Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 91

US, Japan ‘Stand Firmly Together’ in the Face of Aggressive Chinese Actions

While there is wide-spread speculation about what the second administration of U.S. President Donald Trump will do with regard to its massive troop presence in Europe, the administration has made it clear that it intends to maintain and strengthen the U.S. military presence in Japan vis-a-vis an increasingly aggressive China – especially with a Taiwan emergency in mind.Speaking in Tokyo on March

Myanmar announces week of national mourning as hopes of finding quake survivors fade

More than 2,000 people in Myanmar have been killed following a magnitude 7.7 earthquake that affected areas as far as Thailand and China. Myanmar's military government has declared a week of national mourning, with a moment of silence to be held later on Tuesday at 12:51 local, the exact time the quake struck on FridayIn neighbouring Thailand, 20 people are known to have died, and thousands have

Trump has the world on edge as he mulls fateful tariffs decades in the making

He’s got the world hanging on his every word — and that’s how he loves it. President Donald Trump held court in the Oval Office on Monday evening, ratcheting up suspense over his promised tariff war “Liberation Day” on April 2 and riffing on his 19th-century worldview that threatens to rock the 21st-century economy.It was an extraordinary spectacle — an all-powerful president, surrounded by his

Why China Is Wary of a Trump-Xi Summit

In Washington, President Trump has said he is willing to meet with Xi Jinping, China’s top leader. In Beijing, Chinese officials and experts agree that a meeting between the heads of state must precede any broad reset of relations with the United States amid Mr. Trump’s aggressive approach to trade and foreign policy. But arranging a meeting is already proving slow and difficult.Senator Steve

Trump’s tariffs threaten to escalate a trade war. China wants to talk, but it’s ready to fight

As Donald Trump’s April 2 “Liberation Day” for announcing “reciprocal” tariffs on America’s trading partners approaches, the question in Beijing is whether this will be the moment when its nascent trade war with the US really escalates.Mixed messages have kept Chinese officials guessing. The US president has long railed against the gaping trade deficit between the world’s two largest economies –

Trump wants India to buy US corn - but here's why it probably won't

Why won't India buy even a single bushel of American corn? That's the question US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick raised recently while criticising India's trade policies, taking a swipe at its market restrictions. In another interview, Lutnick accused India of blocking US farmers and urged it to open its agricultural market - suggesting quotas or limits as a possible approach.Agriculture is a

How China Is Training AI to Censor Its Secrets

A newly leaked database shows China is developing a large language model (LLM) system to automatically detect and suppress politically sensitive content, dramatically expanding the country's capacity for digital censorship, TechCrunch reports.The tool appears to serve the Chinese government's long-standing goals of controlling online narratives, using artificial intelligence to identify dissent

Economic Expert: China is laughing all the way to the bank on Trump’s tariff policy

Rana Foroohar and Shermichael Singleton debate the merits and the end game of President Trump’s tariffs. Foroohar says she isn’t against tariffs but there needs to be a more cohesive policy with America’s allies to make it successful. Singleton argues Trump is trying to bring manufacturing jobs back to the US and undo damage from the previous administration.CNN Video

US to send advanced military hardware to Philippines

The United States plans to deploy advanced military equipment to the Philippines to strengthen its deterrence against threats, officials from both countries said, as U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made his first official visit to Manila. Hegseth met with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Philippine counterpart Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Friday, reiterating that Washington’s defense commitment

Bhutan’s refers to Tibet as Beijing-preferred ‘Xizang,’ sparking pushback

 Bhutan became the latest nation to refer to Tibet as “Xizang,” prompting Tibetan politicians and advocates to urge Bhutan to stop using the term promoted by Beijing that they say contributes to China’s efforts to erase Tibetan identity. In a March 17 statement, Bhutan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade used the term “Xizang” to refer to the Tibet Autonomous Region, a Chinese