In a way uncharacteristic of a Chinese diplomat, China's ambassador to the UK, Fu Ying, has openly warned that Western media's distorted coverage of China might spark a counter reaction among the country's youngsters, which will in turn harm bilateral relations. In a signed article published in the April 13 issue of Sunday Telegraph, Fu said that many [young Chinese] who had romantic views about the West are very disappointed at the media's attempt to demonize China.

"I felt so many things all at once-sadness, anger and confusion," she quoted a young friend of hers in China, who watched the torch run in London on the BBC, as saying.

Listing some of the misreporting of China in recent weeks, such as crafting photos or even using photos from other countries to prove a crackdown, Fu pointed out that in China, the view is that the Western media needs to make an effort to earn respect.

"It would be helpful to the credibility of the Western media if the issues they care and write about are of today's China, not of the long-gone past," said Fu, who was appointed Chinese ambassador to the UK in March 2007.

FAO Chief Warns of Hunger Unrest

Director General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Jacques Diouf, warned on April 14 that continuous food price hikes are likely to trigger more riots in poor countries that will undermine stability in the developing world.

Despite a predicted 2.6-percent increase in grain production, runaway food prices would force poor countries to raise imports by 56 percent, Diouf said in Kenya Times. He added, "If prices continue to rise, I would not be surprised if we began to see more food riots."

A recent report by the FAO showed that riots in some African countries, Indonesia, the Philippines and Haiti, are the result of inflation and short supply of food. A number of 37 UN member states are facing a food crisis.

Besides frequent natural disasters, a swelling world population, surging oil prices, market speculation and use of food-turned-biofuel, being major reasons to push food prices up, Diouf attributed food price hikes to tightened investments in agricultural sectors. "During 1999-2000, the world population rose by 78.5 million year on year, but financial aid was nearly halved," he said.

Actress Gets More Serious Role

Chinese movie star Gong Li has been invited by the UN Environment Program (UNEP) to be Global Environmental Ambassador, and will be officially nominated along with two other well-known celebrities on the World Environment Day, June 5.

On the poster shot for UNEP, Gong said, "In today's fast-developing world, the way we produce and consume is creating vast amounts of waste. This trend will become a serious threat to the environment if we don't stop it. In China, I have submitted a proposal on environmental protection to the public, and I call on citizens of all countries to work together with their leaders to protect the environment."