Kinaforum

onsdag 22. april 2026

Torbjørn Færøvik: Bayon - The Golden Tower in the Middle of the World

Over the years, I have visited Angkor so many times that I have lost count. The city was the capital of the Khmer Empire, a realm that lasted for more than 600 years—from 802 to 1431. The sight of the great stone temples, such as Angkor Wat and Bayon, leaves an indelible impression on every visitor.

Here you see an AI-generated image of Bayon, the state temple at the heart of the city. From here, more than two hundred stone faces once gazed in all directions—and they still do. At its height, the empire encompassed not only Cambodia but most of Thailand and parts of Laos, Burma, and Vietnam. But was Bayon gilded?

When the Chinese envoy Zhou Daguan arrived in Angkor in 1296, the city and the empire had already passed their zenith. Yet what he saw was more than enough to overwhelm him. In the book he later wrote, he describes temples, rituals, and everyday life—and a “golden tower” that shone in every direction. Scholars believe this tower must have been Bayon. Today it no longer gleams, yet it still inspires both wonder and admiration.

Iran war is turbocharging China’s Africa pivot

The global geoeconomic volatility wrought by the second Donald Trump US presidency and hostilities in the Middle East make the shift in China’s Africa strategy even more important for China and for Africa.

China’s Africa strategy started to shift in 2019, towards investment. It is anchored in Hunan Province. The “Hunan Model” emerged because the “Angola Model” (building infrastructure and extracting resources) faced sustainability hurdles. Given the vulnerability of African countries to shocks, they often struggle to keep up with mounting debt repayments. The other factor was China’s changing domestic needs.

Traditional trade partnerships and growth corridors were also under increasing contestation and subject to high trade barriers. Under these pressures, Beijing selected Hunan Province to become its “project implementation unit” for a new era of trade and development between China and Africa.

Japan’s Takaichi chooses guns over butter — at her peril

One reason many economists were disappointed with Sanae Takaichi’s selection as Japanese prime minister last October was concern that economic policy isn’t really her thing.

Sure, the long-time Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker assumed the position of a reformer. She talked of tax cuts, reducing living costs and reviving the supply-side upgrade strategy championed by her mentor, Shinzo Abe.Economists, it now seems clear, were right as the Iran war has Takaichi running back to her real passion: changing Japan’s constitution.

One could argue it’s a defensible pivot as US President Donald Trump upends the global order by starting at least one war. And as Trump redeploys missile systems from Japan and South Korea to the Middle East and grows ever more erratic on the world stage, Takaichi has reason to wonder if the US still has Tokyo’s back.

Why President Trump extended his ceasefire with Iran

President Donald Trump huddled with his national security team Tuesday afternoon at the White House facing a major decision: what to do next with Iran.

His ceasefire deadline was nearing its end, and Air Force Two was sitting on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews ahead of Vice President JD Vance’s scheduled departure to Pakistan for the next round of talks. But the administration was dealing with a conundrum: virtual silence from the Iranians.

In the days prior, the US had sent Iran a list of broad deal points that they wanted the Iranians to agree to in advance of the next round of talks. But days had gone by without the US getting a response, raising suspicions about how much Vance and others could achieve by heading to Pakistan for planned in-person talks, according to three officials familiar with the matter.

Hormuz is just a ‘dry run’ if China and U.S. go to war in the Pacific, Singapore foreign minister warns

Should a war break out between China and the U.S. in the Pacific, “what you are seeing in the Strait of Hormuz will be a dry run,” Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said Wednesday. Balakrishnan made the remarks at CNBC’s CONVERGE LIVE event in Singapore, responding to a question on whether the city-state was facing any pressure from Washington and Beijing to choose between the two.

Singapore has relationships with both the countries, and is uniquely positioned to take advantage of developments in the U.S. and China, Balakrishnan told CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick. The U.S. is Singapore’s largest foreign investor with around 6,000 American companies based in the city-state. Singapore also runs a goods trade deficit with Washington to the tune of about $3.6 billion, according to the office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

Tibet: Is Evident Reality Always Empirical?

Following Tenzin Norsang’s article titled “The Stick Must Stop: Ending Corporal Punishment in Our Tibetan Schools” (tibetanreview.net, Apr 11, 2026), Tenzing Rapgyal* explains how he has effectively dealt with errant students in a situation where corporal punishment is banned, concluding it, however, with a reality check.

The class of 2023 in real life in the peaceful foothills of the Himalayas was not like The Class of 1999 in reel -life in the violent world of Hollywood cinema. But the students of 12thstandard in 2023 became notorious for being the most difficult batch to deal with. Was the evidence of perception empirical in nature?

