Twist in Sale of Relics Has China Winking

The bidder for two prized Chinese sculptures surfaced, saying it was his patriotic duty to refuse to pay the $40 million winning bid.

Facing Counterfeiting Crackdown, Beijing Vendors Fight Back

Tenacious vendors have staged protests against lawyers who are pursuing trademark cases, mocking them as bourgeois puppets of foreigners.

Volunteers Put the Economist Into Chinese

A Chinese group has been working to translate each issue of the British newsweekly The Economist, a risky enterprise since authorities have banned the magazine in the past.

U.S. and China Revive Military Talks

The Chinese had suspended senior-level military contacts with the United States in October, protesting the Bush administration’s $6.5 billion arms sale to Taiwan.

A Textile Capital of China Is Hobbled by a Downturn Gone Global

Shaoxing, where 20,000 textile and garment factories once hummed, was a city that globalization built. Now, it is suffering as demand wanes in the U.S.

China Says U.S. Distorts Facts in Report on Rights

The State Department sees “poor” respect for rights in China, but China says the United States has impeded rights of Americans.

China Fails to Halt the Sale of Looted Relics at a Paris Auction

Anonymous bidders bought two bronze animal heads from the 18th century that had been in the collection of the French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent.

Tibetans Greet New Year in Opposition

Tibetans are marking the normally joyous Losar holiday with an informal boycott and vigils.

3 in Beijing Set Their Car on Fire in Apparent Protest

The Chinese authorities said two people were taken to the hospital after the incident in Tiananmen Square, an area that has been a favored spot for political protests.

Worst Drought in Half Century Shrivels the Wheat Belt of China

A normally dry rural region has been parched in recent months, aggravating economic problems facing the Beijing government.

Pig Organs Tainted With a Banned Substance Sicken 70 in China

At least 70 people in southern China have been sickened after eating pig organs contaminated by a banned metabolism accelerator, state media reported.

Chinese Mine Disaster Ends With 74 Dead

Dozens of miners who had been trapped in a Chinese coal mine after Sunday’s deadly explosion that killed 74 of their co-workers, have been rescued.

A Clinton Listening Tour, but China Gets an Earful

The Clinton Straight Talk Express made its last big stop in Beijing on Sunday.

At Least 74 Miners Are Killed in China Blast

Dozens were still trapped in a mine on Sunday evening in the deadliest coal-mining accident in the country in more than a year.

China Fears Tremors as Jobs Vanish From Coast

Jobs on the once-booming Chinese coast are vanishing at a stunning pace, leaving millions without work.

Clinton Paints China Policy With a Green Hue

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton invited China to join the U.S. in an effort to curb greenhouse gases.

After 5 Months, China to Try Would-Be Protester

A 62-year-old woman will be the first of 10 people from the industrial city of Liuzhou to come to trial for planned protests in September.

Case Against Ex-Leader Stirs Unease in Taiwan

Legal experts are raising troubling questions about whether the rule of law is being followed in the proceedings against former President Chen Shui-bian.

Chinese Officials Protest Sinking of Cargo Ship by Russians

A senior Chinese Foreign Ministry official said that Russia had an unacceptable response after one of its warships sank a Chinese cargo vessel last Saturday.

China Starts Investing Globally

Long spurned in the international market, China has invested $41 billion in global oil projects this week alone.

Senior Communist Party Official Issues Warning to Tibetan Clergy

The official, Lobsang Gyaincain, said the clergy must not take part in activities aimed at “splitting the motherland.”

Optimism Grows for U.S.-China Military Talks

The commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific said he hoped a visit by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton would help resume high-level military exchanges with China.

Beijing Investigates Transplants for Tourists

China said it was investigating whether 17 Japanese tourists had received illegal kidney and liver transplants in China.

A Big Wall Falls in China to Make Room for Mickey

Trading snow dragons for Snow White, a Disney licensing company took over the Harbin Ice Lantern Festival, China’s most popular wintertime attraction.

China Agrees to Lend Art to Museum in Taiwan

Beijing’s Palace Museum will lend art to Taipei’s National Palace Museum, temporarily bringing together a small part of China’s imperial collection for the first time in 60 years.

At Reading in Beijing, Noted Writer Is Stabbed

Xu Lai, a writer known for provocative, antiestablishment Web postings, was stabbed and wounded during a book reading on Saturday.

Clinton Seeks a Shift on China

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke about China’s repression of Tibet and its position as the world’s leading emitter of greenhouse gases.

China to Investigate French Company Over Claims of Tainted Formula

Government officials said they would investigate whether infant formula by French beverage giant Danone was tainted with melamine.

Taiwan’s Low Profile May Aid Its Goals

Taiwan’s president said he was not concerned that Taiwan was low on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s list of priorities.

China and Taiwan to Confer on Imperial Art Treasures Split by History

Divided for 60 years by war and political turbulence, the imperial art collection of China is now the focus of negotiations that could lead to at least a few of the works being exhibited together again.

China: Official Cites Failed Meeting of Independence Movement

Activists in China recently passed out fliers for a pro-independence meeting in Xinjiang, but no one attended, said a Chinese official.