Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 353

Biden signs bill banning goods from China's Xinjiang over forced labor

 President Joe Biden on Thursday signed into law legislation that bans imports from China's Xinjiang region over concerns about forced labor, the White House said, provoking an angry Chinese condemnation. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act is part of the US pushback against Beijing's treatment of China's Uyghur Muslim minority, which Washington has labeled genocide.The bill passed Congress

Cyprus: The Next Stop of China’s Belt and Road Initiative

In November 2021, China and Cyprus formally announced their strategic partnership on the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic ties, which is of milestone significance to bilateral relations. The two heads of state decided to upgrade the China-Cyprus relationship to a strategic partnership during a phone conversation. During the call, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said that “the two countries firmly

South Korea pardons disgraced former President Park Geun-hye

The South Korean government has pardoned former President Park Geun-hye, who was serving 22 years in prison for corruption, the country's Justice Ministry said on Friday. Park Kyung-mi, a spokesperson for the Blue House -- South Korea's presidential office -- said President Moon Jae-in considered former President Park's worsening health condition when deciding to grant a special pardon.In 2017,

Afghanistan's first president wants the world to work with the Taliban

Former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai believes it is now time for the international community to work with the Taliban to prevent millions of people from starving to death. In an exclusive interview with CNN's Becky Anderson, Karzai said the international community needs to prioritize getting much needed aid to Afghans and, for now, put its mistrust of the Taliban aside. "The reality on the

The Solomon Islands Crisis Shows America Needs a New Pacific Strategy

The recent eruption of civil unrest in the Solomon Islands has prompted extensive commentary in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand seeking to understand the causes of the violence. While some of this commentary has captured the myriad issues generating dissatisfaction with the government of Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, including discontent with his 2019 switch of diplomatic

Explainer: Why did Beijing remove a Tiananmen memorial?

It happened in the dead of night. Workers at the University of Hong Kong put up barriers that largely blocked their activity from view and, over the next several hours, took down the towering “Pillar of Shame” and carted it away early Thursday in a container truck.The 8-meter (26-foot) -tall sculpture, which was taken away in parts, remembered the victims of China’s 1989 crackdown on

What is happening in Xinjiang as 2021 draws to a close?

Darren Byler is an anthropologist and professor at Simon Fraser University who first visited Xinjiang in 2003. Traditional Uyghur cultural practices was his main area of interest back then, but he has since become a reluctant expert on China’s oppressive surveillance and internment policies that have transformed a region.Byler writes a regular column for SupChina, and is the author of a new book

China's economic growth will slow sharply in 2022, World Bank says

The World Bank has cut its forecasts for China's economic growth this year and next, as the world's second largest economy faces mounting headwinds from the new Omicron variant to a severe property sector downturn. The bank now expects China's GDP to expand 8% in 2021 compared with a year ago — that's lower than its previous forecasts. (In October, the World Bank expected China to grow 8.1% this

Intel faces backlash in China after banning products and labour from Xinjiang

Intel, the US computer chip maker, is facing a backlash from China after telling its suppliers not to source products or labour from the region of Xinjiang. Intel said it had been “required to ensure that its supply chain does not use any labour or source goods or services” from Xinjiang in accordance with restrictions imposed by “multiple governments”. The United States has accused China of

China locks down 13 million people in Xi’an after detecting 127 Covid cases

Up to 13 million people have been placed into lockdown in the city of Xi’an in China, as authorities move to clamp down on the community spread of Covid-19 after 127 infections were found in a second round of mass testing. The snap lockdown on Thursday comes little over a month before Beijing is set to host the Winter Olympics. All residents in Xi’an are barred from leaving their houses except to