Taiwan president postpones Eswatini visit and says China pressured African countries

Taiwan’s president postponed a visit to Africa this week when three countries withdrew permission for him to fly over their territories after pressure from China, his office said Tuesday. President Lai Ching-te was set to visit Eswatini, Taiwan’s sole remaining diplomatic ally in Africa, from April 22-26.

But flight permits were canceled in island nations along the route, Secretary-General to the president, Pan Meng-an, told journalists in Taipei.

“The cancellation of flight permits by Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar without prior warning was actually due to strong pressure from the Chinese authorities, including economic coercion,” Pan said.

Hong Kong government seeks to seize millions from jailed activist Jimmy Lai

The Hong Kong government is seeking to confiscate millions of dollars in funds and corporate shares it says are linked to crimes committed by jailed former media tycoon Jimmy Lai, according to a court document seen by The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The filing does not explain how the property, which it estimates to be worth over 127 million Hong Kong dollars ($16 million), is linked to Lai’s crimes. The government previously announced that it was seeking asset forfeitures in the case but did not disclose the amount.

Lai, an outspoken critic of China’s ruling Communist Party who founded the now-defunct newspaper Apple Daily, was convicted in December of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and conspiring with others to publish seditious articles. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison in February, the toughest sentence given so far under a Beijing-imposed national security law.

Visiting Chinese vice-premier calls Tibet mega dam safe and top priority, but fails to allay major concerns

Can the world’s largest dam be designed and built to withstand a catastrophic earthquake of the kind the Himalayan region is all too familiar with, including the one which struck the Mt Everest County of Dingri in Tibet early last year? How can it not be said that the dam itself will not cause an earthquake, given the sheer volume of water it will hold in the new lake formation and our knowledge of the phenomenon known as reservoir-induced seismicity?

These questions continue to beggar answer as Chinese Vice-Premier Zhang Gouqing, who visited Tibet Autonomous Region from Apr 10 to 12, stressed Beijing’s commitment to the “landmark project” when visiting the Yarlung Tsangpo construction site.

The dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo will be the world’s largest hydropower facility. It is a key element of China’s plans to exploit the potential of the Tibetan Plateau by boosting regional growth through green energy and infrastructure. Zhang stressed Beijing’s commitment to the project during his visit, saying it would be a “major landmark project of the new era”, reported scmp.com Apr 13.

Torbjørn Færøvik: Bayon - Angkors gylne tårn

I årenes løp har jeg besøkt Angkor så mange ganger at jeg har mistet oversikten. Byen var hovedstad i khmerriket, et imperium som varte i mer enn 600 år – fra 802 til 1431. Synet av de store steintemplene, som Angkor Wat og Bayon, brenner seg fast i minnet til enhver besøkende.

Her ser du et KI-generert bilde av Bayon, statstempelet i byens midte. Herfra skuet mer enn to hundre steinansikter i alle retninger – og de gjør det fremdeles. På sitt største omfattet riket både Kambodsja, mesteparten av Thailand og deler av Laos, Burma og Vietnam. Men var Bayon forgylt?

Da den kinesiske utsendingen Zhou Daguan ankom Angkor i 1276, hadde byen og imperiet allerede passert senit. Det han fikk se, var likevel mer enn nok til å overvelde ham. I boken har senere skrev, forteller han om templer, ritualer og dagligliv – og om et «gyllent tårn» som lyste i alle retninger. Forskere tror at tårnet må ha vært Bayon. I dag har det sluttet å skinne; likevel vekker det både undring og beundring.

Art on trial - a sculptor's arrest highlights new extremes for censorship in China

Jesus Christ stands at gunpoint, palms upturned, seven figures in a firing squad around him. The bronze riflemen are unmistakable in their likeness. They are Mao Zedong, the long-deceased dictator who founded the People's Republic of China, and presided over some of the most traumatic chapters in China's recent history.

For decades, Chinese brothers Gao Zhen and Gao Qiang have made a name for themselves with sculptures like this: irreverent contemporary artworks that skewer the authoritarian past, and present, of their native homeland. The "Execution of Christ" was exhibited in 2009. So too was "Mao's Guilt": a life-sized replica of the so-called supreme leader kneeling in a pose of solemn contrition.

But it was only 15 years later that such works, satirising one of China's most contentious idols, cost Gao Zhen his freedom.

Next, an Iran nuclear deal with Chinese characteristics

Pope Leo XIV and Giorgia Meloni should take comfort from the fact that the main thrust of Donald Trump’s attack on them contains a clue as to how peace can be restored between Iran and the United States. By alleging that their opposition to his war means that the Pope and Meloni must be happy for Iran to possess a nuclear weapon (and even to attack Italy with one) Trump has shown that he is now reframing the war’s purpose as being chiefly about nukes rather than regime change or anything else.

