Let The Torch Relay Shed Its Light On The Plight Of Tibet

China's calls for a protest-free torch relay should be ignored by all nations that uphold democracy and human rights.

China Pressured Mps To Skip Show

THE Chinese Government has pressured Victorian MPs not to attend a stage show it has denounced as propaganda for the Falun Gong movement.

Connections The Currency For New Rich

China's ostentatious and often shameless wealthy are reviled as much as they are envied.

Imprisoned And Harassed: Monks Tell

MONKS across the greater Tibetan region of western China have been locked inside their quarters by thousands of Chinese security forces but, risking jail or worse, monks from two monasteries in the region have volunteered to tell their story to the world.

Beleaguered Monks Stand Defiant

MONKS across the greater Tibetan region of western China have been locked inside their quarters by thousands of Chinese security forces under the threat of jail or worse. But when a foreign photographer evades police checkpoints and gains access to two small monasteries in western China, at least 10 Tibetan monks volunteer their testimony.

Keeping Our Hopes For China In Check

Our conviction that autocrats will change may be wishful thinking.

A Case Of Attitude Over Altitude

Player resolve ensured Pim Verbeek's punt paid off against China, writes Michael Cockerill.

Propaganda Stumbles Over Tibet Defiance

NEARLY 1000 people have surrendered to police following the riots and protests in Tibet and its neighbouring provinces, but an attempt by China to demonstrate control of both the unrest and the story backfired yesterday.

China Rejects Canberra's Bid To Check Tibet Violence

CHINA has rejected a plea from Australia to be allowed to send diplomats and journalists to the troubled region of Tibet.

0-0 Draw A Bonus For Socceroos

IT'S all positive for Australia after a gutsy draw against China in Kunming last night, the priceless result laying a strong foundation for a successful World Cup campaign.

Great Leap Forward In The Long March To 2010

CHINA 0 AUSTRALIA 0

0-0 A Bonus For Socceroos

IT WAS a golden point for Australia forged in the white heat of battle in Kunming last night. The scoreless draw against China - earned with a penalty save by Mark Schwarzer - provided ample evidence the Socceroos have the character to make a fist of this World Cup campaign.

No Chinese Guard For Games Torch In Australia

AUSTRALIA appears to have received no request from Beijing for China to send troops from the People's Liberation Army to guard the Olympic torch during its appearance Down Under.

The Chain Reaction

China's crackdown in Tibet is turning the Beijing Olympics from a showcase event into a PR disaster. Chris Johnston reports on the great leap backwards.

Socceroos Show Their Mettle To Grab Point

China 0 Australia 0 IT was a golden point for Australia forged in the white heat of battle in Kunming last night. The scoreless draw against China - earned with a penalty save by Mark Schwarzer - provided ample evidence the Socceroos have the character to make a fist of this World Cup campaign.

Culina Fitsbill As Socceroos Pacemaker Against China

METRONOMIC Socceroos midfielder Jason Culina runs for fun, but even he recognises he will need to pace himself to survive today's key World Cup decider against China.

Another One Bites The Dust In China

THE Socceroos will be hoping they don't get the World Cup wobbles like their coach, Pim Verbeek, who almost collapsed during a media conference yesterday while discussing his final plans for today's crucial qualifier against China in Kunming.

Mixed Messages On Foreign Policy

Save the whales but the Rudd Government needs to be tougher on China.

Culina Fits The Bill As Socceroos Aim To Offset Running Costs Of China Crisis

SOCCEROOS midfielder Jason Culina runs for fun, but even he recognises he'll need to pace himself to survive today's key World Cup qualifier against China.

Mob Killed Policeman, Says China

A MOB wielding stones and knives killed a police officer in a Tibetan part of western China, state media said yesterday.

Verbeek Sick As A Parrot As Injuries Mount, But Kewell May Be The Remedy

THE Socceroos will be hoping they don't get the World Cup wobbles like their coach, Pim Verbeek, who almost collapsed during a media conference on Tuesday as he was discussing his plans for Wednesday's qualifier against China in Kunming.

Verbeek Joins Long Casualty List

THE Socceroos will be hoping they don't get the World Cup wobbles like their coach, Pim Verbeek, who almost collapsed during a news conference yesterday as he was discussing his plans for today's qualifier against China in Kunming.

Human Rights Protesters Crash Olympic Party

PROTESTERS yesterday disrupted the Olympic torch lighting ceremony amid mounting controversy over China's crackdown in Tibet.

