Promising Skater

(XINHUA)

Liang Wenhao became the first Chinese short track speed skater to win a world title in seven years when he clinched the gold medal in the 500-meter race in 41.383 seconds at the Short Track Speed Skating World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, on March 20.

Liang, 17, entered the Chinese national team in May 2009. He made his debut in international competition last September. At this year's Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada, in February, he finished sixth in the 1,500-meter event and 10th in the 1,000 meters, but was disqualified in the 500 meters.

Liang is the third Chinese male world champion skater.

Outgoing International Judge

(FILE)

Chinese judge Shi Jiuyong resigned from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and the resignation will take effect from May 28. The UN Security Council decided on March 18 that an election to fill the vacancy on the ICJ would take place on June 29.

The ICJ, located in The Hague, the Netherlands, is the principal judicial organ of the UN.

Shi, 84, was elected to the ICJ in February 1994 and was reelected in February 2003. He was the first Chinese judge to serve as president of the ICJ, holding the post between February 2003 and February 2006.

With a Master's degree in international law from Columbia University in 1951, Shi had researched and taught international law at several institutes and universities in Beijing since 1956. He was also a legal advisor to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs between 1980 and 1993.

Since the 1980s, Shi had been part of Chinese delegations participating in various international meetings and negotiations, including negotiations between the Chinese and British governments on Hong Kong. Shi was a member and chairman of the International Law Commission in 1990.

Corrupt Official

(FILE)

Guo Jingyi, the highest-ranking former official with China's Ministry of Commerce to be prosecuted, stood trial in the Beijing No.2 Intermediate People's Court on March 18.

Prosecutors accused Guo, 44, of accepting bribes worth 8.44 million yuan ($1.24 million) from businesspeople between 2002 and 2007 in return for helping with illegal deals. Several former senior officials with the Ministry of Commerce, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange were also found involved in Guo's case.

Guo entered the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, predecessor of the Ministry of Commerce, in 1986 when he graduated from the Law School of Peking University. In 2002, he was appointed deputy head of the ministry's Treaty and Law Department. The ministry was renamed in 2003.

Guo was detained by the police in October 2008, when he was serving as a senior inspector at the department.

"The Chinese Government will create opportunities for you, and ask you not to lose the opportunities."

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, telling overseas participants to the China Development Forum 2010 that China was willing to enhance cooperation with hi-tech enterprises from all over the world

"The pullout is the price to pay for Google's move of politicizing commercial issues."

Li Zhi, a senior analyst with Analysys International, a leading Chinese Internet consulting company, on Google's withdrawal from the Chinese mainland

"I believe the currency adjustment that is being suggested by the West is the wrong way to go."

Stephen Roach, Morgan Stanley Asia Chairman, warning that a sharp upward revaluation of the renminbi (yuan) would end up as a "lose-lose situation" for both the United States and China

"If the world is to thrive, let alone to survive on a planet of 6 billion people heading to over 9 billion by 2050, we need to get collectively smarter and more intelligent about how we manage waste, including wastewater."

Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the UN Environment Program. The UN said in a report on March 22 that more people die from polluted water every year than from all forms of violence. An estimated 2 billion tons of wastewater is discharged daily worldwide

"Maybe the end of the war would be the date that would be burned in our minds more."

Lauren Lewis, a resident in Raleigh, North Carolina, talking on March 20, which marked the seventh anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq

"When people have problems, they don't go to the government. They don't go to the police. They go to the Taliban, and the Taliban decides. There are no files and no paperwork."

Moeen Marastial, a member of parliament in the Kunduz Province, telling a reporter about the resurgence of the Taliban in north Afghanistan