China

Popular Sports in China
Different types of games have always been played in China with great enthusiasm. The country has traditionally excelled in sports like badminton and table tennis at the international level. Read on to know more about some popular sports that are prevalent in China.

Geithner Wants Closer Economic Ties to China
U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is in China and calling for closer economic ties with the world’s third largest economy.

Weapons of Ancient China
The ancient Chinese civilization was very powerful for many centuries. The Chinese army was also one of the most fierce and feared force of Southeast Asia during the ancient times. To find out more about the weapons that were used by the ancient Chinese, read on...

Religions of Ancient China
Ancient China is credited with enriching the rest of the world with timeless traditions and a culture that has stood the test of time. The religions of ancient China have their origins in the minds of a people who dared to think out of the box and questioned their very existence...

The Qing Dynasty
The Qing dynasty was the last monarchy to have ruled China. Though they made considerable expansions to the borders of China, and took Chinese arts and science to new heights, the isolationist policies that they followed ended their rule. This rule spanned over two centuries.

Qin Dynasty of China
South East Asia is dominated by China, both in terrain and culture. The history of this Asian Giant is as interesting as its age-old traditions. China today, is the amalgamation civilization that thrived along the Huang Ho river, around different dynasties and political states, like those created by the Qin Dynasty...

History of China
China is one of the oldest nations in the world. This nation, which is one of the biggest military and economic powers, is the result of the experience of the Chinese civilization that has been in existence since the Neolithic era.

Physical Features of China
China is one of the oldest surviving world civilizations. The physical features of the terrain comprises states with distinct cultures that date back to more than six millennia. China is home not only to the world's oldest written language system, but also major socially enriching inventions such as that of paper, gunpowder, the compass and printing...

Increased Chinese Military Power Getting Attention in Pentagon
A Pentagon report on the Chinese military expresses some concerns about some of China’s strategy goals, but still points out various positives in the approach of the quickly-developing military.

Cats on the Menu in China, Drawing the Ire of Pet Lovers
A butcher going only by the surname "Huang" can get you a cat to eat in you’re ever in Guangzhou, China, but you may have to wade through a mob of protestors to place the order.

Tainted Chinese Dairy Exports Recalled Globally After Babies Die
Authorities have blamed an industrial chemical in China’s dairy supplies for the death of four babies, and the chemical has begun turning up in numerous Chinese-made exports abroad.

6200 Chinese Babies Ill from Contaminated Milk; Three Dead
Alarmed parents of infants in China are rushing their children to hospitals after contaminated milk formula causes 6,000 illnesses and three deaths.

Major Earthquakes in China
Earthquakes are one of the most dreaded natural disasters. Severe earthquakes result in the massive destruction of life and property and change the face of Earth in the literal sense of the term. For an account on some of the major earthquakes in China, read on...

Xinjiang Plays World Human Rights Stepchild to Rock Star Tibet
While Tibet has played the role of China's "rock star" to human rights activists around the world, China's Xinjiang Province has been treated more like an unwanted stepchild.

China’s "Rug Merchants" of the U.N.
Last week, China once again demonstrated its willingness to opportunistically trade diplomatic favors for access to African riches.

THE COMING CHINA WARS: Where They Will Be Fought and How They Will Be Won
Imagine that your government forced you to have only one child – under penalty of sterilization, beatings, and/or stiff fines.

Death Toll Rises in China Quake as Rescuers Search for Survivors
The casualties from Monday’s 7.8 quake in the Sichuan region of China are rising, with some estimates as high as 50,000.

The Deal with China and Falun Gong - And What it means for the Free Tibet Movement
Frankly speaking, we do not know much about China, well, except for maybe Jackie Chan. That does not mean that we do not have the inclination to know about China, it only means that China does not want people to know much about the country, how it works, what happens inside China.

Dramatic, Chaotic Scene in SF Along Olympic Torch Route
In the city of San Francisco, people communicated by cell phones to keep abreast of the changed Olympic torch route, running by the hundreds to try to catch up to the torch.

Zhu Yuanzhang - The Hongwu Emperor
The journey from poverty to becoming the Emperor of China, took Zhu Yuanzhang not more then 16 years. He is indeed the most influential person in China’s history.

Chinese Couple Welcome Baby "@," to Government’s Annoyance
A couple in China want to honor their son by naming him with the computer symbol "@." Chinese government officials are not thrilled.

China Facts: Interesting Facts About China
China has contributed a lot to the global perspective of arts, culture and science. Here are some other interesting facts about China.

China, History, and the Moral High Road
China rightfully expresses anger at Japan over Japanese mixed messages on history, but it has often expressed its anger through violence and bigotry. As a major world power, China needs to begin exhibiting class and restraint, not knee-jerk outrage.

Bird Flu Steadily Spreading Through Asian Countries
As China deals with the continuing spread of bird flu across the country, Indonesia has reported its first outbreak of the dreaded virus.

‘Guns’ Tour Shot Down
The newly revamped Guns N’ Roses tour – Chinese Democracy – has been cancelled by Clear Channel Entertainment a month after the tour started.

Missile Defense: China Strongly Opposes Missile Shield
Tension mounts as Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly tries to convince Chinese officials of the need for a missile defense system.

China Made may be Cheap but could be a Danger to Health
Alarmingly, the list of deadly products out of China continues to climb.

China Wholesale - Reap in the Savings
China wholesale shops have become a new destination for internet bargain hunters. Is it the low price that attracts the consumer to buy from China wholesale?

Chinas Population Planning Has Nasty Kick Back Effect
While fixing one problem the one child policy for hugely overpopulated China created other major problems.

As a Foreign Trader in China
This article is about how to move on a foreign business in China, and some information about how to do foreign business in China.

China Unveils Fleet of Submarines in Bid to Build Global Trust
China celebrates its navy's 60th anniversary with a first public appearance for new craft

China's E6 Electric Car: 'we're Not Trying to Save the World – We're Trying to Make Money'
Its release imminent, BYD Auto's revolutionary E6 electric car is integral to China's plan to dominate the global market for 'clean-transport'

China to Spent £800m on Making Schools in Earthquake Zones Safe
China to strengthen buildings after deaths of thousands of children in Sichuan disaster

Google Launches Free Music Site in China
Chinese internet users will be able to download more than 1m tracks as search site takes on Baidu.com

China Accused Over Global Computer Spy Ring
Reports detail 'murky realm' where cyber spooks infiltrate email and take over humble desktop computers

China Pulls Out of Earth Hour to Celebrate Tibet 'liberation' Day
Beijing scales back international climate change awareness day so as not to undermine upbeat message of 'Serf Liberation Day'

China Looks to Labour to Learn Secrets of Spin
Communist party adopted Alistair Campbell's media handling strategy to modernise management of popular opinion

China to Bring Das Kapital to Life on Beijing Stage
Producers promise blend of Broadway and Vegas for all-dancing, all-singing adaptation of Marx's treatise

China 'worried' About Safety of Us Assets
US-Chinese relations continue to be tested by the global recession as Wen Jiabao warns US to control its economy

China Arrests Tibetans After Dalai Lama Protest
Free Tibet campaign says arrests and beatings took place at impromptu rally in Sichuan province

China Rejects Un Recommendation to End Death Penalty and Labour Camps
Beijing says no to much in UN human rights review, but agrees to extend disability rights

Dam Could Have Triggered Chinese Earthquake, Say Scientists
Weight of water may have affected disaster that killed 90,000 in Sichuan last year

China Condemns British Shoe Protest
Chinese official media declines to show incident in which protester threw trainer at premier during Cambridge speech

China Detains 81 People in New Tibet Crackdown
Operation carried out two months before 50th anniversary of failed uprising against Chinese rule

China Fears Riots Will Spread As Boom Goes Sour
Beijing hopes newly jobless New Year revelers will stay in the country to prevent unrest in the cities

Boom in Exam Cheats Battling for China's Top Jobs
Hi-tech methods have been employed by graduates desperate to pass national entrance papers

China Declares Provocative New Holiday in Tibet
New holiday to mark the 50th anniversary of failed Dalai Lama-led rebellion

China Becomes World's Third Largest Economy
Revised data means China overtook Germany in 2007 and now has Japan and the US in its sights

Chinese Police Arrest Biker Gang Selling Children
Officers break up ring that traded toddlers for as little as £85

China Gets Tough on Illegal Firework Factories
Clampdown ahead of Chinese New Year follows explosion in Shandong that killed 13

China Cracks Down on 'vulgar' Online Searches
Censorship linked to year of sensitive anniversaries as Google and others told to regulate content

China Cracks Down on 'vulgar' Websites
Officials says sites including Google have failed to censor inappropriate content

Dinosaur Bones Find is World's Biggest, Says China
7,600 fossils, some more than 100m years old, have been discovered in Zhucheng

Trials Begin Over Contaminated Milk in China
Suspects accused of contaminating supplies with toxic chemical, making 300,000 infants sick and killing six

China to Hear Sound of Musicals at 32-theatre 'broadway' Complex
Developer says new venues in Haidian suburb will be capable of staging up to 100 musicals

China Cuts Rates in Face of Record Slowdown
Interest slashed for fifth time in four months in effort to revive country's flagging economy

China Cuts Interest Rates to Protect Jobs
Quarter-point cut is fifth reduction in four months as manufacturing growth slows dramatically. By Kathryn Hopkins

China Sends Naval Fleet to Somalia to Battle Pirates
Deployment to join international force in biggest naval operation by China in more than 600 years

Record Crowds for China Art Show
The Revolution Continues is set to attract half a million visitors to Saatchi's new gallery

China Waits for Us Climate Signal
Until the new US administration makes clear its climate policy, China will not be moved from its opposition to internationally binding goals for emissions reductions. Jonathan Watts reports

China Revises Figures of Babies Affected By Contaminated Milk Powder
Almost 300,000 babies were taken ill due to contaminated milk powder this year, China's health ministry has said; more than five times as many cases as previously disclosed

One-third of China's Yellow River 'unfit for Drinking or Agriculture'
Factory waste and sewage from growing cities has severely polluted major waterway, according to Chinese research

China Taxi Drivers Strike As Economic Unrest Spreads
Hundreds stop work in central city following similar strikes as downturn bites

China's Snow is Like Water - and Now It's Bigger Than Bud
Self-styled king of beers toppled from global sales league by Chinese own brand, Snow

China Winning Cyber War, Congress Warned
Panel says China in a position to delay or disrupt the deployment of America's military forces around the world

Cross-country Comeback Chills China's Schoolchildren As Winter Looms
Ministry of education orders daily jog to boost patriotism and health

China Tells State Media to Report Bad News
Protests and unrest given coverage in the hope that regime can control the story

China's Hackers Stealing Us Defence Secrets, Says Congressional Panel
Beijing's spending on rocket science turns outer space into 'commanding heights' of modern warfare and could chill relations with America, advisers warn

China to Close 6,000 Coal Mines in Safety Push
Output to be concentrated in bigger mines in effort to cut massive death toll

China Seeks to Cement Trade Clout With Latin America
Hu Jintao and scores of business people sweep through Latin America to reinforce Beijing's economic power in the region

China's Huge Poverty Gap Slowing Growth, Un Says
Report shows growing gulf between standards of welfare, education and elderly care

China to Make Mime a Crime for Performers
Singers who lip-synch or musicians who pretend to play their instruments face having their business licenses revoked

It's a Crime to Mime, China Warns Performers
Singers who lip-synch or musicians who only pretend to play face losing their business licenses under proposals

China's Online Vigilantes Hunt Human Flesh
Forget the FBI, Interpol or Jack Bauer. No one tracks down a miscreant as fast as China's online sleuths

Beijing to Pump 4tn Yuan Into Economy to Offset Fall in Exports
China is anxious to boost domestic demand to offset a sharp fall in exports

China Truck Driver Kills 5 After Deliberately Running Them Down
Police claim 34-year-old driver wanted to revenge himself on society

Chinese Rights Activists Reported Missing
Wife of missing man believes he has been detained for helping voters understand rights ahead of local elections

Chinese Girls Die After Eating School Dinners
Officials in north-west China investigating deaths of two young girls after eating dinner at their school, and the hospitalization of 28 other children

Chinese Official Sacked Over Attack on Girl, 11
Internet storm leads to sacking of Lin Jiaxiang, 58, for accosting a young girl while drunk

Beijing and Taipei Ignore Politics to Sign Trade Deal
Direct flights and shipping deals signal move to end six decades of hostilities

China and Taiwan Sign Landmark Deal
Deal allows shipping links and expanding direct flights across the Formosa strait after 60 years of hostility

Chinese Police Told to Go Easy on Protesters
China's police must avoid inflaming riots and protests, the country's most senior police official has warned, as concern grows about social unrest

Beijing Keeps Its Interest - and Its Distance
Rebel leader Laurent Nkunda objects to China's mining-for-infrastructure pact in Congo

Chinese Fury at Sale of Plundered Treasures
Sculptures owned by Yves Saint Laurent were taken from an imperial palace during opium wars

Financial Crisis Wipes Billions Off Wealth of China's Super-rich
More than 40 Chinese billionaires lose platinum status as wealth of country's 400 wealthiest people drops 40%

Brown Looks to China to Strengthen Imf's Hand
Gulf states also urged to contribute to economic rescue fund to ensure it can help struggling economies

Don't Expect China to Get the West Out of This Mess
Will Hutton: Asia is the new economic powerhouse. Goodbye, USA. Hello, the Chinese Communist party

Mothers' Plea After Children With Hepatitis Refused Nursery Places
Stigma surrounding virus remains widespread despite recent laws banning discrimination against sufferers

Chinese Dissident Hu Jia Wins Eu Human Rights Prize
Beijing warns that selecting the political prisoner for a prize previously won by Nelson Mandela would damage EU-China relations

Two Chinese Officials Go Missing on Trip to Paris
Two officials have failed to return from visits to Paris, the official media have reported

Anti-piracy Tool Angers Chinese Internet Users
Bloggers and lawyers united in criticism of Microsoft's attempts to combat software piracy in China

UN and Wal-mart Highlight China Food Safety Concerns
UN calls for 'urgent revision' of China's food supervision system as Wal-Mart pledges crackdown on unscrupulous suppliers

Microsoft Described As 'biggest Hacker in China'
Chinese internet users and lawyers furious at screen blackouts caused by software giants new anti-piracy tool

China Acts to Help Struggling Manufacturing Firms
China today raised export tax rebates on toys, textiles and more than 3,000 other products as it attempts to mitigate the impact of the global slowdown

China Puts Alleged Olympics Terrorists on Wanted List
Wanted men are all Chinese citizens belonging to East Turkestan Islamic Movement

Chinese Take Action to Rescue Toy and Textile Industries
China raises export tax rebates on toys, textiles and other products in attempt to mitigate impact of global slowdown

The Crisis Crosses the Pacific: Rio Tinto Warns of Chinese Economy's 'pause for Breath'
Mining firm joins rivals in cutting aluminum output but produces record levels of iron ore

China Plans String of Dams in South Tibet
Officials say dams are least damaging way of providing power and raising living standards in region

Powerhouse Hopes to Stand Firm in Storm
Experts predict that relative isolation of China's financial system and high savings rate will keep it secure

China Warns Us Over Plan for $6.5bn Arms Sale to Taiwan
Proposed sale 'has contaminated atmosphere' and 'jeopardized national security'

US-Taiwan Arms Plan Highlights Tensions With China
Spokesman for China's foreign ministry said the US move would cast a shadow over bilateral relations

Chinese Cities Wake Up to a New Superfood: Yak Milk
Yak milk said to be considerably higher in calcium, vitamin A and amino acids than ordinary milk

Rush for Yorkshire Pud and Cotton Socks
Marks and Spencer open doors of first store on Chinese mainland with expansion also planned in India

China Milk Scandal Company 'asked Government to Help in Cover-up'
The company at the heart of the tainted milk powder scandal asked officials to help conceal the extent of the problem, the state media said today

Cadbury's Latest to Recall Products in Chinese Milk Scare
British confectionary company, Cadbury, has recalled Chinese-made chocolate after finding it contained melamine, as the scandal over tainted milk continued to develop

China Takes Space Leap
Flag-waving astronaut performing China's first spacewalk is milestone in ambitious program

China Launches Manned Spacecraft
Third manned space flight launches successfully as China makes strides towards moon visit

More Women Should Be in Top China Posts, Says Senior Official
Vice-president of All-China Women's Federation says economic development has led to cadres of male elite

Milk-based Products Pulled From Sale As China Scare Spreads
Tesco takes precautionary measures as unsafe levels of melamine in milk powder kill four

Q&A: China's Contaminated Milk Scandal
Tania Branigan explains the background to the contamination and the reaction of the government and the public

China, Turkey, Islam, and the Rise of the Asiatic Landmass as Center of the World (Part I)
China must set up a political and military alliance with Turkey, and subsequently get more involved in the Middle East and help Turkey rise as a new Secular "Ottoman Empire" – strong nucleus of an Islamic World in full mutation.

Head of Watchdog Resigns As Number of Babies in Hospital From Tainted Milk Rises to 13,000
Scandal has spread to more than 20 companies and affected products including fresh milk, yoghurt and ice-cream

Turkey, the Islamic World, China and the Prevalence of the Asiatic Landmass
Turkey and China must set a plan of Asiatic Islamo-Chinese political, cultural, and economic cooperation which will be extended at the level of concerted military action and alliance.

The Asiatic Landmass and the Geo-strategic Alliance Between China and Turkey
With the parallel past experience, the same historical enemies, and similar great potentialities in the future, China and Turkey must closely examine how concerted action, multifaceted cooperation and strategic alliance will guarantee for both great perspectives in the rising multi-polar world.

Chinese Reject Newest Tv Star As Too Pretty for Ugly Role
Viewers complain actress starring in China's version of Ugly Betty is too good looking

China's Ugly Betty 'not Ugly Enough'
New 'Ugly Wudi' series faces backlash over complaints that the star of the show is too good-looking

Tibet Tops Agenda in India-china Talks
Border meeting to focus on region to which Indian nationalists are staking an increasingly loud claim

Police Make More Arrests in Baby Milk Scandal in China
Three babies dead and more than 6,000 taken ill• 18 suspects arrested over scare and 87 questioned

Three Die in Tainted Baby Milk Scandal in China
Local officials knew about problem for more than a month before alerting central authorities

Chinese Governor Resigns Over Mudslide
Governor of Shanxi province was previously sacked as mayor of Beijing over the Sars outbreak

China Landslide Death Toll Continues to Rise
Number killed in landslide at illegal mine rises to at least 128

Death Toll From Chinese Mudslide Rises
Investigation launched into North Shanxi slide as hopes fade for trapped

'Negligence, Not Rain' Caused Deadly China Mudslide
Officials launch official investigation as death toll in Shanxi province rises to 56 and hopes fade for those trapped

China Officials Tighten Restrictions on Muslim Practices
Government employees and Communist members banned from fasting during Ramadan

At Least 34 Dead in China Mudslide
At least 34 have been killed and hundreds could be missing following a landslide in northern China, the official media have reported

Don't Blame Me, I Have Many Lovers, Says Corrupt Chinese Official
Corruption is a growing problem, but officials do not always come up with the best excuses when caught

China's Stockmarket Tumbles Lower
Chinese shares slid to a 20-month low today, capping the sixth straight week of bad news for the troubled stockmarket. By Tania Branigan

Beijing Talks Aim to Break North Korea Nuclear Deadlock
South Korea, Japan, US and China convene hastily-arranged meeting over stalemate

Bird's Nest Designer Takes Up Cause of Man on China's Death Row
Tania Branigan reports on a murder trial that has prompted widespread sympathy and a debate about the police's treatment of suspects

China Earthquake Death Toll Rises
Number of deaths stands at 32 with more than 400 people injured

Two Chinese Police Killed in Renewed Xinjiang Violence
Area has already seen three fatal attacks on police and government targets in run-up to Olympics

China's Lead in Race for New Nuclear Plants Could Create Uk Skills Famine
Britain's plans for new nuclear power stations will face a fierce challenge for skills and resources

China: Shanghai's Jaywalkers Face Tv Shame
Shanghai pedestrians should prepare themselves for the walk of shame, local media reported today, thanks to new plans to curb traffic violations

China Confines the Use of Olympics Gold Medalist’s Name Online
China confines the use of Olympics gold medalist’s name on line..

Chinese Skyscraper Builders to Put Up Equivalent of 10 New Yorks, Says Rio Tinto
Research suggests China will build up to 50,000 skyscrapers in next 20 years

iTunes Blocked After Tibetan Album Goes Online
Music lovers in China unable to download tracks accuse authorities of censorship

Asia: China Replaces Us As Japan's Biggest Export Market
Exports to the county's Asian neighbor outstrip those to the US for the first time since 1950

Beijing Olympics 2008: Elderly Evicted Women Given Labour Sentence
Officials say they have not approved a single permit for demonstration despite designating protest zones

Hua Guofeng
Short-term successor to Chairman Mao who was displaced by Deng Xiaoping

Elderly Women Sentenced to Year's Labour Over Olympics Protest
Wu Dianyuan, 79, and her neighbor Wang Xiuying, 77, sought to protest about their forced eviction from their homes in 2001

Shares: Slower, Lower, Weaker: China Leaves Stockmarket to Wallow During the Games
Chinese shares slumped to a 20-month low amid anxiety about the economic outlook

Sichuan Quake: China's Earthquake Reconstruction to Cost $150bn
Schools, housing for 3.9m and jobs on the agenda as repair proposals seek to redress quality shortfalls

Chinese Police Officers Stabbed to Death at Checkpoint
Three killed as far western Xinjiang region suffers bloodiest fortnight of violence in more than decade

Eleven People Dead After Suicide Attacks in Western China
A wave of a suicide bombings and police shootings left 11 people dead in western China yesterday, as Uighur Islamic separatists attempted to steal global attention from the Beijing Olympics

Eight Dead After Bombings in Western China Mars Olympic Opening Weekend
Uighur separatists storm police station and lob explosives· George Bush uses Beijing visit to promote religious freedom

Eight People Dead After Suicide Attacks in Western China
Beijing authorities mount biggest security operation as Uighur separatists' assault targets government sites

Eight Dead After Bombing in Western China Mars Olympic Opening Weekend
Uighur separatists storm police station and lob explosives· George Bush uses Beijing visit to promote religious freedom

First Day of Olympics Marred By Street Killing in Beijing
China's winning start partially overshadowed by murder-suicide involving relative of US men'svolleyball coach

Bush Keeps Freedom in Spotlight During Speech in China
US president reiterates call to protect human rights as he prepares to attend opening ceremony of Olympics

Patriot Games: China Makes Its Point With Greatest Show
Opening ceremony of 29th Olympic games outdid all predecessors in numbers, color, noise and expense

Chinese Government Unlikely to Be Involved in Hacking Pro-tibet Blog
The hackers who inserted text into a web page written by a pro-Tibet protester were probably acting on their own initiative, claims expert

Olympic Athletes Sign Letter Urging China to Respect Tibet Freedoms
Cuban hurdler and US runner among more than 40 signatories about to take part in Olympics

Stadium Designer Attacks Autocratic China
Intellectual behind Bird's Nest Olympic village center piece accuses government of 'trampling on equality'

British Protesters Deported From China
Activists who displayed a 'Free Tibet' banner outside Beijing's Olympic stadium have been forced to return to the UK

Christian Protesters Dragged From Tiananmen Square
Chinese officials swoop on American activists protesting over country's human rights record

Chinese Ban on Us Olympian Sparks Protest
The former US speedskating gold medalist Joey Cheek has had his visa for the Beijing Olympics revoked

The Reality of China's Jihadist Threat
Jason Burke: The Chinese government is blaming the attack in Kashgar on Islamic terrorists. But there is very little evidence that al-Qaida is backing them

Terrorism in China
Tension between Uighur Muslims and Han Chinese is behind attacks overshadowing Olympic Games

China on Olympic Terror Alert After Border Attack
Games organizers insist stadiums safe as 16 policemen killed and 16 injured in raid by separatists

Grenade Attack Kills 16 Policemen on Chinese Border
Attackers have killed 16 policemen and injured 16 more in a suspected terrorist raid in north-west China's restive region of Xinjiang this morning, the state media have reported

Chinese Join Imperial Pursuit
A two-way battle could be brewing for the £1.1bn London-listed oil and gas explorer

Great Walls Hide Eyesores As Migrants Told to Leave
As thousands of visitors arrive in Beijing, large numbers of residents are disappearing from view

China Lifts Ban on Tiananmen Sites
Authorities limits more internet restrictions in order to meet their Olympic Games commitments

China Seeks to Stage a Hit Out of the Mist
These are the first Olympic Games in which anticipation of the athletes' feats has been overshadowed by speculation about the very nature of the event, writes Richard Williams

Beijing Olympics: China Using Games As 'warfare,' Says Stadium Designer
Ai Weiwei launches attack on Chinese government's 'exercise in state power' violating people's rights

Bright Future for China's Solar Billionaire
Shi Zhengrong sits at the intersection of two of the most important vectors of the 21st century – China's economic rise and the global imperative to cut carbon emissions

China Accuses Us of Trying to Sabotage Olympics
Chinese government accuses US politicians of displaying 'evil motives' after House of Representatives condemns Beijing's record on human rights

China 'leads the World' in Renewable Energy
China is the world's leading producer of renewable energy and is set to become the world's biggest developer of clean technologies, according to a report

British Designs to Puzzle Chinese
Now who, as Loyd Grossman might drawl, would live in a loo like that? The sugar-pink double bathroom, by the architecture collective FAT, is one of a series of room interiors created by young British designers for a British Council exhibition which opens in China in September.

