Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 373

Leaked papers link Xinjiang crackdown with China leadership

Excerpts from previously unpublished documents directly linking China’s crackdown on Uyghur Muslims and other minorities in Xinjiang province to speeches by the Chinese leadership in 2014 have been put online. The documents – including three speeches by Chinese president Xi Jinping in April 2014 – cover security, population control and the need to punish the Uyghur population. Some are marked top

Elliot Abrams: The Uighurs and the Question of Muslim Solidarity

Twenty-five years ago, American Christians showed extraordinary solidarity with Christians half a world away and with whom they had nothing in common except their faith. As one studyput it, “In the 1990s and early 2000s, the civil war in Sudan and the fate of Christians there became the abiding international preoccupation of US evangelicals."Similarly, one can recall the decades of efforts by

Tropical cyclones in Asia could have double the destructive power by the end of century, study finds

Tropical cyclones in Asia could have double the destructive power by the end of the century, according to new research, as scientists say the human-made climate crisis is already making them stronger. Using data from nearly four decades from 1979 to 2016, researchers found that the destructive power of tropical cyclones had dramatically increased, with stronger landfalling cyclones lasting longer

North Korean defector recaptured in China after more than 40 days on the run

A North Korean defector who escaped from prison in northeast China has been recaptured by authorities, after more than 40 days on the run in the biting winter cold. The 39-year-old, identified by Chinese authorities as Zhu Xianjian, was just two years short of completing his sentence, when he staged an escape that went viral, state media reported.Court documents detail that Zhu was a North Korean

Some fear China could win from US spat with Marshall Islands

For decades, the tiny Marshall Islands has been a stalwart American ally. Its location in the middle of the Pacific Ocean has made it a key strategic outpost for the U.S. military. But that loyalty is being tested amid a dispute with Washington over the terms of its “Compact of Free Association” agreement, which expires soon. The U.S. is refusing to engage the Marshallese on claims for

Japan PM vows to step up defense amid China, NK threats

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, at his first troop review Saturday, renewed his pledge to consider “all options,” including acquiring enemy base strike capability, and vowed to create a stronger Self-Defense Force to protect the country amid growing threats from China and North Korea.Kishida said the security situation around Japan is rapidly changing and that “the reality is severer than

Baltic lawmakers meet Taiwan’s Tsai, stepping up cooperation

Lawmakers from all three Baltic states met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Monday in a sign of further cooperation between European Union nations and Taiwan. It is the first joint visit to Taiwan by members of parliament from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, Tsai said. She welcomed the lawmakers, who are attending the 2021 Open Parliament Forum, hosted by Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign

Taiwan, Europe must defend democracy together, president says

Taiwan and Europe must work together to defend against authoritarianism and disinformation, President Tsai Ing-wen told visiting lawmakers from the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia on Monday. Lithuania has faced sustained pressure from China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, since allowing the opening of a de facto Taiwanese embassy in its capital.Beijing has ramped up

Timothy McLaughlin: Beijing Keeps Trying to Rewrite History

Under the relentless crush of Beijing, the courtrooms of Hong Kong have become some of the few venues safe for protest in the city. Defendants accused or convicted of political crimes have turned otherwise banal hearings and bail applications into opportunities to voice dissent and challenge the arduous legal process.In mid-November Lee Cheuk-yan, a veteran prodemocracy figure, used his

Mysterious Vanishing of Advanced Chinese Civilization 4,000 Years Ago Finally Solved

About 5,300 years ago, an ancient civilization emerged in the east of China, building a brilliant city the likes of which had perhaps never been seen before in all of Asia – nor possibly even the whole world. The surviving traces of the Liangzhu culture, which rose up along the banks of the Yangtze River Delta in China's east, are a testament to what this unique Neolithic society was capable of