Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 84

Trade war with US triggers wave of factory ‘holidays’ in China’s export hubs

As the U.S.-China trade war heats up, businesses in major export hubs in southeastern China are announcing factory “holidays” – halting production and slashing employee wages and work hours – while turning to social commerce platforms to sell stockpiled goods, as they grapple with a sharp drop in overseas orders.It’s a phenomenon sweeping across China’s export-driven provinces like Zhejiang,

Trump now says China tariffs will come down substantially, but won’t be zero

U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that recently imposed tariffs on Chinese goods will “come down substantially,” but won’t be zero, in the latest zigzag for Washington’s stance on global trade.The U.S. and China are waging a tit-for-tat trade battle, which threatens to stunt the global economy. The U.S. imposed tariffs of 145% on Chinese imports, prompting China to retaliate with tariffs

'I've had 100 operations and will never stop' - inside China's cosmetic surgery boom

Abby Wu was just 14 when she had cosmetic surgery for the first time. After receiving hormone treatment for an illness, Abby's weight increased from 42kg (6 stone 8lbs) to 62kg (9 stone 11lbs) in two months. The change hadn't gone unnoticed by her drama teacher. "My teacher said, 'You were our star but now you're too fat. Either give up or lose weight fast,'" recalls Abby, who was preparing for

US wants to slap tariffs as high as 3,500% on solar panels from Southeast Asia

US trade officials finalized steep tariff levels on most solar cells from Southeast Asia, a key step toward wrapping up a year-old trade case in which American manufacturers accused Chinese companies of flooding the market with unfairly cheap goods. The case was brought last year by Korea’s Hanwha Qcells, Arizona-based First Solar Inc and several smaller producers seeking to protect billions of

Cambodia’s controversial canal project gets boost on Xi visit

A pet project of Cambodia’s ruling Hun clan to build a canal linking the capital with the Gulf of Thailand got a boost as Chinese President Xi Jinping’s rounded off a three-nation tour of Southeast Asia on Friday. The Cambodian government reported the signing Thursday of a public-private partnership contract with China worth $1.15 billion to fund Cambodia’s Funan Techo Canal project. The

Chinese artist fined for filming Uyghur folk music in Xinjiang

 A Chinese artist has been fined for “illegal filming” of folk music in Xinjiang - even as China promotes state-sponsored performances of Uyghur singers and dancers in Europe that have angered Uyghur activists.The Chinese artist, Guo Zhenming, who is known for his work commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, told Radio Free Asia he was fined 75,000 yuan (US$10,300) and had all his

OPINION: RFA Uyghur Service is a light that pierces the darkness of China’s rule

When I was a Uyghur child living in communist China in the 1970s, we had no way of knowing what was happening around the world, within China, or even to our own Uyghur people in our homeland of East Turkistan (also known as Xinjiang, China). For colonized people like us, living under a total information blackout and bombarded by communist propaganda 24/7, discovering the truth was not a luxury -

Boeing jet returns to US from China, a victim of Trump’s tariff war

A Boeing jet intended for use by a Chinese airline landed back at the planemaker’s U.S. production hub on Saturday, a victim of the tit-for-tat bilateral tariffs launched by President Donald Trump in his global trade offensive. The 737 MAX, which was meant for China’s Xiamen Airlines, landed at Seattle’s Boeing Field at 6:11 p.m., according to a Reuters witness. It was painted with Xiamen

Beijing warns countries against colluding with US to restrict trade with China

Beijing has warned its trading partners against succumbing to US pressure to restrict trade with China in exchange for exemption from President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs. Commenting on recent media reports about US plans to use tariff negotiations to isolate China’s economy, a spokesperson for China’s Commerce Ministry said on Monday: “Appeasement does not bring peace, and compromise

Myanmar's capital Nay Pyi Taw to be redrawn following earthquake

The layout of Myanmar's capital city Nay Pyi Taw will be redrawn after the devastating earthquake last month, the country's military ruler has said. During a government meeting, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said that buildings which collapsed during the earthquake were so badly affected because they were built on soft soil. Office buildings will be rebuilt and must be resistant to future