Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 318

Beijing Olympics get political with Taiwan, Uyghur questions

For two weeks and more, China’s stance on questions about its politics and policies has been straightforward: It’s the Olympics, and we’re not talking about these things. That changed Thursday at the Beijing organizing committee’s last regularly scheduled daily news conference, three days before the end of the Games. The persistent and polite refusal to answer such questions gave way to the usual

The Rift Between the U.S. and China Is a Global Health Hazard

Athletes competing at the Winter Olympics in Beijing got first-hand experience of China's prowess in controlling COVID-19 outbreaks. Unlike the often vague and inconsistent public-health policies of the U.S., Beijing has perfected the art of the lockdown. Athletes were strictly cordoned off from the outside world, required to wear masks and submit to daily tests, and isolated in their rooms upon

With World's Eyes on Beijing, Here's How China Ranks Relations Across Globe

As athletes from across the international community gather to compete at the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, Newsweek has analyzed China's extensive network of partnerships with countries from around the world and the system with which the People's Republic ranks them.The list was compiled by parsing through online materials issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, as well as some state-run media

China's Militarized 'Fishing Fleets' Try to Wrest Control of Senkaku Islands from Japan

For more than a decade, China has sought to seize control of the Senkaku Islands by means of its "fishing fleets," the vast presence of which effectively endangers the livelihood of local Japanese fishermen. "The Chinese ships are armed," Hitoshi Nakama, an Okinawan councilor-turned-fisherman, told JAPAN Forward. "The patrol vessels have cannons mounted on the decks."Located in the East China Sea

China Corrupting U.S. Political Elites for Power – Author

The world's attention has once again turned to China this month as they host this year's Winter Olympics in Beijing. These Winter Games, dubbed by some as the 'Genocide Games', are much more than a major sporting event as they come shrouded in controversy and heightened political tensions.Over the past several decades China has been expanding its presence as a geopolitical powerhouse on the

China Accuses U.S. of Hyping Up Threat of Russia Invading Ukraine

China has accused the United States of exaggerating Russia's military buildup and creating instability in Ukraine's society and economy in the process. Russia reported the partial withdrawal of troops near Ukraine and also concluded war games in occupied Crimea on Wednesday. But in an address from the White House, President Joe Biden said more than 150,000 Russian troops still encircle

Eileen Gu: Navigating two cultures, judged by both of them

She is an exceptional athlete who has already won medals in the Beijing Olympics. But the fascination — some might say obsession — with Eileen Gu’s origin story has threatened to overshadow anything she does on the slopes. As the freestyle skier chases gold in the mountains northwest of Beijing, some competing narratives about her have taken hold, from California to China.Some have the San

After dip in Beijing, Olympians ask: What about Africa?

Victory, of sorts, for Eritrea’s sole Winter Olympian — one of just six athletes competing for African countries at the Games in China — was achieved even before his feat of surviving two runs in blizzard conditions down a hazardous course aptly named The Ice River. Before flying to China for his Olympic ski race in the mountains northwest of Beijing, Shannon-Ogbnai Abeda learned of a

This time, Tibet stands silent as Olympics return to China

As a speedskating team was winning China’s first Olympic gold medal of the Beijing Games, all seemed quiet in the villages that line the eastern edge of the Tibetan plateau. A bus flew past gold-roofed monasteries on freshly paved asphalt. Red-robed monks rode motorcycles over windswept plains under snow-capped mountains.It was a stark difference from 14 years ago, when China hosted its first

Fears of online censorship in Hong Kong as rights group website goes down

The website of a UK-based advocacy group appears to have become inaccessible through some networks in Hong Kong, raising fears of mainland-style internet censorship in the Chinese territory. The group, Hong Kong Watch, which monitors human rights, said it worried the censorship could be a part of a wider crackdown on freedom of speech under Hong Kong’s national security law, which allows the