Olympics: Us Resolution Upsets China
US lawmakers accused of sabotaging games after condemning Beijing's record on human rights

Chinese Anger After Tv Station Leaks Olympics Opening Ceremony Rehearsal
South Korean TV station broadcasts secret dress rehearsal, which was then posted on YouTube

China Detains Teacher for Earthquake Photos
Liu Shaokun ordered to serve a year of 're-education through labour', campaign group says

Chinese Teacher Sent to Labour Camp for Earthquake Photos
A Chinese teacher has been sent to a labor camp over his internet photographs of schools that collapsed in the Sichuan earthquake, a rights group said today

Tariffs: Wto Talks Collapse After India and China Clash With America Over Farm Products
US object to 'special safeguard mechanism', designed to protect farmers in the developing world

China is a Law Unto Itself
Jonathan Fenby: Amnesty International reports that the host of the 2008 Olympics hasn't become any more cuddly – but it comes as no surprise

China Plays Down Terror Link As Bus Explodes
Authorities have played down reports of a bus explosion in south-west China - a week after two blasts killed two people in the same city

Trade: China Faces Loss of Firms Over Olympic Hurdles for Visa-seekers
Beijing's crackdown on entry is hindering trade and could result in a manufacturing shift to other locations in Asia

WTO: China Throws Up Barrier to Doha Agreement
Deal would liberalize international trade in agriculture, manufactured goods and services

Olympics: Wary China Readies for Some Patriot Games
The streets are awash with pride and excitement but authorities control rising nationalism

Bright Future for China's Solar Billionaire
Shi Zhengrong sits at the intersection of two of the most important vectors of the 21st century – China's economic rise and the global imperative to cut carbon emissions

Bright Future on the Horizon for China's Solar Billionaire
The world's first solar billionaire sits at the intersection of two of the most important vectors of the 21st century - China's economic rise and the global imperative to cut carbon emissions

China: Melting Glacier Leaves World's Worst Polluter With No Room for Doubt
Urumqi No1 Glacier has lost more than 20% of its volume since 1962 thanks to temperature increase of almost 1C

Energy in China: 'we Call It the Three Gorges of the Sky. The Dam There Taps Water, We Tap Wind'
Wind energy output is trumping targets, and competition between operators is fierce, but coal still reigns sup

China to Create 'protest Pens' for Demonstrations During Olympics
China will create three "protest pens" in the capital's parks to allow people to demonstrate during the Olympics, an official said today

The future of China
China has a great future.

The 2008 Beijing Olympics and what it means for China
Olympic games in China is very meaningful for Chinese people.

Police Kill Two in China After 400 Protesters Attack Officers
Government stresses need for stability in run up to Olympics but faces string of direct protests

China Hits Back After Spielberg Quits Games
Beijing says film director is misguided on Darfur and accuse critics of trying to politicize Olympics

China Issues Anti-terrorism Manual for Olympic Games
Handbook offers advice on what to do in 39 possible scenarios including chemical and nuclear attacks, abduction and arson

The Road Ahead for China
China's rural landscape has been transformed by road-building projects that have brought new wealth to remote villages, writes Jason Burke

China Sex Blogger Reveals His Identity
Blogger who wrote about his sexual exploits with Chinese women releases book

China Sex Blogger Releases Book
After provoking outrage for posting sexual exploits, anonymous Briton decides to reveal identity

Chinese Man Jailed in First Sexual Harassment Case Under New Law
Complaints rise as women become more aware of their legal rights, expert says

Manager Becomes First Man Jailed Under Chinese Harassment Laws
Man sent to prison for five months for sexually harassing subordinate

Welcome to China's Backwater - Population Five Million
China has witnessed such rapid growth in the last decade that even the cities you've never heard of are twice the size of Paris. Jason Burke reports

China May Veto Attempt to Arrest Sudanese President on Genocide Charges
China expresses 'grave concerns' at moves to arrest Omar al-Bashir on charges of genocide in Darfur

Problems Facing China And India In Modernization
Analysis of cleavages facing India and China during modernization and society...

China Can't Control Nature's 2008 Olympic Rebellion
Article about the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing,China.

China Takes Action Against Olympic 'terrorists'
Chinese security forces claimed today to have foiled five "terrorist" plots against the Olympics amid an intensifying pre-games crackdown that has seen police kill five Uighur Muslim suspects and deport a British-Tibetan woman in the past two days

China Kills Five Muslim 'militants' in Olympic Crackdown
Chinese authorities today claimed they had foiled an attempt to sabotage next month's Beijing Olympics as they confirmed the shooting dead of five alleged Muslim militants

China Resumes Direct Flights to Taiwan After 60 Years
Flights signal thaw in relations as 1 million Chinese a year expected to make trip

Faces in a Billion
From struggling peasants, yak farmers and factory workers to night-club dancers, this is how China looks as it readies itself for the Olympic Games. Jonathan Watts report

China and Taiwan Begin Direct Flights
Thawing of relations under new president in Taipei brings agreement for regular air links - the first since 1949

China should increase vigilance against bird flu, says an expert
Many health experts worldwide believe that the H5N1 strains of bird flu could mutate into a further form, one which can easily infect and pass from human to human resulting in a pandemic unparallel by anything seen historically.

Earthquake Costs China Over ?73bn
China's devastating earthquake will cost around 4% of its GDP

Chinese Police Reopen Investigation Into Girl's Death After Huge Protests
Investigation reopened into death of teenage girl after rumors of cover-up spark riot in south-west China

Thousands Riot in China After Death of Teenage Girl
Villagers take to the streets in Guizhou amid claims that officials covered up 16-year-old's death

The Nest Generation
The build-up to this summer's Olympics has been dominated by controversy in Tibet and a tragic earthquake. To start our Beijing special, Ed Vulliamy visits the city to witness a test event at the stunning athletics stadium and finds out what locals think of the Games

Corrupt Chinese Officials 'revealing Crimes to Mistresses'
Anti-corruption investigators say men are being compromised by admitting their indiscretions during pillow talk

Kiss-and-tell Stories Expose Chinese Corruption
Anti-corruption investigators in China warn mistresses can damage officials' careers and marriages

Scandal of the Cancer Villages Lurks Behind China's 'green' Makeover
Activists have been gagged and lawsuits buried until after the Olympics

Chinese Officials Sacked Over Handling of Earthquake
Officials have been sacked for dereliction of duty in response to last month's earthquake that killed more than 69,000 people in China

Surging Demand From Chinese Industry Allows Rio Tinto to Double Iron Ore Price
BHP says price rises reflect supply and demand and deny that steel makers will be disadvantaged

Scandal of the Cancer Villages Lurks Behind China's 'green' Makeover
Activists have been gagged and lawsuits buried until after the Olympics

Chinese Discover First Rule of Investing - What Goes Up Must Come Down
Small shareholders who stampeded into the market count the cost as golden years come to an end

China and Japan Agree on Joint Gas Exploration of East China Sea
Plan raises hopes for a breakthrough on one of the most contentious issues dividing east Asia's two most powerful nations

China Olympic Crackdown Grows
Communist officials warn spectators to stay at home and watch Olympic torch relay on television

Beijing Olympics 2008: Torch Relay Reaches Muslim West China
Authorities tell spectators to stay home and watch on television as flame arrives in autonomous Uighur community

Quake Survivors Among Million Forced to Flee Homes By Floods
Seventy thousand survivors among those evacuated as storms dumped huge volumes of water into already swollen rivers

China Floods Displace 1m People
More than a million people have been forced to flee their homes in southern China by major flooding that has cost 57 lives and added to the misery of last month's earthquake

1 Million Displaced By China Floods
More than a million people have been forced to flee their homes in southern China by major flooding that has cost 57 lives and added to the misery of last month's earthquake

China and Japan Reach Gas Deal
Japan and China on verge of ending long-running battle over potentially lucrative energy sources in East China Sea with agreement to jointly develop gas fields along disputed maritime border

China's Carbon Emissions Soaring Past the Us
The country was responsible for two-thirds of the total increase in global CO2 emissions in 2007, but it remains far behind the US on emissions per person

Chinese Media Blocked As Parents Seek Justice Over Collapsed Schools
Chinese journalists were instructed to focus on upbeat stories about the relief effort following the Sichuan earthquake as foreign reporters were denied entry to the area affected by the quake. By Jonathan Watts in Beijing

Young Author Gives a Voice to China's Rebel Generation
Tang Chao, 15, tops bestseller lists with a dark and brooding tale for China's 'Generation Z'

Chinese Troops Unleash Controlled Flood
Soldiers used dynamite to drain a dangerously unstable 'quake lake' in the mountains of Sichuan

Controlled Flood Eases China Quake Lake Fears
Torrent of muddy water and debris roars down from Sichuan mountains after soldiers blast open three channels through landslide

Chinese Troops Blast Sichuan Quake Lake
Soldiers use explosives to drain unstable quake dam

China Bans Fireworks in Beijing Ahead of Olympics
Chinese officials ban fireworks in Beijing from July 1 to October 8

Sichuan Earthquake: Tragedy Brings New Mood of Unity
Government wins praise for reaction as the young lead surge in patriotic sentiment

Army Blasts Unstable Quake Lake As Flood Threat Rises
Chinese troops have begun detonating explosives to accelerate drainage of an unstable mountain

Mission Grounds Builds A Third School In China
As Mission Grounds expands to sell coffee in Whole Foods Markets and across the South in Krogers; it continues to build schools and orphanages across the globe.

Parents Pray As 10 Million Chinese Teenagers Sit Make-or-break Exam
With only six million university places at stake, the results can spell the difference between poverty and plenty, reports Jason Burke in Beijing

Remembering Tiananmen
Jonathan Fenby: The massacre in Beijing, 19 years ago today, is officially a non-event but in reality it was a crucial moment in China's history

Charles Takes on China to Save Ming Dynasty Houses From Beijing's Concrete Carbuncles
Prince urges authorities to turn historic hutongs near Tiananmen Square into low-carbon eco homes

China Urged to Release Tiananmen Square Prisoners
Civil rights activists called on the Chinese government today to release more than 100 prisoners from the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests as a sign of its commitment to improve human rights ahead of this summer's Olympic Games

Is This Really China's Biggest Coward?
Jon Henley: Teacher Fan Meizhong admits to being a coward after leaving a classroom of pupils as the Sichuan earthquake struck

Beijing Lays Down Strict Olympic Guidelines for Foreign Visitors
Suspected terrorists, subversives and people with STDs among those barred from entering China

Chinese Police Break Up Protest of Grieving Parents
Parents protest over collapse of schools destroyed in earthquake

Police Break Up Protest By Parents of China Earthquake Victims
Parents prevented from protesting about the deaths of their children in poorly constructed schools during last month's earthquake

Chinese Bloggers Slip Censors' Net to Attack Smiling Party Boss
Angry Chinese internet users have launched an online campaign against an earthquake official accused of grinning too much. By Jonathan Watts

Chinese Bloggers Slip Censors' Net to Attack Smiling Party Boss
Angry Chinese internet users launch online campaign against earthquake official accused of grinning too much

China Earthquake: 200,000 Flee From Growing Sichuan Lake
Survivors of earthquake are evacuated as fear of flooding in south-west China grows

Food Diary: Shenzhen, China
A look at the daily diet of Shi Ying, a member of China's growing urban middle class

Food Diary: Hangzhou, China
A look at the daily diet of Shi Ying, a member of China's growing urban middle class

From Poverty and Hunger to Fast-food Outlets in Two Generations
Rising demand for meat from a growing middle class is destabilizing world food prices

More Wealth, More Meat. How China's Rise Spells Trouble
Rising demand for meat from a growing middle class is destabilizing world food prices

Aid Mission to See First Japanese Troops in China for 60 Years
Japan is preparing to send a military unit to western China to distribute emergency relief to earthquake victims, in what would be the first dispatch of Japanese troops to China since the second world war

Soldiers Battle to Ease Flood Risk for Chinese Earthquake Survivors
Chinese troops began digging channels today to try to drain a huge lake formed by the Sichuan earthquake that threatens to flood an area occupied by more than a million survivors

'Quake Lake' Flood Fears for 1.3m People
Chinese officials prepare for mass evacuation as death toll expected to exceed 80,000

Phoenix City Tangshan Wins Battle for Life After Devastation
As Sichuan's devastated quake zone turns its attention to rebuilding it should look to Tangshan for inspiration

Tremor Injures 400 As Flood Risk Grows
Latest aftershock worst since Sichuan triggering fresh mudslides and destroying 71,000 houses

Independence Day May Go With Less of a Bang After Accident in China
Shortfall in fireworks expected over July 4 celebrations after massive blast at fireworks factory in China

China Earthquake: Un Chief Visits Disaster Zone As Toll Reaches 60,000
Ban Ki-moon tours quake epicenter and promises Chinese government help with reconstruction

Quake Patients Face Transfer As Hospitals Struggle to Cope
Thousands of injured earthquake victims to be moved to neighboring provinces to avoid overwhelming local hospitals

China Earthquake Death Toll Tops 55,000
Grim news comes as Save the Children says quake is the biggest disaster for the world's children in seven years

Chinese Quake Forced 3m Children From Homes
Sichuan earthquake biggest disaster for world's children in seven years, as death toll jumps above 51,000

China Earthquake 'biggest Disaster for Children in Seven Years'
The Sichuan earthquake is the biggest disaster for the world's children in seven years, says Save the Children, as the overall death toll jumped above 51,000

China Earthquake Deaths Top 50,000
As death toll rises, authorities appeal 3m tents to shelter the homeless

China Dissident Held 'for Criticising Quake Response'
Chinese police have detained a political dissident because of remarks he made about the government's handling of the Sichuan earthquake, according to his family and supporters

Pupils Saved After One School Stands Firm in Quake
All 483 pupils in school survived quake and were marched to safety over mountains by staff

New Taiwanese President Reaches Out to China
Taiwan's president called for a new era of cooperation with the Chinese mainland today in an inaugural speech that could set the stage for an easing of the hostilities that have plagued cross-Straits relations for almost 50 years

Foreign Aid Arrives As Quake Region's Death Toll Nears 40,000
Foreign medical teams and mobile hospital equipment dispatched to quake area following government appeals

One Week On, Focus Shifts Towards Preventing Disease
As hopes fade of finding more survivors, China is shifting its focus to protect the living from a second disaster: disease

Back to School for Orphans of Sichuan
Makeshift classes set up to help survivors as national mourning period starts

China Mourns As Death Toll Rises
China begins three days of mourning with a nationwide silence starting one week after the 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck

The Last Photo of Zhou Yao, 14 - One of Thousands of Children Killed at Their Desks
Her body was found hours after the Juyuan Middle School collapsed in an earthquake last Monday

Deadly Aftershock Jolts Sichuan As Mourning Begins
1,000 hurt and three killed on eve of nationwide silence to start three days of recognition of disaster victims

Light Fades for Victims in Town Hit By Apocalypse
Agonising wait for bodies to be retrieved keeps many from joining mass exodus from Chinese town of Yingxiu

China Quake Boy Found Alive
An eight-year-old boy was among several survivors pulled from the rubble in the town of Beichuan

Flooding Fears Disrupt China Quake Rescue Efforts
Official death toll in China rises to almost 29,000, as thousands of people are evacuated from areas near the epicenter amid fears of flooding

Beijing's Quick Response to Disaster Won't Cover Cracks of Corruption
Will Hutton: Many earthquake deaths could have been avoided - and the people know it

Flood Fears Spark Evacuation From Quake-hit City
Official death toll in China rises to almost 29,000 as thousands of people are evacuated from areas near the epicentre amid fears of flooding

In Overflowing Refugee Camp, Anger, Fear and a Few Rays of Hope
With homes and families lost, grieving survivors of Sichuan's disaster ask why so many of the victims were children

In the Rubble of a School, Bodies Everywhere - Too Many to Count
Chinese quake has wiped out an entire community in Beichuan, where 8,000 people are still missing

'Boulders and Rocks Were Flying Overhead'
Britons tell of Chinese rescue and how earthquake struck as they were visiting panda reserve

China Appeals for Heavy Lifting Equipment As Time Runs Out to Find Earthquake Survivors
Chinese government makes emergency appeal for cranes and heavy lifting equipment amid warnings that time is running out to rescue survivors

Chinese Earthquake Toll May Soar to 50,000
The death toll from China's earthquake could soar to 50,000 people, state television said today.

Survivors of Quake Urged to Hang on As Troops Arrive
Chinese government officials warn that situation is 'much worse than expected' close to epicenter

Chinese Earthquake Toll Tops 19,500
Sichuan gives flood warning as number of casualties expected to soar

Troops Sent to Repair Quake-hit Chinese Dam
2,000 Chinese troops sent to repair 'extremely dangerous' cracks in dam upstream of earthquake-hit city where 500,000 people live

China Says 26,000 Buried in Quake Rubble
State media says another 14,000 people are missing after quake disaster

120 Britons Believed to Be in Quake Zone
British embassy officials trying to trace British travellers who have not yet been accounted for

For Desperate Mountain Survivors, a Kind of Haven
A helicopter drop of water and food had proved fruitless: the bottles and packages broke and spilled open as they hit the ground

'The Mountains Are Sliding Down'
Tania Branigan reports from Hanwang, a temporary haven for thousands of survivors of China's devastating earthquake

Quake-damaged Dam Could Flood City
Chinese officials have warned that a second disaster could hit the south-western city of Dujiangyan, where 500,000 people live, after Monday's earthquake caused cracks to appear in a dam protecting the city

Terror is Ingredient Binding Us and China
The relationship between the US and China came of age today as the presidents of both countries pledged long-term cooperation and a joint fight against terrorism, while playing down their disagreements.

Survivors Plead for Aid As Quake Toll Hits 20,000
The official death toll from the earthquake in south-west China has grown to 20,000 and is expected to go on rising steeply, as survivors plead for aid to reach towns cut off by the disaster

More Than 12,000 Dead in China Quake As Rescuers Struggle to Reach Injured
The death toll from the earthquake in China has risen above 12,000 in one province alone as rescuers struggle to reach victims

Authorities Coping With Disaster Without Need for Outside Help
China mobilized army and emergency workers within hours of appreciating severity of earthquake

Searching the Rubble of a Chinese School, Parents' Grief Turns to Fury
Families blame officials for weak buildings and soldiers for delays, as hope of finding survivors wanes

'This is Not a Natural Disaster - This is Done By Humans'
Distress turns to anger at Chinese soldiers and officials over the response to the huge earthquake

No Quick Fixes
Leader: There is a telling contrast between China's handling of a natural disaster and Burma's

No Post-Olympic Recession for China - Economist
China had plenty of investment prospects as the country was to host the World Expo and the Asian Games in 2010, and a few other important international events after the Olympic Games.

Villagers Tell of Fight to Survive - and Desperate Search for Food
In Kun Gyan Gon dead bodies are scattered along the road into town and the sickly sweet stench of death is everywhere

China Earthquake Kills Thousands
The death toll from the most deadly earthquake to hit China in more than three decades today reached nearly 10,000 in Sichuan province alone, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported

Thousands Die in China Quake
Rescuers struggle to reach victims as state media put death toll at 10,000 in worst affected province

Surrounded By Death, Survivors Fear More Shocks
People had spent the night in the open, too terrified to return home in case weakened buildings collapse

Earthquake Hits Western China
An earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale struck western China today, with tremors felt as far away as Thailand

Chinese Crowds Delay Torch Relay
Flame is accidentally extinguished as security forces struggle to hold back crowd of millions

China Carries Olympic Flame to Everest Peak
Five mountaineers escort the flame to the 8,848-meter peak after a six-hour climb in strong winds

Chateau China, a Taste of Wines to Come With Climate Change
Report on predictions for wine-making identifies world's top producers in 50 years

Olympic Torch Reaches Everest Peak
China's ambitious plans to bear an Olympic flame to the top of the world's highest mountain finally paid off today, as the torch reached the summit of Everest

Bank on Mint to Prove Too Hot for Oaks Rivals
Attention has turned to the Cheshire Oaks after the favorite, Chinese White, was declared doubtful

Ping-pong Diplomacy Back on Table As Chinese Premier Visits Japan
First visit to Japan by Chinese president in 10 years as relationship between regional rivals improves

Met Defends Behaviour of Chinese Torch Guards Branded Thugs By Coe
Robert Broadhurst admits the police had not anticipated the torch would come under attack

China's Hu Hails Diplomatic Thaw on Japan Visit
East Asia's biggest rivals welcome 'warm spring' to replace winter chill that has long cut through their relationship

'Magic' Number Plates Save Speeding Chinese Drivers
It's the kind of invention that would make Q proud. But unlike James Bond, Chinese drivers are using technology to save their pockets rather than their country

Beijing Fears Spread of Child Virus
Fears about the rapid spread of an intestinal virus that has killed 26 young children reached the Chinese capital today, as it emerged that doctors have recorded almost 1,500 cases of hand, foot and mouth disease in Beijing

China Employs Sing-song Diplomacy
Beijing arranges for China's Philharmonic orchestra to play at Vatican in hope of thawing frosty relations

Chinese White Jumps to Head of Oaks Betting
Chinese White's odds for the Oaks have been cut following a comprehensive victory in the Victor McCalmont Memorial Stakes

Health Warning in China As Fears Grow Over Child Virus
With 24 children already dead and 5,000 infected, cases may continue to rise as weather becomes warmer

China's Olympic Riding Hope is Eton Schoolboy
Stardom awaits the teenage horse jumper from Sussex as he competes in Beijing for the host nation

Lorenzo in Doubt After Big Spill in China
Jorge Lorenzo chipped an ankle bone coming off his bike in practice for the Shanghai MotoGP

China Opens Longest Sea Bridge
22-mile bridge sea bridge links Shanghai to the industrial city of Ningbo 75 miles across Hangzhou Bay

Chinese Factory to Supply One in Four Bibles
China to open a new printing press that will employ 600 non-Christian locals producing 23 Bibles a minute

China Critic Mia Farrow Allowed Into Hong Kong
Immigration officers allow actor to enter country despite banning of other campaigners before Olympic torch relay

Chinese Officials Failed to Raise Alarm Over Killer Viral Illness
Rapid spread of intestinal virus kills at least 20 children and infects almost 1,900

Mystery Over Olympic Flame's Ascent of Mount Everest
China celebrates the arrival of the Olympic flame on domestic soil as it arrives in Hong Kong

167 Children Rescued in China Child Labour Crackdown
Chinese police have rescued 167 children sold into labor in factories after an undercover newspaper investigation alleged that more than 1,000 had been sold "like cabbages", reports said today

China Tries to Calm Fears Over Virus Outbreak
The Chinese government has dispatched medical experts to eastern Anhui province in a bid to curb a rapidly spreading outbreak of an intestinal virus that has killed at least 20 children

Q&A: China's Climate Change Plans
Q&A: David Adam on China's climate change plans, and what they mean for the UN process

Negligence Blamed As 70 Die in Chinese Rail Crash
Government dismisses two senior railway officials within hours of worst train accident for a decade

China Says 70 Dead in Train Crash
Toll could rise further in country's worst rail disaster since 1997

Rail Crash Kills 66 in China
At least 66 passengers have died in China's worst rail crash for over a decade, the official state media reported this morning

Russia's Richest Man Prefers Hong Kong to London Listing
Oleg Deripaska intends to float his multi billion-pound aluminum business in China

China Ridicules Dalai Lama, Despite 'talks'
The Communist party's official mouthpiece has poured fresh scorn on the Dalai Lama

Tibet, China, and the West
The best defense for China, as regards Tibet, is the transfer of the dispute inside the Western countries whereby Human Rights are not respected at all; China must internationalize issues like Scotland, Brittany, Corsica, Polynesia,, Catalonia, Bask Land, Galicia, etc.

Chinese Stock Market Rockets 9%
Shanghai Composite Index makes its second largest rise this decade after government cuts tax on share trading

Zimbabwe Arms Shipment Returns to China
China today said a shipment of arms destined for Zimbabwe had been recalled after southern African countries refused to allow the weapons to be unloaded

China Cancels Top Music Festival As Red Tape for Foreigners Grows
Ahead of the Beijing Olympics, events have been scrapped and travel restrictions toughened

Liang Downs Off-form Doherty
China's Liang Wenbo eliminated off-form Ken Doherty 10-5, putting the Irishman out of the top 16

China Arms Ship Left With No Port of Call As Britain and Us Apply Pressure
Joint diplomatic offensive on southern African states and China to stop Chinese ship carrying weapons for Zimbabwean government

Maguire Sneaks Home to Take China Open
Stephen Maguire won the China Open by a margin of one frame in a tight final against Shaun Murphy

China Issues Jail Threat in New Food Safety Law
Chinese authorities unveil draft law aimed at manufacturers who produce substandard food

Shanghai Shares Stay Shaky
New share trading restrictions announced at the weekend offer only limited boost to China's slumping stocks

The Most Potent Weapon Wielded By the Empires of Murdoch and China
George Monbiot: A riveting account of two of the world's most powerful forces has been ignored - blame anticipatory compliance

China Threatens Life in Jail in Food Safety Crackdown
Manufacturers who produce sub-standard food could be jailed for life under a new draft law unveiled by Chinese authorities

'If You Go Away ... Will It Be Able to Get You Back?'
The scores of hybrids at the China Auto Show suggest environmental issues are making their mark in China

Chinese Nationalists Hit at Carrefour Over Tibet
Thousands protest following rumor that French supermarket chain had donated money to Dalai Lama

China Triumph Gives Mcgrane First Tour Title
McGrane shines in wet weather to win the China Open by nine strokes

Tibetan Protesters Defy Police Crackdown in Western China
Police beat and detain monks and others calling for the release of protesters held after demonstrations last month, say activist groups

Court Bars Unloading of Chinese Cargo
Chinese ship carrying a consignment of weaponry for Zimbabwe has left South African waters after a court blocked the onward overland shipment of the cargo

Adidas Taken to Court Over Chinese Footballer's Kit
Nike and Adidas tussle over the right to endorsement of captain of the Chinese national team

Chinese Economy Maintains Formidable Growth
China's economy grew by 10.6% in the first quarter of the year but inflation rate of 8.3% causes concern

Tibetan Singer Missing After Arrest By Chinese Officials
Husband says Jamyang Kyi was detained by security forces after last month's demonstrations in Lhasa

China Tries to Tackle Inflation As Growth Exceeds 10% for 5th Year
Overall price level remains high despite the global downturn, severe winter weather and tighter lending

China Says Crackdown Revealed 31,000 Cases of Illicit Land Seizure
China punishes thousands for illegal land grabs, following a crackdown on the practice, officials announce

Gucci Stamps Out Shoe Scam
Gucci wins lawsuit against Chinese shoemaker after complaining logo was being used on counterfeit sandals

Chinese Ambassador Warns of Backlash
Envoy says western media's 'demonisation' of China could lead to backlash against the west

Darling Woos China's Wealth Fund
The chancellor will also use his trip to China to ease relations strained over Tibet and the Olympics

China Arrests Nine Monks for Alleged Bomb Attack in Tibet
Associated Press told six monks detained for planting bomb and three for shielding suspects

Ditch the Tatty Flag of Nationalism
Isabel Hilton: When it took on the games, China promised heroic efforts for change. But the torch debacle has left it snarling in a corner

China Reverses Plan to Reopen Tibet to Tourism
The Chinese authorities appear to have U-turned on plans to allow foreigners back into Tibet next month amid fears that protesters could disrupt the Olympic flame's trip to the summit of Everest

China Claims to Have Foiled Olympic Kidnap Plot
China says it has uncovered two terrorist gangs aiming to kidnap athletes at this summer's Olympics and attack tourist hotels

Doubts Surround China Claim Over Olympics Kidnap Plot
China says it has uncovered two terrorist gangs aiming to kidnap athletes at this summer's Olympics and attack tourist hotels

Monks Interrupt State Media Trip in Protest at Chinese Crackdown
Lamas carrying banned Tibetan flag disrupt media tour, accuse Chinese authorities of high handed tactics

Tibetan Monks Interrupt State Media Tour
Monks burst out of monastery building and rush across to group of Chinese and foreign journalists.

