August 15, 2008

Top News
Protests and Petitions
Olympic Games: Climbers Held over Tibet Banner Protest in Beijing
The Guardian, August 15, 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/15/china.tibet

Early in the morning on August 15, two foreign activists climbed the CCTV Headquarters in Beijing and unfurled a banner reading “Free Tibet” in Chinese and English. Three additional foreign activists stood below to ensure the climbers’ safety. The five, all a part of Students for a Free Tibet, were arrested approximately 30 minutes after security officials first saw the climbers.

News
Bilateral Ties
US Officials under Fire after HK-Born Man Dies in Custody
South China Morning Post, August 15, 2008
http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2af62ecb329d3d7733492d9253a0a0a0/?vgnextoid=2281e66ec12cb110VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD

Related news:
Ill and in Pain, Detainee Dies in U.S. Hands
New York Times, August 13, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/13/nyregion/13detain.html

Death Penalty
Former Land Chief Gets Death Penalty for Bribes
Shanghai Daily, August 15, 2008
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=370430

Disasters
China Quake Work to Cost $150bn
BBC, August 14, 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7561446.stm

Land Policy
Policy Thrust on Saving Arable Land
China Daily, August 14, 2008
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2008-08/14/content_6933781.htm

Law
司法部发布修订后的《国家司法考试实施办法》 (Ministry of Justice Releases Revised "Implementation Measures for the National Judicial Examination")
Legal Daily (via Xinhuanet), August 15, 2008
http://rss.xinhuanet.com/newsc/legal/2008-08/15/content_9329272.htm

Olympics
Across China's Countryside, 'Just Too Busy' for Olympics
Washington Post, August 15, 2008
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/14/AR2008081403169.html

Beijing Hospitals Lock Psychiatric Wards
Financial Times, August 14, 2008
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/aaacd302-6a2a-11dd-83e8-0000779fd18c.html

China's Choreographed Detentions
Washington Post, August 15, 2008
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/14/AR2008081403430.html

Chinese Children in Ethnic Costume Came from Han Majority
Wall Street Journal, August 14, 2008
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121866988423738751.html

On the Defensive, China Lashes Out at Critics
Wall Street Journal, August 15, 2008
http://www.wsj.com/article/SB121868920013240079.html

Related information:
IOC: China Should Not Prevent Media from Reporting
Associated Press (via Google), August 14, 2008
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i3OMvEA_ehIHkQwvUsKHCWZ5QzIAD92I1TI80

Sixth IOC/BOCOG Press Conference
IOC/BOGOC, August 14, 2008
http://en.beijing2008.cn/live/pressconference/mpc/n214539774.shtml

Two Killed, Four Injured in Collision of Van and Olympic Bus
Xinhuanet, August 14, 2008
http://rss.xinhuanet.com/newsc/english/2008-08/14/content_9297220.htm

京訂採訪八不干預 針對境外記者 公安局修訂指引 (Beijing Police Tighten Guidelines for Non-Mainland Reporters, Set "Eight Don't Interferes")
Ming Pao, August 14, 2008
http://www.mingpaonews.com/20080814/gna1.htm

Politics
Green Axe Hangs over Local Officials
China Daily, August 15, 2008
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-08/15/content_6937169.htm

Protests and Petitions
In Beijing, Do Splashy Protests Pay Dividends?
Los Angeles Times, August 14, 2008
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-rights14-2008aug14,0,4269176.story

上海访民在北京被押回看管 (Shanghai Petitioners Escorted Home from Beijing; Petitioner Shen Peilan Remains Missing)
Radio Free Asia, August 14, 2008
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/shanghai-08142008092510.html

State-owned Enterprises
Chinese Gov't Denies Whopping Salary Rumor for SOE Heads
Xinhuanet, August 14, 2008
http://rss.xinhuanet.com/newsc/english/2008-08/14/content_9320679.htm

Taiwan
Taiwan to Accept "Unification" Pandas from China
Reuters, August 14, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSSP79047

Tibet
Hundreds Held as Tibet Exiles, Nepal Police Clash
Reuters, August 14, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSDEL29625920080814

XUAR
China Warns of "Life and Death" Battle with Terror
Reuters, August 14, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSPEK5443320080814

Related news:
Attacks Possibly Linked to Terror Groups
South China Morning Post, August 14, 2008
http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2af62ecb329d3d7733492d9253a0a0a0/?vgnextoid=942b882445fbb110VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD

Crackdown on Xinjiang Mosques, Religion
Radio Free Asia, August 14, 2008
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/directive-08142008114700.html