Beijing - Chinese President Hu Jintao and US president-elect Barack Obama have discussed Taiwan and the global financial crisis by telephone, China's Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

Hu told Obama that bilateral relations could improve if the two sides showed respect for each other's concerns and "properly handle sensitive issues ... particularly the Taiwan issue," the ministry reported on its website.

The ministry quoted Obama as saying late Saturday that resolving the current financial crisis needed the close cooperation of every national government.

Obama said he hoped that China and the United States would strengthen cooperation at the international summit on the financial crisis and the global economy on November 15.

Shanghai - Novak Djokovic broke his duck at the Masters Cup, winning his first career match at the season wrap-up after three 2007 losses.

The Serb overpowered Argentine Juan Del Potro 7-5, 6-3 to take the early lead in the Gold group.

"I'm happy to win, that's for sure, I'm satisfied," said Australian Open champion Dokovic.

"I played really well from the start and felt good on the court. But then suddenly I just lost momentum and started serving really badly.

"He got back to the game. It was my fault, but I played well in the important moments. I'm happy to get through in straight sets."

Taipei  - Taiwan is seeking to sign a trade pact with China which is similar to a free trade agreement (FTA), a newspaper said on Sunday.

The Commercial Times, quoting an unnamed official, said that Taiwan plans to follow the model of Hong Kong and sign a pact to promote trade with China.

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT, Taiwan's ruling party) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will discuss it during the KMT-CCP forum to be held in Hong Kong in December.

Hong Kong, after reverting to Chinese rule in 1997 following 150 years of British colonization, signed the Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with China in June 2003, helping to open up a huge market for Hong Kong goods and services.

Taipei - Hailing recent protests against a Chinese envoy, Taiwan opposition leader Tsai Ing-wen said Saturday that Taiwan's future must be decided by referendum, not by China.

Referring to talks last week between the leadership of the self- governing island and its massive neighbour, Tsai, chairwoman of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), blasted President Ma Ying-jeou for kowtowing to the envoy, Chen Yunlin.

Speaking at a news conference in Taipei, Tsai said that more than 100,000 people besieged the venue where Ma of the ruling Chinese Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang, was meeting Chen on Thursday.

Beijing - A UN-sponsored congress on Saturday urged the integration of traditional medicine into national health care plans, saying patients would benefit from its use alongside modern medicine.

"The knowledge of traditional medicine, treatments and practices should be respected, preserved, promoted and communicated widely and appropriately based on the circumstances in each country," said a joint declaration issued at the end of the World Health Organization Congress on Traditional Medicine.

Beijing - China on Saturday said it would crack down on "fake"
journalists, a category that appears to include many freelance
journalists.

The General Administration of Press and Publications issued a
circular on Friday asking journalists to register for press cards "in
order to prove their legal identities to their interviewees," the
government's official Xinhua news agency said.

The circular was designed to "protect the legal rights of news
organizations and journalists" and to "step up a crackdown on fake
journalists," the agency said.