Tang Dynasty Travel Co. Ltd.
Tang Dynasty Travel is a relatively new company in the China tour operator arena.

Protests Are 'outbursts of Long Pent-up Anguish'
Chinese viewers able to watch disruption of London's torch relay on state television amidst ongoing protests

China's 'flame Attendants' and World's Most Guarded Relay
Over twenty attendants, thought to be from Chinese security services, guarded the torch every step of the way

Two Killed at Pro-tibet Rally in China
A police officer and a Tibetan monk were killed in Sichuan province, southern China, it was reported today, after another Tibetan independence demonstration turned violent

Ly Bar, Balham - Disappoints
I went to the Ly Bar in Balham a couple of weeks ago. A friend and I had been meaning to try it for a while and finally got round to it on a dark and windy Wednesday night. I've been living in Balham for two years, and was looking to try some good Chinese food.

New Clashes in China on Eve of Torch's Arrival in Uk
Reports of up to eight dead after Chinese police fire on protesters in Sichuan province

New Clashes in Tibet on Eve of Torch's Arrival in Uk
Reports of up to eight dead after Chinese police fire on protesters in Sichuan province

Chinese State Fund Buys 1.6% in Total
Administration of Foreign Exchange gradually building up holding in France's biggest private sector group

China Jails Prominent Activist
Chinese court jails Hu Jai for three and a half years on subversion charges, prompting international outcry

Muslim 'separatists' Protest As Unrest Spreads in China
Muslim Uighurs have held anti-government protests in the far western region of Xinjiang, Chinese officials have acknowledged, blaming separatists inspired by the unrest in Tibet.

China Claims Dalai Lama Ready to Foment Violence and Mount Suicide Attacks
Dalai Lama denies planning suicide attacks in the wake of Lhasa's violent protests

China Welcomes Olympic Torch Amid Tight Security
Under tight restrictions Beijing is host to an ambitious and controversial Olympic opening ceremony

Olympic Flame Handed to China Amid Protests
Pro-Tibetan protesters scuffle with security officials, as head of Greek committee calls for 'respect'

From Florence to Shanghai, Ferragamo Eyes a Makeover
Traditional Italian fashion house is in a hurry to reinvent itself in China

'It's Harvest Season for Me'
Of the latest crop of Chinese stars, Sa Dingding stands highest. Will the world bite, asks Robin Denselow

Tibetan Monks Disrupt Chinese Show of Stability
Protesting monks accuse the Chinese government of lying to outside world on their trip to Lhasa

China Brings Foreign Press on Day Trip to Riot-hit Tibetan City
Government invites journalists to Lhasa to show the world how order has been restored

Miliband Attacks China's Rights Record and Calls for Tibet Talks
The Foreign Office warns that international scrutiny would increase as the Olympics approached

China Lifts Block on Bbc Site
No comment on apparent change of policy which has surprised even the BBC

Two Killed at Pro-tibet Rally in China
A policeman and a Tibetan monk were killed in Sichuan province, southern China, it was reported today, after another Tibetan independence demonstration turned violent

Chinese Dissident Jailed for Five Years After Human Rights Petition
Unemployed former factory worker Yang Chunlin, found guilty of subversion after speaking out for farmers

Taiwan Plots Conciliatory Path on China After Ma's Election Victory
Taiwan's Nationalist president-elect has vowed to ensure his country is a 'peacemaker'

Taiwan Ballot Boosts Links With Mainland
Tension between Taiwan and mainland China looks set to ease with a Nationalist party victory in the island's presidential election

Western Stance Infuriates Young Chinese Fed on Government Propaganda
Many Chinese who have bypassed censorship to read foreign media are baffled by the view of Tibet they see there

Pro-China Candidate Wins Taiwan Election
Nationalist candidate promises to prioritize improved business ties with the mainland

Pelosi Urges World to Condemn China Over Crackdown
US speaker stops short of Olympic boycott call but pressure grows for leaders to stay away from opening ceremony

China Admits Shooting Tibet Protesters
State-run news agency reports unrest spreading to Sichuan and Gansu provinces

China Acknowledges Spread of Tibet Protests
State run news agency reports unrest in Sichuan and Gansu provinces

One Dream Ideal Now a Beijing Nightmare Waiting to Happen
Lawrence Donegan: The IOC has been guilty of moral cowardice by failing to monitor China's progress on human rights

Deaths and Disruption As Price Rise Sees Copper Thefts Soar
With Chinese market fueling demand, thieves target signal wire, piping in homes, and even bronze statues

In Ever-widening Security Cordon, a Palpable Fear
"I am worried. China is so big. Tibetans are so few. We cannot possibly win. No good can come of this for Tibetans", says lama

Brown Tells China He Will Meet Dalai Lama During London Visit
PM risks cooling diplomatic relations with China after announcing he'll meet Tibet's spiritual leader

China Releases Wanted List of Lhasa Rioters
Pictures released of 12 people wanted in connection with Tibet disturbances

China Claims Rioters Surrender As Lhasa 'returns to Normal'
China seeks to underscore its control of Tibet by claiming over 100 rioters have surrendered to police

China's Pm Accuses Protesters of Trying to Sabotage Games
Dalai Lama 'clique' blamed for masterminding Tibetan riots as unrest spreads to neighboring provinces

ONLF, the African Fighters for Ogaden’s Liberation and Democracy
The longer Jendayi Frazer stays in her position the better for China’s interests in Africa; this situation, at the time of the Lhasa insurgence, must take a short end.

Chinese Race Past Americans to Top of World Internet League
Number of users increasing by 200,000 a day with dotcom business sector expanding rapidly

Fears of Unrest As Inflation in China Hits 12-year High
Jump in consumer price index to 8.7% sparks heated debate about causes, and potential response

Chinese Inflation Alarms Authorities
Inflation in China soared again last month to 8.7%, the highest rate in almost 12 years

China Proclaims Big Fall in Executions After Court Reforms
Rights groups welcome curb on executions but say numbers are still huge

China Claims Cut in Execution Rates
Only 'extremely vile criminals' were executed in China last year, the country's most senior judge declared today, lauding the success of efforts to curb the death penalty.

China's Trade Surplus 63% Down
China's oft-criticized trade surplus falls dramatically in unusually weak period for exports

Follow China's Aid Lead, Sudan Urges West
Sudanese government urges European countries to stop posturing and follow China's lead in assisting the country's economic development

China's One-child Policy to Stay ... for Now
China's top family planning official insists one-child policy will not change substantially over the next decade

Terrorists Tried to Crash Jet, China Claims
China Southern airline employees said to have prevented attack by group plotting to target Olympics

Look! It's the Brand New Face of China
No nation on earth is changing so swiftly as China. A remarkable exhibition at the V&A tells the story of the designers busy reimagining their country

Lawyer Missing After Criticising China's Human Rights Record
Prominent human rights lawyer missing, presumed detained, after police warned him against talking to foreign press

Blair to Teach at Yale University
Tony Blair is to take up a senior academic post in the autumn at one of America's most prestigious universities teaching politics and religion.

US Army Plans to Revamp Food Rations
If Napoleon was right about an army marching on its stomach, then the US' military might just got a little mightier

Chinese Economy Faces Fight Against Overheating
The Chinese economy faces a "difficult" battle against inflation and overheating, the country's premier, Wen Jiabao warned as he opened the annual session of the national political congress with a pessimistic forecast today

China Tries to Apply Brakes to Economy
China's economy faces a 'difficult' battle against inflation and overheating, warns premier

Funding Boost for China's Military
China's military is to receive another hefty budget increase, with a 17.6% rise in funding to beef up its capabilities and ease the lives of more than two million troops

Björk's Tibet Protest Offends Chinese Fans
Fans criticize outburst of 'Tibet! Tibet!' at the end of song Declare Independence at a concert in Shanghai

Cutting Tv Time Makes Children Healthier, Says Us Study
Stopping children from watching TV really does make them healthier and less fat, according to a study. By James Randerson

Conrad Black Expects 'bookish' Role Teaching French in Prison - Temporarily
Disgraced press baron Conrad Black has begun his new life as US federal prisoner. By Andrew Clark

Financial Media Row With China Goes to Wto
The EU and US have stepped up pressure on China to allow foreign financial information agencies to provide services direct to their clients. By David Gow

Will Eu See the Light?
Producers fall out over Mandelson's plan to end anti-dumping duties on Chinese energy-saving light bulbs

US 'ready for Emissions Targets'
US willing to cut gas emissions if China and India agree to match the commitment

China Cracks Down on Water Polluters As River Foams Red
Under new laws bosses could be fined up to half their annual income if their companies are convicted of polluting water

China's Biggest Plastic Bag Maker Closes After Ban
China's war against 'white pollution' claims first victim with closure of its biggest plastic bag manufacturer

2.5 Million Lack Water in China
Drought affecting as much as 11m hectares (27.5m acres) of land

Sound Principles
Tania Branigan meets 102-year-old Zhou Youguang, credited with helping millions of Chinese to read and write

Families Feel Pinch As Inflation Threatens Economic Miracle
Leaders in China fear social unrest with poor hit hardest by huge rises in food prices

China Accuses Us of Double Standards Over Satellite Strike
US navy fires missile from Pacific Ocean warship to destroy failed satellite amid claims the Pentagon is militarizing space

Sound Principles
Tania Branigan meets 102-year-old Zhou Youguang, credited with helping millions of Chinese to read and write

Alarm Over New Oil-from-coal Plans
Chinese energy company to open chemical plant to make synthetic diesel, dubbed 'Nazi fuel'; campaigners say process will worsen global warming

China Faces Renewed Criticism As Dissident's Subversion Trial Starts
China under renewed pressure as activist goes on trial for protesting that Olympics took precedence over human rights

Fear That China Will Push Up World Inflation After Prices Rise 7%
Beijing announces sharpest rise in the cost of living in 11 years, raising fears of global inflation

Elite Chinese Thinktank Urges Political Reform and Press Freedoms
Top Communist party think tank warns alternatives to reform are economic damage, worsening corruption and public discontent

Up A Mountain
There were three men, black, white and a Chinese…

'This is Like a Fantasy'
He wears sparkly suits, cries when he plays and is treated like a rock star. But is he any good? Stephen Moss meets Chinese piano-playing phenomenon Lang Lang

China Hits Back After Spielberg Quits Games
Beijing says film director is misguided on Darfur and accuse critics of trying to politicize Olympics

What is China Doing in Darfur?
Chris McGreal: China stands accused of twin responsibilities over Darfur

China Feels Heat As Activists Take Their Cue From Spielberg
Focus on Darfur as human rights campaigners salute film director and vow to target Olympic sponsors

China Calls Spielberg's Resignation From Olympic Role 'unfair'
Beijing says oscar-winning director is 'irresponsible' for pulling out over objections to its acquiescence in Darfur

US Charges Two With Spying for Chinese
Former Boeing engineer and analyst with US defense department charged with supplying military secrets to China

Man Accused of Giving China Shuttle Secrets
Former Boeing engineer arrested by counter-intelligence officers at home in California

Games Hopeful Criticises China Over Darfur
British Olympic hopeful refuses to maintain 'polite silence' in face of China's human rights record

Snowstorms in China Wreck an Area of Forest Larger Than England
A tenth of China's forests ravaged amid warnings of further severe weather

Slow Growth in China Fuels Overseas Ambitions
Digger: The Premier League's global market isn't as large as some would think, writes Matt Scott

As the Rat Replaces the Pig, China Enters a Year That Defines Its Future
A time for celebration, but rising prices and Olympic fever raise expectations

Crushed Aboard, Four to a Bunk, the Lucky Few Head Home
In the second of her special dispatches on the trail of Chinese migrant workers battling against the snow and ice to get back to their families for new year, Tania Branigan reports from frozen Hunan province

Cramped But Content, China's Migrant Workers Head Home
As millions of Chinese go home for lunar new year, journeys delayed by snow and ice, Tania Branigan joins the crush on one northbound train

Sermon for a Carbon Fast
Zoe Williams: The church should keep up its climate preaching. It is taken more seriously than politicians or media

Migrant Workers Bear the Brunt of China's Transport Chaos As Cold Snap Continues
Ice and snow storms have paralyzed much of China's transport system at its busiest time - the new year, migrant workers' one chance to return home to see their families

China Arrests Leading Rights Activist
State security forces arrest one of country's most prominent civil rights activists in apparent crackdown on dissent ahead of Olympics

Half a Million Troops to Fight Snow in China
China has deployed almost half a million soldiers alongside police and emergency workers struggling to restore road and rail links, power and water as blizzards and ice storms continue to rage

25 Die As Bus Plunges Off Icy Road in China
Accident comes as exceptionally heavy snow covers country

China Hits Out at Attempts to Politicise Olympics
Attempts to use Beijing Olympics to discredit China or make it change policy doomed to failure, the leading communist party newspaper says

24 Die in Worst Chinese Blizzards for 50 Years
Blizzards stranded hundreds of thousands of travelers in China yesterday as forecasters warned that further severe snowstorms were on their way

Snowstorms Cause Havoc in China
Bad weather in China causes havoc for millions of people as the country battles the heaviest snowstorms in 50 years

EU Plans Tighter Safety After Recalls of Lethal Chinese Toys
Europe-wide legislation to ban dangerous substances in toys and outlaw those with small detachable parts which could be swallowed was proposed yesterday by the EU, after a series of recalls in the past year of millions of potentially lethal toys made in China

China's Secret Police Target Britain's Sailors in Spying Row
Digger: Chinese secret police have accused Britain's Olympic sailing team of conducting 'illegal meteorological surveys', writes Matt Scott

Stepping Into the Shoes of a Living Successful Designer is Difficult. They Have Gone Against Type With Their Choice
Hadley Freeman: Does Alessandra Facchinetti have what it takes to follow in the footsteps of the legendary Valentino?

Fossilised Skull May End Row Over Origin of 1.3bn Chinese
Archaeologists hail biggest find since Peking Man· Discovery came as team were about to leave site

Ancient Skull Offers Clues to Origins of Chinese
Chinese archaeologists hail biggest domestic discovery for almost 80 years after unearthing ancient skull that could provide a clue about origins of country's people

China's Celebrities 'buy' Extra Children
Anger over wealthy breaking one-child rule· Beijing to impose higher penalties to enforce law

Come On, Mr Brown, Stand Up to the Chinese
Will Hutton: After the end of the Cold War, it seemed that democracy was on the march. But for the last few years, authoritarian government, deriding institutions such as a free media, an independent judiciary and trade unions, has made a comeback

The New Asian Tiger Poised to Match China
Randeep Ramesh:It took one minute to sell all $3bn (£1.53bn) worth of shares to the public in India's biggest share flotation

Dry, Polluted, Plagued By Rats: the Crisis in China's Greatest River
Ships stranded as Yangtze reaches a 142-year low

'Tons' of Absurdity
One English TV news channel conducted a poll asking if Tendulkar should be awarded the Bharat Ratna. 85% of the respondents said yes. This was not only an exercise in absurdity, but a direct slap in the face of past recipients.

Push ... Then Nip and Tuck
'Mummy jobs', in which cosmetic surgeons set out to erase all evidence of childbirth from a woman's body, are already big business in the US. Now they are catching on here. Viv Groskop reports on a disturbing trend - and asks three mothers how they really feel about their post-baby bodies

The Videos We Laughed, Winced and Wondered at Are Blocked By China
It was the internet story of 2007, the website that brought you sneezing pandas, laughing babies, an epic battle on the African savannah and a guest appearance by Tony Blair in a video starring George Bush's dog

Push ... Then Nip and Tuck
'Mummy jobs', in which cosmetic surgeons set out to erase all evidence of childbirth from a woman's body, are already big business in the US. Now they are catching on here. Viv Groskop reports on a disturbing trend - and asks three mothers how they really feel about their post-baby bodies

Off to China? Etiquette Advice for the Sudan Teddy Bear Teacher
Stuart Jeffries: Gillian Gibbons, the teacher jailed in Sudan for letting pupils name a teddy bear Mohammed, is going to China to pursue her pedagogical muse. She will even take her teddy bear

China Censorship Damaged Us, Google Founders Admit
Google's decision to censor its search engine in China was bad for the company, its founders have admitted. By Jane Martinson in Davos.

What Students Can Expect From Mandarin Chinese Learning Centers in China
Definitely visiting a new place with a purpose of staying there for months learning the language seems quite challenging, but many reliable Mandarin Chinese learning centers will provide excellent learning and staying facilities to make your trip a success.

Can't afford a cheap hotel? Then skip China!
Budget travelers who can't afford a five-star hotel might want to reconsider visiting China, where the government dictates exactly which hotel foreigners will sleep - and it ain't cheap!

Real Ale Undergoes a Sex Change
A teenage entrepreneur is attempting to counter the decline of beer drinking by launching the first real ale aimed specifically at women

Xinjiang - China's "Little Arabia"
Xinjiang Autonomous Region is China’s largest, sharing international borders with Pakistan, Afghanistan and all the other 'Stans.

Is China Destroying Itself?
In a brazen effort to catch up with the modern world, China is rapidly and rabidly deconstructing its centuries-old cities and villages. Photojournalist Tom Carter reports on location from Gongtan.

Why the Himalayas Might Not Look Like This for Much Longer
Will Hutton: China's economic growth, underpinned by a lack of political accountability, will have a devastating environmental impact

EU Jamboree Seeks Fresh Start - But Africa's Leaders Are Looking East
Mistrust over trade terms and colonial hangover hard to shift as China moves in

Gansu Province, China
Muslims and Buddhists, scalding deserts and lush grasslands - welcome to Gansu, one of China's most varied provinces.

Doing Business in China: Tips & Etiquette
A curious mix of communism and capitalism, China is certainly eager for your business. Take note though - success in this emerging economic powerhouse of nearly 1.3 billion people depends on how well you understand its protocols and customs.

Mandarin Chinese and Its Importance While Doing Business in China
With China emerging as a global economy giant, many people have shown interest doing business with China. Though English being widely spoken, understanding native Chinese language and having proficiency in mandarin Chinese has become an important issue for such business aspirants.

'Cheap Chinese Goods? Blame America'
China shrugs off EU calls to revalue yuan, blaming crisis on cheap dollar

Is China's Internet as Breakable as its Toys?
One earthquake shut down China's entire telecommunication infrastructure for over a month. Will the new Trans-Pacific Express (TPE) Cable Network be any more reliable?

Inside China's Wild and Crazy Youth Hostels
Welcome to the 'Stir-Fry', Sichuan, China's most notorious youth hostel - and home of the FOX network's upcoming series "Backpackers Gone Wild."

Interview with China photojournalist Tom Carter
Photographer Tom Carter, new author of 'CHINA: Portrait of a People,' expounds on his 2-year journey across the 33 provinces of China, how Chinese censorship affected his photography, and what it took to get his upcoming book published.

Learn Kung Fu at China's legendary Shaolin Temple
Let out your aggressions for just dollars a day at the Shaolin Kung Fu training schools in Henan, China.

Teaching Engish In China
English teacher and author Tom Carter gives the skinny on China's number one profession for expats.

'This is Like a Fantasy'
He wears sparkly suits, cries when he plays and is treated like a rock star. But is he any good? Stephen Moss meets Chinese piano-playing phenomenon Lang Lang

Mission Grounds Gourmet Coffee Builds Another School in China
Mission Grounds Helps Children Around the World - kicking off their second school project in China.

Yeren: The Wild Man of China
Learn some facts behind the Yeren, one of the many creatures of cryptozoology

A Click Away From Freedom
Leader: Search for "Tiananmen Square" on Google.com and the first result that comes up is a Wikipedia entry: "Tiananmen Square protests of 1989." Now try the same search at Google.cn, the portal for Chinese users. Back come pages largely of use to tourists.

'Cliched, Stale, Money-raking' - Blair Not Quite the Toast of China
Mixed reviews for ex PM on lucrative lecture tour· Local media criticize six-figure appearance fees

What a #2 America will look like?
What America will look like when China surpasses it.

Most Corrupt Officials Are From Poor Families But Chinese Royals Have a Spirit That is Not Dominated By Money
Choice of 'prince ling' as the country's next president came as a shock to many.

China Moon Probe Blasts Off
Orbiter dubbed Change 1 will map and analyze lunar surface in stepping stone to manned landing.

California Firefighters Battle Relentless Winds
Firefighters in California are preparing for at least another 24 hours of high winds and scorching temperatures that have fanned the devastating fires.

Politburo Profiles
Sarah Phillips profiles the most powerful politicians in the Chinese Communist party (CPC).

China Unveils Its Future Leadership
Two new recruits to the politburo standing committee are unveiled at the end of the 17th party congress as the likely leaders of China from 2012 onwards

China's Vice-president Loses Post in Reshuffle of Party's Inner Circle
The Chinese president Hu Jintao's most powerful rival in the politburo, Zeng Qinghong, has been pushed into retirement in a reshuffle of the communist party's inner sanctum.

Buzz Back in China's Scandal-hit Toy Industry
Trade fair shows country is still world leader despite recalls and safety fears.

Finale in Sight for Busking Violinist's Bach Tour of the World
Composer's entire violin works performed on trip· £25,000 raised to help fund music teaching

Growth is Not Our Only Goal, Hu Tells Chinese
Sustainability and cutting inequality high on agenda· Few political reforms in speech at party congress

Developing World Cracks Glass Ceiling
Stereotypes a greater bar to western women· China's one-child policy brings benefits to girls

Politburo Profiles
Sarah Phillips profiles the most powerful politicians in the Chinese Communist party (CPC).

Plotting China's Future
The 17th Communist Party Congress will continue to mix ideologies as it sets the course for the world's most populous nation, writes Jonathan Watts.

High Stakes for China As Party Congress Begins
Politburo promotions to give clues to Hu successor· Children of elite families in running for presidency

No Change at China Inc
Isabel Hilton: For all the much vaunted modernization, as the party congress begins, political reform is stuck.

A Dark Age for Mental Health
Darian Leader: A therapy last used on a mass scale in China's cultural revolution is to be unleashed on the NHS.

China Joins Un Censure of Burmese Regime
Security council demands political prisoners' release· No sanctions yet, but vote marks big shift by Beijing

26-year-old is China's Richest Person With £8.8bn Fortune
Tycoon's daughter inherited fortune in April · Property boom sees dollar billionaires double in year

'Negative Vibes From China' Leave Battling Bruce on Shaky Ground
Blackburn 2-1 Birmingham

A Divide Fostered By Outsiders
Peace and reunification in Korea can only come with the blessing of the US and China. Jonathan Watts explains.

As Burma Suffers, China Must Be Forced to Act
Leader: Concerns that the Games will be politicized - that they will become a platform for democracy campaigners to highlight China's human-rights abuses - have already proved a significant factor in nudging Beijing away from stalwart defence of the Burmese junta.

When Moving Home Doesn't Seem Such a Good Idea After All
A home in the back of a trailer parked on a roadside in Hollywood caused traffic jams stretching back to central Los Angeles.

China Does Not Want Another Tiananmen Square By Proxy
Isabel Hilton: Beijing has protected Burma's regime till now, but a brutal response to the protests would not be in its interests

Self Interest First; Country Last
The news report, that China is quietly and rapidly garnering uranium supplies from the world’s major producers, once again exposes the venality and hopeless immaturity of India’s politicians.

US Intelligence Chief Says China is Spying on Cold War Scale
China and Russia are spying on the US on a scale not seen since the end of the cold war, the head of US national intelligence, Mike McConnell, said yesterday.

'Super Typhoon' to Hit Shanghai
Shanghai and neighboring regions yesterday evacuated 200,000 people ahead of the landfall of 'super typhoon' Wipha.

Karate Chops and Cranes at the Ready As Troops Train for China's Next Un Mission
The armored personnel carrier roars across the dust, discharging khaki-clad troops who scatter to form a secure perimeter. Kneeling, lying or taking positions behind walls, they aim through the scopes of their type-95 assault rifles at an unseen enemy.

People Who Are Unhappy Head for China. But Will Les Mis Be Lost in Translation?
· Impresario to takes West End hits to Beijing · Mandarin productions of musicals planned.

China – Its Global Economy and Favored Chinese Language
With China emerging as a global economy giant, people across the world are joining hands with the nation to conduct beneficial business ventures. This has led to the urgency of learning Chinese language and the importance gained by Mandarin Chinese is so enormous that majority of non-Chinese speaking people are opting to learn Chinese as foreign language with an expectation of wide career opportunities and business growth.

Ailing System Leaves Sick to Pay Up or Die
China's health care system has been swept up in the country's tide of capitalism, writes Jonathan Watts, and it is the rural poor who are paying the price.

