Today's Links: Richard Gere, Liu Xiang and Wu Yi

• China to report military data to UN [Al Jazeera] China says it will provide the United Nations with information on its military spending and arms deals for the first time in more than a decade.
• Beijing launches food safety crackdown [Washington Post] Beijing is targeting unlicensed restaurants and checking the quality of many foods in a crackdown on unsafe products less than a year before the city welcomes hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Summer Olympics.

• Richard Gere for boycott of Beijing Olympics [Gulf Daily] Actor Richard Gere chases a fugitive Bosnian war criminal in his latest movie role, but in real life the devout Buddhist is pursuing China on human rights abuses and says a boycott of the Beijing Olympics could help.
• China's influence now extends from Australia to Africa [The Canadian Press] When 1.3 billion people want something, the world feels it. And when those people in ever-increasing numbers are joining a swelling middle class eager for a richer lifestyle, the world feels it even more.
• In spite of all danger [Guardian Unlimited] As rescue hopes fade for 181 Chinese miners trapped underground by flooding, Jonathan Watts visits a pit near Yongchang to meet those risking their lives in the world's deadliest coal industry.
• China achieves best ever results at world athletics champsionships [Xinhua] With one gold, one silver and one bronze, China achieved its best results since 1993 at the world athletics championships, and Liu Xiang became the first man from China to win a gold at the world championships with a 110 meters hurdles victory.
• Wu Yi second most powerful woman in the world [China Daily] Forbes' magazine's annual list has placed vice-premier Wu Yi as the second most powerful woman in the world today, sandwiched between Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and Ho Ching of Singapore.

Photo of Liu Xiang in a Coca Cola ad from spicedfish.