New TV Chief Named

Jiao Li, former Vice Minister of the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), has been named president of China Central Television (CCTV), the country's national TV broadcaster, replacing 61-year-old Zhao Huayong, who had been in the position for 10 years.
The 54-year-old Jiao was previously head of the Publicity Committee of the Party's Liaoning Provincial Committee in 2001-08. He was promoted to Vice Minister of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee last October.
Badminton Coach of Champions

Li Yongbo, head coach of China's national badminton team, has drawn another step closer to his ambitious goal to train 100 world champions before his retirement.
This is after the Chinese badminton players won their seventh Sudirman Cup, trophy of the world mixed team championships, on May 17.
Li, 47, a veteran badminton player, retired in 1992 after winning an inaugural Olympic bronze medal in men's doubles in Barcelona with his partner Tian Bingyi. A year later, he took over the reins of the national squad. A stern disciplinarian, Li succeeded in bringing the team back to the world medals podium as they resurged from a slump in the early 1990s.
Under Li's strong leadership, the team has dominated almost all major world competitions in the sport in recent years. More than 60 of his players have won world titles since 1995.
Broker's Bribes Exposed

Xiao Shiqing, former President of China Galaxy Securities Co. Ltd., the country's largest securities firm in terms of brokerage business, has been arrested for bribery, said company sources.
A report in Beijing-based Caijing magazine linked Xiao's arrest to his role in corruption cases involving Wang Yi, former Vice Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) and Vice President of the China Development Bank.
From 1995 to 1999, Xiao, 45, was deputy head of CSRC department that supervised listed companies, which was overseen by Wang at that time.
In January, Wang was arrested on graft charges, reportedly confessing to accepting bribes worth more than 10 million yuan ($1.43 million).
"It is impossible for a couple of countries or a group of big powers to resolve all global issues."
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, rejecting the view that China and the United States—or the so-called Group of Two (G2)—will monopolize world affairs in the future when speaking to reporters after the 11th China-EU Summit in Prague, the Czech Republic, on May 20
"They (elected female parliament members) made it without organized political parties supporting them or a quota system. This is a huge leap forward for Kuwait's democracy."
Sami Al-Nisf, a newspaper columnist in Kuwait, hailing female candidates' history-making win in the Islamic emirate's parliamentary election on May 16
"Westminster cannot operate like some gentlemen's club where members make up the rules and operate them among themselves."
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, at his monthly press conference in London on May 19, after the speaker of the House of Commons resigned over an MPs' expenses scandal, which has plunged Britain into its worst political crisis in years
"We are a government that defeated terrorism at a time when others told us that it was not possible."
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse, declaring victory against Tamil Tiger rebels on May 19 after his troops successfully ended a three-year bitterly fought military campaign against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
"I believe it's extremely important that we should not rely and be dependent on the (U.S.) dollar only to make our financial transactions...China has its own currency; Brazil has its own currency. We will regulate this new trade practice."
Visiting Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, suggesting that China and Brazil ditch the U.S. dollar in their bilateral trading and replace it with their own currencies in his meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao on May 19 |