Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 7

China warns US of countermeasures if Trump doesn’t walk back 100% tariff threat

Beijing has vowed countermeasures against Washington if US President Donald Trump makes good on his threat to impose new 100% tariffs on Chinese imports.Trump’s latest threat came after China unleashed a raft of export restrictions on rare earth minerals last week. The escalating tensions threaten to derail months of progress in trade talks. “Resorting to threats of high tariffs is not the right

China vows to stand firm against Trump’s 100% tariff threat

China signaled Sunday that it would not back down in the face of a 100% tariff threat from President Donald Trump, urging the U.S. to resolve differences through negotiations instead of threats. “China’s stance is consistent,” the Commerce Ministry said in a statement posted online. “We do not want a tariff war but we are not afraid of one.”It was China’s first official comment on Trump’s threat

Chinese coast guard rams and damages a Philippine vessel off an island in the South China Sea

A Chinese coast guard ship used a powerful water cannon on Sunday then rammed and slightly damaged an anchored Philippine government vessel off an island inhabited by Filipinos in the disputed South China Sea, the Philippine coast guard said.There were no injuries among Filipino crewmen of the BRP Datu Pagbuaya, part of the fisheries fleet that provides support to Filipino fishermen. The Chinese

100 Years Ago, Beijing’s Forbidden City Opened Its Doors

One hundred years ago, on Oct. 10, 1925, the Palace Museum was officially established on the grounds of the Forbidden City, the imperial palace in the heart of Beijing. The museum’s founding, as well as the subsequent opening of the palace for public viewing, the display of the imperial collection, and the establishment of the Gallery of Antiquities were all significant achievements in the

A 969-Year-Old Pagoda, Too Fragile to Climb, Gets a Fitting Facelift

When, at dusk on a fall day in 1933, Liang Sicheng, China’s pre-eminent architectural historian, first laid eyes on the Wooden Pagoda of Ying County, he was in awe.“When we were still some five miles from the town, I suddenly discerned — near the furthest limit the road allowed the eye to reach — what seemed a flashing jewel against a deep violet backdrop: a red-and-white pagoda, its tiered roofs

October 7, 1950: The Day Tibet Lost Its Freedom

On 7 October 1950, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of the newly founded People’s Republic of China (PRC) crossed into Tibet’s eastern province of Kham. What followed was not merely a border incursion—it was the beginning of the end of Tibet’s centuries-long independence. Eighty thousand Chinese soldiers advanced across the plateau, overwhelming the ill-equipped Tibetan army of barely 8,000 men

In Occupation’s Shadow, Democracy Becomes Tibet’s Weapon

For more than seven decades, Tibet has endured one of the most systematic campaigns of cultural erasure in modern history. Yet against this relentless pressure, Tibet continues to stand as a beacon of peaceful resistance, showing how non-violent struggle can preserve identity and dignity under oppression. From whispered prayers in monasteries under surveillance to the parliamentary debates of

Exile Tibetans to vote on Feb 1, Apr 26 to elect new leaders for next five years

The Election Commission of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) announced at a press conference in Dharamshala, India, Oct 7 morning that voting for the election of the Sikyong, the executive head of the CTA, and the 45-member, 18th Tibetan Parliament in Exile (TPiE) will take place on Feb 1 and Apr 26.The preliminary poll will be held on Feb 1. This is meant to select the lists of candidates

India to counter China’s ‘water bomb’ dam in occupied Tibet with mega dam of its own

India is to build in Arunachal Pradesh what would be its largest dam with a design to absorb any possible weaponized release of water from the world’s largest and potentially most dangerous dam China is building just across the border in occupied Tibet, according to media reports.However, unlike the project in Tibet, where any local opposition is unthinkable because of the brutality of the

Truce fizzles as U.S.-China trade tensions return to full boil

For months, bubbling trade tensions between China and the U.S. seemed to calm to a simmer, with words like “thaw” and “truce” swapped in for warnings of economic “war.” Now, hostilities appear to be returning to full boil. A series of tit-for-tat moves this week by the two superpowers has thrust trade hostilities back in the global spotlight, roiling markets and raising alarms of what might come