Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 53

Veteran Chinese dissident faces ongoing police harassment despite prison release

Three months after his prison release, veteran dissident Chen Yunfei is in the cross-hairs of police over his social media posts and has faced multiple rounds of questioning and harassment amid ongoing surveillance, Radio Free Asia has learned.The Chengdu-based human rights activist and Chinese performance artist was released on March 24 after serving a four-year prison sentence in the

Amnesty accuses Cambodia of ‘gross failure’ to stop rampant abuses in scam centers

Cambodia and neighboring Laos, Myanmar and Thailand have seen a massive proliferation of scam compounds that rely on a large pool of trafficked labor and are run by organized crime groups whose links to powerful local interests allow them to operate with impunity.The Amnesty report – which is based on interviews with 423 victims of Cambodia’s scamming industry – documents what it calls abuses on

Strait of Hormuz blockade: Why Beijing is better prepared than you think

As missiles rain across Iran and Israel and further escalation looms, the global community is bracing for a possible strategic nightmare: the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which media reports said the Iranian parliament has approved. Since 13 June, Israel and Iran have plunged into their most intense military confrontation yet. Israel’s Operation Rising Lion struck Iranian nuclear and military

Second Act: How a 500-Year-Old Chinese Opera Returned to Modern Life

Zhao Jinyu still remembers the time she gave away tickets to her Kunqu opera performance — and couldn’t find anyone who wanted them. “Too elegant,” her friends said. “Makes me sleepy.” That was 2005, just a few years after Kunqu opera — a 500-year-old form of Chinese opera known for its refined movement and lyrical verse — was added to UNESCO’s inaugural list of “Masterpieces of the Oral and

‘Too Big a Risk’: Chinese Students Rethink the American Dream

With an offer from Columbia University’s strategic communication program, a $3,000 deposit paid, and a visa interview booked for early June, Jennifer Tang was on the verge of a future finally within reach.But over two weeks starting May 27, U.S. immigration policy lurched between extremes — first, a full freeze on Chinese students, including plans to cancel existing visas. Then, on June 5,

How China made electric vehicles mainstream

"I drive an electric vehicle because I am poor," says Lu Yunfeng, a private hire driver, who is at a charging station on the outskirts of Guangzhou in the south of China. Standing nearby, Sun Jingguo agrees. "The cost of driving a petrol car is too expensive. I save money driving an electric vehicle," he says. "Also, it protects the environment," he adds, leaning against his white Beijing U7

US strikes on Iran may strengthen North Korea’s nuclear resolve, experts warn

The U.S. air strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities will have reinforced North Korea’s perception that possessing nuclear weapons is essential for its survival and may even prompt Pyongyang to accelerate the development of its nuclear capabilities, warned South Korean experts. U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday announced that the U.S. had conducted “massive precision strikes” on three Iranian

US urges China to dissuade Iran from closing Strait of Hormuz

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on June 22 called on China to encourage Iran to not shut down the Strait of Hormuz after Washington carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. Mr Rubio’s comments on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo show came after Iran’s Press TV reported that the Iranian Parliament approved a measure to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20

China faces oil supply risk if Israel-Iran conflict escalates

China could face major oil supply disruptions if war between Israel and Iran escalates further, as Beijing remains heavily reliant on crude oil imports from the Middle East, much of which transits through the vulnerable Strait of Hormuz. China is the world’s largest oil importer. In 2024, it produced 4.3 million barrels of crude oil per day but imported 11.1 million barrels, according to the US

'They would be committing suicide': Former Pentagon official explains why China won’t let Iran choke Hormuz lifeline

Iran may be threatening to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, but former U.S. Pentagon official Michael Rubin says the move would be “suicidal” — and both Washington and Beijing know it.As tensions rise following U.S.-Israel airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites, Tehran has issued a bold warning: the Strait of Hormuz could be closed “within hours.” But military analysts and strategic experts are