The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Beijing - China would not be swayed by the threat of an Olympic boycott or condemnation from the international community if it decided to attack Taiwan, a Chinese general said in comments published as Premier Wen Jiabao prepares to visit Washington. The comments add the military's voice to increasingly aggressive Chinese warnings over what Beijing says is a push by Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian to declare formal independence - a step that the communist government says would lead to war. Some suggest the threat of boycotts to the 2008 Beijing Olympics might serve as extra deterrent. Moscow - Russians vote Sunday in elections that are widely viewed as a referendum on the Kremlin's authoritarian drift and a curtain raiser for presidential polls next March. Election observers allege the campaign has been distorted by massive deployment of "administrative resources" - including the state's near total control over the media - to produce a favourable result for the pro-Kremlin United Russia Party. Washington - Facing the threat of a trade war, U.S. President George W. Bush on Thursday lifted 20-month-old tariffs on overseas steel - a move that will hurt steelmakers in states critical in next year's election. The tariffs, covering a wide range of steel products, were originally scheduled to remain in effect until 2005.