Hard To Breathe On High Horse

IT KEEPS getting tougher for the Socceroos, but away from the hustle and bustle of Kunming, Pim Verbeek is trying to rest bodies and clear minds ahead of tomorrow's potentially decisive confrontation with China. Verbeek is fond of saying he doesn't worry about what he can't control, and at the Hongta sports complex half an hour outside the city, the environment is easy to control.

Neill Says Depleted Socceroos Can Pinch China Win

SKIPPER Lucas Neill admits the Socceroos have their backs to the wall in tomorrow night's World Cup qualifier against China, but he's confident a patched-up side can steal a result.

Fragile China At Breaking Point

CHINA are on tenterhooks ahead of their most important game in almost four years, handing Australia a crucial pyschological advantage before Wednesday's crunch World Cup qualifier in Kunming.

Injuries Put A-league Pair In The Frame

EMERGING A-League stars Mark Bridge and Bruce Djite are suddenly World Cup contenders as Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek contemplates his rapidly diminishing striking options for Wednesday's testing qualifier against China in Kunming.

Taiwan In New Threat To Olympics

CHINA has pledged to crush Tibetan protests as Taiwan's president-elect Ma Ying-jeou yesterday repeated his controversial promise to consider boycotting the Beijing Olympics if the crackdown worsens in Tibet.

State Of Control

The crackdown in Tibet has raised concerns that the Olympics, far from improving human rights in China, will make things worse. Tom Hyland reports.

Chinese Group Claimed Rudd As Envoy

THE head of a Chinese organisation that has been effectively blacklisted by the Federal Government boasted that Kevin Rudd would lead a delegation to China on its behalf.

Everest Off Limits Amid Tibet Unrest

EXPEDITIONS to Mount Everest are being cancelled because of restrictions on access to Tibet as China prepares to put the Olympic torch on the summit and clamps down on unrest in the Himalayan region, an organiser said.

We're Still Ok, China

US PRESIDENT Bush's representative in Australia has scoffed at talk that America is increasingly suspicious of Australia's warm rapport with China. US ambassador Robert McCallum has also described as "perfectly understandable" Labor's planned troop withdrawal from Iraq, putting him at odds with former PM and Presidential mate John Howard.

The Chinese Whispers Rudd Would Prefer Lost In Translation

Opponents are pushing the idea the PM is too close to China, writes Jason Koutsoukis.

Bone China

Bone China Roma Tearne HarperCollins, $27.99

China Fires Angry Shot In Ore War

A SENIOR Chinese steel official has blasted Australian mining giant Rio Tinto for being "dishonest" and "improper", as their row over billions of dollars of iron ore shipments edges closer to a trade war.

Rio Tinto Hostility Escalates In China

A CHINESE steel official has blasted Australian mining group Rio Tinto for being "dishonest" and "improper", as their row over billions of dollars of iron ore shipments edges closer to a trade war.

Uprising Cracks China's Modern Face

"LOVE your country, love your religion, together let's build a harmonious society," reads the banner fluttering in the spring sunshine at the 400-year-old Tibetan monastery in remote Sichuan province.

Tibet: Australia Seeks Access

AUSTRALIA has stepped up pressure on China by asking for its diplomats to be allowed to travel to embattled Tibet.

No Reason For Rudd To Take Japan Out Of The Equation

Kevin Rudd will shortly make his first grand tour as prime minister, visiting the United States, the world's largest economy, Britain, headquarters of the Commonwealth, and China, champion of the developing world and probably the largest economy in the mid-21st century. Curious about this trip is the omission of Japan from his list.

Bhp Muscles Up To China

BHP Billiton has stared down an unprecedented attempt by China to force Australian iron ore producers into accepting a 65% increase in contract prices or face being squeezed out of the lucrative spot market for the key steel-making raw material.

Tibet Has The Right To Its Cultural Identity And Survival

The eyes of the world have turned to China, not in relation to the Olympics, but for its actions in Tibet on the 49th anniversary of the national uprising.

China Locks Out Bhp And Rio Ore

AUSTRALIA'S mining giants have been blackballed from selling iron ore into the lucrative Chinese daily spot market, in a dramatic escalation of their battle to extract more value from the world's most powerful steel industry.

China Black-balls Australian Miners

AUSTRALIA'S mining giants have been black-balled from selling iron ore into the lucrative Chinese daily "spot" market, in a dramatic escalation of their battle to extract more value from the world's most powerful steel industry.

