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The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on Thursday announced it will investigate the death of Wei Hu, a 57-year-old Chinese dissident who ostensibly committed suicide in July 2021. More than two years later, the RCMP is digging into the case because it has new evidence that the Chinese government targeted Hu for harassment, possibly driving him to suicide. The case has obvious political resonance because Canada is embroiled in a rapidly escalating diplomatic confrontation with India over the murder of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly accused the Indian government of complicity in Nijjar’s assassination...

An extraordinary thing happened in China at the final meeting of the party congress over the weekend. Hu Jintao, the previous president of China, was sitting next to President Xi Jinping when two men approached from the rear. Hu rose and appeared increasingly surprised and then alarmed. A few others sitting at the lead table also appeared openly surprised, while most seemed unconcerned or were blank-faced out of discipline. Hu was escorted behind Xi, who appeared as if nothing significant was happening. It seemed to me that Xi did finally glance at him, I think with a look of contempt,...

Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji recently cracked a joke about the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Zhu told the joke to a captive audience of Asian executives during the April Bao business conference held on Hainan Island. Zhu's remarks came during a question-and-answer session with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. According to Zhu, "Japan bought many huge buildings in New York, but luckily they didn't buy the World Trade Center. If they had bought them, now the Japanese would be sadder than the Americans." Zhu's joke was quickly followed by a long round of laughter and applause...

This past week, Chairman Hu Jintao came to Washington, DC and was given a most lavish welcome by president Obama. This excerpt from an article outlines the stark contrast between two presidential receptions: The lavish black-tie dinner at the White House on Wednesday night contrasts with George Bush’s workmanlike lunch in 2006. According to Chinese media reports at the time, Hu, saw Bush’s arrangements as insulting. Bush was unwilling to host a state dinner in part because he was conscious of US public concern over China’s human rights record. The picture below also shows the Chinese flag at the same...

Your morning fashion and beauty report: Michelle Obama's Alexander McQueen gown might not have been politically correct Oscar de la Renta is fretting over the red and black Alexander McQueen gown Michelle Obama wore to this week's state dinner for People's Republic of China President Hu Jintao. Not that the frock by McQueen creative director Sarah Burton wasn't lovely. But it should have been made by an American or Chinese designer, not a Brit, de la Renta says. Who knew fashion was so political? [WWD]

Pelosi presses Hu on commitment to human rights, climate changeThe Hill [Friday, January 21, 2011 18:07] By Mike Lillis House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday urged Chinese President Hu Jintao to bolster his commitment to human rights and climate-change prevention, the California Democrat said after a meeting with him Thursday. "I had the opportunity to relay the concerns by members of Congress on both sides of the aisle that Chinese human-rights activist Liu Xiaobo was not permitted to travel to Norway to accept the Nobel Peace Prize in December, and about the continued detention of Liu and his wife...

Chinese President Hu Jintao sought to assure U.S. business leaders on Thursday that his country is an economic partner and not a military threat to America or anyone else. But he rejected foreign interference on issues such as Tibet and Taiwan. "We will remain committed to the path of peaceful development," Hu told a U.S.-China Business Council luncheon. "We do not engage in an arms race, we are not a military threat to any country. China will never seek to dominate or pursue an expansionist policy."

Limbaugh has made a career out of offending as many people as he possibly can – but 1.35 billion people in one day could be a record............ American right-wing shock jock Rush Limbaugh is in trouble again – this time for outraging the Chinese community by mocking the speech of Hu Jintao on his talk radio show. The presenter was complaining about how Fox News had not provided an on-screen translation when the Chinese president was speaking during TV coverage of his visit to Washington. He then launched into a 16-second long impression of Hu, which consisted almost entirely of...

Obama, Hu toast 'strategic mutual trust' at state dinnerBy Christina Wilkie - 01/19/11 10:30 PM ET President Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao toasted U.S. and Chinese collaboration and mutual interests on Wednesday night at a festive state dinner for 225 guests at the White House. Their toasts marked the high point of an evening notable for its strict adherence to the protocol and symbolism valued in Chinese culture, but which, at the same time, managed to fulfill the Chinese delegation's request for a thoroughly American dinner party. Guests dined on a meal of pear salad, lobster, ribeye steak and...

WASHINGTON: The Obama White House on Wednesday rolled out the red carpet for Chinese President Hu Jintao months after the US President met Tibetan leader Dalai Lama sans fanfare and photo-ops and showed him out through a side door past garbage bags. The contrasting receptions, recalled vividly by commentators, pretty much summed up the US approach and priorities at a time when China struts the world stage like an economic colossus with military ambitions to match. It would be a stretch to say China owns the US, but it is no great secret that President Hu is being courted, coddled...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Eager to soothe tensions, President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao shared an unusual and intimate dinner Tuesday night to discuss the strains and common goals that define the complicated relations between the two rival powers.

