GAS FIRE Firefighters try to contain a huge fire that engulfed a Sichuan Province gas well on May 20. A gas well blowout occurred at 7 p.m. on May 19, triggering a fire that climbed 10 meters into the air (HUANG JIANPEI)

New Flu Case

Beijing confirmed its second A/H1N1 influenza case, the fifth on China's mainland, the capital's municipal health bureau said on May 20.

The patient is a 21-year-old Chinese-Canadian who studied at a college in Toronto, according to a health bureau spokesperson. The man arrived in Beijing on the afternoon of May 16 aboard an Air Canada flight from Toronto.

His parents picked him up from the airport and he remained at home most of the time, a health bureau official said.

The patient developed a fever and a cough on the morning of May 19 and went to a hospital later that day. He tested positive for A/H1N1 flu on May 20.

China has reported four previous cases on the mainland—in Sichuan, Shandong, Beijing and Guangdong. The first two patients had already been discharged by May 19.

Warming Relations

Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou says improving mainland-Taiwan relations and building a cross-Straits peace will be a priority for the island in the next few years.

Ma made the remark at a May 19 press conference to mark a year in office in Taipei.

He said Taiwan lost eight years when cross-Straits relations could have been developed during ex-leader Chen Shui-bian's administration. The delay motivated his decision to put relations back on the right track during his first year in office, Ma said.

Ma welcomed Beijing's new policy of encouraging enterprises to invest in the island, saying Taiwan is happy to see all policies that benefit cross-Straits economic and trade development.

Deadly Collapse

The rescue operation triggered by a May 17 viaduct collapse in central China's Hunan Province has been called off after all missing bodies were recovered. Nine people died and 16 others were injured, emergency response officials said at a May 18 press conference.

About 200 meters of the viaduct, which had been supported by eight pillars, collapsed at 4:24 p.m. in downtown Zhuzhou, destroying 24 vehicles that were passing beneath it.

The city government closed the viaduct, which had been in operation since 1995, on May 5 for a planned May 20 demolition. Authorities conducted a trial explosion on May 15 that destroyed a bridge spanning two pillars.

Major Pipeline

Construction on the Chinese section of a China-Russia oil pipeline began May 18 at Xing'an Township, in the border county of Mohe, northeastern Heilongjiang Province.

Vice Premier Wang Qishan attended the ceremony marking the start of the project.

Construction of the Russian section of the pipeline started on April 27. Officials expect the pipeline to begin operating by the end of 2010.

The 1,030-km-long pipeline runs from Skovorodino, Russia, to the northeastern Chinese city of Daqing via Mohe County.

It is expected to transport 15 million tons of crude oil annually from Russia to China between 2011 and 2030. China produced 189 million tons of crude oil in 2008, according to the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association.

Wang said the pipeline project is a major part of the portfolio of cooperation agreements on long-term crude oil trade between the two countries.

GARDEN IN MUSEUM On the eve of the May 18 International Museum Day, tourists and Suzhou residents visited the new Suzhou Garden Museum exhibition hall to learn the history of the city's famous gardens HANG XINGWEI 

FLOOD SEASON Flood water runs through farmland near Chenzhou City, south China's Hunan Province, on May 20. Heavy rains swept across south China on May 19 LI XIWAN

DEADLY NARCOTIC Police in Jingdezhen, central Jiangxi Province, crack a drug ring. They arrested 18 suspects and seized more than 6,000 metham- phetamine pills SHI WEIMING