Zhu Weiqun, chief representative of China's Central Government for talks with the Dalai Lama's private envoys, talked about the contact between the two sides at an unusual press conference in Beijing on November 10.

The media briefing, the ever first of its kind after the communication channel was launched, was given after this year's third round of talks between the representatives in early November.

Zhu, executive Vice Minister of the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, was quoted by Xinhua News Agency as saying that differences remained serious in recent "frank and sincere" talks between the two sides.

The official accused the Dalai Lama of breaching his earlier promises to stop supporting "Tibet independence" activities, which he said had hindered the dialogue from progressing. According to Zhu, the Dalai Lama's call for "a Greater Tibetan-inhabited Area" and "high degree of autonomy" in a recent memorandum to the Central Government is exactly the same as "half independence" and "independence in a disguised form," which are inconsistent with China's Constitution.

The 61-year-old Zhu, a journalist-turned-official, was appointed as vice minister of the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in 1998. He participated in eight of the nine rounds of talks between the Central Government and the Dalai Lama's envoys except for the first one in 2002.

Liu Xiangdong, Director of the Environmental Protection Bureau of north China's Shanxi Province, was recently awarded a gold medal by the Paris-based Global League of Public Welfare Charity for his crucial role in the province's anti-pollution efforts.

"His (Liu's) environmental awareness and efficiency have won the unconditional support from the government and ensured that the national policy of environmental protection can be implemented in real earnest," the league said in its award citation, which describes Liu as a "pioneer of China's environmental protection."

Due to the fast development of coke and some polluting chemical industries, the coal-rich Shanxi became China's worst polluted region at the turn of the 21st century.

Since he became Shanxi's top environment official in 2006, Liu has initiated a number of pollution control programs, including the establishment of the country's first province-wide air quality automatic monitoring network. In 2007, the list of China's top 5 worst polluted cities, for the first time, saw no entrants from Shanxi.

The Global League of Public Welfare Charity, founded in 1464, is a nongovernmental organization for promoting global progress in the fields of humanitarianism, knowledge and science. Recipients of its gold medal, the highest award of the league, include John. F. Kennedy and Winston Churchill. Liu is the first Chinese to earn the honor.

Former Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian was formally detained on November 11 for alleged involvement in overseas money laundering and graft. Taipei District Court made the decision after a court hearing.

Taiwan's Central News Agency quoted prosecutors in charge of the investigation as saying that it is necessary to take Chen into custody while they continue their probe because the crimes Chen is suspected of committing are felonies, and he might tamper with evidence.