Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog

South Korea has unleashed its largest-ever sanctions package — reportedly even larger than that deployed against North Korea — targeting transnational crime syndicates in Southeast Asia. The actions follow the killing, apparently by torture, of a South Korean college student in Cambodiaand a recent slew of arrests and extraditions.The sanctions are aimed at 132 entities and 15 individuals. They

A Newsweek map shows that United States allies in the western Pacific—Japan, South Korea and the Philippines—are within range of Chinese missiles as tensions rise in the region over territorial disputes and Beijing's growing military activities.Newsweek has contacted Japan's Defense Ministry, South Korea's Foreign Ministry and the Armed Forces of the Philippines for comment via email. China's

A new base being built by NATO countries in Greenland will use incredibly narrow laser beams to ensure fast and voluminous data download from satellites, as Western nations move to secure communications from disruption by adversaries such as Russia or China, the company behind the project told Newsweek.The planned new Optical Ground Station in Kangerlussuaq in western Greenland, north of the

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is building large-scale military infrastructure at five sites along the eastern coast of China, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in a recent report. The latest issue of the council’s Mainland China Situation Quarterly said satellite photos showed military infrastructure such as air force and naval bases being constructed along the eastern coast of

Indonesian domestic helper Fita spoke of the confusion inside the Hong Kong high-rise apartment complex as it was engulfed in flames on Wednesday in the city’s deadliest fire since 1948. Amid sirens, flying debris and smell of burning, Fita told her employer there was a fire but her boss did not believe her.After going outside and seeing two buildings burning in the Wang Fuk Court complex she

A deadly inferno torn through a massive housing complex in Hong Kong earlier this week, killing at least 128 people with many more still missing, in the city’s worst disaster in decades. Officials said the blaze was officially put out on Friday morning local time – nearly two days after fires broke out – with rescuers saying extremely high temperatures hampered their ability to reach trapped

A record number of people are set to take China’s notoriously gruelling national civil service exam this weekend, reflecting the increasing desire of Chinese workers to find employment in the public rather than private sector.Around 3.7 million people have registered for the tests on Saturday and Sunday, which will be the first since the government increased the age limit for certain positions.

For proof that an economy can thrive even under constant military threats from a powerful neighbor and amid US President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs, look no further than Taiwan.The self-ruled democracy has logged roughly 8% economic growth for two consecutive quarters, a rare achievement for a developed economy and one that is projected to push its 2025 GDP growth close to 7.4%, even

China’s increasing economic footprint in Brazil, Latin America’s largest economy, is redefining the region’s balance of power. Once primarily a trading partner, China is now entrenching itself in the Brazilian industrial base and consumer economy, turning the South American colossus into a gateway for Chinese influence across the continent. This shift challenges Washington’s traditional sphere of

In my article “Influencing the Influencer: China and Elon Musk” for The Diplomat back in October 2022, I posited that American tech mogul Elon Musk and his SpaceX will not provide Starlink services in Taiwan. I based my prediction on Musk’s admission that, in his interactions with senior Chinese officials, “Beijing sought assurances that he would not sell Starlink in China.” Because the comment