Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 83

Trump administration took action against China due to frustration on trade talks, officials say

The flurry of punitive measures taken against China by the Trump administration over the last few days was prompted by a belief among US officials that China has failed to live up to commitments it made in trade talks earlier this month, three administration officials told CNN.This week the administration made moves to revoke visas for Chinese students and suspend the sale of some critical

India says over 1,000 nationals deported by US since January

More than a thousand Indians have "come back or [been] deported" from the United States since January, India's foreign ministry has said. Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that around 62% of them came on commercial flights, without providing more details. This comes in the wake of President Donald Trump's campaign against undocumented migrants to the US. Trump had earlier said that India "will do

The Chinese Families Choosing an African Education

In 2018, while I was conducting fieldwork in Zimbabwe, I met a Chinese man who shared a surprising story. One night, he heard his 4-year-old daughter sleep-talking in English. The next day he called his wife in China and the couple decided to send the child back home. Only after the girl finished elementary school was she brought back to Zimbabwe to attend secondary school. She then went on to

China thought it had a truce with the US. Then Trump dropped two bombshells

A one-two punch from the United States risks shattering the already fragile trade war truce between Washington and Beijing, with Chinese tech companies and students both dealt shock blows by the Trump administration Wednesday night. Viewed from within China, things had been looking up after the world’s two largest economies agreed to dramatically roll back steep tariffs – a conciliatory step in a

Trump administration will ‘aggressively revoke’ Chinese student visas in major escalation with Beijing

The United States will “aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday in a major escalation of tensions with Beijing, and another blow to American higher education institutions.The plan was met with strong opposition from China, which said on Thursday it had lodged a formal protest with the US over what it called a “politically motivated and

China now collects more in debt from borrowers in the developing world than it extends in loans

China’s role in developing countries’ finances has transformed from capital provider to chief debt collector as a “tidal wave” of repayments due on loans Beijing extended under its Belt and Road Initiative far outstrip new disbursements, a new report by an Australian think tank showed.Under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Beijing has disbursed over $1 trillion in loans to more than 150

India is set to be the world’s fourth-largest economy — but sustained growth will warrant more reforms

A top Indian official’s recent claim that the South Asian powerhouse has become the world’s fourth-largest economy has created a lot of buzz in the country’s social media, with an outpouring of self-congratulatory messages. While India has taken giant strides in boosting its GDP — it was ranked No. 10 in 2014 — and continues to be the fastest-growing major economy, it’s best to take the latest

India approves stealth fighter program amid tensions with Pakistan

India’s defense minister has approved a framework for building the country’s most advanced stealth fighter jet, the defense ministry said on Tuesday, amid a new arms race with Pakistan weeks after a military conflict between the neighbors. Indian state-run Aeronautical Development Agency, which is executing the program, will shortly invite initial interest from defense firms for developing a

India’s iPhone exports to the U.S. soared an estimated 76%. But Trump, Beijing won’t make further growth easy

Shipments of iPhones from India to the U.S. rose 76% in April year on year, estimates from a technology market analyst firm shows. The surge comes as Apple accelerates its “made in India” plans, which analysts say will meet pushback from President Donald Trump and Beijing.The data from Canalys, now part of Omdia, showed that U.S. iPhones shipped from India in April reached roughly 3,000,000.

The West is recycling rare earths to escape China’s grip — but it’s not enough

As China tightens its grip on the global supply of key minerals, the West is working to reduce its dependence on Chinese rare earth. This includes finding alternative sources of rare earth minerals, developing technologies to reduce reliance, and recovering existing stockpiles through recycling products that are reaching the end of their shelf life.“You cannot build a modern car without rare