China Lifts the Lid on Foster's New Airport
· Beijing terminal to open on time and within budget· Huge pool of laborers helped speed up project

Concubine Culture Brings Trouble for China's Bosses
· Eleven mistresses unite to denounce corrupt cadre· Post-Mao era sees revival of 'second wives' tradition

Barbie Sets Withdrawn in New Alert Over Toys From China
Thousands of Barbie doll accessories imported from China are being taken off the shelves in the United Kingdom because of excessive levels of lead paint.

Army Sets Sights on Targets in Space and Cyberspace
The People's Liberation Army strategists have made little secret of their desire to establish cyber warfare units capable of mounting just such sorts of mission as the hacking of international government targets.

China Flexes Muscles of Its 'informationised' Army
· Pentagon attack biggest success in long-running effort to breach US networks· Hacking incidents seen as part of efforts to develop computer warfare capability

Plant or Animal or Human Quarantine or Outbreak - The Way We Live
I can't stop these trees from shedding their leaves, yet I try. I keep notes none the less. Chinese astrology, signs compatibility, I fill my pockets with all their souvenirs.

Trapped Miners Survived on Diet of Coal, Urine and Wife Jokes
Two Chinese miners, who were given up for dead after a tunnel collapse, dug their way to the surface on a six-day diet of coal nuggets and urine, a local newspaper reported today.

Crisis Looms As 18 Million Chinese Can't Find a Wife
China is planning to tighten punishments for sex-selective abortions amid concerns that its widening gender imbalance will lead to wife trafficking, sexual crimes and social frustration.

Dissident's Wife Held at Airport
The wife of a jailed Chinese activist was prevented from leaving the country yesterday to collect a human rights award on behalf of her husband.

While the West Takes a Battering, China Weathers the Global Storm
Stampede to Shanghai shows strength of far east market but analysts wonder how long it will last.

Chinese Casket Manufacturers
Chinese casket manufacturers can produce quality caskets provided there is proper oversight by a casket quality control agent independent of the casket manufacturer.

All News Must Be Good News, Says Chinese Government
China has ordered its media to report only positive news and has imprisoned a pro-democracy dissident amid a clampdown on dissent ahead of the most important meeting of the communist party in five years.

Collapse of New Bridge in China Leaves at Least 22 Dead
At least 22 people were killed when a newly built bridge collapsed in central China yesterday, raising fresh concerns about safety standards amid a nationwide construction boom.

Boss in Chinese Toy Scandal Kills Himself
· Factory owner is found hanged at warehouse· Mass recall after lead paint used on Fisher-Price toys

China's Economic Blackmail
Would our government sacrifice public health and safety to keep China happy? Absolutely!

Penny-pinching Insults Our Armed Forces
Leader: The MoD might argue that any formula that describes injuries in financial terms would look callous, but that some such formulation is inevitable. But clearly a system that fails to take account of the cumulative effect of multiple injuries is fundamentally flawed.

Made in China: Swiss Army Knife Suffers an Identity Crisis
It is as closely associated with Switzerland as the Matterhorn, muesli and the cuckoo clock. But the Swiss army knife, considered by millions around the world to be an indispensable tool, is in danger of losing its Swiss identity.

China's New Appetite for Milk Forces Price Rise in Germany
· Cost of dairy products expected to rise by 50%· EU rules stop farmers increasing production

Trapped Men Rescued From Chinese Mine
Sixty-nine coal miners saved from flooded shaft after more than three days underground.

Asian Boom Helps World Economy to Shrug Off Us Housing Market Decline
The International Monetary Fund last night said booms in China, India and Russia would allow the global economy to shrug off the impact of the crisis in the American housing market and post faster-than-expected growth this year.

Choice of Chinese Artist Sparks Row Over King Statue
The plan to erect a giant memorial statue of Martin Luther King on the National Mall in Washington has become embroiled in controversy after it was decided to appoint a Chinese artist as the lead sculptor.

Chinese Sculptor Replaces Black Artist on Luther King Memorial
The plan to erect a giant memorial statue of Martin Luther King on the National Mall in Washington has become embroiled in controversy after it was decided to appoint a Chinese artist as the lead sculptor.

King Of The Jungle
A Short Story that was written for my A-S Level Coursework, I would like to go back to it now though and try improve it with some of the your advice. It is about two opposed factions in Ancient China, around 200AD.

China's One-party Monopoly of Power is Coming to an End
Increasing numbers are speaking up against local tyrannies and corruption, and no longer can the state silence them. By Isabel Hilton

Chinua Achebe - The Father of Modern African Literature
Chinua Achebe, 'the father of modern African literature', talks to Ed Pilkington about inventing a new language, his years in exile from his beloved Nigeria - and why he changed his name from Albert.

China Blames Growing Social Unrest on Anger Over Pollution
Dirty water and air kill 500,000 a year, says report - Environment chief points finger at corrupt officials

Made in China: Tainted Food, Fake Drugs and Dodgy Paint
World's biggest exporter faces a global crisis of confidence as scandals grow over the quality of many of its goods.

State-backed Giants Who Want to Buy the World
Government-controlled funds from China and elsewhere are snapping up Western companies, writes Oliver Morgan. Should we be worried?

China Overtakes Us As World's Biggest Co2 Emitter
China has overtaken the United States as the world's biggest producer of carbon dioxide, the chief greenhouse gas, figures released today show.

As Glaciers Melt and Rivers Dry Up, Coal-fired Power Stations Multiply
Energy efficiency plan proves hard to implement Chinese carbon footprint a quarter of an American's

China to Lift Ban on Sale of Tiger Bones
Tiger bones will go back on sale because market forces are too strong too resist, a senior China conservation official was reported as saying in the domestic media today.

China Makes the High Road to Everest
China is about to start building a highway to Mount Everest as part of its preparations for next year's Olympic Games, the state media reported today.

China Overtaking Us for Fast Internet Access As Africa Gets Left Behind
One in five people in the world has high-speed lines but the gap is growing.

Senators Demand Us Impose Sanctions Against China
Undervalued yuan seen as hurting world economy - Treasury issues tough warning but will not act

Pentagon Report Chills Us-china Relations
World Briefing: A distinct chill has descended over the US' dealings with Beijing following a new Pentagon report on China's military build-up, says Simon Tisdall.

Rush to Modernity 'devastating China's Cultural Heritage'
China has become the land of 1,000 identical cities, a senior government official has warned in an outspoken attack on the country's headlong rush towards modernity.

Minister Rails at China, Land of a Thousand Identical Cities
Historical sites devastated by renovation projects - Damage similar to cultural revolution, official says

Chinese Newspaper Editors Fired Over Tiananmen Square Ad
A Chinese newspaper has fired three editors for failing to censor a one-line classified advertisement that paid tribute to the mothers of protesters killed during the 1989 Tienanmen Square massacre.

China Fears Brain Drain As Its Overseas Students Stay Put
One-child policy partly to blame as 70% fail to return - Beijing plans incentives but problem getting worse

China's Food and Drug Agency Chief Sentenced to Death
Disgraced boss guilty of accepting bribes - Harsh penalty seen as bid to reassure consumers

China Sentences Former Food and Drugs Chief to Death
The disgraced head of China's food and drug agency was sentenced to death today amid a wave of consumer safety scandals that have rippled across the world.

'Noah's Ark' of 5,000 Rare Animals Found Floating Off the Coast of China
Cargo of abandoned vessel destined for restaurants - Illegal trade drives species closer to extinction

China Flexes Financial Muscle With $3bn Stake in Us Private Equity Firm
Beijing's first foray into booming buyout market - Investment likely to alarm protectionist politicians

Chinese Villagers Riot Over 'one-child' Policy
Thousands of villagers in south-west China have attacked family planning officials, overturned cars and set fire to government buildings in a riot sparked by the state's 'one-child' policy.

Murdoch Extends His Net to China
As tycoon launches version of MySpace, human rights activists fear it will be abused by censors.

China Bars Activist From Uk Visit in Pre-olympic Crackdown
One of China's most prominent human rights activists has been blocked from travelling to the UK, just a day after the foreign secretary Margaret Beckett called on Beijing to allow more freedom of expression during her visit to the country.

Women And Children Last
On December 8, 1994, 500 children were taken to a spe­cial performance at a theatre in Karamay, a city in China's northwest Xinjiang province. The scenery caught fire and 288 children perished in the blaze.

Civil Servants in China Face Sack for Keeping a Mist
Rugby Union: Mixed news for Brian Ashton as Mike Catt returns for the South Africa tour but Forrester and Cueto are forced to withdraw.

China's Corruption Crackdown Enters the Bedroom
China's 6.5 million civil servants were warned today they could be fired for keeping a mistress or neglecting elderly relatives, under new ethical guidelines aimed at curbing rampant corruption.

Civil Servants in China Face Sack for Keeping a Mistress
Ethical guidelines aim to crack down on corruption - Bureaucrats' private lives under intense scrutiny

China Using Olympics for Crackdown, Says Amnesty
China's repression of human rights activists and domestic journalists has increased, despite reforms to the death penalty ahead of the Olympics, Amnesty International said today.

Rogge Reluctant to Address Chinese Whispers
Digger: IOC president Jacques Rogge refused to discuss China's human rights record, which threatens to overshadow Beijing 2008. By Paul Kelso

China Could Overtake Us As Biggest Emissions Culprit By November
Tipping point for CO2 was not expected until 2010 - Rapid growth confounds global expectation

Chinese Epic Loses the Plot As Actors Quit £40m Project
It is a film with as many twists and turns as any thriller. But the plot of The Battle of Red Cliff, John Woo's multimillion-dollar Chinese epic, started to unravel as soon as the director snapped shut his clapperboard.

China Claims to Have Created First Artificial Snowfall
Chinese weather experts claim to have triggered the first artificial snow showers by releasing tiny particles into clouds over the Tibetan plateau.

Once Hated, Now Feted - Chinese Artists Come Out From Behind the Wall
Charles Saatchi joins the swell of collectors beating a path to the east.

China Takes Another Journey on Old Silk Road
Road network will link with oil and gas rich countries...

China Accused of Theft in Gas Dispute With Japan
A senior Japanese politician has likened China's development of gas fields in disputed waters to theft, in remarks likely to strain bilateral ties just days before the Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao, flies to Tokyo for talks.

Chinese Couple Bow to the Bulldozers
After a three-year stand-off with developers, the home of Chinese couple Yang Wu and Wu Ping was demolished, ending a property rights protest that was the talk of the nation.

British Waste Adds to Environmental Crisis Across China
One-fifth of rubbish in province is imported - Recycling firms relocate to get round crackdown

Waste Land
China makes most of our plastic carriers - it also recycles them when we toss them away. Crazy? It's become a fashionable thing to worry about - and there's a new It bag to prove it. Jonathan Watts in Mai and Jess Cartner-Morley in London report.

China and Russia Urge Iran to Toe Un Line
The presidents of Russia and China today increased the international pressure on Iran over its nuclear programme, calling on the country to abide by UN security council resolutions on the issue.

Mao's Forgotten Son Dies
Mao Anqing lived through the most tumultuous era in the history of modern China. But he spent his last years as an unknown recluse.

Chinese Family Refuses to Abadon Their Home to Property Developers
Property-owning China has a new hero. Yang Wu, now better known as The Nail, has become the talk of the country for his refusal to abandon his home to property developers.

New Law Strengthens China's Private Property Rights
China today took a further step away from its communist past as parliament passed legislation strengthening private property rights for individuals and companies.

Concerned Citizen, Witness, or Snitch?
Providing context for the stop-snitching movement...

China Advocates Reduction in Death Sentences
China, the world's biggest executor of convicts, should reduce its use of the death penalty and stop humiliating death row prisoners with public parades, the state's top legal bodies have declared ahead of their annual report to parliament tomorrow.

China's Legal Bodies Want Cut in Executions
China should reduce its use of the death penalty and stop humiliating death-row prisoners with public parades, the state's top legal bodies have declared ahead of their annual report to parliament tomorrow.

Pre-natal Homicide - Killing of Female Fetuses
China is the fastest growing economic superpower in the world. India comes a close second. What is not widely known, however, is that these two powerhouses harbor a dark and sinister secret. When it comes to having children, boys are overwhelmingly the preferred sex.

China Bans Opening of New Internet Cafes
China will ban the opening of new internet cafes from this July in a government campaign to clamp down on online addiction and juvenile crime.

China Edges Towards a Greener Shade of Red
PM gives environment prominence in speech - Efficiency and slower growth hard to achieve

Which country will be the Largest Economy in the World?
Find out what other counties may eventually challenge for the top economic spot.

Chinese Premier Calls for Fairer, Greener Economy
China's premier, Wen Jiabao, opened the annual session of the country's parliament today with a call for the country's breakneck economic growth to be balanced with environmental protection and efforts to tackle a growing urban-rural wealth gap.

'Chinky' Still an Old-school Gangster at 96
America's oldest mobster deals with the prosecutors to keep out of jail.

New Bill Finally Puts Private Ownership on Legal Footing
China is set to take another giant stride away from Maoism this week with the passage of a controversial bill to protect private property.

China's Rapid Growth Creating Migrant Underclass, Says Amnesty
China's spectacular economic growth has come at the cost of dire working and living conditions for 150 million migrant workers, Amnesty International said today in a new report that called on the government to do more for the country's urban underclass.

Wal-Mart Invests in China
The world's biggest retailer announces a takeover of a Chinese discount chain for an estimated $1bn (£500m) in China's booming retail market. By Mark Tran.

Britain Supports Call for Ban on Cluster Bombs
UK at odds with Russia, China and Israel - Foreign Office denies change of tack on weapons

Is a trip to China worth it?
You may ask your self over and over again, "Is a trip to China worth it?"

China's Green Pledges Are As Deep As a Coat of Paint
Despite Beijing's much - vaunted environmental initiatives, all that counts to provincial officials is economic growth. By Isabel Hilton

Chinese Man Sentenced to Death for Overpriced Ants
China stepped up its war on white-collar crime yesterday when the chairman of a trading company was sentenced to death for conning investors out of three billion yuan (£200m) in an ant-breeding scam.

Execution of Chinese Muslim Condemned
China has executed an alleged Muslim separatist with a bullet through the heart, prompting condemnation from human rights groups who say the convict's trial was flawed and his confession coerced.

Us Moves in on Africa
With China prowling for resources and markets, the US plainly feels a second wind of change is blowing, necessitating increased leverage. By Simon Tisdall

Junk From China Missile Test Raises Fear of Satellite Collision
Space debris at critical mass, scientists say - Explosion put hundreds more pieces in orbit

Thanks China, Now Go Home: Buy-up of Zambia Revives Old Colonial Fears
Backlash as cheap Chinese labour and products follow investment from Beijing.

Business Opportunities in China
Recently there appears some new websites to show some industry reports about Chinese market. These reports illustrate each industry in detail, including market share, sub-divided market, major enterprises, competitive strength analysis and future forecast, etc. In-depth market research and investigation enable us to have a comprehensive knowledge about the industry. Does this seem attract you?

Bond Gets Licence to Thrill China
Casino Royale was released in Chinese cinemas yesterday uncut and uncensored, a first for a Bond film.

China Angered By Nanjing Massacre Film
China has reacted angrily to plans by Japanese nationalists to make a documentary describing as a myth the massacre of tens of thousands of Chinese civilians by Japanese troops in 1937.

China Soon to Be World's Biggest Internet User
Online leap reported despite heavy censorship - Web activity to surpass US within two years

China and India Warned Their Water is Running Out
The world is running out of water and needs a radical plan to tackle shortages that threaten humanity's ability to feed itself, according to Jeffrey Sachs, director of the UN's Millennium Project.

Battering Ram Technology Brought Up to Date for the 21st Century
China's destruction of a defunct weather satellite is a dramatic display of the ancient battering-ram strategy brought up to date with 21st century knowhow.

Western Protests Flood in Over Chinese Satellite Killer
Test shows capability to knock out US system- Britain says attack will add to space debris problem

A Third of Fish Species Killed in Yellow River
Dams, pollution and overfishing have wiped out a third of the fish species in the Yellow River, China's second longest waterway, state media reported yesterday.

Mao Was Cruel But Laid the Ground for Today's China
The crimes of communist China's founder shouldn't blind us to achievements which paved the way for its current modernisation. By Will Hutton

Environmental Damage Hit New Heights in 2006
Last year was 'the most grim year' for the environment in China, government officials said yesterday, highlighting missed targets for cutting emissions and boosting energy efficiency.

Major Pollution Spill 'every Other Day' in China
China's breakneck growth took its worst ever toll on the environment last year, the state media said today quoting a report that revealed serious pollution spills are occurring almost every other day.

Rapid City Growth Means China Faces Rubbish Crisis By 2020
China's fast-growing cities will no longer be able to cope with the amount of rubbish they produce by 2020, according to a government study.

Toys Market Environment In China
The number of young kids under the age of 14 and infant, toddler and preschool in China is over 300,000,000, accounting for 25% of the whole population. Among them 80,000,000 live in the city, which form a large numbers of toy consumption.

Power, Corruption and Lies
To the west, China is a waking economic giant, poised to dominate the world. But, argues Will Hutton in this extract from his new book, we have consistently exaggerated and misunderstood the threat - and the consequences could be grave.

How China's Economic Reforms Create Seismic Tensions Within the State
In the last decade China has emerged as a powerful, resurgent economic force with the muscle to challenge America as the global superpower. But, in his controversial new book, Will Hutton argues that China's explosive economic reforms will create seismic tensions within the one-party authoritarian state and asks: can the centre hold?

Number of Chinese Web Users Grows By a Third
China's internet population increased by almost one-third during 2006, reinforcing the country's position as one of the most powerful internet economies in the world.

Auto Industry In China To Slow Down
It does seem like China has already started to put a damper on things and would be putting a slow down sign for the Chinese auto makers. This report has been given out by Reuters and the report does continue to say that such a damper has been brought about because the Chinese auto industry has quite gone into rapid development. If this does continue to happen, the mentioned industry could have overproduction problems in the near future.

Sangatte's Criminal Gangs Now Hold the Key to Reaching Britain
The media interest has declined and the migrants are from different countries, but thousands still gather to cross the Channel.

Children in Rural Areas to Get School Fees Paid
China is to waive tuition fees for 150 million children in rural areas to try to close the gap between rich and poor students. The 15bn yuan (£1bn) scheme was hailed by state media as a major element in building a "new socialist countryside".

China to Waive School Fees for 150m Rural Children
China will waive tuition fees for 150 million rural children next year in an attempt to close the education gulf that has opened up between rich and poor students since the start of the country's market reforms.

Drug Pirates Leave Death in Their Wake
The trade in fake medicines is booming but China is finally starting to get tough.

Chinese Tycoon Hit By 'curse of the Rich List'
The youngest known member of China's super-rich elite was sentenced to life in prison today, the latest in a long line of tycoons to fall foul of the authorities within a year of their fortunes becoming public knowledge.

Skip the Toilet, Save the Planet, Says Airline
Could it be the first flush of environmental awareness in China? One of the country's leading airlines has begun encouraging passengers to use the toilet before they board flights as a way of saving energy.

Top China Aids Critic 'is Seized'
Outspoken health campaigner vanishes after police question him ahead of a key meeting.

China, to Stimulate Volvo's Growth
Volvo Cars intends to generate a fast-growing market in China. This is anchored on the plan of the automaker to hit a better portion of the global auto market.

Reported Hiv/aids Cases Up 30% in China
China reported a 30% increase in cases of HIV/Aids this year as the disease spreads more rapidly from high-risk groups to the general population.

Ford's Momentum Intensifies in China
Ford's 'Way Forward' is making brisk steps to accelerate the automaker's recovery. Accordingly, its plan for China auto market is doing well. This year, the growth is going to exceed 100.8 percent.

China and India
Leader: The rise of China and India is no longer some far-distant prospect. It is the here and now of the 21st-century world.

China Must Be Consumer Society, Says World Bank
China must make greater efforts to encourage consumer spending in the hope of reining back its surging trade surplus before it creates dire consequences for the local environment, the World Bank said yesterday.

Infiniti Goes To China
China recently welcomed to its auto market the luxury brand Infiniti. With the entrance of the Infiniti luxury brand in China, it would be very much interesting to see just how much this one would fare. After all, it could be very much said that Infiniti is going to be a breath of fresh air in the already congested auto market filled with premium vehicles.

Boy's Death Sparks Riots Over China Health Costs
· Hospital smashed up after family protests over fee · Frustration grows over increasing inequality

China-made GM Hybrids Arriving In 2008
General Motors, the world's largest automaker, is planning to build environment-friendly hybrids in China. Said plan is scheduled for execution in 2008.

Catching the Continental Drift
The death of Bulent Ecevit, a nationalist who converted to the pro-EU cause, came in a crucial week for Turkey's accession hopes, Mark Tran notes.

China Forced to Face Its Critics Over Internet Censorship
David Smith in Athens at the UN conference on the internet, where The Observer's campaign was the centre of attention.

China's Economic Relationship With China
City covered in giant posters as billions of dollars are spent on projects to win friends at summit - with no questions asked. Jonathan Watts reports.

Mazda: Prepping Up For China Auto Show
The Mazda Motor Corporation just most recently announced that during the Auto China 2006 which will be held in the Asian city of Beijing, the company would be exhibiting not only some of its top production vehicles but the company would also be showing off a couple of its concept vehicles.

China Overturns Blind Activist's Conviction
Chinese civil rights lawyers hailed a rare victory today when an appeal court ruled in favour of a blind peasant activist who exposed forced abortions, sterilisations and other abuses carried out in the name of the state's one-child policy.

New Law May Cut Chinese Death Penalties
China is to restrict death sentencing, the government said yesterday after a series of high-profile miscarriages of justice.

Ford Intends To Buy $3 Billion China-made Components To Cut Costs
Ford is finding its way back to the spotlight. To help itself step up, the automaker formulated the 'Way Forward' plan. Now, said plan leads it to buying component parts to cut costs.

Police Sent in to Quell China College Unrest
Riot police have been dispatched to a college campus in eastern China after a protest by students led to an outbreak of looting and vandalism.

Month of Corporate Hospitality Kills Chinese Official
After a month-long corporate wining-and-dining marathon, an official from Yanshan succumbed to alcohol poisoning, according to local media reports.

How China Exerts Pressure on North Korea
Beijing may have drifted apart from Pyongyang in recent years, but it retains more influence than any other nation, says Jonathan Watts.

China Raises Hopes of Fresh N Korea Talks
China's foreign minister said today that an envoy had held discussions with North Korean officials about the possibility of resuming six-nation nuclear disarmament talks, raising hope that diplomats in the region may bring the isolated state into line on nuclear testing.

Ford Yields High China Sales In The First 3 Quarters
Ford Motor China recently reported its sales figures for the first three quarters of the year 2006. According to the automaker, their report reflected the fastest China sales growth they have experienced.

Toyota Doubles Its China Sales
Toyota Motors Corp. has finally divulged its China sales for the fist nine months of the year. According to the automaker's report, Toyota more than doubled its sales in China, outpacing its closest rivals – Ford and Volkswagen.

US Says It is Up to China to Pressure Pyongyang
North Korea slipped deeper into isolation yesterday as its neighbours prepared to introduce tough financial and weapons sanctions agreed on Saturday by the UN security council.

Ford And VW Report Robust Sales
Ford Motor Co. and Volkswagen Group announced their robust sales in China. Said growth was reflected on the first three quarters sales report of the automakers this year.

Female Entrepreneur Tops China's Rich List
A Chinese entrepreneur has surged past JK Rowling and Oprah Winfrey to become the richest self-made woman in the world, and China's wealthiest person, according to a new rich list.

How Much China Could Concede?
China, a major ally, is now looking to impose sanctions on North Korea…

North Korea Nuclear Test: China Reluctant to Impose Sanctions
The international response to North Korea's nuclear test was in the balance today after China appeared to hint that it opposes immediate sanctions against the reclusive Stalinist state.

China Under Pressure to Impose Sanctions
China came under intense pressure to impose sanctions on its historical ally North Korea today as the world weighed up measures to punish Pyongyang for yesterday's claimed nuclear weapons test.

UN Divided Over Severity of Nuclear Sanctions
· Fears that tough measures could escalate dispute · China cautious after agreeing to back west

Drugs and Sport: Pound Urges China to Clean Up Act
Dick Pound [has rammed home???] has issued a veiled warning to China to clean up its act on performance enhancing drugs.

World Condemns a Grave Threat to Peace
· China joins in rebuke and calls for return to dialogue · Nato chief urges envoys to hold emergency talks

Japan and China Unite to Denounce North Korea's Nuclear Ambitions
Japan and China set aside their historical differences yesterday to condemn North Korean plans for a nuclear bomb test and agreed to work to prevent a further escalation of hostilities in north-east Asia.

Japanese Pm to Visit China and South Korea
Japan's new prime minister will meet the leaders of South Korea and China early next week in an attempt to repair damaged relations and to discuss the region's response to a possible nuclear test by North Korea.

Cricket: Organisers Insist World Cup on Track
The West Indian cricket board has put its faith in Chinese builders to get their stadiums ready for next year's World Cup.

Yahoo Could Be Sued Over Jailed Emailer
Lawyers are preparing to sue the internet giant Yahoo over the imprisonment in China of Shi Tao, a journalist convicted of 'illegally providing state secrets to foreign entities' after he sent an email to a pro-democracy website.

Chinese Luxury Car Market Creates a Great Leap in the International Forum
China’s automotive market is etching a solid mark in the international car history. From year 2004 to 2005, said market has yielded more than 45 percent growth in the luxury car market.

Shanghai Communist Chief Fired
The Communist party chief of Shanghai has been fired in China's highest-level corruption scandal in more than 10 years, the state media reported.

Shanghai's Communist Party Chief Sacked in Corruption Purge
The Communist party chief of Shanghai has been fired in China's highest level corruption scandal in more than 10 years, state media reported today.

How will China’s energy consumption effect the West?
Energy consumption is always in the news at the moment. With increasing energy use by China and India, how will this affect the USA and the West's energy policy…

Amnesty Accuses China of Breaking Olympic Promises
China is failing to live up to promises to improve human rights it made when bidding for the 2008 Olympics, according to an Amnesty International report published today.

