STRAINED RELATIONS: China's foreign minister summoned the US ambassador to protest the presentation of the Congressional Gold Medal to the Tibetan spiritual leader
China demanded yesterday that the US correct "its erroneous act" of honoring the Dalai Lama, saying the move seriously undermined relations between the countries.

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By Loa Iok-sin
Tibetans in Taiwan held a celebration yesterday in Taipei as the Dalai Lama was awarded the US Congressional Gold Medal of Honor.

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DEFIANT: Turkish Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin rebuffed comments by the US president, saying Turkey was independent and would make its own decisions
The Turkish justice minister insisted yesterday on Turkey's right to stage a possible attack against Kurdish rebel hideouts across the border in Iraq, rebuffing US calls for restraint.

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Pan-blue lawmakers on Wednesday voted to slash the budget for the production of the Hsiung Feng II-E, a locally developed cruise missile system, effectively freezing the program that had aimed to begin mass production next year.

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Taiwan may be forced to drop director Ang Lee's (李安) new spy thriller Lust, Caution as its best foreign film Oscar entry because some key crew members were not locals.

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Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto made a dramatic return to Pakistan yesterday, greeting tens of thousands of cheering supporters amid massive security and launching what she hopes will be a stunning political comeback after eight years of exile.

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