Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 370

Women’s tennis leads lonely fight for human rights

If Thomas Bach or Adam Silver need some pointers on standing up for human rights instead of the bottom line, they should give a call to Steve Simon over at the women’s tennis tour. Finally, someone picked right over the almighty yuan.Treading courageously into territory that Bach’s International Olympic Committee and Silver’s NBA steadfastly avoided — not to mention other sports organizations and

China’s communists bash US democracy before Biden summit

China’s Communist Party took American democracy to task on Saturday, sharply criticizing a global democracy summit being hosted by President Joe Biden next week and extolling the virtues of its governing system. Party officials questioned how a polarized country that botched its response to COVID-19 could lecture others, and said that efforts to force others to copy the Western democratic model

Coming Soon: China’s First Navy Base In The Atlantic Ocean?

Would China Really Built a Naval Base in the Atlantic Ocean? A few months back General Stephen Townsend, commander of the U.S. Africa Command, told the Associated Press that China covets a major naval base in the Atlantic Ocean, presumably along the African west coast. (Portugal’s Azore Islands also come up from time to time as a potential Atlantic hub for Chinese vessels.) Chinese leaders are “

Blinken Says Any Move by China to Invade Taiwan Would Have 'Terrible Consequences'

Any move by China to invade Taiwan would have "terrible consequences," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday, adding that he hoped Chinese leaders would think very carefully about "not precipitating a crisis" across the Taiwan Strait.Blinken, speaking at the Reuters Next conference, said China had been trying to change the status quo over self-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing claims as

China is getting worried about Africa’s indebtedness to it

While China has consistently doubled or even tripled its financing pledges for Africa during previous Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) meetings, the stagnation of this sum at the last FOCAC summit, held in 2018, should have raised concerns.This year for the first time, the Asian giant has cut down investment pledges from $60 billion to $40 billion, at the recently concluded ministerial

China, US tussle over Biden’s ‘Summit for Democracy’

China and the United States are tussling over President Joe Biden’s upcoming democracy summit, which the ruling Communist Party sees as a challenge to its authoritarian ways. The party maintains China has its own form of democracy and plans to issue a report titled “China: Democracy that Works” on Saturday, five days before the opening of Biden’s two-day virtual meeting with about 110 other

US defense chief slams China’s drive for hypersonic weapons

America’s defense chief rebuked China on Thursday, vowing to confront its potential military threats in Asia and warning that its pursuit of hypersonic weapons intended to evade U.S. missile defenses “increases tensions in the region.”U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s stern comments after annual security talks with South Korea, a top U.S. ally, are a window into one of the Biden

Australia refuses to sign ‘truce’ for Beijing Olympics as it weighs up diplomatic boycott

Australia has joined 19 other countries in opting not to sign a truce with China ahead of next year’s Winter Olympics amid growing pressure for a diplomatic boycott of the event.The refusal to sign the Olympic Truce – a tradition that dates back to ancient Greece to ensure conflicts don’t disrupt the competition – was designed to send a message to Beijing over its human rights abuses in Xinjiang

U.S., EU Concerned by China's 'Problematic and Unilateral Actions' at Sea

The United States and European Union on Thursday voiced strong concern at China's "problematic and unilateral actions" in the South China Sea and stressed the need for close contact to manage "competition and systemic rivalry" with Beijing. The joint statement followed talks in Washington between U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and the Secretary General of the European External

Chinese submarine's alleged surprise show highlights risk of the unexpected at sea

The unexpected appearance of an alleged Chinese submarine in the Taiwan Strait this week has highlighted the dangers posed by the frequent presence of military vessels in the narrow waterway, which analysts warn could ultimately spark an unintended conflict. Writing on the Covert Shores blog Monday, submarine expert H.I. Sutton identified the vessel as a Chinese Type-94 nuclear-powered ballistic