IMF: China Leading World Economic Upturn
The global economy is on course for its best four-year performance since the early 1970s after battling through strong headwinds during 2006, the International Monetary IMF said today.

The Wages of Fear
The rapid turnover of US chief executives breeds torpor, not risk-taking - as China and India realise. By Peter Preston

Changing Face of a Giant That Never Stops Moving
China, 30 years after Mao. Thirty years ago today, China began mourning a leader whom many worshipped with cult-like devotion. At 3pm every factory and train in the country blasted its whistle.

Penguin Takes Its 'black Classics' Into China
· Mandarin translation for Jane Eyre and Oliver Twist · Publisher takes long-term view of booming market

Concrete Paves Peasants' Long Road From Poverty
On a remarkable journey across China, The Observer's correspondent finds that, after years of deprivation, even the poorest provinces are sharing in a new-found prosperity.

Chavez Says China Deal 'great Wall' Against Us
· Venezuela to supply a million barrels of oil a day · Beijing scrambling to feed energy-hungry economy

Professor Jeffrey Sachs on How to Fight Against Global Poverty
Saturday interview: Best known for being the rock aristocracy's economist of choice, Professor Jeffrey Sachs sees China as a role model in the fight against global poverty. By Jonathan Watts.

China Opens Internet Addicts' Shelter
Shanghai has opened mainland China's first shelter for internet addicts to help them bridge the gap between virtual worlds and dysfunctional family homes.

China Finds Japanese Writers Guilty of Nanjing Slur
A Chinese court has ordered two Japanese historians to pay damages of 1.6m yuan (£110,000) to a survivor of the 1937 Nanjing massacre whom they accused of fabricating her account.

Fruit of the Boom Threatens to Push China's Economy Out of Control
A glut of villas, shopping malls, steel mills and car plants is raising fears of a crash.

Private Entrepreneurs Thriving In China
Five of the top ten manufacturing companies are in the steel sector and two in the automobile sector. Legend Holdings Ltd and Haier Group Corporation are two electronic companies in the top ten list and their annual sales revenues last year both topped 12.55 billion US Dollars.

Anger in China As Typhoon Death Toll Rises
Despair turned to fury in eastern China today as the survivors of typhoon Saomai accused local officials of understating the death toll and delaying the search for bodies.

Pubs, Privet and Parody As China Builds Little Britain By the Yangtse
UK developers are helping house Shanghai elite in a pastiche of olde England.

Typhoon Survivors Claim Officials Understated Toll
Despair turned to fury in eastern China yesterday as the survivors of the most powerful typhoon to hit the country in 50 years accused officials of understating the death toll and delaying the search for bodies.

Chinese Censors Target Internet Spoofs
China is drafting new rules to block internet broadcasts of short films that satirise officially approved cultural product, such as Chen Kaige's big-budget epic The Promise.

100 Killed As Typhoon Hits China
More than 100 people were today reported to have died as the strongest typhoon to hit mainland China for 50 years battered industrial districts in the east of the country yesterday.

Web Firms' China Role Criticised
Further pressure was heaped on technology companies operating in China yesterday when Human Rights Watch said many web firms had become complicit in politically repressive activities.

China Hit By Strongest Typhoon for Half a Century
· 1.5 million evacuated, state of emergency declared · Summer of damage for storm-devastated region

China Puts Price on Head of Rare Animals
The Chinese government is inviting bids from foreign tourists for the right to hunt endangered species under a kill-to-conserve campaign, a newspaper reported today.

China Finally Admits to First Case of Bird Flu
China admitted yesterday that its first human case of bird flu occurred two years earlier than previously reported - a disclosure that rewrites the history of the disease and raises questions about Beijing's willingness to share information about the epidemic.

First Bird Flu Death in 2003, Admits China
China today admitted that its first human case of bird flu occurred two years earlier than previously reported, a disclosure that rewrites the history of the disease and raises questions about Beijing's willingness to share data about the epidemic.

China Admits Bird Flu Death in 2003
Chinese authorities today admitted that a soldier died of the H5N1 bird flu strain in 2003, two years before the country publicly acknowledged its first human infection.

Watching the Spectators
Coverage of what goes on around the polo pitch rather than on it reflects our voyeuristic society. By Roy Hattersley

Intellectuals Condemn Closure of Website
More than 100 Chinese intellectuals have condemned the country's propaganda authorities for closing down a website they described as "the last oasis of knowledge on China's internet".

Authorities Close Down Century China Website
More than 100 Chinese intellectuals have condemned the country's propaganda authorities for closing down a popular website that they described as "the last oasis of knowledge on China's internet".

US Begins Building Treaty-breaching Germ War Defence Centre
Construction work has begun near Washington on a vast germ warfare laboratory intended to help protect the US against an attack with biological weapon, but critics say the laboratory's work will violate international law and its extreme secrecy will exacerbate a biological arms race.

Barefoot in the Sun
As soaring temperatures render my 87 pairs redundant, China's Sock City faces a chilly future. By Peter Preston

Cracks and Yaks Put Himalayan Railway at Risk
The safety of passengers on the world's highest - and newest - railway is threatened by cracks, yaks and shifting sands, the Chinese government admitted yesterday.

Yaks Threaten China's 'miracle' Train Line
The safety of passengers on the world's highest - and newest - railway is threatened by cracks, yaks and shifting sands, the Chinese government has admitted.

27 Toyota Vehicles at 2006 Auto Guangzhou
Toyota will be presenting 27 vehicles the 4th China (Guangzhou) International Auto Exhibition. Toyota will present the new safety technology features of their models during the exhibit.

Amnesty Backs 'cyber Dissidents'
Human rights group Amnesty International is urging people to protest over the actions in China of internet companies Google, Microsoft and Yahoo!.

My Fortune
A short-short story about a last Chinese supper...

North Korea Rebuffs China Over Missiles
· Spotlight back on UN as Beijing's envoy goes home · Japan ups stakes with talk of pre-emptive strikes

Christian Sect Leader Guilty of Killing Rivals in China
· Three sentenced to death after fight between groups · Daughter says confession was made under torture

China's Media Faces Fines for Reporting Disasters
China, the world's biggest censor, is planning to tighten its controls on the media with a new law that would impose financial penalties on news organisations that report on emergencies without permission.

Chinese Premier Boosts Trade With Seven-nation Africa Tour
China's economic and diplomatic push into Africa has gone into overdrive this week with a seven-country tour by its premier, Wen Jiabao, to secure trade deals.

China Deal Gives Zimbabwe £700m Boost
China today threw Zimbabwe's disintegrating economy a lifeline with energy and mining deals worth £700m.

China Backs Bikes to Kick Car Habit
Having spent the past decade pursuing a transport policy of four wheels rich, two wheels poor, the Chinese government has suddenly rediscovered the environmental and health benefits of the bicycle.

China Hosts Summit to Rival Us
China ramped up its role as a global player on Thursday by hosting a summit of states encompassing almost half the world's population and some of Washington's most prominent opponents.

China Gives Zimbabwe Economic Lifeline
· Energy and mining deals are worth £700m · Asian summit underlines Beijing's global role

China Restores Bike Lanes Lost to Car Boom
Having spent the past decade pursuing a transport policy of four wheels rich, two wheels poor, the Chinese government has suddenly rediscovered the environmental and health benefits of the bicycle.

Mistress Turns in 'corrupt' Chinese Vice Admiral
A senior Chinese naval officer faces corruption charges after he was turned in by a disgruntled mistress, it emerged yesterday, in one of the biggest sex-and-money expose in the history of the People's Liberation Army.

Chinese Arms Fuel Conflicts, Amnesty Says
China, fast emerging as one of the world's biggest arms exporters, is helping to sustain brutal conflicts, criminal violence, and human rights violations in countries including Sudan, Nepal, Burma and South Africa, according to an Amnesty International report.

Google Signals U-turn Over Chinese Site
Internet giant Google may reverse its decision to launch a censored version of its search engine in China, one of the company's founders has said.

Operation Removes Baby's Third Arm
Surgeons today said they had successfully removed an extremely rare, well-developed third arm from a two-month-old Chinese boy.

NUJ Urges Yahoo! Boycott
The NUJ is calling on its 40,000 members to boycott Yahoo! for allegations that it helped the Chinese government to identify and prosecute journalists and pro-democracy writers. By Jason Deans.

Welcome to Shangri-la. By Order of the State Council of the Chinese Government
The rural landscape of Shangri-la remains bucolic, but the town is anything but an idyll. In one restaurant beggars enter to ask for money. A group of soldiers, reluctant to interrupt a drinking game that has one of them throwing up beside the table, shoos them away. "Don't bother us. Go and ask the foreigner for money."

Pollution Killing River They Said Was Too Big to Poison
China's biggest river, the Yangtze, is being poisoned by pollution, the state media reported yesterday in an unusually outspoken call for an environmental clean-up.

Production of Toyota Camry Now Starts In China
The Toyota Camrys that would be built in China would be done in cooperation with the Guangzhou Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. or more commonly known as GTMC which actually is a joint vehicle production and sales company of both Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd. and Toyota.

The Battle of Taiwan Straits
Its a near run thing, when China nearly defeats America at sea!

China in Moral Dilemma After Tale of Girls Who Sold Virginity
· Most were underage and recruited classmates · Scandal highlights loss of traditional family ties

China Extends Its Reach Into Africa With $1bn Deal for Nigeria's Railways
· Soft loan consolidates link with leading oil producer · Beijing spreads influence throughout continent

Cannes' Pictures of Resistance Stir Up Political Rows
Political rows erupted at the Cannes film festival yesterday as censors in Beijing rejected for domestic screening a Chinese film in competition for the Palme d'Or, and Ken Loach, the director of The Wind that Shakes the Barley, launched an attack on the British government's recent actions in Iraq.

Treatment of Chinese Journalists Raises Censorship Fears
Freelance writer Yang Tianshui has been sentenced to 12 years in prison in China on subversion charges, in one of the country's most severe media crackdowns since the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square protest in 1989. By Julia Day.

'The Red Guards Burned My Toys'
Xinran, the author of two bestselling books: The Good Women of China and Sky Burial, tells Jonathan Watts her story.

Mao Casts Long Shadow Over China
40 years after start of 'years of chaos', China's top lawyer says lessons must be learned.

Fears for Environment As China Plans 48 New Airports
China plans to build 48 new airports over the next five years in an aviation spending splurge that will delight architects and plane makers but heighten concerns among environmentalists.

Chinese Tourists Told to Mind Their Manners
Chinese authorities are so concerned that vulgarities are ruining its international image that they have ordered travelling countrymen to watch their manners when overseas.

Europe's Answer to China?
Turkey has its sights set on becoming a bigger player in the global economy, says David Gow.

China Pays for Boy, 15, Killed After 1989 Arrest
·Compensation for mother 'may be first such redress' · Son died in custody amid pro-democracy crackdown

Tesco ... Every Little Frog Helps
Tesco, Britain's biggest supermarket chain, announced a record £2.2bn profit yesterday - 17% up on last year's level - from worldwide sales of £42bn. But with its grip on the UK market coming under increasing criticism, its strategy for future expansion lies overseas. Yesterday it unveiled its first profit - £2m, but with hopes for much, much more - from China.

Protester Gatecrashes Hu Visit As China and Us Fail to Make Progress
On a day overshadowed by protests at Beijing's human rights record, President George Bush and China's leader, Hu Jintao, made little headway yesterday in resolving issues of trade, or easing global tensions over North Korea and Iran's nuclear ambitions.

New Solomon Islands Pm Sworn in Amid Violence
The new prime minister of the troubled Solomon Islands took office in secret today, amid continued post-election rioting targeting ethnic Chinese in the south Pacific nation.

UK Transplant Patients Go to China for Organs From Executed Prisoners
· Surgeons condemn breach of human rights · Donor shortage at home drives Britons to travel

China 'using Prisoner Organs for Transplants'
British surgeons today accused China of using organs from executed prisoners in its booming transplantation trade.

Time to Tackle China
World Briefing: China's medium-term challenge to US dominance can be exaggerated; and the pragmatic Chinese president Mr Hu, on his four-day US visit, needs a successful summit more than Mr George Bush...By Simon Tisdall

Police Turn Water Cannon on Rural Protest in China
Thousands of Chinese villagers have clashed with police over access to irrigation water, leading to at least one death and five injuries, the local media reported yesterday.

China Poised to Rule the Waves But Fears Are Raised About Quality of New Vessels
Competitors worry that they will be swamped as yards spring up to feed maritime boom Sea battle.

China Warns on 'unhealthy' Websites
Chinese websites are being urged to suppress material that could harm state interests or damage social morality. By Chris Tryhorn.

Development in Defiance of the Washington Consensus
China has carried off the world's largest reduction in poverty by grasping that market economies cannot be left on autopilot. By Joseph Stiglitz

Explainer: Enriching Uranium
The Iranians claim to have produced enriched uranium "to the 3.5% level". That is pure enough to use as nuclear fuel, though nowhere near what would be needed to make a bomb.

China Clamps Down on Foreign Magazines
China has imposed a limit on the number of foreign magazines being sold in China in a blow to publishers hoping to cash in on the country's booming media market. By Julia Day.

Chinese snuff bottles – sensations in glass!
About the amazing range of Chinese glass snuff bottles, detailing the different types. Surprisingly many glass bottles were carved from solid blocks of glass, just like bottles that were carved from stone! Valuable information for any snuff bottle potential collectors.

China Bans Buying and Selling of Human Organs
China's health ministry has banned the sale of human organs in a move that could put pressure on the growing transplant tourism industry.

Importing from China? Learn How to Finance your Imports and Sales
Companies importing goods from China are booming! Learn how to finance your growing sales.

US-China Trade War Looms
Senators' protectionist anger over $200bn trade gap puts pressure on Beijing and risks damaging future strategic relations

China Clamps Down on Websites
Chinese authorities have shut down and fined dozens of websites carrying pornographic material, pirate movies and online games. By Julia Day.

China's Leftwing Scuppers Property Reform Legislation
Old-school Marxists have blocked a bill to protect private property in China amid an unusually public spat between party factions over the direction of reform.

Man Held Over Killing of Boys in China
In one of the worst serial child-killing cases ever reported in China, police have arrested a man in the north-eastern city of Tianqi for the rape and murder of at least four boys in less than four months.

New Fears As Chinese Man Dies of Bird Flu
Health officials in China were yesterday investigating a man's death from bird flu in a province where no poultry outbreaks have been reported since 2004.

Leaders Tackle China's Great Divide
· Beijing conference PM unveils redistribution as £3bn goes to rural areas · Protesters arrested or expelled from capital

UK to Lend World Treasures to China
The British Museum will try to avoid a diplomatic minefield later this month when it lends 272 of its most precious artefacts to the Capital Museum of Beijing in one of the highest level cultural exchanges between the two countries.

Stones Forced to Axe Sexually Explicit Songs for China Concert
· Government pressures band over Shanghai date · Brown Sugar and Honky Tonk Woman among cuts

US Shifts Diplomatic Weight to Reflect New World Order
The US will send an extra 15 diplomats to China, 15 to Latin America and 12 to India as part of a major rethink of its foreign policy for the next few decades.

China Fights to Hold Back Sands
· Campaign to plant 12bn trees claims first victory · Beijing invested £3.5bn on Great Green Wall project

China Paves Way for £14bn Bp Oil Stake
Breakthrough deal with Sinopec would make UK energy major Beijing's biggest overseas partner.

China Activists 'vanish' Amid Protests
At least eight prominent Chinese human rights activists have vanished after they joined one of the first overt attempts to coordinate a nationwide protest against the authorities since the 1989 democracy demonstrations.

China's Premier Polishes His Image With Well-worn Coat
It resembles the kind of frugal bargain found in a charity shop, but China's prime minister is being lauded for sporting his unrepentantly unfashionable coat for more than a decade.

Mandelson Under Attack As Brussels Plans Duties of 20% on Asian Shoe Imports
Peter Mandelson, EU trade commissioner, announced yesterday anti-dumping duties of up to 20% on imports of Chinese and ...

China Cracks Down on Junk Email
China has moved to crack down on junk email and 'illegal' text messaging. By Julia Day.

China Vows to Create a 'new Socialist Countryside' for Millions of Farmers
Against a background of rising rural unrest, China yesterday unveiled ambitious plans to help the 800 million people living in the countryside catch up economically with people in the cities.

Empire of Signs
Jonathan Watts reports from the linguistic foothills of the mountain that is Mandarin - and dreams of his Chinese being 'the cow's vagina'.

Congress Accuses Google of Collusion
· Internet firms defend China operations · New taskforce to promote freedom on the web

China's Old Guard Warns Censors of 'social Disaster'
· Ex-aide of Mao Zedong attacks media crackdown · Web statement escalates row over free speech

Yahoo! Appeals for Support in Censorship Row
The internet company Yahoo! yesterday sought to blunt criticism of its business practices in China in advance of what is expected to be a gruelling hearing in Washington on Wednesday.

Pirates and Bloggers Beat China's Great Wall of Propaganda
Government censors admit they are fighting losing battle trying to ban sensitive information.

Wetlands Sucked Dry in China
More than four-fifths of the wetlands along northern China's biggest river system have dried up because of over-development, the state media reported yesterday in the latest warning of the dire environmental consequences of the country's economic growth.

China's Powerhouse Vision for 2050
· 'Optimistic' blueprint predicts end of poverty · Challenge to US scientific and military supremacy

Planners Warn of Danger From Growing Income Gap
The gulf between rich and poor in China's cities has reached an alarming level, the country's top economic planning agency warned yesterday.

Amantadine- Parkinson’s and Beyond
Amantadine is an anti-viral drug that can inhibit the replication of viruses in cells. The symptoms of Parkinson's disease have long been treated by Amantadine. According to unconfirmed reports, recently, amantadine was also used in China poultry farming in an effort to protect the birds against avian flu.

The Slow Road to Sanctions
The agreement by the US, Russia, China, Britain and France - the security council Big Five - to move the Iranian dispute to the security council is a blow to Iranian pride and...

China Cracks Down on Critical Publication
China's propaganda authorities suspended a hard-hitting publication that dared to print an alternative view of the opium wars and the Boxer rebellion yesterday in a widening campaign against liberal media organisations.

China's Rise Prompts Malaysia's Hi-tech Search for Sense of Identity
In multi-ethnic, multi-faith, multilingual Malaysia, the new national ID card is a tie that binds. While Britain's politicians wrangle over the issue, many Malaysians see their "multi-application smart card" as a unifying sign of national progress.

Thousands Throng Streets As Bolivian Leader Sheds Tears But Talks Tough at Inauguration
· President insists he will not eradicate coca trade · Warning to US as Morales threatens to turn to China

Land Seizures Threaten Social Stability, Warns China's Leader
The Chinese prime minister, Wen Jiabao, has warned that the rampant seizure of farmland for development is threatening social stability amid a rising wave of violent protests in the countryside.

China's New Rich Learn to Flaunt It
Self-made millionaires are getting a taste for Ferrari, Armani and Cartier - and the confidence to show them off.

Court to Hear Genocide Case Against China
A Spanish court has agreed to consider a genocide lawsuit brought against former Chinese president Jiang Zemin and former prime minister Li Peng by a pro-Tibetan human rights group.

Last Member of China's Gang of Four Dies at 74
· Propaganda chief's death kept quiet for two weeks · Quartet blamed for terror of Cultural Revolution

Private Property Rights Campaigner Jailed in China
China's pledge to protect private property was thrown into question yesterday when a court ordered the imprisonment of a businessman who led hundreds of private investors in a revolt against the seizure of their oil wells.

Turkish Family Suffers Second Bird Flu Death
The sister of the Turkish boy who was the first person outside China and south-east Asia to die of bird flu also died of the disease today.

China Frees Jailed Reporter
A Chinese journalist, jailed for revealing state secrets, has been freed ahead president Hu Jintao's trip to the US. By Claire Cozens.

Sleaze Exposed in China As Former Minister is Jailed
· Bribes worth $545,000 could be tip of iceberg · Sentence claimed as sign of corruption crackdown

26 Die in Chinese Bar Blaze After Narrow Doorway Slows Escape
· Owner of unlicensed outlet under investigation · Annual death toll from accidents hits 800,000

Booming China Promises Peace and Goodwill
· Policy paper pledges share of bigger markets for all · But wary Japan sees threat from military build-up

Dozens Killed in Chinese Hospital Fire
Patients leapt from the windows of a four-storey hospital in north-east China to escape a fire that killed at least 39 people, the official Xinhua news agency reported today.

China to Overtake Britain After Beijing Underestimates Growth
China will overtake Britain as the world's fourth-biggest economy this year after the government in Beijing found it had underestimated output by as much as 20%.

Chinese Paramilitary Chief Held After Village Killings
· 'Wrong actions' admitted in tackling land riot · Several dead and injured after officers open fire

UK Kidney Patients Head for China
Britons are being targeted by an internet company offering the organs of dead prisoners in a trade condemned as 'disgusting' by surgeons.

Chinese Militia Open Fire on Demonstrators Opposing Coal Plant
In one of the most violent confrontations in a wave of recent rural unrest, Chinese paramilitary forces have shot and killed at least one man and injured more than a dozen others during protests against a power plant in Guangdong, local residents said yesterday.

Company Head is Second to Lose Job Over Toxic Spill
The head of the state-owned company responsible for one of China's worst toxic spills was sacked yesterday.

Torture Still Widespread in China, Says Un Investigator
Immersion in sewage, ripping out fingernails, sleep deprivation, cigarette burns and beatings with electric prods - these are some of the torture methods used by China's police and prison officers to extract confessions and maintain discipline, a United Nations investigation has found...

China Cracks Down in 'asian Las Vegas'
Chinese authorities have arrested almost 1.2 million people suspected of illegal betting offences during a nine month crackdown, state media reported today.

Mine Explosion Kills 134 and Leaves 15 Missing
A colliery explosion killed 134 miners and left 15 missing in Heilongjiang province in China days after government leaders called for greater vigilance to prevent accidents.

68 Killed in China Mine Explosion
At least 68 people have been killed in an explosion at a coalmine in north-east China and 79 people are missing, the Chinese government said today.

Water to Be Restored to Angry Chinese City
After a four-day stoppage of contaminated water supplies, the Chinese city of Harbin is expected to turn the taps back on today, but many citizens have become so suspicious of official safety claims that they say they will not be drinking.

Officials Say Sorry to Harbin for Toxic Spill in Face of Media Fury
China's leading petroleum company and senior provincial officials have made a public apology to assuage a barrage of criticism from the domestic media and millions of people deprived of water supplies.

100 Tons of Pollutants Spilled Into Chinese River
Around 100 tons of pollutants flowed into the Songhua river in the chemical spill that forced a Chinese city to cut off water supplies to almost four million people, it was reported today.

Toxic water from Chinese river set to reach Russia in 14 days
China will keep Russia informed of the conditions of Songhua river pollution after the polluted water passes Harbin, the capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang province, a Chinese environment official said.

Polluted Water Reaches Chinese City
A slick of toxic river water reached the Chinese city of Harbin today, threatening to pollute water supplies to almost four million people.

China Admits Toxic Spill is Threat to City's Water
· Benzene leak from plant explosion is risk to supply · Residents take flight as health fears increase

Chinese City in Chaos As Water to Be Cut Off
Panic was today spreading in Harbin, with officials preparing to cut off water supplies as heavily polluted river water flowed towards the Chinese city.

9m Rush to Fill Buckets and Baths As Water Supply Panic Hits Chinese City
· Taps turned off after chemical plant explosion · Residents strip shops of anything drinkable

Eat My Dust
Don't be surprised to see the US president leading some of China's top mountain bikers trailing - Bush is the wheel deal, says G2 cycling correspondent Matt Seaton.

Kids in Sport
Focus: Elite kids in all sports - not just in Chinese gyms - are pushed to the limit, says Rebecca Seal.

Charles Sues Mail for Printing His 'waxworks' Jibe at Chinese Leaders
· First legal action by exasperated prince · Private journal 'published without permission'

China Confirms Bird Flu in Humans
· Poultry worker dies and two more cases suspected · Mass vaccination plan to safeguard 14bn poultry

Chinese Government to Honour Dead Liberal Leader
China's communist leadership will take a political gamble this week by holding a memorial for its most famous liberal-leaning leader Hu Yaobang, whose death sparked the Tiananmen Square protest.

The New China: A Hunger Eating Up the World
China's insatiable demand for proteins as well as oil is turning Brazil into the takeaway for the workforce of the world. In the second part of our series, we reveal how the soya trade is creating a gold rush which is deforesting the Amazon.

China Pledges to Double Reliance on Renewable Energy By 2020
· Huge polluter would be leading green player · Critics claim target will not offset climatic damage

Fresh Bird Flu Outbreaks Hit Asia
China, Vietnam and Japan reported fresh outbreaks of bird flu yesterday as Asian governments adopted increasingly desperate measures to prevent the disease from spreading to humans.

Watching Beautiful Maidens
This season there is a new rebel, a show called al-Hour al-Eyn, The Beautiful Maidens, which got past the censors and has run for an hour every night during Ramadan, to culminate in a final episode tomorrow night.

Eight Die in School Stampede
Eight Chinese children were killed and dozens hurt in a stampede on a primary school staircase after a child yelled "ghost", local media reported yesterday.

English Butler Leads China's Latest Cultural Revolution
Booming economy and influx of foreigners require an upmarket service sector.

China Will Shut Down Borders If Struck By Bird Flu
China will shut its borders if there is a single case of human-to-human transmission of bird flu in the country, its deputy health minister has said.

Chinese Communists Dash Hopes of Democratic Reform
· No move to elections or greater media freedom · White paper labelled rehash of previous policy

China 'strips Forests in Burma'
Chinese logging companies are colluding with the Burmese military commanders and ethnic leaders to illegally strip and export large tracts of some of the world's most ecologically important forests, according to a two-year investigation by London-based watchdog group Global Witness.

Revered Author Ba Jin Dies Aged 100
Ba Jin, the Chinese anarchist intellectual who became one of the 20th century's great authors, died yesterday in Shanghai, aged 100.

Seeing and Believing in China
The readers' editor, Ian Mayes, on mistakes made by a reporter under pressure.

