It took a decade, but this April, the International Olympic Committee disqualified China's team (third place that year) for violating competition age requirements. And yesterday, the U.S. team was awarded their "exact replicas" of the Sydney medals at a ceremony in Connecticut. The Chinese team has returned theirs. "This is a huge statement by the IOC and international gymnastics federation that fair play is important," said Steve Penny, the president of USA Gymnastics. more ›

• Exec: China's anniversary film set to break record [Associated Press] "China's star-studded propaganda blockbuster that marks 60 years of communist rule is on track to match the country's box office record set by the Hollywood film "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" in July, a senior movie executive said Monday. "The Founding of a Republic" has so far made nearly 330 million yuan ($48 million) as of Sunday since it was released on Sept. 16, China Film Group Corp. Assistant President Zhao Haicheng told The Associated Press."
• Can China Lead a Recovery? [Washington Post] "Chen Zizheng wheeled his shopping cart down one of the aisles at the Carrefour store near his house and paused in front of the bottles of Remy Martin, Johnnie Walker and Hennessy, each selling for an amount about equal to the annual salary he earned when he was a young government employee. But those days were about 30 years ago, around the time Deng Xiaoping launched China on a path of economic reform and opening up. Now China's thriving economy has made it possible for people like Chen, a 67-year-old semi-retired aerospace industry official, to plop down 1,168 yuan, or $170, for a bottle of liquor at a branch of a French "hypermarket" chain."
• Kim Jong Il Hosts Dinner for Wen Jiabao [KCNA] "General Secretary Kim Jong Il hosted a dinner in honor of Wen Jiabao, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, on an official goodwill visit to the DPRK at the Paekhwawon State Guest House in the evening of Monday."