Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 375

Why did China woo away Nicaragua from Taiwan?

Nicaragua’s decision to sever diplomatic links with Taiwan and recognize China leaves the self-governing island democracy with just 14 diplomatic allies. Most are small, largely poor nations in the Western Pacific, the Caribbean and Latin America, the one exception being the Vatican. At the same time, Taiwan enjoys robust unofficial ties with the United States and dozens of other countries.Yet,

China Wants to Rule the World by Controlling the Rules

To truly understand the contours of the growing competition between the United States and China, look beyond the corridors of power in Washington and Beijing, past the tensions in the waters and skies around Taiwan, away from the bellicose rhetoric at international forums, and even off the tennis court, the new front opened by the trauma of Peng Shuai. Instead, look to the courtroom.In the U.S.

Meth and heroin fuel Afghanistan drugs boom

Heaped in plastic bags in a small room in rural southern Afghanistan, the white crystals glisten. They are "export quality" methamphetamine, and will be trafficked to countries as far away as Australia. Once there, the 100kg (220lb) stored in this room will have a street value of around £2m ($2.6m). Outside, smoke billows from two barrels where new batches of meth are being cooked.Drugs are big

World's second tallest building tops out in Malaysia

World's he spire of a soaring 118-story skyscraper has topped out at over 2,227 feet above Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur. Set to become the world's second tallest building upon its completion next year, Merdeka 118 now stands higher than China's 2,073-foot Shanghai Tower and is dwarfed only by the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. At a ceremony marking the spire's completion on Tuesday, Malaysian Prime

Lithuania braces for China-led corporate boycott

China has told multinationals to sever ties with Lithuania or face being shut out of the Chinese market, a senior government official and an industry body told Reuters, dragging companies into a dispute between the Baltic state and Beijing. China downgraded its diplomatic ties with Lithuania last month, after the opening of a representative office by Taiwan in Vilnius. Lithuania's ruling

Europe Raises China-Lithuania Trade Dispute With WTO Chief

The European Union raised its concerns over a growing dispute between member state Lithuania and China to the World Trade Organization as efforts by the bloc to get information from Beijing have been rebuffed. The EU raised Lithuania’s claim that China has applied “unannounced sanctions” on its products with WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who discussed it with Chinese Premier Li

U.S. universities retain ties to Chinese universities that support Beijing’s military buildup, new report says

Dozens of U.S. universities maintain ties to Chinese universities that conduct defense research in support of Beijing’s military buildup, including work related to the country’s nuclear weapons program, according to a new report released Thursday. The partnerships are part of a broader effort by China to leverage its access to U.S. research institutions to acquire technology and knowledge that

China is now controlling the weather. What’s the environmental cost?

China artificially modified the weather in advance of a political celebration last July, a study by Tsinghua University reveals. The Chinese government used ‘cloud seeding’ to control rain and reduce pollution in Beijing, in preparation for its Communist Party centenary event. Gathering under unusually clear skies, tens of thousands of people attended the ceremony in Tiananmen Square.Reports by

How the West invited China to eat its lunch

There were two events in late 2001 that shook the axis of the world. The world was preoccupied with the immediate aftermath of 9/11. But exactly three months later, on 11 December, the World Trade Organization (WTO) was at the centre of an event that was to cast as strong a shadow over the 21st century, changing more people's lives and livelihoods around the world than the attacks on America.Yet

China joined rules-based trading system — then broke the rules

It’s been 20 years since China entered the global trade body, the World Trade Organization, a move that gave it access to the international trade system.Was it worth it? Some officials and lawmakers have regrets, arguing that China’s gains from WTO entry on Dec. 11, 2001, came at an unfair cost to the U.S. economy.Most U.S. lawmakers who paved the way for China’s accession to the WTO by agreeing