Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 393

Sputnik was a wakeup call for the US. China's 'hypersonic missile' is a trickier challenge

"Listen now, for the sound that forevermore separates the old from the new."That was how NBC radio introduced the signal from the first satellite in space, on October 4, 1957.But it wasn't a triumph of American science: The sound came from the Soviet Union's Sputnik, a piece of hardware the size of a beach ball whose launch stunned the world -- and the United States in particular.The phrase "

Chinese journalist jailed over Covid reporting is ‘close to death’, family say

A citizen journalist jailed for her coverage of China’s initial response to Covid in Wuhan is close to death after going on hunger strike, her family said, prompting renewed calls from rights groups for her immediate release. Zhang Zhan, 38, a former lawyer, travelled to Wuhan in February 2020 to report on the chaos at the pandemic’s centre, questioning authorities’ handling of the outbreak in

Can Xi Jinping’s property tax deflate China’s housing bubble?

Xi Jinping’s to-do list has seen a lot of ticks in recent months: more flights into Taiwan’s defence zone; suppressing dissenting voices in Hong Kong; clipping the wings of tech barons; outlawing the out-of-school tutoring industry. The list goes on. However, one key initiative – introducing a local property tax – has attracted fewer headlines but is apparently so controversial within China’s

China regime says Taiwan independence backers will be blacklisted

China on Friday (Nov. 5) announced that it has created a blacklist of "stubborn Taiwan secessionists" who it will ban from Hong Kong and Macau, including at least three Taiwan leaders. At a press briefing on Friday, Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Spokesperson Zhu Fenglian said that China will punish "secessionists" in accordance with the law and prohibit them and their families from entering China

Another Chinese real estate developer is in serious trouble

Another Chinese real estate company appears to be at risk of default, escalating fears of further problems in the country's embattled property sector. Shares of Kaisa Group, a Shenzhen-based developer, were suspended from trading on Friday in Hong Kong. The company's subsidiaries, which were also halted from trading, cited a "pending" announcement about the group in stock exchange filings.While

Can India achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2070? The road is long but not impossible

India’s road to net zero carbon emissions will be long and challenging — while it’s not impossible, it will need a lot of strategic planning in the decades ahead, economists told CNBC. The world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases surprised the world on Monday by setting a target for net zero carbon emissions — after years of rejecting calls for it. Speaking at the COP26 summit, Prime

Arne Melsom: Norge stikker hodet i sanden i møtet med Kina

Kina er en av Norges største handelspartnere. Å legge frem en fremforhandlet frihandelsavtale vil gi betydelig prestisje. Derfor er det viktig at problemstillinger rundt å inngå en avtale blir diskutert i forkant. Det kan da komme frem argumenter og innspill som kan få regjeringen til å snu.Norge har et betydelig handelsunderskudd med Kina. Da blir det fristende med en avtale som gir Norge nye

Jørn-Kr. Jørgensen: "Denne boka er en innertier"

Det må ha vært litt av en kveld 14. august 1947. Da ble det enorme landet India fritt fra sin engelske kolonialisering og folket kunne puste i et fritt og uavhengig land. Ved midnattstider gikk Jawaharlal Nehru på talerstolen i nasjonalforsamlingen i New Dehli og proklamerte løsrivelsen.Denne handlingen er i ettertid blitt kalt «Frihet ved midnatt» og det er i ettertid skrevet bindsterke bøker om

Why are foreign tech firms pulling out of China?

Yahoo Inc. is leaving the China market, suspending its services there as of Monday amid what it says is an “increasingly challenging” business and legal environment. Foreign technology firms have been pulling out or downsizing their operations in mainland China as a strict data privacy law specifying how companies collect and store data takes effect. Such companies have decided the regulatory

Pandemic, politics drive Xi’s absence from global talks

This week’s global climate talks in Scotland and the recent G-20 summit in Rome aren’t the only international meetings that China’s leader has not attended in person. Xi Jinping hasn’t left China in nearly 22 months, since January 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic first exploded. His absence drew criticism from U.S. President Joe Biden and questions about China’s commitment to reducing greenhouse