Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 370

China is pressuring Germany over Lithuania diplomatic spat

China is pressuring German car parts giant Continental (CONG.DE) to stop using components made in Lithuania, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters, amid a dispute between Beijing and the Baltic state over the status of Taiwan. The targeting of Continental is an example of how the China-Lithuania diplomatic spat is spilling over into business in an era of global supply chains and

Chinese Workers Are Saying Enough Is Enough, and Xi Is Not Amused

The so-called great resignation that’s confounding businesses in the West has a counterpart in a most unlikely place: China. On this week’s Stephanomics podcast, we offer a double dose of China’s “lie flat” movement, which is challenging the nation’s historic industriousness, as well as a glimpse into how America’s massive pandemic bailout juiced spending, especially among historically

Amazon Killed One Of Its Most Popular Features Because China’s Communist Party Demanded It

Amazon stopped offering customer ratings and reviews of books sold in China at the request of the Chinese Communist Party, according to a Reuters investigation. The Chinese government ordered Amazon to stop allowing customers to review books following less-than-perfect ratings of a collection of President Xi Jinping’s writings, Reuters reported, citing two people familiar with the matter. Amazon

The war over Chinese Wikipedia is a warning for the open internet

This past July, before he was banned from Wikipedia, Techyan was one of dozens of volunteers preparing to speak at the free-knowledge movement’s annual conference, Wikimania. Born in China’s northeast, Techyan, as he’s known in the Wikipedia community, had been editing Chinese Wikipedia since his early teens. As one of its three dozen elected administrators, he hoped his presentation would put a

Russia and China are pushing the US toward some hard choices on Ukraine and Taiwan

Russia's ongoing military buildup along its border with Ukraine has cast into sharp relief the debate about how the United States, and its allies, can most effectively ensure security in the no man's land lying beyond NATO's eastern perimeter. Meanwhile, China's mounting campaign of military pressure and intimidation against Taiwan is leading some observers to question the strength of US

Opinion: In China, Wang Huning is the man to see

Pray for Wang Huning. Wang is almost certainly the most dangerous man in the world that most folks have never heard of. He is member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party but is best understood to be the big thinker in President Xi Jinping’s inner circle. Wang is in charge of writing the future of the People’s Republic of China, and he can likely enforce that vision

China’s trade attack on Lithuania exposes EU’s powerlessness

The EU has no good cards to play as China rapidly ups the ante in its economic hit job against Lithuania. As Lithuania sought to deepen diplomatic ties with Taiwan over recent months, Beijing has moved to make an example of Vilnius by flexing its massive trade muscle and stopping imports of Lithuanian goods. Business organizations told POLITICO that China's embargo is now hitting manufactured

Lithuania to ask European leaders for help against China after diplomats pull out

Lithuania is to ask European leaders for help against Chinese pressure after the Vilnius delegation and its dependents left China in a hasty departure and amid denials from Beijing there were concerns for Lithuanian diplomats’ safety. China downgraded its diplomatic ties with Lithuania last month after the opening of a representative office by Taiwan in Vilnius under its own name.Lithuania’s

Why China Continues to Rise

In just four decades, China’s economy has achieved an unprecedented level of wealth and development, and, until recently, its upward trajectory of economic growth and prosperity seemed set to continue. But as political pressures and the coronavirus push many countries – particularly the United States – to embrace more nationalist policies, the heyday of globalization soon could be replaced by a

Rollercoasters, horses and weight loss: 10 years of Kim Jong-un image politics

Three generations of the Kim family have ruled North Korea with absolute authority since 1948, and analysts say the regime has used carefully crafted images to ensure their power. Outsiders regard Kim as a ruthless tyrant with an undying obsession about developing the country’s nuclear weapons, even at the cost of starving the population. But North Korea’s tightly-controlled state media shows