China would not confirm US reports that it had dropped its opposition to possible new UN sanctions against Iran, as Tehran’s top nuclear negotiator met with senior officials in Beijing.

GOOGLE’s partial withdrawal from China brought swift condemnation from the government while leaving Chinese web surfers to wonder whether they would be able to access a new offshore search engine site or be blocked by censors.

KIDNAPPING people on their way to lodge complaints with China’s central government has evolved into a lucrative cottage industry that police refuse to acknowledge or crack down on, a human rights group has said.

China's president abruptly cut short a G8 summit trip early today as bloody ethnic tensions worsened in the country's oil-rich Xinjiang territory.

THE government imposed a curfew last night in the capital city of western China after mobs of Han Chinese armed with cleavers roamed the streets looking for Muslim Uyghurs who had earlier attacked people in the country’s worst ethnic violence in decades.

China said a video that appears to show police fatally beating a Tibetan protester is a fake concocted by supporters of the Dalai Lama.

China and other members of an Asian security group were today being asked to sign a declaration of support today for Russia’s role in the Georgia conflict.

President George Bush arrived in Beijing today amid an atmosphere of tension with China's leaders over his high-profile criticism of the country's human rights record.

China said today the toll of dead and missing from last week’s powerful earthquake had jumped to more than 80,000, while the government appealed for millions of tents to shelter homeless survivors.

China said the death toll from last week’s powerful earthquake has jumped to more than 51,000, while the government appealed today for millions of tents to shelter homeless survivors.

A woman who survived by drinking rainwater was rescued alive today after being trapped in the rubble of China’s earthquake for more than 195 hours.

China said it was struggling to find shelter for many of the five million people whose homes were destroyed in last week’s earthquake, while the region remained jittery today over warnings of aftershocks.

Two women were rescued in China today after a week trapped in the rubble of a collapsed building at a coal mine in Sichuan province, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

China has said a British newspaper editorial comparing the Beijing Olympics to Hitler’s 1936 Games is an “insult to the Chinese people”.

China’s foreign ministry says it is concerned about a planned meeting between prime minister Gordon Brown and the Dalai Lama.

A group of more than 100 Tibetan exiles went on hunger strike today after being arrested in northern India during a march protesting China’s hosting of the Olympic Games, organisers said.

China said tonight that progress had been made at the North Korea nuclear talks, and a South Korean official said all six countries had reached an unspecified agreement.

Disarmament talks on North Korea’s nuclear programme will resume on December 18 in Beijing, China announced today, ending the North’s 13-month-old boycott in protest over US financial sanctions.

China today criticised the United States for using secret CIA-run prisons and tough interrogation tactics in its fight against terrorism.

THE Chinese authorities angrily denied yesterday that the country turns a blind eye to human rights abuses in places like Sudan in its search for oil to help power its booming economy.

IRAN’S hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed yesterday that “no one could make the Iranian nation” give up its nuclear technology.

THE Chinese authorities angrily denied yesterday that the country turns a blind eye to human rights abuses in places like Sudan in its search for oil to help power its booming economy.

Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed today that “no one could make the Iranian nation” give up its nuclear technology.

A defiant and threatening Iran said it would hide its nuclear program if the West took “harsh measures” after this week’s UN Security Council deadline for Tehran to suspend uranium enrichment.

Iran’s top nuclear negotiator today warned the country would halt all co-operation with the UN nuclear watchdog if the Security Council imposed sanctions.

Iran’s supreme leader said today that his country’s nuclear fuel programme was “irreversible”, warning that any retreat by Iran over its nuclear programme will be “breaking the country’s independence”.

CHINA yesterday lashed out against American criticism of its human rights record, saying racial discrimination and crime were still rife in the United States and prisoners were being abused at US-run detention centres abroad.

China today defended its right to police the internet, one day after four American technology giants appeared before Congress on charges they collaborated with Beijing to crush dissent in return for access to a booming internet market.

Chinese workers are labouring “around the clock” on a temporary dam project to block pollutants from reaching a major Russian city, a Chinese official said today.

China today criticised Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s remarks denying the Nazi holocaust, saying it was opposed to actions that could undermine world stability.

A Chinese government spokesman has rejected comparisons between the fatal police shooting of villagers last week and the 1989 crackdown on the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests, saying no conclusion has been reached about the most recent violence.

Beijing tried to ease strains with Moscow over a river-borne toxic spill flowing toward Russia by today promising to send filtering materials, while five more Chinese cities prepared to stop drawing water from the river.

Reaction to North Korea’s demand for civilian reactors before dismantling its nuclear programme ranged from harsh to calm today, though none of the parties to international talks said they expected the negotiating process to break down.

Officials and churchgoers from around the world expressed hope today that the new Pope will continue the work of his predecessor by building interfaith bridges. Even China said icy ties with the Vatican could improve – but only if the church breaks off relations with Taiwan.

China today congratulated newly-appointed Pope Benedict XVI and said it hoped Beijing’s strained relations with the Roman Catholic Church could improve during his tenure.

The Chinese government said today it won’t send an envoy to Pope John Paul II’s funeral due to the Vatican’s diplomatic relations with rival Taiwan.

China today rejected ties between the nation’s Catholics and the Vatican, indicating that Beijing has not budged on a key issue in their split despite expressing hope for better relations following the death of Pope John Paul.