U.S.President Barack Obama (R) welcomes Chinese President Hu Jintao during an official South Lawn arrival ceremony for Hu at the White House in Washington January 19, 2011. U.S. President Barack Obama looks on as Chinese President Hu Jintao shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (C) during an official South Lawn arrival ceremony at the White House in Washington January 19, 2011. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke (2nd L), Defense Secretary Robert Gates (3rd L), Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner (4th L) and Washington Mayor Vince Gray are also pictured.

Republican US House Speaker John Boehner has turned down a White House invitation to attend a state dinner this week in honor of Chinese President Hu Jintao, his office confirmed Tuesday. Asked why Boehner had opted to skip the glitzy and highly symbolic Wednesday event, Boehner spokesman Michael Steel replied: "Speaker Boehner will have a substantive meeting with President Hu later this week." Steel declined to elaborate, but Republicans have been critical of President Barack Obama's decision to hold a state dinner for Hu at a time when Washington has been sharply critical of Beijing's record on human rights. White...

The big message in Hu Jintao's interview with the WSJ is that China is ready for the yuan to play a larger role in the global economy. But the interview just caps what was already a big week for the Chinese currency. For example, China said for the first time that it will low foreign investors to participate in yuan-denominated private equity vehicles.

BEIJING—Chinese President Hu Jintao emphasized the need for cooperation with the U.S. in areas from new energy to space ahead of his visit to Washington this week, but he called the present U.S. dollar-dominated currency system a "product of the past" and highlighted moves to turn the yuan into a global currency. "We both stand to gain from a sound China-U.S. relationship, and lose from confrontation," Mr. Hu said in written answers to questions from The Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post. Mr. Hu acknowledged "some differences and sensitive issues between us," but his tone was generally compromising, and...

Hu’s China, Whose Army? Jan. 12 2011 - 9:34 am Maybe my question, “Is Hu Jintao really the most powerful person in the world?” was the wrong one to ask. Today, with reports that his military may have tested a new stealth fighter without his knowledge, the better question is, “How much power does Hu Jintao really have?” It is a relevant question for the U.S. to ponder, especially with Hu visiting President Obama at the White House next week, and the answer is not so straightforward. The story of China’s first test flight of its stealth fighter is a...

President Obama is planning to refocus attention on China's record of suppressing free speech and political freedom in the coming weeks, despite the risk of further destabilizing an important relationship after a contentious year. Since elevating human rights as a guiding principle of his foreign policy at the United Nations last fall, Obama has been looking for ways to engage China's leaders on the issue without undermining his efforts to enlist their help in dealing with Iran and North Korea, and in reviving the world economy. Senior administration officials say he is exploring ways to better reach Chinese citizens directly,...

At least someone's laughing at the state of our economy. On SNL this weekend, the hilarious opening skit used the G20 summit, gold, and US debt, and Glenn Beck for a laugh. Glenn Beck "doesn't know what he's talking about." China wants to buy gold, but all of its assets are tied up in US treasuries. And Obama is getting tired of Hu Jintao asking him to "do sex to him" with the lights off - not on. It's great - watch it below. Where did this all start? At the G20 summit, where Obama and Hu Jintao did not...

Recent discourse concerning the Chinese People’s Liberation Army's (PLA) modernization has principally focused on technological advances and less on the human dimension of PLA force transformation. In particular, a review of these discussions revealed the absence of a publicly available database of Chinese military leaders with the rank of full general (shangjiang). Against the backdrop of the PLA’s stated intention to reorient the armed forces as part of its modernization efforts, an analysis of promotion patterns of the 118 PLA generals (1981 - 2009) may yield important insights into the foci of PLA force transformation. PLA to Build Up Navy...

Shanghai HIV cases on the increase Cai Wenjun SHANGHAI reported 886 new HIV carriers and 392 AIDA patients, with 25 fatalities, from January to November 20 this year, the city's Health Bureau said yesterday. The release of statistics yesterday comes ahead of World AIDS Day today. Cases positive to HIV tests were 26.5 percent more than for the same period last year. People from outside Shanghai accounted for 72 percent of this year's new HIV cases, while Shanghainese covered 60.5 percent of the new AIDS patients. People younger than 45 and men covered the majority of HIV/AIDS cases registered this...