Moreover, this retrospective reframing, made at the risk of alienating many of America’s estimated 53 million Catholic voters, indicates that he hopes that Iran can now be forced to agree to constraints on its nuclear program, allowing him to declare a sort of victory.

This outcome is possible, but to achieve it he will probably have to get help from China. And his negotiators will have to borrow from the work of some of the people he hates most: Barack Obama and the governments of Germany, France and the United Kingdom.

Gulf poised to move closer to China after the war

The Iran war has delivered a profound and systemic shock to the Gulf, fundamentally challenging two assumptions that have underpinned regional stability for the better part of a century.

For decades, the Gulf’s economic model thrived on a perception of stability, reinforced by push factors like tax exemptions, flexible regulatory regimes and a dynamic, diversified start-up ecosystem. Simultaneously, the region’s security architecture rested on a traditional oil-for-security arrangement, maintained by a dense network of American military bases and hardware.

Yet, both pillars have been materially weakened by nearly two months of war, during which missile and drone strikes have targeted all Gulf states. This reality has ushered in a painful phase of strategic reassessment of Washington’s reliability as a security guarantor, forcing regional capitals to look toward the East with newfound urgency.

Japan opens door to global arms market with biggest export rule change in decades

Japan on Tuesday unveiled its biggest overhaul of defense export rules in decades, scrapping restrictions on overseas arms sales and opening the way for exports of warships, missiles and other weapons. The move aimed at strengthening Japan’s defense industrial base marks another step away from pacifist restraints that have shaped its postwar security policy.

Wars in Ukraine and the Middle East are also straining US weapons production, expanding opportunities for Japan. At the same time, US allies in Europe and Asia are looking to diversify supply as Washington’s long-held security commitments look less certain under President Donald Trump.

China’s energy fortress was built to withstand just this type of oil shock

For more than a decade, leader Xi Jinping has overseen a transformation within the Chinese economy with one aim: making it energy-secure.

Under that vision, China has unleashed a renewable energy revolution of wind, solar and hydropower, drilled ever deeper into oilfields offshore and on, and forged pacts with partners for more supply – all in a bid to cut the country’s reliance on imported fuel and insulate it against “external shocks.” Now, the historic oil crisis triggered by the United States and Israel’s war on Iran is posing the sternest test to date of China’s Promethean effort toward energy self-sufficiency. It’s a test that China appears to be passing.

Despite a diplomatic clash, the US is investing in an experimental South African rare earths project

Two enormous sandlike dunes at an old chemical processing plant in South Africa are at the center of an exploratory U.S.-backed project to extract highly sought-after rare earth elements from industrial mining waste.

The Phalaborwa Rare Earths Project has U.S. support through a $50 million equity investment by the government’s International Development Finance Corporation and is part of accelerated U.S. efforts to reduce reliance on economic rival China for the minerals crucial for making electronic devices, robotics, defense systems, electric vehicles and other high-tech products.

Countries have identified dozens of minerals, including copper, cobalt, lithium and nickel, as critical because they are essential for new technologies. The 17 rare earth elements are a subset of them.

President Donald Trump has made expanding U.S. access to critical minerals, including rare earth elements, a central policy to counter China. The Trump administration said this year it will deploy nearly $12 billion to create its own strategic reserve.

The ‘becoming Chinese’ meme shows China’s soft power moment is here

Have you “become Chinese”?

In recent months, 20-somethings around the world have taken over social media with posts enthusing about how they’re embracing Chinese ways of life. Videos proclaiming users are “Chinamaxxing,” or “in a very Chinese time of their lives” — namely by drinking hot water with boiled goji berries, eating dumplings or wearing slippers in the house, or flying to China and gushing about its modern infrastructure — are racking up millions of views.

Along with its economic and geopolitical rise, China’s government has tried for years to push its soft power on the global stage. But those official efforts never came close to the success the “becoming Chinese” meme is enjoying now.

Even senior Chinese diplomats have noted the trend. Xie Feng, the Chinese ambassador to the U.S., referenced the internet craze recently as he promoted a new visa-free transit policy and urged more Americans to “experience for yourselves a real, dynamic and panoramic China.”

Mandarin learning law already being actively implemented in Tibet’s monasteries

Following China’s adoption last month of its law on so-called promoting ethnic unity and progress, mandating the predominance of Mandarin learning and use across the PRC, monks in Tibet are now required to take time off their traditional Tibetan grammar and scripture learning to study the language of their rulers.

As in many cases under Chinese rule in Tibet, where measures have already been under implementation for years before the laws on them are actually adopted, monks in Tibet have already been learning Mandarin (or Putonghua) for years. As a result, many have already gained efficiency in the language.

For example, monks at Dordong Monastery, located in Bome County of Nyingtri City, Tibet autonomous Region, have actively studied the standard spoken and written Chinese language and acquired knowledge relevant to modern society.