China said today day that “ulterior” motives were behind some criticism of its actions in Sudan, and that the problems there should not be linked with this summer’s Olympics in Beijing.

China said today that it was investigating a company whose insecticide-tainted frozen dumplings made 10 people ill in Japan.

The Dalai Lama today brushed aside China’s furious reaction to his receiving a prestigious award from US President George Bush, saying he rejected Tibetan independence and was eager to meet leaders in Beijing.

The US has “gravely undermined” relations with China by giving the Dalai Lama an award, the Beijing government said today.

President George Bush said today that US relations with China will not be damaged by honouring the Dalai Lama.

Burma’s leading opposition party has issued a call for talks with the military regime following a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

Regional powers applauded today’s announcement by North and South Korea that their leaders plan to meet later this month, saying it will help ease tensions and boost efforts to denuclearise the peninsula.

China today said it was regrettable that some US media reports were quick to blame a Chinese student for the Virginia Tech massacre.

Families in India and Israel today mourned two professors among the 32 people killed in a shooting rampage at an American university, while the leader of Australia slammed US gun culture.

China has acknowledged to the US, Japan and other countries that it conducted an anti-satellite weapons test recently, the foreign ministry said today.

CHINA has played down fears of a military space race after US spy agencies said it had shot down a satellite for the first time, drawing condemnation from Washington and its Asian allies.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said today he was unaware of a reported Chinese anti-satellite weapons test that has drawn a torrent of international criticism and said Beijing was against the militarization of space.

China warned the United States today not to meddle in its trade relations with Iran after Washington expressed concern about a planned investment by a Chinese oil company in an Iranian gas field.

China’s foreign ministry today said police found links to international terror forces in a raid on an alleged terror camp near Pakistan last week.

A SENIOR Russian lawmaker last night said Moscow would likely back a draft UN Security Council resolution imposing sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme — a statement that contrasted with the Russian foreign minister’s criticism of the draft.

North Korea is not planning a second nuclear test and is willing to return to six-party talks under certain conditions but warned that it would take action if it feels pressured, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said today.

NORTH KOREA yesterday said it considered UN sanctions aimed at punishing the country for its nuclear test “a declaration of war”, as Japan and South Korea reported the communist nation might be preparing a second explosion.

The UN Security Council unanimously approved tough sanctions against North Korea for its claimed nuclear test, but today divisions over how to enforce them signalled that implementation may not be easy.

North Korea must face “some punitive actions” for testing a nuclear device, China’s UN ambassador said today, a sign that Beijing may be willing to impose Security Council sanctions against Pyongyang.

China today warned North Korea that the reclusive nation’s nuclear test would hurt ties between the long-time allies, while Japan’s leader said the reported blast wouldn’t prompt the Japanese to pursue atomic weapons.

Neighbouring countries today cautioned North Korea against carrying out a planned nuclear test, while a top South Korean security official said there was no sign a test was imminent.

China today condemned an Israeli attack in Lebanon that killed one Chinese UN observer and called for new Middle East peace efforts.

China has called bird flu a “serious epidemic” and reported three new outbreaks of the deadly virus in different parts of the country, while Canada announced multiple new cases but stressed they are not the virulent strain that has swept across Asia.

China today said the next general secretary of the United Nations should be from Asia because of the enormous population in the region.

China will step up measures to combat its “serious epidemic” of bird flu, but has no plan to shut its borders to contain the disease, a foreign ministry official today.

China today announced plans to commemorate the birthday of late deposed leader Hu Yaobang, whose death prompted mourning that led to the 1989 protests in Tiananmen Square.

Negotiators at talks aimed at persuading North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions set to work today on the contentious details of how the North will disarm and what it will get in exchange.

North Korean disarmament talks were extended until at least tomorrow as envoys struggled to reach an agreement over a Chinese proposal that would let Pyongyang keep its civilian nuclear power programme after it disarms.

South Korea today revealed it had offered energy aid to impoverished North Korea as an incentive to encourage it to return to nuclear disarmament talks this month after more than a year of deadlock.

Asian leaders expressed shock and dismay today over the bomb attacks in London that killed dozens of people as the world’s most powerful leaders met at the G8 summit in Scotland. From China to Malaysia to Australia, leaders urged greater cooperation in fighting terrorism.

President Hu Jintao will attend the summit of leaders of the Group of Eight major economies in Scotland in July, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said today.

European leaders were under pressure today to delay plans for resuming weapons sales to China as Washington hardens opposition to ending the 15 year EU embargo in the wake of Beijing’s new law authorising a military attack on Taiwan.

CHINA has hit back at US criticism of its human rights record, issuing a report that denounced the US for offences ranging from allowing crime and poverty at home to abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

China has fired back at US criticism of its human rights record, issuing a report that denounced the United States for offences ranging from allowing crime and poverty at home to abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

Chinese lawmakers began considering a proposed anti-secession law today that Beijing says is aimed at pushing Taiwan to unite with the mainland and which the self-ruled island contends could serve as a pretext for a military attack.

Police kept China’s symbolic heart of Tiananmen Square free of demonstrators today, detaining at least 13 people while activists abroad marked the 15th anniversary of the attack on pro-democracy protesters.

Fifteen years after the bloodshed, the exiled student leaders of China’s 1989 pro-democracy protests are settled abroad as academics and entrepreneurs. But they nurture one wish above all – to come home to a new system.

China said today that the six-nation talks over North Korea’s nuclear programme had encountered “differences, difficulties and contradictions,” and that no date had been set for their conclusion.

Top US and North Korean negotiators met behind closed doors for an hour in Beijing today, and South Korea offered Pyongyang aid if it gives up its nuclear programme.

CHINA said yesterday that hard-liners in Taiwan were playing a deceitful and dangerous game by seeking independence, and appealed to the United States to oppose those seeking to split the island from the mainland.

CHINA shut down a major hospital in Beijing and put more than 2,000 employees under observation for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) yesterday, as Hong Kong health experts said the disease may be even deadlier than originally thought.

CHINA, accused by the World Health Organisation of dramatically under-reporting SARS cases in Beijing, dug in its heels yesterday, refusing to revise its toll and insisting it is dealing responsibly with the outbreak.

Nepal’s King Gyanendra is seeking Beijing’s help in fighting rebels who are inspired by the revolutionary father of communist China, Mao Zedong.