Still A Lot To Be Done
Though aid has now started reaching the quake affected areas, the biggest challenge will be in distributing it among those who need it the most.

BP Plans a Pioneering Drive Into China
Oil group seeks to join the ultimate motoring market.

Chinese Activist Vows to Continue, Despite Beating
Lu Banglie, the civil rights activist who was savagely beaten at the weekend, said yesterday he would not give up his campaign for more democracy in China despite the attack on him.

Civil Rights in China: Protests Surge As Reforms Fail to Match Rising Hopes
Political reform is likely to be high on the agenda of a closed-door meeting of China's communist leaders today amid growing strains between a population demanding more rights and a bureaucracy increasingly using illegal means to maintain its grip on power.

Profile: Lu Banglie
Lu Banglie is not a household name in China. But for the growing pro-democracy movement, his role as a popularly elected village chief is a symbol of success after years of struggle for momentum.

Groundswell of Protest Feared By Party Officials
Explainer: Corruption in rural China. Lu Banglie, now missing, feared dead, is typical of the new breed of peasant activists who are giving the Communist party its biggest political headache since the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

Truth Or Just A Speculation
Everest cut to size. Chinese say peak 3.7 m shorter than earlier measurement but Indians want to see data.

'They beat him until he was lifeless'
How democracy activist in China's new frontline was left for dead after a brutal attack by a uniformed mob

Mob Attacks Key Chinese Democrat
Activist left for dead near village at centre of fresh wave of unrest.

Nanjing Plans to Create 1,200 Jobs at Longbridge
· Chinese firm 'to invest hundreds of millions' · UK firm in talks on joint sports car venture.

Cricket: China Preparing to Rule World Cricket
If the Asian Cricket Council has its way, India v China could one day replace the Ashes as cricket's biggest series, says Will Buckley

Bowling a Chinaman Takes on Whole New Meaning
Cricket: England may be seeing the biggest cricket boom in more than a century, but on the other side of the world yesterday a group of 30 novices took part in what may prove to be a more historic event: an attempt to spread the art of willow and leather among schools and universities in China.

China Will Soon Be World's Biggest Exporter
· US and Germany will be overtaken by 2010 · Beijing must tackle inequality, says OECD

Boeing Sells First Private Business Jet to Mainland
China's tycoons have joined the global jet set, according to Boeing, which said yesterday that it has sold its first private business plane in the world's most populous nation.

Marching Into a Dead End
Those who sign up to a clash of civilisations pander to racism while engaged in a charade of moral grandstanding. Madeleine Bunting

Low Death Rate Among Chinese Puzzles Milan
The Chinese have always had a reputation for longevity, but officials have found the Italian dolce vita is making them all but immortal.

The Basics of Investing in China
Investing in China can have a high pay off, but is usually a very high risk.

EU and China in 'bra Wars' Deal
The EU and China finally brokered a deal over the so-called 'bra wars' dispute yesterday.

China and Eu Reach Textile Imports Deal
China and the EU today agreed an end to the so-called 'bra wars', that will allow millions of Chinese garments to enter the EU.

Mandelson's Textiles U-turn
EU trade commissioner warns that clothes will cost more unless backlog of Chinese imports is cleared.

Mandelson Warns of Clothing Shortages
Peter Mandelson, the European trade commissioner, today warned of clothes shortages unless the EU agrees to allow in Chinese garments stuck at the border.

China's poorest will suffer
We claim cheap labour threatens our clothes industry. But China's workers are flexing their muscles.

Bra Wars: Europe Strikes Back
As China's economy grows, the EU must find a way to compete. Larry Elliott

Chinese Takeaway is Going Nowhere
Anxieties about China's foreign oil acquisitions are overblown, writes Mark Tran.

First China-russia War Games Begin
Russia and China began their first ever joint military exercises today, involving 10,000 troops from land, sea and air forces.

Us Tries to Spin a Web Strong Enough to Contain China
World Briefing: George Bush's personal interest in Mongolia might be thought limited. Yet, when the country's then leader visited Washington last year, the US president enthusiastically declared "a new era of comprehensive partnership". Simon Tisdall

Marconi in Talks With Chinese
· Telecoms group could be taken over by partner · Union issues R&D warning

Avian Flu Casts Shadow Over Beauty of China's Bird Lake
Migrating species may cause global pandemic, scientists warn.

New Empires: Maxwell's Revenge
Maxwell, now Supreme Commander of the US, invades China.

Chinese Villagers Seize Party Chief
More than 1,000 villagers in inner Mongolia took the local communist party chief hostage yesterday in the latest land dispute to rock the Chinese countryside.

US in Plan to Bypass Kyoto Protocol
The United States and Australia have been working in secret for 12 months on an alternative to the Kyoto protocol and will reveal today a joint pact with China, India and South Korea.

Suicide Blights China's Young Adults
Survey reveals main cause of death of people under 35.

Poaching Leads to More Tuskless Elephants
Intense poaching by ivory hunters has caused a dramatic shift in the gene pool of Asian elephants, leading to a steep rise in tuskless herds.

Chinese Car Makers Gear Up to Take on Western Competitors
First wave of cheap exports goes on sale in Europe.

Avian Flu Found in Migrating Geese
Scientists have found a deadly strain of bird flu in migratory geese at a nature reserve in western China, raising fears that the disease could rapidly spread across the world.

Call for Us Date to Leave Central Asia
A regional security alliance dominated by Russia and China yesterday demanded the US and its allies in the "war on terror" name a date for the removal of their military bases from central Asia.

Snow White and the Seven Kung Fu Monks: Disney Sets Sights on China
The Wicked Queen will not know what hit her. Snow White is about to be transformed into a martial arts epic with Shaolin monks replacing the seven dwarves of the original Grimm Brothers fairytale.

Print and Be Damned - China's Paper Tigers Fight on
Beijing's iron grip on news is under attack as this week 2,000 journalists urged the release of jailed colleagues.

Mini-series for Upwardly Mobile Chinese
A media group in China has filmed a soap opera to be broadcast only on mobile phones.

Sex is China's Latest Boom Industry
From vibrators to plastic vaginas, the country supplies 70% of all 'adult toys'.

80 Killed in Chinese Flood Disaster
Up to 900,000 people have been evacuated in southern China after the worst floods in almost a century killed more than 80 people and wreaked havoc on buildings and crops.

China's New Consumers Get a Taste for Luxury Goods
A sales boom is attracting foreign manufacturers to a market expected to grow to $3.7 trillion in 10 years.

BBC Plans Chinese Television Channel
A senior delegation from BBC Worldwide, the corporation's commercial arm, is to visit China this summer with plans for a television channel there.

Illicit Rice Trade Endangers Biotech Barriers
Genetically engineered strains of the world's most important staple crop, rice, could creep on to the global market through the back door, Greenpeace warned yesterday after disclosing that GE rice was being sold illegally in China.

China's Secret Internet Police Target Critics With Web of Propaganda
China's communist authorities have intensified their campaign against the party's biggest potential enemy - the internet - with the recruitment of a growing army of secret web commentators.

At Least 87 Infants Die As Flood Hits Chinese School
Rescue teams continued their search for missing children yesterday after a flash flood engulfed a packed primary school in north-eastern China, killing at least 87 infants and four adults.

Pressure on China to Bring Economy Down to Earth
China will come under renewed pressure at this weekend's Group of Seven meeting in London to ditch its fixed exchange rate regime and instead allow the yuan to float freely on the foreign exchanges.

100 Chinese Cities Face Water Crisis, Says Minister
Pollution and consumption of water in China are growing so fast that more than 100 of the country's biggest cities could soon be unable to quench the thirst of their populations, a cabinet minister warned yesterday.

Mandelson in Talks to Trim Chinese Cloth Boom
Peter Mandelson, the EU trade commissioner, is in urgent talks with Beijing on a deal that would allow the Chinese to import more textiles into Europe and head off the growing clamour for trade protection.

Greeks on the Front Line in Europe's Textile Wars
Zhang Qing is laughing all the way to the bank. As he works the till in the clothes store he has run in Athens for the past six years, the Chinese merchant can barely suppress his joy.

China's 270mph Flying Train Could Run on London to Glasgow Route If Plan Takes Off
Study shows new £16bn line could relieve transport chaos.

Reaching Beyond the Myth of Mao
Communist party leaders must tell the truth about Tiananmen. Isabel Hilton

China Must Confront Dark Past, Says Mao Confidant
Communist party veteran says Tiananmen students were right to demand more democracy and less corruption.

An Inequitable Life
The yawning wealth gap in 'booming' China is badly hampering foreign attempts to help the country's have-nots, writes Jonathan Watts.

Tokyo Angry at China's Walkout
Japan demanded an apology from Beijing yesterday after it emerged that the Chinese vice-premier, Wu Li, cancelled a meeting in Tokyo with the Japanese prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, in protest at his refusal to end his annual visits to a shrine that honours Japan's war dead.

Japan to Hasten Removal of Arms in China
Japan hopes to remove a big source of friction with China by speeding up the disposal of tens of thousands of chemical weapons abandoned by Japanese forces at the end of the second world war.

In China's Richest Village, Peasants Are All Shareholders Now - By Order of the Party
Model community with spectacular industrial growth owes as much to feudalism as to communism.

China Stops Anti-japan Protests
Chinese authorities clamped down on public demonstrations yesterday with a spate of detentions, mobile phone warnings and a heavy police presence to prevent a planned anti-Japanese protest.

Hand of Welcome As China's Old Enemies End 60-year Standoff
Nearly 60 years after their messy political estrangement, Taiwanese nationalists and Chinese communists suspended hostility yesterday with a simple handshake between their leaders in Beijing.

Farmers Say Gm Rice Cuts Pesticide Illness
Small farmers in China growing GM rice reported higher yields than for conventional varieties, a lower use of pesticides, and less illness related to the use of the pesticides, Chinese and US scientists report today in Science journal.

China Braced for Mass Protests
US and Japan warn citizens to stay away from 'patriotic' rallies.

A Bloody Revolt in a Tiny Village Challenges the Rulers of China
Jonathan Watts in Huankantou where protesters angry at corruption and poverty repelled 1,000 riot police. But now fear is replacing euphoria.

EU Delays Lifting Arms Ban on China
The European Union will today postpone a plan to lift its arms embargo on China until at least next year and demand reciprocal moves first by Beijing to improve human rights and seek a peaceful solution of its dispute with Taiwan, it emerged last night.

When the Safety Valve Blows
The riots in China highlight the dangers of using nationalism as an outlet for growing popular frustration. Isabel Hilton

China and Japan in Race for Gas
Testy relations between China and Japan were further strained yesterday when Tokyo signalled its intention to explore gas fields in the contested seabed between the two countries.

Japan Rejects 'scary' China's War Demands
A diplomatic row between China and Japan escalated further yesterday when the Chinese prime minister, Wen Jiabao, called on Tokyo to "face up to" its wartime atrocities, saying it should reconsider its bid for a permanent seat on the UN security council.

Chinese Village Protest Turns Into Riot of Thousands
Reports that two elderly women were killed during a protest against factory pollution have sparked a bloody riot by thousands of villagers in eastern China.

Tokyo Makes Protest After Anti-japanese Violence in China
Relations between Japan and China have plunged to their lowest point in more than a decade after a weekend of violent anti-Japanese protests in Beijing and other cities.

RBS Joins Big Players for Slice of Bank of China
Royal Bank of Scotland emerged yesterday as a possible bidder for a key stake in Bank of China, the country's second largest bank, in the face of stiff rivalry from a list of suitors that includes some of the west's leading organisations in the sector.

Marching towards the gas chamber and the model T
Hywel Williams: Material progression has often been accompanied by moral regression.

The empire shifts
Randeep Ramesh: The breathtaking rise of China has spurred the United States to woo India - in an exact reversal of its triangular diplomacy of 30 years ago.

Chinese Seek Rover Guarantees
Shanghai demands British government reassurance on car maker's future and pensions liability.

Shaken Davis Taken to Hospital
Steve Davis was forced to concede his match with Ricky Walden at the China Open after banging his head on a steel door while signing autographs.

Harsh Reality of China's Fantasy Craze
Online games blamed for thefts, suicides and murders.

Rush to Sign Chinese Petition
China's growing influence is being felt as never before on the internet, where in less than a month 16 million people have signed a petition against Japan's attempt to get a permanent seat on the UN security council.

Mao's Children Seek Their Fortune
Will Hutton: It is inevitable that just as they are embracing capitalism so the Chinese will have to address their political system.

Blood and Coal: the Human Cost of Cheap Chinese Goods
Chinese miners working under appalling safety conditions to fuel factories making cheap goods snapped up by consumers in Britain and other wealthy nations.

IBM Sale to China Gets Clearance
The historic sale of IBM's personal computer business to Chinese firm Lenovo was approved by American security officials yesterday, despite the misgivings of some Washington politicians.

Poetry in Slow Motion
A new Chinese law promoting renewable energy use may still yield ugly results, writes Jonathan Watts.

Europe Risks Us Sanctions Over China Arms Sales
America and Europe were yesterday being drawn ever closer into a trade war after senior US congressman issued a blunt warning to the EU over its plans to lift a 15-year-old arms embargo on China.

China's Player Looks to the Big Game
China's second-richest man, Chen Tianquiao, looks poised to become the country's leading new media player after staging the sector's first aggressive raid on a rival's shares.

Preaching Against Corporate Space-invaders
Actor casts himself as evangelist preacher Reverend Billy, head of the Church of Stop Shopping, to preach his message of anti-globalisation.

Timber Smuggling Ring Exposed
Environmental activists have exposed what they claim to be the world's biggest timber smuggling racket, the supply of the luxurious dark hardwood, merbau, from Indonesia's eastern Papua province to China and then on to Europe and north America.

200 Miners Killed in China Blast
China announced yesterday that at least 203 coal miners died in Monday's explosion, the worst pit disaster since the Communists took power in 1949.

US Nod for Arms Sales to China
The United States has reluctantly accepted that the European Union will lift its arms embargo on China within months, Condoleezza Rice, the American secretary of state, indicated yesterday.

Chinese Puzzle in Yukos Saga
The Russian government says it will press ahead with the merger between the gas giant Gazprom and state oil company Rosneft.

The Third Way's Dirtiest Secret
Felicity Lawrence: Ministers have tried to cover up their dependence on forced labour. A year ago this Saturday, 23 Chinese cocklepickers died at Morecambe Bay.

Europe Doubles China Arms Sale Licences
European leaders faced embarrassment yesterday when figures showed a doubling in approvals of arms sales to China, despite an embargo imposed after Tiananmen Square.

China on Alert After Tiananmen Party Reformist Dies
Zhao Ziyang, the former Chinese Communist party leader who has been under house arrest since the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 has died aged 85.

Security Tight As China Reformist Sinks Into Coma
Zhao Ziyang, the former Chinese Communist party leader who has been under house arrest since the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, has fallen into a deep coma after suffering multiple heart attacks, it was reported yesterday.

EU Could Lift Arms Embargo on China
An EU arms embargo on China, imposed after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, may be lifted within months.

China Aims for Slice of Us Car Market
Cut-price Chinese cars will soon go on sale in the United States, realising long-held fears of the American auto industry.

China's Angry Young Focus Their Hatred on Old Enemy
Anti-Japanese fury is rising among internet users - a trend the state is keen to encourage.

Toyland Workers Strike New Deal
Chinese factory employees make gains as they begin to flex industrial muscle.

Writer Held As China Turns on Intellectuals
The Chinese police arrested one of the country's most influential journalists yesterday in the latest phase of their campaign to stifle critical discussion by prominent liberal intellectuals.

Bob's Your Agony Uncle in China
Meet Bob. The retired 85-year-old American is a familiar face in the small town of Slingerlands in New York state. But Bob's real fame lies on the other side of the world: in China.

China Rubbishes Its Oscar Favourite
In the west, critics have hailed House of Flying Daggers as the most beautiful martial arts film ever made. In China, the home of its director, Zhang Yimou, the epic has been given a resounding raspberry.

China Hits at Japan Over Visa
China criticised Japan yesterday after Tokyo approved an application from Lee Teng-hui, the former president of Taiwan and a leading supporter of independence for the island, to pay a sightseeing visit to Japan later this month.

China Shifts From Receiving to Giving Foreign Aid As Economic Boom Continues
China is set to complete the transition from aid recipient to international donor in the next year, the head of the world's biggest humanitarian agency said yesterday.

World Watch
Ian Black: Nearly everyone is at least dimly aware that China is driving the world economy - its cheap textiles undercutting other producers, its consumer boom fuelling global demand for oil and steel, its companies buying chunks of western business icons such as IBM.

End of an Era As Firm That Brought Us the Pc Sells Out to Chinese Pretender for $1.75bn
Little known company becomes world's third largest manufacturer in breakthrough deal.

China Chops Nike Ad
Multinational apologises after outcry. The US sportswear firm Nike has apologised for running a commercial in China which has been banned by popular demand for offending the country's national dignity.

Europe to Review China Arms Ban
Simon Tisdall: China's demand that Europe lift its 15-year-old embargo on arms sales will receive a sympathetic hearing at today's EU-China summit in The Hague, despite fierce opposition from an unlikely alliance of human rights groups and the Bush administration.

Press Review: The View From Tokyo
With little of interest happening on the domestic front, Japan's editorial writers have devoted more space than usual to their country's often strained relations with two of its neighbours - Russia and China.

Kennedy Jumble Sale at Sotheby's
Among the items listed in the latest Sotheby's auction of the contents of the Kennedy family homes are a fibreglass kitchen tray, some old suitcases, chipped china and a few tumblers.

Asean to Sign Historic Deal With China
The Asean group of south-east Asian states is to seal a historic trade pact with China today in the latest move towards a pan-Asian trade bloc that could rival the EU and the US.

China Opens Tv Market to Foreigners
China will further relax its tight control of the media sector by allowing foreign broadcasters to invest in television production companies.

Premature Infatuation
Despite assurances, Rover's Chinese partnership may not be the answer to its problems.

China Finally Faces Up to Suicide Crisis
Record deaths driven by depression. The old peasant woman spoke in a hushed voice as her grandson cowered behind her back: 'My daughter-in-law killed herself with rat poison. Nobody knows why. It was one of those things.'

Flying High - But Will It Float?
Its economy rampant, China could soon bow to global pressure and free its currency, writes Heather Stewart.

Widely Panned, Loos in China Get Clean-up
In the panoply of human rights, it isn't the first to trip off the tongue. But more than 150 delegates at an international conference yesterday urged that it should be.

Open Door: Ian Mayes
The readers' editor, Ian Mayes, on G2 in China. Throughout this week G2, the tabloid second section of the Guardian, has devoted itself very largely to China.

A Rampaging Market, But a Long Way From Global Power
To become a 21st century hegemon, China will need to share its wealth. Mao Zedong's favourite Chinese dynasty was the Qin.

G2 in China: Jonathan Watts on China's Greatest River
Nine hundred billion tonnes of water flow down China's greatest river, the Yangtze, every year. On the way, it powers the world's biggest hydro-electric scheme, slakes the thirst of 400 million people and serves as a rubbish dump for a growing number of supercities, factories, farms and ships. Jonathan Watts traces its path from source to sea.

Sam Wollaston on China's Sports Schools
China's sports schools take thousands of very young children and groom them for glory. In four years' time, it should be the most successful Olympic nation on earth. Sam Wollaston reports.

Home Alone
Twenty-five years ago, faced with a dizzying population crisis, China banned its citizens from having more than one baby. The policy was a huge success - but what of the children who grew up without siblings? Catherine Bennett talks to Shanghai's 'little emperors'.

China Struggles to Quell Football Revolt
Country's most popular spectator sport rebels against bribe-taking and match-fixing.

Seven Die in Chinese Clashes
The Chinese government declared martial law in the central province of Henan yesterday after some of the worst ethnic violence in recent memory left at least seven people dead. Cars were overturned and houses torched in the bloody clashes between the Muslim Hui minority and the Han...

Doing Business in China
Etiquette and protocol guide to and tips on doing business in China.

Population Peak of 1.46bn Will Put Strain on China
China's population, already the largest in the world, will peak at 1.46 billion in 30 years, straining the country's healthcare system, putting pressure on jobs, and gobbling up a greater share of the world's food and energy resources. The demographic forecast was made by the nation's...

Motor Racing: Ecclestone Makes No Apology for Chasing China's Golden Fleece
'First you get on, then you get rich, then you get honest.' From Bexleyheath to China, Bernie's as good as his word, writes Alan Henry.

China's Rise in Wealth Brings Fall in Health
Economic reforms lead to growth in stress-related illnesses.

The Uk's New Rubbish Dump: China
When people give their bottles and paper for recycling, writes John Vidal, few realise much of it will end up 8,000 miles away.

Jiang Finally Lets Go of China's Army
Former President's retirement raises hopes for democratic reform.

The East is Grey
China has failed to provide for its old age and will almost certainly have to review its one-child policy, writes Jonathan Watts.

Jonathan Watts: China's False Start
My arrest violated Beijing's much-vaunted new Olympic spirit; but there is reason to hope for better things.

Europe is Reaching Crisis Point
Forget America: the government should be worrying about the situations in France and Germany.

Liu takes flight as China's new hero
4x100m relay: The British team got it sort of right at last. Well it's a lot easier when you're going slower, isn't it?

Typhoon Death Toll Rises to 34
The death toll from Typhoon Aere today rose to 34 after a mudslide killed 15 villagers in Taiwan and five people were reported to have died in the Philippines. The typhoon reached mainland China late yesterday. State television showed footage of strong winds and pounding rain, with cars...

China's Farmers Cannot Feed Hungry Cities
No longer self-sufficient in food, the country today increasingly has to buy abroad, raising global prices.

MG Rover Dismisses Any Talk of Being Shanghaied
MG Rover yesterday played down reports that China's most powerful home grown carmaker, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, was planning to take over the British group. Chairman John Towers said such interest would be "flattering" but that ongoing talks had included no discussion of...

10-day Traffic Jam Snares Drivers
If there is a competition for the world's worst traffic jam, several thousand drivers on China's route 307 would have been able to offer themselves up as contenders this week after a 10-day, 60-mile snarl-up left them stranded in driving rain and searing heat. Roadworks and a sharp...

Corrupt Officials Have Cost China £330m in 20 Years
More than 4,000 corrupt Chinese officials have absconded overseas with at least $600m (£330m) worth of public funds in the past 20 years, according to a government report. The study by the ministry of commerce is thought to underplay the scale of the problem, but it highlights...

China Loosens Leash on Public Watchdogs
Authorities begin press's transition from PR machine to independent news sector.

Chinese Fans Go on Rampage
Riots after defeat by Japan in Asia Cup sparks fears for Beijing Games.

China's Concealed Conflict
As the political battle between a former president and a dissident surgeon continues, the Chinese people are being kept in the dark about it. Jonathan Watts explains.

China Frees Surgeon After 're-education'
The Chinese military surgeon who exposed the government's cover-up of the Sars crisis was released yesterday after seven weeks of "political re-education", his family said. Jiang Yanyong, 72, a semi-retired general in the People's Liberation Army, had been detained at a secret location...

China Admits First Rise in Poverty Since 1978
China's fading socialist credentials almost disappeared yesterday when the government admitted that the number of farmers living in poverty surged by 800,000 last year despite a 9% economic growth rate that enriched the urban middle class and corrupt party officials.

China Offers Parents Cash Incentives to Produce More Girls
China is offering to pay couples a premium for producing baby girls to counter an alarming gender imbalance created by the country's one-child population control policy.

Cities Fall Out Over Cloud
Chinese meteorologists are accusing each other of what could prove to be one of the defining crimes of the 21st century: rain theft. The use of cloud-seeding guns, rockets and planes to induce rainfall has created tensions between drought-plagued regions, which are competing to squeeze...

China's Growth Flickers to a Halt
The world's most populous and fastest-growing nation is eating up a growing share of the planet's oil and coal, pushing up international energy prices and increasingly being forced to look beyond its borders for supplies.

In a Different League
A second division football club from northern England are proving unlikely trailblazers for British companies to establish a presence in China, writes Jonathan Watts.

USA women stun top-ranked China in Volley Masters semifinals
Nancy Metcalf scored a match-high 15 points to lead four players in double-figures as the United States stunned the world's top-ranked team, China, in straight sets Saturday night to snap a long losing streak to the Chinese and advance to the championship match of the Volley Masters in Montreux, Switzerland.

Anheuser-Busch Tops Up Chinese Brewery Bid to $720m
Anheuser-Busch, the American brewer behind Budweiser, yesterday raised the stakes in the takeover battle for Chinese beer-maker Harbin with a $720m (£400m) bid for the company. That tops the $550m from SABMiller, the London-based brewer behind brands including Peroni and Pilsner...

Shanghai Surprise ... a New Town in Ye Olde English Style
The ambitiously low-rise plan for a giant new satellite-city near Shanghai aims to recreate the most picturesque elements of a British town to lure homebuyers from China's newly affluent middle class.

China Opens Bank Doors to Foreigners
US equity fund Newbridge Capital is to become the first foreign investor to buy a controlling stake in a state-run Chinese bank, it was announced yesterday.

Chinese Lesson in How to Put Food in the Mouths of Millions
World applause for Beijing's record achievement in creating and spreading wealth.

USA's Rogers & Scott advance to FIVB China semifinals
Tenth-seeded Todd Rogers and Sean Scott United States advanced to their first-ever international semifinal here Saturday (May 22) by winning two of three matches in the $180,000 SWATCH-FIVB Beach World Tour event. Read on for the story.

Sport Focus: China Emerges As Sports Powerhouse
Sport focus: China is emerging as a powerhouse in sport, writes Kevin Mitchell

China Hints at Plans to Cool Growth
Beijing may raise rates to prevent overheating while its Asian neighbour shows a stronger than expected recovery.

China Orders Tv Stars to Stop 'queer' Western Behaviour
Chinese television presenters have been told to stop dyeing their hair, exposing too much flesh and using English words in a government campaign to shelter young Chinese minds from the pernicious influences of sex, violence and foreign ideas. The policy, which also includes a ban on...

