Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 361

China’s big challenge for 2022: Getting people to spend money

Sluggish consumer spending has dragged down China’s economy since the pandemic, with little relief in sight for 2022. Along with the property market, consumption is one of two areas economists are most concerned about in their China growth outlook. Consumer spending is also the sector that businesses and investors have bet on as they expect China’s middle class spending power to grow in coming

7 Out of 10 in Taiwan Would Fight China To Stop Forced Unification: Poll

Over 70 percent of respondents in a recent survey in Taiwan said they would fight China if it tried to force "unification" with the island. The poll, published by the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD) think tank on Wednesday, found 62.7 percent of respondents also would be willing to take up arms if a war broke out because of "Taiwan's declaring formal independence." Just over one-quarter

China Predicts 'More Intense' Struggle With Taiwan and U.S. in 2022

Chinese official predicted more tensions with Taiwan and "external forces" in 2022, warning Beijing could take "resolute measures" if its hand is forced. Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office in Beijing, told reporters in the year's final press conference on Wednesday that the state of relations across the Taiwan Strait would become "more complex and severe" in the new

Chinese Archaeology: Past, Present, and Future

On the morning of December 14, China’s State Administration of Cultural Heritage made a stunning announcement: Chinese archaeologists had identified the “Great Tomb of Jiangcun,” near modern-day Xi’an in the northwestern Shaanxi Province, as the resting place of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty (202 B.C. - A.D. 220) — one of the most renowned and popular ancient Chinese monarchs.The news capped a

How a Swedish Geologist Kickstarted China’s Love of Archaeology

In October 1921, the Swedish geologist, archaeologist, and scholar Johan Gunnar Andersson led a small expedition into rural Henan province in northern China. By this point in his career, the 47-year-old Andersson was a well-known figure in international academic circles, in part due to his earlier participation in two Antarctic expeditions. In 1914, China’s newly formed Beiyang Government hired

Can New Technology Solve China’s Oldest Mysteries?

Read through domestic media coverage of Chinese archaeology, and you may be struck by the emphasis put not just on unearthed relics, but the new technologies used to find and identify them. In the media blitz to publicize this year’s Sanxingdui excavations, for instance, television cameras lingered on high-tech, climate-controlled cabins, the “Mission Impossible”-style platforms that allowed

Hong Kong justice chief says foreign critics of journalist arrests are in violation of int’l law

Hong Kong Justice Secretary Teresa Cheng has said that criticism from foreign politicians and organisations over the arrest of figures connected to Stand News are “baseless” and “in blatant violation of international law.” On Wednesday, the arrests and raid on the offices of the now-defunct news outlet attracted condemnation from the United Nations, the European Union as well as other countries

Earth’s final frontier: China and the deep-sea gold rush set to cause environmental catastrophe

Scientists say that a highly controversial deep-sea “gold rush” risks potentially devastating consequences for marine ecosystems, biodiversity, coastal communities and climate change.The deep seabed is Earth’s final frontier but this mostly unexplored, dark and pristine abyss is threatened by highly destructive deep-sea mining which could be at full throttle within months. “Most, if not all

Illegal Chinese Care Home Swindles $125m From Local Seniors

Two people have been sentenced to life in prison after setting up an unregistered elder care facility in central China’s Hunan province and illegally raising over 800 million yuan ($125 million) from local families, Sixth Tone’s sister publication The Paper reported Friday.The pair registered a company named Loving Care in 2010 to build serviced apartment buildings for seniors in Changsha, the

China’s nationalistic cancel culture is out of control

Nationalism in China has been on the rise for the past few years, but in 2021, China’s social media became visibly more nationalist and uglier, progressively drowning out dissenting voices. Individuals embracing liberal and diverse values, Western brands deemed hostile against China and celebrities or tech companies accused of being unpatriotic fell victim one after another to fervent