Washington- The United States has begun exploring the possibility of opening a consulate in Tibet to get better access to the Chinese province, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday.

Rice's comments come after Beijing launched a crackdown last month in Tibet on demonstrations against Chinese rule, a move that sparked international condemnation. This month, the torch relay to promote the Beijing Olympics was met by distruptive protests in Europe and on Wednesday in San Francisco, spurred largely by China's human-rights record in Tibet.

Drug-maker Suven Life Sciences Ltd has informed that its clinical research division Asian Clinical Trials (ACT) has entered into a strategic alliance with VPSCRO, a CRO based in Beijing, China to conduct clinical trial services in India, as well as in China.

This strategic alliance between ACT and VPSCRO will allow the company to offer compressive range of clinical services to global sponsors with the state of the art infrastructure, network of trained investigators in India and China by leveraging their expertise to the conduct quality clinical research.

Beijing - The Olympic Movement faces a rift in its dealing with China over the unrest in Tibet in the run-up to the Beijing Games, a high-ranking Olympic official revealed on Wednesday.

The official, speaking to Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa on the condition of anonymity, said that 17 European Olympic Committees have expressed their anger that Tibet is no longer mentioned in a revised draft for a statement to be issued at the end of the week.

The source did not mention which countries protested the new version and only said that the 17 European countries "have decided to insist on this topic."

Beijing - The blue tracksuit-clad Chinese guards who attracted torch relay guards that have attracted attention in Olympic parades in London, Paris and other cities were recruited from the paramilitary police, state media said on Wednesday.

The 30 elite guards for international legs of the torch relay and 50 more for domestic legs underwent special training after they were selected from the People's Armed Police, the Global Times and other media said.

The guards had to prove that they could run 10 kilometres in mountainous terrain every day and show their ability to learn etiquette and foreign languages, the newspaper said.

Beijing, Apr. 9  An angry Chinese Government today termed Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's blunt message that there are significant human rights problems in Tibet as "totally unfounded".

Tibetan Regional Government chairman Xiangba Puncog later told a press conference here that the comments were "totally unfounded".

"Australia, or other countries, should have better appreciation and understanding of the fact that people in Tibet are now enjoying democracy and have wonderful human rights protection. Those remarks are totally unfounded," news. com. au quoted Puncog, as saying.

Beijing- He had recently angered China by criticizing its human-rights record and its handling of Tibet while he stood next to US President George W Bush.

He made similar, if slightly toned-down, remarks in his first public engagement in Beijing Wednesday.

Yet after Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered the first speech in Chinese by a Western leader in China, all was forgiven as he was welcomed with a mixture of curiosity and admiration by students at Beijing University.

Beijing - China on Wednesday signalled its interest in acquiring the technology for a German-developed magnetic-levitation, or maglev, train.

"We would greet the sale of the magnetic train technology from the German developers to Chinese firms," said the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planning agency.

It added that it hoped China could win the technology at an "attractive price."

Beijing - Dozens of Tibetan monks disrupted a Chinese government tour of their monastery for foreign journalists on Wednesday, supporting the exiled Dalai Lama and saying they wanted "cultural freedom," one of the journalists said.

Some 15 to 20 monks began the protest and were joined by up to 40 others as they surrounded the journalists inside the Labrang monastery in the north-western province of Gansu, Johnny Erling, the Beijing correspondent of German newspaper Die Welt, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa by telephone.

Singapore- Singapore and Chinese authorities have endorsed a draft masterplan for a joint eco-city project in the northern China port city of Tianjin, news reports said Wednesday.

The masterplan, developed by a team that includes Singapore's Urban Redevelopment Authority, will guide land use and development.

It reflects the shared vision for a city that is "environmentally friendly, socially harmonious and economically sustainable," The Straits Times said.

Beijing - China said Tuesday it is not responsible for threats by people aimed at foreign media.

Spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Jiang Yu, said these were "spontaneous acts" which weren't provoked by the Chinese government.

Foreign correspondents in China have reported being on the receiving end of hostility and threats. China's state media and many Chinese have accused the foreign media of biased reporting about the recent protests in Tibet against Chinese rule there.

The foreign ministry spokeswoman promised that the privacy of foreign correspondents would be respected and their contact details would not be divulged.

Beijing - Officials from China, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, the US and the EU, are to meet in Shanghai April 16 to discuss negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme, China's foreign ministry announced in Beijing Tuesday.

The meeting's aim is to discuss "plans to resume talks on the Iranian nuclear issue and promote a resolution of the issue through diplomatic negotiations," the foreign ministry said.

