Our editors will be looking ahead today to these developing stories ...
Dalai Lama visit triggers Chinese boycott threat
Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama delivers the first speech of his eight-day tour of Britain at the Yorkshire International Business Convention, Leeds. However, British media report that his visit to the city has triggered a warning from China that it will pull its athletes out of their Leeds Olympic training camp. According to the BBC: 'Leeds is due to host China's pre-Olympic Games training centre, with about 220 athletes, coaches and support staff based in the city from early next month. Leeds City Council said the hosting deal was worth GBP250,000 (HK$3 million).' The Dalai Lama is also expected to meet British leaders over the coming week but despite making clear its unhappiness about this, China will not be boycotting the London 2012 Olympics, it says. 'Politics and sports should be separated,' Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told a news briefing in Beijing on Wednesday.
'DPP welcome' at Fujian cross-strait forum
The fourth Straits Forum, an annual platform for exchanges between non-governmental delegations from the mainland and Taiwan, opens in Fujian province. Xinhua quoted a spokesman for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office as saying all people from Taiwan would be welcome to attend, including members of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, which calls for Taiwan's independence. 'The party has become increasingly marginalised in cross-strait communications for its repeated attempts to turn down normal mainland-Taiwan contacts,' Xinhua reported.
'Manhunter' Jerome Lau faces sentencing