Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 378

Hong Kong: Jimmy Lai convicted for taking part in Tiananmen vigil

Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai, along with two other prominent activists, has been found guilty for taking part in a vigil to mark the Tiananmen massacre. Lai, Gwyneth Ho and Chow Hang Tung were convicted for inciting and taking part in an unlawful assembly. They were among thousands who defied a ban and took part in a vigil last June commemorating the 1989 crackdown at Beijing's Tiananmen

China in Pakistan: Gwadar Protests Highlight CPEC’s Achilles’ Heel

Following the announcement of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in 2015, Gwadar has been showcased in Pakistan’s mainstream media as the gateway to a new era of Chinese investments meant to change the fate of both Pakistan and the region as a whole. As a result, Gwadar, a small dusty port town on the coastline of the Arabian Sea in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, has come

Torbjørn Færøvik: Store Kina og «fluen» Litauen

Litauen gjenvant sin selvstendighet i 1990 og opprettet diplomatiske forbindelser med Kina året etter. Forholdet lot til å være godt inntil Litauen tidligere i år trakk seg ut av et samarbeidsforum mellom Kina og 17 europeiske land. Initiativet til forumet, kjent som «17+1-gruppen», ble tatt av Kina. Regjeringen i Vilnius likte ikke de kinesiske representantenes bydende tone og følte at de var

CHINA TARGETS LITHUANIA WITH EXPORT BAN TO SET EXAMPLE FOR OTHER COUNTRIES

THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT has hit back against Lithuania from strengthening ties with Taiwan through the unprecedented move of blocking all exports from Lithuania to China. Reportedly, China has delisted Lithuania as a country of origin, as a result of which Lithuanian goods cannot clear customs. Six Lithuanian lawmakers, including from the Lithuanian parliament’s Taiwan Friendship Group, recently

It's time Apple says no to China, even if it means more expensive iPhones

Dealing with China has never been easy as a nation or company. In the case of Apple, it has mainly meant ignoring the communist nation's human rights abuses. In exchange, the company has been able to tap into a cheap labor force and gain access to what will soon become the world's largest consumer market.Apple's entrenchment in the world's most populated nation has long been well documented.

Chinese couple reunited with abducted son after 14-year search that inspired a hit movie

A couple in southern China were reunited with their missing teenage son in an emotional ceremony on Monday, ending their 14-year-search which inspired a hit movie. Sun Zhuo, 18, was abducted in the city of Shenzhen in 2007 at age 4, but his parents never gave up hope they would see him again. His father, Sun Haiyang, and mother, Peng Siying, sold properties to fund their search, and offered a

China claims its authoritarian one-party system is a democracy -- and one that works better than the US

As some 100 countries prepare to convene virtually for US President Joe Biden's Summit for Democracy, China is busy trying to convince the world that it's also a democracy -- and its version is superior to the United States. Beijing, which was not invited to the virtual gathering on Thursday and Friday, has reacted with scorn and derision, denouncing the summit as an "exercise in hypocrisy" to

What the data tells us about love and marriage in India

What do Indians think of love and marriage? Journalist Rukmini S draws on data to piece together a picture of the socio-political realities that underpin marriage and companionship in the country. When 22-year-old Nitin Kamble gets on an overnight bus twice a month from Mumbai, where he works, to a village in Maharashtra state where his family lives, he imagines himself packing two bags: one to

An unprecedented RSF investigation: The Great Leap Backwards of Journalism in China

Two years after China's Pursuit of a New World Media Order, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) publishes The Great Leap Backwards of Journalism in China, a report revealing the extent of the regime's campaign of repression against the right to information.Published a year before the Chinese Communist Party's 20th National Congress, which will take place at the end of December 2022, The Great Leap

China is biggest captor of journalists, says report

A new report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says China is "the world's biggest captor of journalists" with at least 127 reporters currently detained. It said China was conducting an "unprecedented campaign of repression" worldwide against journalism. China has justified the arrests of reporters and citizen journalists by accusing them of provoking trouble. RSF also noted that press