Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 355

Outcry as Hong Kong University memorial to Tiananmen Square victims is removed

Hong Kong’s oldest university has removed a statue mourning those killed in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989 and posted guards at the site where it has stood for more than 20 years. The move prompted criticism of the university and the Hong Kong authorities, with academics and experts saying the removal of the sculpture was an attempt at “rewriting history”.The 8-metre-tall (26ft) Pillar of

Sino-Thai High-Speed Rail Project Takes Another Step Forward

Earlier today, the Bangkok Post carried a short report about a meeting between Thai Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob and Han Zhiqiang, the recently appointed Chinese ambassador to Thailand. As per the report, the meeting involved discussions on possible Chinese support for a number of transport infrastructure projects, including the MR Map, a Thai connectivity initiative, and the Southern

China is the most willing to deploy the widest range of economic tools in response to a geopolitical conflict. What can the U.S. do?

A small nation in the Baltic with a GDP of $56 billion, Lithuania has provoked the ire of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) recently by allowing Taiwan to open a de facto embassy in the country. This, in addition to asking its officials to abandon Chinese-made cell phones over censorship allegations and its departure from a PRC-led regional forum, has touched on Beijing’s geopolitical redlines

Sara Hsu: China’s Long-Term Economic Direction

As geopolitical conflict between the United States and China continues to grow, some China watchers have called into question the country’s economic direction. It could be said that China’s economic trajectory is the least clear it has been in decades, as China moves from a period of rapid growth and reform to what it deems “high-quality” growth and development. Due to the strong guidance of Xi

Harvard professor guilty of hiding ties to Chinese programme

A Harvard University professor has been convicted of hiding ties to a China-run recruitment programme. Charles Lieber was found guilty of making false statements to authorities, filing false tax returns and failing to report a Chinese bank account. His sentencing date is yet to be decided. The 62-year-old was charged in 2020 as part of a US campaign to counter economic espionage from

Why China could win the new global arms race

China is building up its armed forces at a rapid pace. Its advances in missile technology, nuclear weapons and artificial intelligence have triggered serious concern among many Western observers, who believe a profound shift in the global balance of military power is under way.President Xi Jinping has ordered China's armed forces to modernise by 2035. They should, he says, become a "world-class"

2021 Notebook: China a huge 2021 story, with Olympics ahead

China was one of the biggest stories of 2021 — from its plans to host the 2022 Winter Olympics in the face of criticism about its human rights records in the Xinjiang region, Tibet and Hong Kong to questions about how it would wield its economic power in a delicately balanced world. Not to mention the always relevant issue of how it deals with the United States — this year, under a new president,

China Is Making Its Cities ‘Smarter.’ Can it Make Them Wiser?

The concept of a “smart” city — in which digital technologies like data are collected and used to improve urban planning and resident well-being — can be traced back to at least the 1970s, with the publication of the first urban big data project: “A Cluster Analysis of Los Angeles.”The idea was refined over the ensuing decades, as cities like Amsterdam experimented with “digital cities” and

Fox News Host Confronts Trump on Praise for China's Xi Jinping: 'He's a Killer

Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo confronted former President Donald Trump during an interview broadcast on Sunday morning after he praised China's President Xi Jinping—with the television host asserting that the powerful East Asian leader is "a killer."Bartiromo generally is seen as supportive of Trump, having promoted the former president's claims about the 2020 election. But during her most

Tennis Star Peng Shuai Denies She Made Sexual Assault Allegations: 'Many Misunderstandings'

Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai, whose well-being has been the subject of international concern for weeks, said Sunday that she never accused a former top government official of sexually assaulting her and that her previous social media post on the matter resulted in "many misunderstandings." Peng's latest statement comes a month after she first alleged she was sexually assaulted by former Chinese