Pm Joins International Pleas For Restraint

THE Federal Government has called on China to exercise restraint in Tibet and raised concerns about its crackdown on protesters with both the Chinese embassy and officials in Beijing. The Foreign Affairs Minister, Stephen Smith, yesterday affirmed Australia's commitment to Chinese sovereignty over Tibet but urged China to encourage "greater respect and tolerance".

Open Revolt Defies China's Iron Fist

HUNDREDS of Tibetans and monks have clashed with police in China as they dare to take their protest from their spiritual home of Lhasa into neighbouring Chinese provinces.

Japan Fury Over Rudd Snub

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd has provoked a potentially costly diplomatic row with Japan after leaving Tokyo out of his first world tour - which includes a four-day visit to his old stamping ground, China.

China Will Confront Political Change, Like It Or Not: Howard

CHINA, Australia's biggest trading partner, would eventually be forced to account for its authoritarian political system, as its middle class grows and it becomes a wealthier nation, the former prime minister, John Howard, predicted in a keynote speech at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University on Monday.

China Gives Hero Status To The Rio Tinto Raider

RIO Tinto's largest shareholder, Chinalco, is blitzing the domestic media to defend and exploit its lightning raid on the Anglo-Australian miner.

Food Prices Boost Inflation

CHINA'S inflationary pressures are rapidly building just as the US-led economic downturn starts to corrode China's trade surplus, new figures show.

China Inflation Heat As Us Eats Into Trade

CHINA'S inflationary pressures are rapidly building just as the US-led economic downturn starts to corrode China's trade surplus, new figures show.

Stakes Are High But Pim Airs Confidence

PIM VERBEEK believes China's decision to play this month's World Cup qualifier at altitude in Kunming has made his players even more determined to win.

China's New Entrepreneurs Cash In On Baby Business

NOTHING illustrates the disconnect between China's socialist past and its free-market present so much as the issue of children.

Stakes Are High For Socceroos But Verbeek Exudes Air Of Confidence

PIM VERBEEK believes China's decision to play this month's World Cup qualifier at altitude in Kunming has made his players even more determined to win.

Verbeek Ponders Taking A Punt On Kewell's Reserves

HARRY Kewell may be frozen out at Liverpool, but Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek is warming to the prospect of inviting him back into the fold for this month's World Cup qualifier against China in Kunming.

Verbeek Warms To Kewell Invitation As Socceroos Aim For Qualifier

HARRY Kewell may be frozen out at Liverpool, but Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek is warming to the prospect of inviting him back into the fold for this month's World Cup qualifier against China in Kunming.

Aussies In China Hijack Drama

TEN Australians were caught up in a dramatic hijacking in a popular Chinese tourist city yesterday when a man boarded their bus armed with explosives and kept the terrorised tourists captive for several hours.

China Boom Fuels Big Rise In Social Spending

CHINA'S leaders are starting to back their egalitarian rhetoric with tens of billions of yuan in health, education and social policy spending - thanks to a one-third increase in tax revenue.

China Pours Billions Into Social Policy

CHINA'S leaders are starting to back their egalitarian rhetoric with tens of billions of yuan in health, education and social policy spending, thanks to a one-third increase in tax revenue.

Commodity Price Rises Fuel China's Inflation Fire

CHINA'S accelerating inflation rate has become the top concern of Chinese people and the problem could persist this year, says Premier Wen Jiabao.

China Raises Hackles With Hike In Military Budget

CHINA says it will increase military spending by nearly 18 per cent this year, raising tensions with the US and its close regional allies. The budget will rise to 417.8 billion yuan ($63.3 billion), a government spokesman said, and follows a 17.8 per cent rise in 2007.

China's Defence Spending To Soar

CHINA says it will raise military spending by nearly 18% this year, triggering renewed tensions with the US and its close regional allies.

Despite The Move On Rio, 'team China' Not Always United

Rudd must decide at what point might Chinese investment be contrary to the national interest.

Rudd To See Bush Before Trip To China

PRIME MINISTER Kevin Rudd will make his first major overseas trip when he visits the United States and China next month.

China Braces For Biggest Reform In A Generation

EVERY year the National People's Congress is fairly predictable, a strictly stage-managed event where just under 3000 carefully-chosen Communist Party delegates invariably publicly rubber-stamp decisions already made by their leaders in private.