No image available
/ 31 March 2008

Security tight as China launches Olympic torch relay

China’s president and the country’s top athlete launched the Beijing Olympics torch relay on Monday amid cheering, dancing and tight security, marking the symbolic start to a Games overshadowed by activism and unrest in Tibet. Chinese President Hu Jintao lit a cauldron on a red-carpeted rostrum on Tiananmen Square before handing the torch to World and Olympic champion hurdler Liu Xiang.

No image available
/ 16 March 2008

China names premier, top judge and prosecutor

China’s Parliament re-elected Wen Jiabao as premier on Sunday, but a next-generation leader was passed over for promotion to a top military job. The rubber-stamp National People’s Congress gave Wen, ranked third in the Communist Party hierarchy, a second five-year mandate with 2 926 votes for, 21 against and 12 abstentions.