China has previously expressed the opinion that the nuclear issue should be resolved peacefully through negotiation and dialogue.

Beijing said it was hoping for "positive results" from the talks.

Taipei  -  A former premier of Taiwan on Tuesday warned vice president-elect Vincent Siew to uphold the island's sovereignty when he attends the Bo'ao economic forum in China later this week.

"If he goes by what he has promised, he should uphold the sovereign status of Taiwan if he is to meet any Chinese leaders," said Su Tseng-chang, referring to a possible meeting between Siew and Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Siew is leading a nine-member delegation of business executives, in his role as chairman of the private Cross-Straits Common Market Foundation, to the three-day forum beginning Friday on the Chinese island of Hainan.

Beijing- Eleven foreign journalists are scheduled to depart Tuesday for an area in western China that saw pro-Tibetan riots in recent weeks on a tour organized by China's Foreign Ministry.

This second tour for foreign media will fly to Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province, where more than 1,000 Buddhist monks led anti-government protests.

At the end of March journalists were taken on a highly regimented three-day trip to Lhasa. Their tour was interrupted by 30 monks at Jokhang Temple, considered Tibetan Buddhism's most sacred site, shouting about the lack of freedom in Tibet and denying China's claims that the Dalai Lama fomented the riots of two weeks ago.

Beijing- Premier Wen Jiabao ended China's annual parliament in mid-March with a surprisingly gloomy outlook for 2008, despite the nation continuing its breakneck economic growth.

"I am afraid that this year might become the most difficult one for the Chinese economy," Wen said after the parliament endorsed his economic policies designed to curb inflation and promote more sustainable growth.

"The biggest concern is price rises," Wen told reporters. "This has made the lives of people, particularly low income groups, more difficult."

Hong Kong - China has stopped issuing short-stay visas to foreigners at its border with Hong Kong as security is tightened ahead of the Olympics, a news report said Tuesday.

Travel agents quoted by the South China Morning Post said the practice of issuing short-stay visas at the border had been halted with immediate effect.

News of the curb comes two days after it emerged China has stopped issuing multiple-entry visas to foreigners travelling in and out of Hong Kong until after the Olympic Games.

Business people and tourists who make regular trips to mainland China from Hong Kong can now only apply for single or double entry visas.

Beijing - Stocks in mainland China rose sharply Monday, led by commodity-related shares as the prices of raw materials rose and demand for them was expected to continue to go up as well.

The CSI 300 Index, which tracks yuan-denominated A shares listed on the mainland's two exchanges, rose 195.12 points, or 5.34 per cent, to close at 3,845.82.

The Shanghai Composite index was up 153.37 points, or 4.45 per cent, to 3,599.62 while the Shenzhen Composite Index gained 61.73 points, or 6.14 per cent, to end at
1,067.62.

Beijing - International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge on Monday said he was concerned about unrest in China's Tibetan areas and violence by supporters of Tibetan independence during the torch relay for the 2008 Olympics.

"I'm very concerned with the international situation and what's happening in Tibet," Rogge said at the opening of a meeting of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) in Beijing.

"The torch relay has been targeted. The International Olympic Committee has expressed its serious concern and calls for a rapid, peaceful resolution in Tibet," Rogge said.

Budapest - The second section of a tour of China designed to persuade investors from the economic superpower to put their money into Hungary got underway on Monday, the Hungarian Investment and Trade Development Agency said.

The "Hungarian Season" tour, which has already visited Beijing, will stop in the provincial cities of Lanzhou, Chengdu and Qingdao over the next five days, the agency said.

Hungary is attempting to position itself as a gateway for Chinese products hitting the European markets, and last year signed a contract on a major centre in Budapest aimed at facilitating this.

Taipei - Taiwan Vice president-elect Vincent Siew said Monday he will travel to China later this week for an economic forum where he may meet Chinese President Hu Jintao to discuss ways to increase mutual trust and relations.

"We hope to use this opportunity to extend our goodwill and sincerity to the other side of the Taiwan Strait in order to increase the basis of mutual trust and improve our relations," Siew said.

Shanghai, Apr 7: China launched the first of four F-22P frigates that it built for the Pakistani Navy under a 600 million US dollar deal, which was signed in April 2005, from a shipyard here.

Prior to the launch, the Pakistani Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Afzal Tahir, said the frigates would form a very important component of Pakistan's surface fleet.

He also said that the deal would help in increasing the Pakistan's capabilities in shipbuilding and also the Karachi shipyard's capabilities in managing the construction of a large warship.