World : China
AP - Blind activist lawyer Chen Guangcheng returned home Thursday after a four-year prison stint to find that very little had changed — he was cut off from communication, monitored by security agents, his family still harassed and intimidated.
Reuters - Myanmar's reclusive leader on Thursday reassured Beijing that China is a vital ally and said an upcoming election and planned power transfer to a civilian government would not affect relations.
Reuters - China warned Japan on Thursday that ties would suffer if Tokyo mishandles a dispute over a Chinese boat seized in disputed seas, intensifying a territorial rift that could deepen discord between Asia's top two economies.
AP - Japan will damage its relations with China if it decides to prosecute the captain of a Chinese fishing boat that collided with Japanese patrol vessels near disputed islands, Beijing warned Thursday.
AFP - Blind activist Chen Guangcheng, who gained worldwide fame for exposing abuses in China's "one child" population policy, was freed Thursday after four years in prison, according to rights groups.
AFP - Japan's Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said Thursday the government was closely monitoring China's ramped-up buying of Japanese government debt and would check with Beijing on its motives.
