New Delhi, Apr 9: Chinese scholars have rebutted US’ allegations that China was engaged in spying and forging secret nuclear deals with foreign countries, saying these were induced by the perceived “China threat” worrying Washington.

“More accusations are being made nowadays, probably because the military contractors are fighting against a fundamental defense budget now proposed by the US defense chief,” said Beijing-based military expert Song Xiaojun.

Beijing - Two Tibetans have been sentenced to death by a Chinese court for starting fatal fires during riots in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa last year.

Two others were given death sentences with a two-year reprieve, and another faces life imprisonment, according to an spokesman with the Lhasa Municipal Intermediate People's Court, quoted by the official Xinhua news agency.

Losang Gyaltse received the death penalty for setting fire to two garment shops in downtown Lhasa that killed a shop owner, Xinhua said.

Beijing  - Chinese President Hu Jintao and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez pledged to strengthen bilateral ties in energy, trade, and science and technology, local media reported Wednesday.

Chavez arrived in Beijing Tuesday night for a two-day which is expected to focus heavily on oil.

Beijing - A Peking University professor apologized after hundreds protested in front of the campus against his claims that people who petition the government are mentally ill, local media reported Wednesday.

Professor Sun Dongdong was quoted in the March 23 edition of China Newsweek magazine as saying that 99 per cent of people who repeatedly petition, or make complaints to the government, are mentally ill.

Beijing, Apr. 8: China has asked the United Nations to respond prudently to the Democratic People''s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) rocket launch, even as the UN Security Council have scheduled a second meeting to discuss what sanctions, if any, can be imposed on that country.

“China is always careful about imposing sanctions. We believe the response of the Security Council should be conducive to the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia as well as the Six-Party Talks," said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu.

Taipei  - After fighting communism for half a century, Taiwan has allowed the formation of two communist parties on the island, a newspaper reported Wednesday.

According to the Taipei Times, two communist parties - the Taiwan Communist Party and the Republic of China Communist Party - registered with the Interior Ministry and won approval for their existence Monday, thus becoming legal civic organizations.