Oil Prices Reach Record Highs
Oil prices today hit new highs as political tensions in the Middle East and instability in Iraq sapped confidence in the security of supplies from the region. With high demand from China and the US also putting pressure on energy prices, the price of US light crude rose by 10 cents to a...

The Rise and Rise of Little Voice
Despite hostility from male critics in her native China, Xiaolu Guo's harrowing, intimate novels have made her one of the country's most successful literary exports. She tells Laura Barton why she came to Britain.

Fighting Mad After 49-day Fast
A kung fu-practising, Buddhist-meditating, tai chi-breathing Chinese herbalist has laid claim to the world record for fasting after apparently going without food for 49 days. But far from celebrating his achievement, Chen Jianmin is now locked in a war of words with a professional...

Unwelcome Ghosts
Britain and the US can no longer lecture the Chinese on abuses in Tibet. When Tony Blair shook Wen Jiabao's hand yesterday, both men knew that the balance of history was shifting.

Mao's Promised Land Ends in Sweated Labour
As China's Prime Minister arrives today to meet Tony Blair, Jonathan Watts in Beijing examines how its economic miracle is built on employers who fail to pay wages, ignore safety rules and discard workers at will.

Chinese Professor Attacks State Censors
A professor at one of China's foremost universities has launched a ferocious attack on the state propaganda department saying it uses Nazi tactics and has been covering up famines, corruption and disease for more than 50 years. In what may be a sign of a power struggle within the...

More Sars Cases in China
China reported two new cases of Sars yesterday amid growing fears that the Labour Day holiday would be disrupted again. One woman was in a critical condition as the authorities quarantined 700 people in Beijing. Four people have been confirmed with Sars in the past month and five other...

Stretching the Red Tape
The Tories and the loudmouths who claim to represent British business are wilfully wrong about regulation.

China's 'biggest Embezzler' is Extradited By Us
A man accused of the biggest embezzlement in recent Chinese history was extradited from Las Vegas to Beijing yesterday. The return of Yu Zhendong, a banker said to have stolen $485m (about £270m) from his institution, is a sign of growing Sino-American cooperation in law enforcement,...

Shanghai Eases China's One-child Rule
As the most crowded city in the world's most populous country, Shanghai may seem like an unlikely starting place for a relaxation of China's controversial one-child policy. But that is exactly what happened yesterday when the municipal government announced that divorcees who remarry would...

Chinese Premier Reprieves Grand Canyon of the Orient
Dam project on pristine river halted. China's premier, Wen Jiabao, has halted plans for a huge dam system in the country's most spectacular canyon, it was reported yesterday.

Killing for Scratch on Bmw Reveals China's Wealth Gap
The authorities bind press and chatrooms to dampen outrage at the rich's privileges.

Symbol of Corruption 'to Be Felled'
One of China's most notorious symbols of corruption and waste, the 22-storey Bank of China tower in Wenzhou, is to be pulled down without opening its doors for business, it was reported yesterday.

Sewerage and Fertilisers 'are Killing the Seas'
Marine life is being suffocated, UN warns. Last summer every sea creature across an area twice the size of Wales was asphyxiated by severely depleted oxygen levels in the Gulf of Mexico. The same phenomenon, the marine equivalent of the ozone hole, happened off South America, China, Japan, south-east Australia, New Zealand, and up to 150 other places.

Mekong Faces a Bleak Future
One of the world's greatest rivers has been reduced to a trickle in places by a series of giant Chinese dams and engineering works which are threatening the livelihoods of up to 100 million people in south-east Asia. A body representing four downstream governments reported yesterday that...

Wooldorf Astoria Sheep Set a World Record
The waist-high bale of the finest wool ever produced was auctioned in Australia yesterday to a Chinese company which hopes to turn it into suits worth £41,000 apiece.

40m Bachelors and No Women ... the Birth of a New Problem for China
China, the most populous nation on Earth, could find itself dealing with the combined frustrations of as many as 40 million single men by 2020 because its one-child policy is creating a shortage of female babies. In an unusually frank speech on China's looming demographic crisis, Li...

The Life and Death of a Cockle Picker
From a tiny Chinese farm to the perilous sand flats of Lancashire and death, James Meek and Jonathan Watts trace the life of Yu Hui.

Fires Kill at Least 90 People in China
Shopping centre and temple hit. Two fires, including a huge blaze at a crowded shopping centre, killed more than 90 people yesterday, battering China's already dire safety reputation.

Asian Governments Warned Over Bird Flu
Health authorities today told Asian governments not to become complacent in the battle to control the bird flu virus sweeping across the region. The warning came as evidence of the virus was detected in two of China's largest cities, the financial centre, Shanghai, and the northern city...

Chinese Officials Cancel The Vagina Monologues
Chinese authorities have cancelled a performance of the The Vagina Monologues, the controversial women's rights play that was due to hit the Beijing stage tomorrow. Despite a growing openness about sex among young urbanites curious to explore their growing personal and financial freedom,...

Finance Ministers Turn the Heat on China
Beijing's intransigence to blame for worldwide currency instability, says G7.

'Our Life is Bloody Hard Here'
Last week 19 people, most Chinese, died while picking cockles in Morecambe Bay. What drives migrant workers to take such risks? Jonathan Watts reports from Fujian province.

China Tightens Net Around Online Dissenters
30,000 web police are thought to be monitoring chatrooms and sites. The man shadowing the internet activists on the street was either spectacularly incompetent or deliberately trying to intimidate.

Victims of the Sands and the Snakeheads
19 Chinese drown half a world away from home. The gangs behind the tragedy are on the run.

Tides Kill 19 Cockle Pickers
At least 19 people died when they were trapped by rising tides as they picked cockles on the notoriously dangerous mudflats at Morecambe Bay, Lancashire, last night. The victims, mostly young people, were believed to have been Chinese. They were part of a group of more than 30 cockle...

Tides Kill 18 Cockle Pickers
At least 18 people died when they were trapped by rising tides as they picked cockles on the notoriously dangerous mudflats at Morecambe Bay, Lancashire, last night. The victims, mostly young people, were believed to have been Chinese. They were part of a group of more than 30 cockle...

Club is Paid to Take on Chinese Footballer
The international football transfer market, in which top clubs spend millions on foreign players, has been turned upside down by the Chinese, who have paid a Spanish club to sign one of their players. Cash-strapped Second Division Xerez, which is struggling to pay the salaries of its...

China Rejects Claim It Covered Up First Outbreak of Bird Flu
China angrily denied reports yesterday it had been covering up an outbreak of bird flu for at least six months amid growing fears the deadly virus may have started earlier and spread wider than thought. The deepening blame game came as Asian governments stepped up import bans and...

Crackdown Led to Hundreds of Communist Party Suicides
More than 1,200 Communist party members killed themselves and 8,000 fled overseas during an anti-corruption crackdown in the first six months of last year, the Chinese media reported.

Bird Flu Spreads to China
The deadly bird flu outbreak in Asia appeared to be spinning out of control yesterday as China joined a growing list of countries affected by a virus that has killed eight people and devastated poultry stocks across the region. In a sign of the growing alarm, the World Health Organisation...

China Surge Fuels Fears of Overheating
China strengthened its claim to be the engine for global growth yesterday with new figures that showed its economy surged 9.1% last year. The breakneck pace is the fastest in six years, adding to fears that excess investment and overproduction may be overheating the economy...

China To Kill 10,000 Palm Civets
After a man in Guangdong Province in southeastern China was reported ill with a strain of SARS similar to that found in palm civets, Chinese officials have ordered the closure of wild animal markets and the immediate killing of all captive palm civets in the province.

Flying Train Plan Comes Off the Rails
The 10-year, multibillion-pound dream of building a magnetic levitation railway from Shanghai to Beijing came crashing down to earth yesterday when the Chinese government said the technology was too expensive. The state council decided to use conventional wheeled trains on the lucrative...

China's Long (holiday) March
1.9bn trips will be made in next three weeks as world's biggest country celebrates Year of the Monkey.

Tiananmen Slips Into China Media
China's 15-year long news blackout on the Tiananmen Square massacre slipped for a few hours yesterday when People's Daily reported for the first time on its website that the authorities had carried out a "violent crackdown" on pro-democracy student activists.

Chinese Disposal Will Reap $1bn Profit for Bp
BP yesterday published plans to dispose of its minority holding in PetroChina which has trebled in value over the past four years and should reap net profits of more than $1bn.

China Sees Second Sars Case
China reported its second suspected case of Sars in a week yesterday, prompting a race to control the deadly virus before the lunar new year holiday season. The outbreak, after a six month hiatus, appears to have panicked the authorities. The reporter and editor in chief of the newspaper...

Exotic Animals to Be Culled As Sars Returns to China
Chinese authorities launched a "patriotic" extermination campaign against civet cats, badgers, raccoon dogs, rats and cockroaches yesterday, after confirming the country's first case of Sars for six months. The planned slaughter of more than 10,000 animals in Guangdong province is a...

China Braced for New Sars Outbreak
China braced itself yesterday for a return of the deadly pneumonia-like Sars virus after genetic tests on a suspected patient in the southern city of Guangdong showed a "high correlation" with the virus's gene sequencing, ac cording to government-controlled media.

Ancestral Primate Discovered
The oldest ancestor of humankind found so far ate beetles, weighed little more than a box of matches, and lived in China 55 million years ago, a report reveals today.

Now China Joins the Sexual Revolution
Mu Zimei, author of a graphic online sex journal, is not your average Chinese dissident. But in a nation that has clamped down on political freedom, the 25-year-old bedroom rebel is a symbol of an increasingly liberated urban libido.

Death Toll Mounts After Gas Disaster
41,000 people evacuated from villages in south-west China.

China Takes Steps to Protect Private Ownership of Land
China's communist legislators looked certain to adopt a key capitalist principle yesterday as they began debating the first constitutional protection of private property since the 1949 revolution. The historic move - along with a proposal to enshrine the entrepreneur-friendly theories of...

Jonathan Watts: Capital Letters
The cultural revolution in modern China is to be found in a dusty old munitions factory in north-east Beijing.

China's Leap Backward
Of all the signs that China has moved into a new era, few have struck me as forcefully as the news that Shanghai city council is to ban bicycles from next year.

China in Uproar As 14 Are Tried for Organising Orgy
Under heavy security, a Chinese court yesterday began hearing the case of 14 people accused of organising a mass orgy for Japanese tourists that sparked public uproar and diplomatic protests. If convicted, the 12 suspected "mamis" (women who supply prostitutes) and two hotel staff face up...

Schröder Suffers Political Fallout From Plutonium Plant Deal
The German chancellor was involved in a bitter dispute last night with several members of his government after agreeing to sell a plutonium factory to the Chinese. Several leading members of the Green party, the junior partner in Gerhard Schröder's coalition government, lambasted him...

Shanghai Struggles to Cope As Millions Move in
Shanghai leads China's urbanisation charge. Shanghai's population has soared beyond the 20m mark in the past year as more than three million new job seekers have flocked to the city in the vanguard of China's spectacular economic surge.

USA men improve to 2-1 at World Cup
Clay Stanley had a match-high 25 points and Gabe Gardner added 19 as the United States posted a 3-1 first-round win over China in Tokyo, Japan, Tuesday afternoon (Monday night in the United States).

East or Bust: British Business's New Mantra
China is a source of cheap labour and affluent customers. If all the shoes in Britain were suddenly to walk back to their point of production, a vast line of brogues, trainers, wellies and winkle-pickers would stroll thousands of miles across the Eurasian landmass before finally putting their feet up on a dusty plain in southern China.

Paper Tiger
Beijing's new daily claims to break new ground for the Chinese press, but it also operates under some familiar constraints, writes Jonathan Watts.

Dogs Beaten To Death In China
Fear of the SARS virus and the rumors that the virus can be transmitted from household pets to humans has unleashed a brutal wave of dog killing in China, according to recent news reports from the region.

Two Held for 90 Killings in China
Two men have been charged with strangling and knifing 90 victims in separate killing sprees in China. Yang Zhiya allegedly cycled between towns killing 65 people, including several entire families, while Huang Yong, a 29-year-old former soldier, reportedly confessed to garroting 25...

China Sweetens Belligerent Us With $6bn Spree
China is attempting to shop its way back into favour with the United States with $6bn (£3.5bn) worth of contracts with American companies aimed at easing the growing trade friction between the two nations. Thousands of jet aircraft and limousines have been snapped up or authorised...

The Extraordinary Secret of Madame Chiang Kai-shek
She was beautiful, bewitching and ambitious. Not content with ruling China with her husband she dreamt of ruling the world - even if it meant seducing a would-be American president. Jonathan Fenby reveals the extraordinary secret of Madame Chiang Kai-shek.

Student Prank That Gave the Chinese a Fit of the Willies
In the history of comical flops, few pranks can have gone down quite so badly as the fake-genital skit performed by three Japanese students in China's Northwest University. Camping it up in red bras and knickers bulging with paper cups, the performers must have been expecting guffaws or...

Beijing Dispatch: Mining in China
4,620 people died in Chinese mines last year but the government's response has been limited, reports Jonathan Watts.

Dismal Fate Awaits China's Millionaires
The growing but volatile ranks of China's millionaires found themselves with a new leader yesterday as the young internet entrepreneur Ding Lei came from nowhere to head the latest list of the country's 100 richest people. But any joy Mr Ding might have felt at being named by Forbes...

Chinese Officials Seize Massive Illegal Fur Haul
The Chinese News Agency, Xinhua, reported a record seizure of 1,276 smuggled wild animal skins by Chinese customs officials in mid-October. The skins had been obtained illegally by killing 32 tigers, 579 leopards and 665 otters.

Chinese Economy on Course to Outstrip Uk
China, the world's fastest growing economy, is on course to overtake Britain in two years or so, according to figures released yesterday that show national output is moving forward so fast that the country is in danger of overheating. With fears of Sars receding, the economy surged 9.1%...

First Japan, Now China is the Culprit
In reality, the US has only itself to blame for its swelling trade deficit. For decades America seemed to dominate manufacturing, so US officials focused on liberalising trade in manufactured goods. They put little effort into creating a level playing field for farmers, since they knew the US couldn't compete in agriculture.

Catching a Train to Crewe? Call Bangalore
Train travellers will be forced to call Bangalore to find out the time of their next connection at Crewe or Clapham Junction, under a secret plan to save up to £10m by shifting Britain's national rail enquiries service to India. According to documents leaked to the Guardian, train...

Riverdance Takes a Great Leap Forward on Mao's Stage
Business after pleasure as cultural performances pave way for new western trade ventures in China.

Riverdance Stomping Makes History on Mao's Stage
Business after pleasure as cultural performances pave way for new western trade ventures in China. What Mao Zedong would have made of it is hard to imagine. Beijing's Great Hall of the People, once the reddest place on earth in political terms, has turned a Gaelic shade of green to stage sell-out performances of the Irish cultural extravaganza, Riverdance.

Martial Arts Expert Kills Two Raiders
A Chinese martial arts expert was in custody yesterday after turning the tables on four burglars armed with knives, killing two of them and seriously wounding a third. The 28-year-old man, known as "the doctor" for his practice of acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine, managed to...

Burmese Forests Vanishing
Burma's virgin forests are disappearing at the rate of more than a million cubic metres per year to satisfy the voracious appetite for timber in neighbouring China. The environmental group Global Witness has said in a report that the cash-strapped military regime in Rangoon and rebel...

Shanghai sinks to new lows
China's development is weighing down Shanghai to such an extent that the city is sinking by an inch a year. New skyscrapers are rising so quickly and groundwater being pumped out in such huge volumes that the earth under China's biggest city is giving way, Xinhua news agency said.

Eastern union
Spurred on by an unravelling of the rules about tying the knot, people in China are rushing to wed, writes Jonathan Watts.

Confucius goes to market
Mao might be turning in his grave, but his country stands on the brink of a market-driven economic miracle. China, you know before you arrive, is gigantic and in the middle of the world's greatest economic experiment. But nothing can prepare you for the reality.

China Bans Police Torture of Suspects
The Chinese government has banned police from using torture to extract confessions, under new regulations aimed at easing growing public concern. Campaigners gave a cautious welcome to the rules, which theoretically curtail the powers of the police to detain, fine and "re-educate"...

China Leads for Foreign Investors
China overtook Britain and the US as a destination for foreign investment last year, as cash-strapped multinationals sought low-cost economies in the wake of the dotcom crash, a United Nations report showed yesterday. Global flows of investment plunged in 2002, falling to half the level...

China Holds to a Strong Line Over Its Weak Currency
China refused to buckle under pressure from the US to strengthen its currency yesterday, saying only that a flotation of the renminbi on the world markets was desirable at some point in the future. The vague statement was only small comfort to US treasury secretary, John Snow, who was in...

Hands Off Our Yuan, Says China
The US was accused of seeking to "smash the rice bowls of the workers" as treasury secretary John Snow flew into China yesterday with the issue of cheap exports top of his agenda. The state-controlled media railed against "international browbeating" and "outside pressure" ahead of Mr...

Snow opens fire against China's cheap exports
Political pressures are mounting at home as US treasury secretary flies into Beijing to talk tough on undervalued currency.

China Trims Its Army By 200,000
The Chinese army - the world's biggest military force in terms of personnel - is to be reduced by 200,000 soldiers as part of a modernisation drive. The People's Liberation Army will switch its focus to greater use of information technology, the government announced in Beijing yesterday...

Brazil, India and China Turn Up the Heat on Subsidies
The prospects for a showdown between rich and poor countries at next month's trade summit increased yesterday after the world's three biggest developing countries demanded deep cuts in the west's subsidies for its farmers. Hopes that a deal between Washington and Brussels offering only...

Shell Opens Door in China
Shell wrapped up a multi-billion dollar deal to explore and develop a vast natural gas field in the East China sea yesterday, confirming its leading position among foreign energy corporations seeking business in China's rapidly growing market. The Anglo-Dutch company is also poised to...

China takes to capitalist road with a vengeance
Cars are the hotest consumer durable in an economy that is overtaking France in motor production. The People's Revolutionary Army Museum in Beijing is enjoying its biggest crowds in years, but the main attraction is not the tanks, armoured vehicles and rocket launchers that were once the main source of national pride.

Investment Fever is Running Too High, Says China
A senior Chinese minister warned yesterday that the world's fastest growing economy is in danger of overheating as expansion outstrips power supplies, threatens production quality and raises the risk of oversupply. In the first six months of the year, China sprinted forward at a...

China May Miss the Bullet Train
Bitter history is threatening to take precedence over price and technology in deciding one of the world's most lucrative engineering projects: the high-speed rail link between Beijing and Shanghai. Japan was initially tipped as the favourite to win the $23bn contract to build and run the...

Buddha's Wisdom is More Use to China Than a Honda
Rapid growth under tight political control seems bound to fail. The young Chinese businessman, asked what he desired most now that he had his new apartment, closed his eyes and breathed, slowly and fervently, the word "Honda".

John Gittings: Britain Can Build Bridges - and Avoid a Drift to War
Blair will only be trusted in east Asia if he distances himself from the US. If Tony Blair can wrench his mind away from disasters at home, he has some serious image-rebuilding to do when he addresses Chinese students tomorrow in Beijing.

Enter the Dragon
China is growing with bewildering speed. When Tony Blair arrives for a historic visit, he will find a country undergoing social upheavals on the way to becoming an economic superpower, reports Jonathan Fenby.

260 Billion Eggs on the Chinese Menu
Its economy is growing at a staggering rate and its people are beginning to enjoy a better diet as well as a taste of western-style consumerism. But the head of the UN's environment programme has warned that China's growth - and ambitious plans for the future - are unsustainable...

AOL Time Warner retreats from China
US media giant AOL Time Warner is abandoning its dreams of becoming a big player in Chinese TV after selling the controlling stake in its Chinese TV arm, leaving Rupert Murdoch's Star TV with the upper hand.

Ebola Expert Warns Mps About Risk of Virus Reaching Britain
Ebola fever, one of the most virulent viral diseases known to humans, could reach Britain from Africa, MPs will be told at a meeting today. Peter Walsh, an expert on apes and the ebola virus from Princeton University, New Jersey, will advise members of the environment, health and foreign...

John Gittings: Goodbye to China
Rapid change in Beijing is about to shatter our crude cold war cliches. I thought for a moment that I was going to be "liberated by the masses" from my temporary jail in the north Chinese countryside.

China's Wealthy Orchid King on Trial for Fraud
One of China's most colourful entrepreneurs, the "orchid king" Yang Bin, went on trial yesterday on fraud charges in a case that typifies Beijing's new drive against large-scale commercial crime. Mr Yang, who was listed by Forbes magazine two years ago as China's second richest tycoon,...

China Jails Internet Dissidents
Four internet activists have been jailed in Beijing for "inciting subversion" by posting messages calling for the reform of Chinese society. According to a human rights organisation which yesterday quoted reports from their relatives, the men, who had been detained for more than two years...

Economic Liberalisation Destroyed China's Health Service
Economic liberalisation destroyed China's health service - now it must rely on police, not doctors, to fight Sars writes Isabel Hilton.

Daytime Tv Scales Unimagined Heights As Chinese Broadcast From Top of Everest
When Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay scaled Mount Everest 50 years ago, they were rewarded with a view nobody else had ever seen. Yesterday, however, thousands of couch potatoes were able to enjoy the same sublime experience after three climbers from China staged the world's first...

China Threatens Death to Anyone Spreading Sars Deliberately
China warned yesterday that anyone who deliberately spreads the Sars virus may face execution, and those who violate quarantine may be jailed for seven years. The warning by the country's supreme court is based on a law defining a "threat to public safety" in the context of Sars as a...

60 Killed in China Mine Blast
At least 60 people were killed after a gas explosion ripped through a coal mine in eastern China, state television reported today. Authorities said that another 23 miners were trapped 500 metres below ground following the blast - but there was little hope for their survival. An...

Sars Cases in China Pass 5,000
World Health Organisation officials today arrived in China to study the potentially devastating spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome in rural areas, with the latest set of statistics on the disease making grim reading. The number of Sars cases in China has now passed 5,000. In...

Violence As Sars Spreads in China
Farmers in a town in eastern China beat up officials and ransacked a government office where at least six local residents suspected of having Sars had been quarantined after returning from Beijing, a witness and local officials said today. Beijing, China's hardest-hit area, isolated 80...

70 Die in Chinese Submarine Disaster
A Chinese military submarine has been wrecked in a disaster which killed all 70 of its crew, Beijing said last night, breaking its usual silence on military accidents. The submarine had suffered a "mechanical malfunction" while on a training exercise off the north-east coast, and "the 70...

Sars Hospital Opens in China
A hastily built Sars isolation facility went into operation outside Beijing today, as China reported 11 more people had died from the virus and a further 176 were infected. The surge in new cases - with 100 people being infected every day in the capital alone over the last week - has...

Barriers Go Up As Sars Fears Grow in China
Streets empty of all but rumours while hastily built hospital prepares for first patients.

China Opens Door to World Help With Its Sars Crisis
China opened itself to unprecedented external scrutiny yesterday in a desperate bid to contain its Sars epidemic and restore its image after an inconsistent approach to the crisis. The new prime minister, Wen Jaibao, insisted after an emergency summit with south-east Asian leaders in...

Nervous Shanghai Steps Up Precautions
There is a run on face masks at chemists in China's second city. Customers, alarmed at the prospect of physical contact, are forced to jostle one another to reach the counter. "We sold 300 in the first hour," said a pharmacist in the city centre. "We haven't put up the price by a single...

China Plays Key Role in Korea Talks
Bringing America to table raises profile of Asia's economic power.

The Parlour Maid and Her Lovers Leave the Fbi With a Chinese Puzzle
Her code name was Parlour Maid, and since the 1980s she had been regarded as one of the most valuable assets in the FBI's Chinese espionage network.

China Says Sars Outbreak is 10 Times Worse Than Admitted
The Chinese government sacked its health minister and another senior official yesterday in an attempt to establish credibility for its handling of the Sars health crisis as the death toll continued to mount. Officials also conceded that the problem in Beijing was nearly 10 times worse...

China Sacks Minister Over Sars
China's health minister, Zhang Wenkang, and Beijing's mayor have both been sacked over the outbreak of Sars, official news agency reports said today, while seven more deaths from the virus were announced in Hong Kong. Earlier, China cancelled one of its biggest celebrations, May's...

All the Prosperity in China
China looks set to become the locomotive of the world's economic recovery, explains Victor Keegan

China 'still Hiding' Many Sars Cases
Beijing may have more than five times as many Sars cases than it has admitted, a World Health Organisation official said yesterday.

Radcliffe Sets Sights on Chinese
April 15: Paula Radcliffe's new goal will be the 10,000m at the world championships in Paris where she will attempt to beat the world record of China's Wang Junixa.

US/UK Forces Breaching Geneva Convention
US and British forces in Iraq are breaching the Geneva convention by failing to protect hospitals in Baghdad from looters, the United Nations has claimed. The UN office of the humanitarian coordinator for Iraq (UNOHCI) said one of Baghdad's biggest hospitals, al-Kindi, had been ransacked...

China Accused of Sars Cover-up
A senior Chinese doctor today accused his government of covering up details about the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars), while a Beijing hospital was shut down, reportedly because medical staff became infected. Even as state media repeated the government's claim that the...

Pentagon plans for worst nightmare
American and British military tacticians rarely tire of invoking the name of Sun Tzu, the ancient Chinese philosopher of war credited with laying the groundwork for everything from "decapitation strikes" to the policy of "shock and awe".

China Cuts Oil Supply to North Korea
China cut off oil supplies to North Korea for three days last month to punish its oldest ally for the nuclear standoff with the United States, diplomats said yesterday. The decision could mark a major shift in north-east Asia, where Beijing and Pyongyang once boasted they were "as close...

Students Hold First Anti-war Protest in China
Chinese students staged a rare state-sanctioned demonstration as part of worldwide protests against the war in Iraq. Students at the elite Peking University took part in a quiet anti-war demonstration, in an unusual case of campus political activism permitted by Chinese authorities...

$200m China Internet Venture Put on Hold
Almost two years after promising an online service that would have "a profound impact on the China internet industry", AOL Time Warner and Chinese computer manufacturer Legend have put their joint $200m (£148m) joint venture on hold. The two companies cited increased competition in the...

