Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 32

Spain treads a risky path by standing up to Trump on defense and China

Spain’s somewhat unique approach to defense and foreign policy is fueling tensions with the Trump administration. The Spanish government recently renounced U.S. aircraft purchases and resisted intense pressure to commit to NATO’s new 5% defense spending target, while seeking closer economic ties with China. Taken together, analysts say Spain has become a rare example of a European

US and China agree to critical extension, preventing tariff surge on the world’s two largest economies

The United States and China agreed to pause tariff hikes on each other’s goods for an additional 90 days, according to an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Monday. Without the agreement, tariffs were set to immediately surge, risking a return to ultra-high levels that had formed an effective blockade on trade between the world’s two largest economies.The news, first reported by

Trump wanted manufacturers to diversify away from China. Now many that heeded that call face stiff new tariffs

As US tariffs on China surged over the past decade, South and Southeast Asia became key destinations for foreign and Chinese companies to diversify their supply chains. But with US President Donald Trump’s protectionist swing going truly global in his second administration, these nations now find themselves caught in the crossfire – facing some of the highest tariffs in the world and a

How the world’s most valuable company got caught in the middle of Trump’s spat with China

Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company, has found itself caught in the middle of President Donald Trump’s historic trade war with China. The result: an extraordinary concession from a $4.5 trillion corporation that will give the United States a percentage of every high-end AI chip sold in China.The deal, which AMD also signed for some of its chips, could split the difference between two

Taipei in talks on US tariffs, stacking

Although an agreement has not been reached with Washington, lowering the tariff from 32 percent to 20 percent is still progress, the vice premier said.Taiwan would strive for a better US tariff rate in negotiations, with the goal being not just lowering the current 20-percent tariff rate, but also securing an exemption from tariff stacking, Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun said yesterday. Cheng made

Italy’s fast fashion hub becomes Chinese mafia battlefield

When Zhang Dayong lay in a pool of blood on a sidewalk in Rome after being shot six times, few suspected a link to Italy’s storied textile hub of Prato. But a “hanger war” is raging in the city near Florence — turning Europe’s largest apparel manufacturing center and a pillar of Made in Italy production into a battleground for warring Chinese mafia groups.The situation has become so urgent

China pressures Bangkok gallery to remove Uyghur, Tibetan, Hong Kong artwork

A Bangkok gallery is pressured — at China’s request — to remove and redact artwork about Beijing’s treatment of Uyghurs, Tibetans and Hong Kongers from an exhibit on authoritarian governments, according to a report by the Reuters news agency.Sai, co-founder of Myanmar Peace Museum, the organization that put together the exhibition, said the removed pieces included Tibetan and Uyghur flags and

Japan is selling top-of-the-line warships to another key US ally. What that means for the highly contested Pacific

Australia last week announced a $6.5 billion deal to buy advanced warships from Japan, a move that can go a long way to making Canberra a Pacific maritime power and Tokyo a major weapons exporter, analysts say.The Australian Defense Ministry said it will buy 11 of Japan’s Mogami-class frigates, stealthy, state-of-the-art surface combatants that analysts say are equal to – or in some repects

Chinese ‘overkill’ in dispute with Philippines damaged two Chinese ships. Why it could have been much worse

It’s hard to call the collision of two multi-thousand-ton military ships “fortunate,” but that’s exactly what analysts are saying about the incident in the South China Sea this week that left a China Coast Guard ship with a heavily damaged bow after it hit a People’s Liberation Army Navy guided-missile destroyer.Dramatic footage released by the Philippine Coast Guard showed the moment the

China’s Private Colleges Ease Entry, Still Struggle for Students

Private universities across China are this year slashing admission scores in hopes of filling seats, as high tuition costs and dim job prospects have made students, and their parents, question the value of a private university education.In late July, many private universities — including some schools located in the southern Guangdong province and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the central