initiative’: US rebadges Trump-era scheme seen as persecuting Chinese academics

The US justice department is scrapping the name of a Trump-era initiative that was intended to crack down on economic espionage by China but has been criticised as unfairly targeting Chinese professors at American colleges because of their ethnicity. The decision to abandon the “China Initiative” and to impose a higher bar for prosecution of professors was announced on Wednesday by the

Why China Will Not Support a Russian Invasion of Ukraine

China has maintained friendly relations both with Russia and Ukraine for a long time, which is a basic and balanced policy. During the Ukraine crisis, China never criticized Ukraine, only condemned the U.S. and NATO. Ukraine is well aware of it.2022 marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Ukraine. President Xi Jinping of China and President