David Marsh @ Tianjin
Like many young Chinese, Fang Fang loves western pop music. The 21-year-old architecture student has built up quite a CD collection - not that difficult when they cost just 30 yuan (£2.50) at the Wang Ding Di music shop, or 10 yuan for pirated copies in the back room (although the holes punched through them by the authorities, in a clumsy attempt to make them unplayable, occasionally succeed).

Harsh words from peace camp, muted praise from backers
Russia, France and China - UN security council members opposed to war - led a storm of international protest yesterday against the US strikes on Iraq, while praise from Washington's allies was restrained and often outweighed by street protest.

Just What the Doctor Ordered
John Gittings sees new Chinese premier Wen Jiabao make a favourable impression at the National People's Congress.

Unflinching Support for Accused Gallic Rocker
The only story competing with Iraq for news space in France involves ageing rocker Johnny Hallyday denying accusations of sexual assault, writes Jon Henley.

China Chooses Champion of Poor As New Premier
A new generation of Chinese leaders headed by the incoming premier, Wen Jiabao, has been approved in Beijing, amid hopes that more efforts will be made to tackle the gap between rich and poor and other urgent social problems. Mr Wen, who began his career in one of China's poorest regions,...

Butcher of Tiananmen Square Quits Office
Ex-premier who urged force gives last speech. The most unpopular man in China made his last speech yesterday before he finally steps off the stage, nearly 14 years after he ordered the army to suppress the students in Tiananmen Square.

Target nations harden opposition
The so-called "middle six" members of the security council, who have yet to decide whether to back a resolution authorising war against Iraq, offered Washington no help yesterday in its effort to build a majority that might pressure France, Russia and China into withholding their vetoes.

China Opposes Second Un Resolution
China, the one permanent member of the security council that had kept its counsel in recent days, has today allied itself with France and Russia in opposition to a US-British second resolution authorising war with Iraq. During a phone call with France's president, Jacques Chirac, the...

China Speaks Out to Oppose Second Un Resolution
China, the one permanent member of the security council that had kept its counsel in recent days, has today allied itself with France and Russia in opposition to a US-British second resolution authorising war with Iraq. During a phone call with France's president, Jacques Chirac, the...

Economy in Peril, China's Pm Warns
Discontented people without jobs and struggling farmers could threaten China's economic future, the prime minister, Zhu Rongji, said yesterday, at the opening session of the national people's congress, which is about to elect a new leadership. "We must exert a great deal of effort to...

War Gives the Chinese a Voice
The Communist party's reticence on Iraq has left a vacuum that the public, unprecedentedly, is starting to fill, writes John Gittings.

Debate Points to Looser Chinese Press Censorship
A bold call for press freedom has been made on the eve of the official opening of the national people's congress - China's parliament - in Beijing tomorrow. Senior journalists and academics have called on the government to stop trying to suppress "negative news", and to allow the media to...

University blasts puzzle Chinese
Nine people were injured yesterday in bomb explosions at the two most prestigious universities in China. No one claimed responsibility for the blasts at the two Beijing universities, Peking and Tsinghua, which took place in canteens within 90 minutes of each other. No similar incidents in Chinese universities have been reported.

Jury considers death for American spy
A former US air force sergeant convicted of trying to sell military secrets to Iraq and China may become the first American in 50 years executed for spying.

Pressure grows on UN waverers
Washington and London have begun piling pressure on five key African and Latin American members of the UN security council, in an effort to win a nine-vote majority they could then use to manoeuvre France, Russia and China away from vetoing a second resolution authorising war on Iraq.

China Launches Drive Against Party Corruption
The general secretary of the Chinese Communist party, Hu Jintao, has called on party officials to root out corruption as further details have come to light of pervasive graft. Mr Hu told party officials at a conference in Beijing that the fight against corruption must be carried on "right...

Words, But Few Actions
The Chinese media coverage of worldwide marches against war was glowing, but, asks John Gittings, why were there no demonstrations in China?

Mystery Bug Causes Panic Across China
War fears fuel stockpiling frenzy after virus kills five. The friendly staff at the Hualian supermarket in a quiet residential area of Shanghai shake their heads: 'There's no vinegar here - it's been completely sold out because of the danger.'

City Life: Chinese Take Tea and Scones With the Queen
The holiday for the spring festival (the Chinese new year) is coming to an end, but it is still wintry in Shanghai. The parks are wet and dismal and, like most people I head for the Bund - the embankment - for fresh air.

Mugabe Hires China to Farm Seized Land
Half of confiscated plots are not being worked.

Murdoch makes further inroads into China
Rupert Murdoch's inexorable push into China has received yet another boost after he struck a partnership with a Chinese government-owned TV operation.

Peter Aveyard: Ham gan te China like
Former England football star Paul Gascoigne has hit an all time low after signing a £400,000 deal with the second division Chinese club Gansu Tiama, currently at the bottom of their league.

Stowaways Bound for China Fall From Sky
Chinese police were puzzling yesterday over the case of two foreigners, presumed to be stowaways, who plunged to their death as an Air France Boeing 777 came in to land at Shanghai's Pudong international airport. The two men - both about 30 years old - were seen by residents at Nanhui...

Mind the Gap
China's leaders are at last acting to narrow the gulf between the country's rich and poor, says John Gittings.

Brussels Says Chances of Catching Up Us Are Fading
EU member states must press ahead faster with economic reforms if they are to meet the union's ambitious goal of outstripping US performance, the European commission said yesterday. Bemoaning the "current sluggish pace" of change, Brussels said there was little sign of narrowing the...

Japanese Pm's Shrine Visit Angers China and S Korea
China and South Korea expressed their outrage today at a visit by the Japanese prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, to a shrine that honours the Japanese war dead, including convicted war criminals. The Chinese foreign ministry said the visit could "seriously damage" relations with Japan...

US Tries to Douse Pyongyang's Fire
George Bush's envoy flew into Seoul yesterday to try to regain the initiative in its dispute with North Korea as the North issued a threat to engulf the United States in a "sea of fire". James Kelly, an assistant secretary of state, is visiting Japan and China as well as South Korea in an...

Murdoch extends reach into China
Rupert Murdoch's Star TV has moved a step closer to fulfilling its ambition of expanding his empire into China by winning approval to beam its Chinese language channel into hundreds of thousands more homes.

Chinese Gallop to Separate New Babies From the Goats
A baby boom is being reported in China, the result of millions of couples deciding to have their permitted child before the inauspicious year of the goat begins in a month's time. Husbands and wives up and down the country apparently made sure to conceive in time for the birth to occur in...

China Claims Train Blue Riband
The world's fastest passenger train made its first public appearance yesterday, accelerating smoothly to 267mph before jamming on the brakes so that it would not run out of track. Shanghai's futuristic maglev (magnetic levitation) train was inaugurated by the German chancellor, Gerhard...

Switching Empires
European Union (EU) leaders, meeting in Copenhagen, are poised to sign an agreement to admit ten new members to their hitherto exclusive club. Eight of the fortunate acceders are former communist countries.

Chinese Torture Test
A young man is wandering, lost, in a forest when he comes upon a small house. He knocks on the door and is greeted by an old Chinese man with a long grey beard.

China called on to free net activists
Amnesty International today called for the release of at least 33 people jailed in China for using the internet to share their views.

Amnesty Plea Over Internet Prisoners
1pm: Amnesty International is urging China to free more than 30 people jailed for accessing banned pro-democracy material on the internet. By Owen Gibson.

China to Pump Rivers 800 Miles North
The Chinese government authorised one of the world's biggest engineering projects yesterday: to pump water from the flood-prone south of the country to the drought-stricken north. Three man-made rivers will transfer water from the Yangtze - the world's third largest river - across 800...

Because it's there
In Nepal they call it Sagarmatha. To the people of Tibet, it is Chomolungma, though the ruling Chinese prefer the variant Qomolangma. When the British first began mapping India, they knew it as Peak B, then as Peak XV.

New China Uses Old Tactics
A historic week in Beijing has transferred power to a new generation. But, reports John Gittings, there's a hint that 'retiring' President Jiang, 76, will be staying around.

Hu Confirmed As China's Next Leader
Vice-President Hu Jintao was today appointed as leader of China's Communist party, handing him the country's most powerful position and making him a certain bet to replace Jiang Zemin as president next year. His appointment as general secretary positions Mr Hu atop a new generation of...

China's New Elite Abandons Workers
The Chinese Communist party opened its doors to all social classes yesterday in an attempt to become the party of the whole nation - while maintaining its monopoly on power. The party's 16th congress ended its week-long session with significant changes to its constitution, and abandoning...

Stage Cleared for China's New Guard
Jiang Zemin stands down as Communist party chief and manoeuvres protege to brink of power. China's senior Communist leader, Jiang Zemin, is expected to step down from power at the party congress in Beijing today after forcing a popular rival to leave the stage with him.

Leaders 'ignoring China's Problems'
The Chinese Communist party was yesterday accused of playing down unemployment and other grave social problems while it holds its 16th party congress in Beijing and claims that its policies are a huge success. The labour minister, Zhang Zuoji, has admitted that about 7% of Chinese urban...

China's Mobile Revolution
For those who can afford it and many who cannot, a mobile phone is now a social necessity in China, says John Gittings

Pragmatism rules alongside McDonalds and KFC
More than thirteen years after China's students challenged Communist rule in Tiananmen Square, the party's red flags fluttered triumphantly on all sides yesterday.

China Turns Its Back on Communism to Join Long March of the Capitalists
President Jiang Zemin yesterday effectively jettisoned communism in his manifesto speech on China's future development to the Communist party congress. Mr Jiang stressed the need for the party to "keep pace with the times" and bring prosperity to the Chinese people. Otherwise the party's...

Jiang Calls for Congress With Capitalists
The Chinese president, Jiang Zemin, today opened the most important Communist party congress in a decade with a call for the party to allow capitalists to join. His retirement as the party's general secretary close at hand, the 76-year-old leader sounded the theme he has made his legacy:...

Jiang Gives Chinese Reformers Little Hope
President Jiang Zemin is to deliver a speech to the Communist party today which will be welcomed by Chinese business but will offer little hope to those seeking political reform. Mr Jiang's report to the 16th national congress is expected to confirm a controversial plan to let private...

The Red Dragon Roars
China and the Association of South-East Asian Nations are creating the world's largest free trade area, threatening Japan's economic dominance, writes John Aglionby.

Confucius Says: 'create Jobs and Be Rich'
Entrepreneurs are a key part of China's economic landscape. Huang Qiuling, a former farmer who is now one of the 50 richest entrepreneurs in China, quotes Confucius in support of his leisure empire in the ancient capital of Hangzhou. The Master apparently said that he preferred to enjoy beautiful scenery and sing songs than to become a government official.

Journalists hit the limits of China's reforms
The Communist party congress which begins this week will find barely a mention in the thriving tabloid press. A table-full of tabloid newspapers is set out in the departure hall for passengers to buy at a busy railway junction in central China.

Colossal Road Expansion Gets the Not-so-green Light
China is set to become the next great car economy, with 22,000 miles of motorway to be built by 2010, writes John Gittings.

UK Doc Marten production gets the boot
Dr Martens, whose shoes have been worn by Madonna and the Pope, today said it was closing its British factories and moving production to China with the loss of 1,000 jobs.

Analysis: Hidden Dangers May Lie Behind Sino-american Friendship
Since September 11 China and the US have been good friends and today their presidents meet in Texas. But behind the smiles could lie danger.

The Forgotten 800 Million: How Rural Life is Dying in the New China
In the run-up to the congress in which Beijing must face up to its future, the country's peasants are suffering growing inequality.

Shanghai Bridge Goes Into the Record Books
Shanghai's reputation as the most hi-tech city in China has been boosted by the completion this week of a crucial stage in the construction of the world's biggest arch bridge. A delicate operation to join the two halves of the Lupu bridge over the Huangpu river succeeded when the final 6...

British Backpacker Found With Throat Cut at Great Wall of China
A British man who was backpacking around Asia as part of an eight month tour has been found murdered in China. Tom Dawson, 24, from Fulham, west London, is understood to have been found near the great wall of China on October 2 with multiple head injuries and his throat cut.

National Day of Travelling Millions
More people than ever are crossing China on public holidays. John Gittings joins them.

£5.5bn Gas Deal Boosts Bp
BP's goal of becoming a significant player in the fast expanding Chinese energy market received a boost yesterday when a consortium it is leading signed a £5.5bn deal to supply liquified natural gas (LNG) to Fujian province over 25 years. BP is involved in a second gas scheme for the...

Chinese Students Crushed to Death on Pitch-dark Staircase
In the latest disaster to horrify China, 21 teenage students have been crushed to death or suffocated after part of a staircase collapsed as they were leaving school. The pupils, aged between 13 and 15 years, were rushing down the stairs when the bannisters suddenly gave way. Some toppled...

Preaching and Prying Bigots
The wrath Anglicans and Tories visit on gays shows their squalor. George Carey and David Davis make the perfect couple: both are the representatives of decaying institutions with pretensions to preach at modern Britain. How appropriate, therefore, that they should be united in a symmetry of bigotry.

Don't Mention the Massacre
Lofty rhetoric notwithstanding, Australia's attitude towards China and its other Asian neighbours is driven by economic expediency, writes David Fickling.

China Masks a Mass Poisoning
The Chinese government clamped down on reports of a mass fatal poisoning yesterday, provoking a wave of criticism on one of the country's most popular websites. More than 200 people became violently ill after buying breakfast food from a fastfood shop in a suburb of Nanjing in central...

Marching As to War
Tony Blair scored some points yesterday, but he has not yet made a case for military action against Iraq. It used to be one of those hard choices that arise only rarely, a once-in-a-generation dilemma that splits a nation and marks an era. The Suez or Vietnam moments stand out in our recent history, exceptional times when we were called to make a grave decision: to go to war.

Engine trouble
In the mid 1990s, two Stanford university dropouts dreamed up a search engine with a unique cataloguing system. Now Google is the biggest on the web. But not everyone is a fan - some say it unfairly favours certain websites. The latest critic is China, which has blocked it completely.

Floods Threaten Millions in China
The southern Chinese province of Hunan declared a state of emergency today, as floods threaten 10 million people living on the banks of the country's largest freshwater lake. More than 900 people have already died during China's summer floods, which have left 6,000 people homeless in...

China 'sending dissidents to mental hospitals'
Chinese dissidents have been labelled "political maniacs" and locked up in mental hospitals simply for opposing the government, a new report claims.

Don't mention communism
How long before China's rapidly growing inequalities of wealth and rampant corruption force its ruling party to change course?

Inside Story: Terror in China
Zhizhen Dai's husband was kidnapped, tortured and killed by the Chinese authorities - simply for being a follower of falun gong, a blend of exercise, meditation and religious beliefs. Stephen Moss meets her.

Competition compromises miners' safety
Safety standards are becoming increasingly sidelined in Chinese mines writes John Gittings as reports emerge on the deaths of 115 miners in a state-owned pit

The great fall of China
Raise the Red Lantern, Farewell My Concubine... the People's Republic was once a major force in world cinema. What went wrong?

Chinese Smiths Win Name Game
China's three most popular surnames are shared by more than 20% of mainland Chinese and amount to more than the population of the United States, according to statistics published yesterday.

Don't be fooled - China is not squeaky clean
In one respect, at least, the rulers of the People's Republic of China have been astonishingly successful. After gunning down thousands of unarmed civilians in 1989, the Chinese government has managed to become utterly respectable again.

China moves away from one-child policy
China is starting to move away from its "one-child" policy and compulsory birth quotas, just when Washington has denounced it for carrying out "coercive abortion", international experts say.

A Softer Approach to 'strike Hard'
Last year's criminal justice crackdown in China resulted in 3000 death sentences within three months. John Gittings looks at the flaws in the Chinese legal system and how it is becoming more open to change.

International News In brief
Fourteen people die in fire at Peruvian disco | South African snow traps 130 | Killer hailstones fall on China | Californian child murder

Jiang Zemin Reluctant to Release the Reins
China's president, Jiang Zemin, is widely thought to be preparing to stay on as head of the Communist party instead of retiring this autumn. The Chinese leadership is believed to be discussing the future at its annual seaside get-together in the coastal resort of Beidaihe, although the...

Government Accused of Breaching Rights
Human rights organisations accused the British government of being heartless yesterday after it rejected a plea for help from two children seeking asylum at its consulate in Melbourne. The organisations also challenged the legality of the move, claiming it was in breach of an...

Chinese sites agree to censor content
Internet portals in China - including Yahoo!'s Chinese-language site - have signed a voluntary pledge to purge their sites of content that China's communist government deems subversive, organisers of the drive say.

Mass Shutdown of Chinese Internet Cafes
The government of a northern Chinese province has ordered hundreds of internet cafes closed as part of a nationwide crackdown provoked by a fatal fire in Beijing last month.

At the End of the Day, They Were Clutching at Balls
At question time yesterday nobody could ask the home secretary about his batty scheme to make us check in for flights four hours in advance.

Mine Tragedy Puts Spotlight on Chinese Sleaze
The death of 37 mine workers in an explosion in Shanxi is an all too common symptom of business corruption in rural China, says John Gittings.

Mr Li's Diary Reveals Human Dimension of the Crisis in China
Li Jiaming came back from the clinic on Thursday with bad news about his health, and posted it on his website. "There is always dark before dawn," he wrote, "but this time it is too dark for me." He had to fix a light in his empty flat, he wrote. As he mended it, he thought...

China Ponders Lessons of Cybercafe Fire
The two boys who fatally fired the Beijing internet cafe had deprived backgrounds, but a major cause of the tragedy was the unsafe conditions under which illegal cyberbars have to operate in, says John Gittings

Despite stickiness and scratchiness, PM gets down to nitty gritty of saying nothing
Fed up with the media's obsession with trivial matters such as spin, sleaze and manipulation, the prime minister decided to appeal over our heads. Yesterday he held a conference meant to speak directly to the British people, through the medium of television, about the issues that really matter: health, crime, transport and education.

China's Lady Chatterley Stirs Passions Over Censorship
Daughter of woman who inspired erotic novel sues to defend mother's reputation.

Kevin Toolis: China's Lady Chatterley stirs passions over censorship
Daughter of woman who inspired erotic novel sues to defend mother's reputation.

Seoul Angry at Embassy Invasion
A fierce diplomatic row has broken out between China and South Korea after Chinese security guards dragged a would-be asylum seeker from Seoul's embassy in Beijing. South Korean diplomats formed a human wall to try to prevent the North Korean refugee being taken away, but he was seized by...

Deadly Floods Sweep Western China
Flooding and mudslides caused by torrential rains have killed at least 178 people in western China and wrecked bridges and power stations, officials said today. There are fears the death toll could rise above 400. In China's deadliest floods this year, around 152 people were reported dead...

Green Dawn
June 11: Environmentalists are becoming more active in China but they are forced to keep their activities to a small scale, writes John Gittings.

China bans toxic American computer junk
Electronic scrap puts the lives of rural villagers at risk. Beijing has announced a clampdown on the import of electronic junk from the US and other developed countries which is being stripped by Chinese peasants in primitive and dangerous conditions.

The lessons of flight CI 611
The tragic recent crashes of three Chinese aeroplanes should force a reexamination of safety standards in Asia's burgeoning air industry, writes John Gittings

The Moon - a Gigantic Leap for the Chinese
Beijing takes giant leap into space with plans for lunar station.

Multinationals Flout Anti-bribery Pact
Chinese and Russian companies, increasingly seen as respectable partners for UK firms, were accused yesterday of using bribes "on an exceptional and intolerable scale".

China and Us at Odds Over Embassy's Korean Refugees
The plight of North Korean refugees in China came under the international spotlight again yesterday as three asylum seekers were allowed to fly to South Korea.

Growing Sex Imbalance Shocks China
An alarming rise in the sex ratio of newborn infants in China suggests that increasing numbers of female foetuses are being aborted by parents intent on having a male child. More than 116 male births were recorded for every 100 female births according to results of a national census which...

Planes Crash in Tunisia and China
Rescue workers on two sides of the world scrambled to find survivors today after a passenger plane crashed in Tunisia and another went missing in the sea off north-eastern China. The official Xinhua news agency reported that a Chinese airliner with 112 passengers and crew aboard crashed...

'Shaking' Hamilton sets up Ebdon tie
Anthony Hamilton, who admitted to an attack of "clinchers disease" when he lost from three-up with four to play against Mark Williams in last month's China Open final, kept fears of a repeat outcome at bay yesterday when he defeated the 2000 champion 13-9 to earn a quarter-final against Peter Ebdon in the Embassy World Championship here at the Crucible.

Global Executions Double As China Puts 1,800 to Death
The number of judicial executions worldwide doubled last year to more than 3,000, with three-quarters taking place in China, Amnesty International said in an annual report yesterday. It was the second highest figure in 20 years. The dramatic rise in China, which Amnesty believes is...

Checkmate in Battle of Sexes
April 4: In one of the biggest cross-gender sporting upsets of recent times, Zhu Chen, China's women's world chess champion yesterday defeated her Ukrainian male counterpart.

Workers gagged by Chinese censorship
A wave of redundancy payoffs has sparked industrial unrest across China - not that you'd know from the media, says John Gittings.

Chinese Fans Riot at Ref's Foul Decision
Football hooliganism and corrupt referees have made national headlines in China after a case which resulted yesterday in a first division club being banned from its own stadium. Home fans of the Shaanxi province team ran amok on Sunday after the referee allowed the visiting team from...

Paradise comes down to earth as Shangri-la is put on the map
Never mind that the legendary paradise never existed: Shangri-la will soon appear on the official map, after a decision at the highest level of Chinese government.

Strikes Convulse China's Oil-rich Heartlands
A wave of unrest has hit China's industrial heartland, where thousands of laid-off workers protested yesterday at the "restructuring" of a famous oilfield which was once praised by Chairman Mao. Police at Daqing, in the north-east, said that there were casualties yesterday in clashes with...

To Get Rich is Glorious, for Some
March 19: Zhu Rongji has vowed to address rural poverty in China, but his belief in a 'historical period' of inequality could get in the way, writes John Gittings.

China's elite shrug off growing poverty gap
John Gittings in Shanghai reports on the millions desperately seeking jobs as corruption thrives. The hostess at the door of the Duomo Club, Shanghai's latest smart drinking place, is dressed in a nun's habit with a silver cross hanging from her neck. Next to the bar a stained-glass panel vividly depicts the Crucifixion.

TV hijacking puts Falun Gong protest on airwaves in China
A Chinese city TV station has been hijacked by the banned Falun Gong spiritual sect in another sign of defiance to tough measures taken against it over the past three years.

Analysis: Fragile China
Mao's wish for his country to strut the world stage has been fulfilled. But as the people's congress meets, there is trouble brewing at home.

Chinese 'first' in world race on cloning
New technique's reported success underlines ban problems.

China's Premier Hits Out at Corruption
China's prime minister, Zhu Rongji, denounced the rich-poor divide and "serious" corruption among government and Communist party officials, in his annual report to China's parliament yesterday.

China's dutiful Congress praises premier
In China people talk quietly about political reform and brave delegates even voice mild criticism says John Gittings.

'Do You Still Throw Spears at Each Other?'
Prince Philip has succeeded in insulting the Chinese, Indians, Russians, Pacific islanders and Scots during the Queen's 50 years as monarch. Yesterday, he added Aborigines to the list. Accompanying the Queen on a visit to the Tjapukai Aboriginal cultural park near the northern...

Tourist Found Guilty of Punching Son
A French tourist who was convicted of assault after he smacked his child outside an Edinburgh restaurant claims he has been humiliated by an unfair trial.

Terror is ingredient binding US and China
The relationship between the US and China came of age today as the presidents of both countries pledged long-term cooperation and a joint fight against terrorism, while playing down their disagreements.

Teletubbies Touch Down in China
10.15am: The Teletubbies is set to be the first foreign show on regular prime-time TV in China, reaching up to 600m people, reports Jessica Hodgson.

Chinese whispers about embarrassing bugs
The revelation that spying devices were discovered in President Jiang Zemin's new plane after it was delivered from the US should have been an explosive story - just a month before George Bush is due to hold a summit with him in Beijing. It could so easily resonate with the US spy plane...

Reaching the parts other empires could not reach
The United States is engaged in a strategic power grab in central Asia of epic proportions. In previous eras, this sort of expansionism would have been called colonialism or imperialism. It would be portrayed as a dutiful mission to civilise the less fortunate of the world or as a legitimate...

Firework ban after fatal spark
The manager of a Chinese fireworks factory caused a deadly explosion by using a scythe to cut fuses, it was revealed yesterday. Six people died at the factory in Yongzhou, Hunan province. The manager, who was among the dead, was apparently trying to step up output in time for next...

Misery of China's urban migrant workers exposed
In the run-up to Chinese new year, millions of migrant workers from all over the country will head back home to see their families - but thousands more will do so involuntarily or be deprived of their freedom. This is the time of year when police in Chinese cities sweep up large numbers...

For Chinese elders, the glowing family hearth is turning cold
My wake-up call is a crackly Chinese tune to which the grandmothers of the neighbourhood do their morning exercises in the yard outside. They wear padded jackets against the winter cold and have pink cheeks. A loud voice-over calls out the movements from one to 10 and then starts again...

China in WTO
China formally joined the World Trade Organisation yesterday, a move seen by many as the biggest revolution since the communist victory half a century ago. Press and TV hailed it as a "great day for China", with some predicting that this "opening to the outside world" would lead to...

The Chinese Room Revisited
Whole forests have been wasted in the effort to refute the Chinese Room Thought Experiment proposed by Searle in 1980 and refined (really derived from axioms) in 1990. The experiment envisages a room in which an English speaker sits, equipped with a book of instructions in English.

Final Nike U.S. Women's Cup match between USA and China cancelled
The final match of the 2001 Nike U.S. Women's Cup slated for Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 16 between the U.S. Women's National Team and China will not be playedm as our Nation reflects on the tragic events of Sept. 11.

GENERAL: Keeping sports in perspective
Last weekend, 24 US military personnel returned home to the USA after being held for 11 days in China. What does this have to do with sports? Read on and find out.