Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 35

The paradox behind China’s military parade

When Beijing staged its largest military parade in a decade on Wednesday to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, the pageantry was carefully choreographed. DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missiles and J-20 stealth fighters in a flex of military confidence abroad and reassurance at home.Once reliant on Soviet imports and fragmented production, China has consolidated its

The real reason Modi went to China

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to China, to attend the SCO leaders’ summit in Tianjin, was by any measure a milestone. Modi’s first visit to China in seven years represented a long-awaited breakthrough in China-India relations and a snub to Washington, whose relations with Delhi have recently nosedived.Significantly, the Indian leader traveled to China to attend a

‘Natural allies’: wrong term for China, Russia, Iran, North Korea

Support of Russia’s war efforts through military technology supply by China, Iran and North Korea has understandably exacerbated Western fears of an emerging bloc. Cooperation among what experts label as “natural allies” to form a united front against the US-led international order has earned them the title “Axis of Upheaval.” And now China, Russia, Iran and North Korea even have an acronym:

Xi-Modi-Putin economic axis hardens as Trump tariffs backfire

Call it the axis of major economies that are moving on without the US.US officials wondering what effect President Donald Trump’s move to slap 50% tariffs on India might have need look no further than Prime Minister Modi’s travel schedule. This week, the Indian leader was in Beijing, standing shoulder to shoulder with China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.Modi’s first trip to the Chinese

Xi and Kim pledge deeper ties a day after unprecedented show of unity with Putin at Chinese military parade

Chinese leader Xi Jinping and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un have pledged to deepen strategic coordination in their first formal summit in six years, after they put on an unprecedented show of unity against the West alongside Russia’s Vladimir Putin at a massive military parade.Xi met Kim, who has sent troops to aid Russia’s war against Ukraine, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday

Trump seeks to rebrand the Department of Defense as the Department of War

President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order Friday to rebrand the Department of Defense as the Department of War, his latest effort to project an image of toughness for America’s military. The Republican president can’t formally change the name without legislation, which his administration would request from Congress. In the meantime, Trump will authorize the Pentagon to use “

How ‘Digital India’ is driving Big Tech investments into the country

When Rinchen Wangdi Bhutia in 2016 moved from the hilly northeastern Indian state of Sikkim to Kolkata, one of the country’s metro cities, he was just a face in a crowd. Bhutia quit his corporate life and started a cloud kitchen in 2023. A year later, he started posting short videos of his simple home-made meals. Strangers turned to followers and views into food orders. Success

OpenAI is going big in India — here’s everything the ChatGPT developer is up to

OpenAI is rapidly expanding its presence in India — one of the key markets for its flagship ChatGPT product. India is an appealing destination for U.S. tech giants, with companies ranging from Google to Meta betting on its huge — and young — population over recent years.OpenAI CEO Sam Altman visited the country in February this year and met with the country’s IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to

Philippines flexes middle power clout in China sea dispute

The Philippines joined Australia and Canada in a joint cooperative sail this week near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea that has been under Chinese control for over a decade. The drills marked a show of force by rising middle-power countries, which are increasingly willing to challenge Chinese power at sea in the Pacific.The two-day activities that culminated on Wednesday (September 3

Torbjørn Færøvik: A triumphant Kim Jong-un returns home to Pyongyang

North Korea’s Kim Jong-un was all smiles when he arrived in Beijing earlier this week. During his stay, he appeared even more pleased, and now he is laughing all the way back to Pyongyang – even if the train journey is both long and tiring. At the grand military parade on Wednesday, Kim stood shoulder to shoulder with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. Since then, images from the event have been