"Both our nations are and will remain Pacific powers - great powers - and in order to deepen mutual understanding, we cannot shy away from addressing difficult issues."

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in a speech at China's National Defense University on Tuesday in Beijing.

"It is a simple choice: the public's health or the beautiful packaging."

Wang Ke'an, director of the ThinkTank Research Center for Health Development, after a World Health Organization report said the health warnings on cigarette packages in China have failed to raise public awareness of the dangers of smoking.

Former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr defending his new book, in which he savages his colleagues.

(China Daily 04/13/2014 page1)