Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 93

US bill proposes expediting Uyghur asylum cases

Twelve U.S. House representatives have introduced a bipartisan bill that would expedite the ability of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities facing persecution in China to seek asylum in the United States. The Uyghur Human Rights Protection Act would lend further American support to the 12 million Uyghurs in the northwestern Xinjiang region who are suffering under what Washington has labeled a “

Radio Free Asia files lawsuit against US administration to restore funding

 Radio Free Asia, which transmits uncensored news to millions of people living under authoritarian regimes in Asia, filed a lawsuit on Thursday to restore congressionally-mandated funding that was abruptly frozen earlier this month. The lawsuit asserts that denying funding for RFA, which comes through grants administered by the U.S. Agency for Global Media, or USAGM, violated federal laws,

It’s the world’s hottest car company. You can’t buy one in America

In the world of electric vehicles, there’s a Chinese company outdoing Elon Musk’s Tesla. And it’s just getting started. BYD, the Shenzhen-based Chinese EV champion, eclipsed Tesla in annual sales last year. Last week, it unveiled a revolutionary battery charging technology that it says adds 250 miles of range in five minutes, outpacing Tesla’s Superchargers, which take 15 minutes to add 200 miles

China calls for global business to ‘resist protectionism’ as American executives gather in Beijing

China is prepared for “possible unexpected shocks,” Premier Li Qiang told a gathering of global executives in Beijing, where he urged them to “resist protectionism” and defend globalization. CEOs including Apple’s Tim Cook, FedEx’s Raj Subramaniam and Pfizer’s Albert Bourla gathered in the Chinese capital over the weekend for a two-day forum that comes as US President Donald Trump has ratcheted

Elon Musk thinks robots are a $10 trillion business. He’s got some competition from China

Spinning bright red handkerchiefs and dancing in step to folk music, more than a dozen human-like robots took to China’s biggest stage in January, making a splashy debut at the annual Lunar New Year gala.The remarkable performance, watched by more than a billion people, is a high-profile reminder of how far Chinese humanoid robots have come. Over the past two months, videos of the country’s

China’s glacier area shrinks by 26% over six decades due to global warming

China’s glacier area has shrunk by 26% since 1960 due to rapid global warming, with 7,000 small glaciers disappearing completely and glacial retreat intensifying in recent years, official data released in March showed. Glaciers around the globe are disappearing faster than ever, with the largest glacial mass loss on record taking place in the last three years, according to a UNESCO report.As the

North Korea has sent 3,000 more soldiers to bolster Russia’s war on Ukraine, South Korea says

North Korea appears to have sent at least 3,000 more soldiers to Russia early this year, South Korea’s military said Thursday, demonstrating Pyongyang’s continued support for Moscow’s war on Ukraine as world leaders push for an end to the three-year conflict. The news comes as Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said a visit by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to Russia is being

DR Congo conflict tests China's diplomatic balancing act

China's efforts to build up huge business interests across Africa have been accompanied by a careful policy of maintaining neutrality - but the conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo has caused a shift in its approach. Rwanda has been widely accused of stoking the fighting in the mineral-rich region and Beijing, which has close relations with both DR Congo and Rwanda, has in

Torbjørn Færøvik: "Det er stor uro under himmelen"

Med stigende undring følger de kinesiske lederne med på Donald Trumps politiske blitzkrig i USA. Noen av dem er gamle nok til å huske formann Maos kulturrevolusjon for snart seksti år siden. Ikke minst partisjef Xi Jinping, som var bare tretten år da Kina – helt plutselig – ble satt på hodet i 1966. «Bombardér hovedkvarteret», buldret Mao.Den aldrende formannen følte seg omgitt av fiender på alle

‘Invasion’ barges and deep-sea cable cutters: why new Chinese maritime tech is spooking defense watchers

From a chain of massive barges stretching from a Chinese beach into the sea, to a powerful new design for cutting undersea cables at record depths, China’s latest maritime innovations have captured the attention of defense experts – fueling concerns about their potential role in a future invasion of Taiwan. While these new tools may ostensibly have civilian uses, experts say they highlight