Voice from Doha

Al Jazeera: China defends currency policy 14/03

China's prime minister has rejected foreign calls for allowing the yuan to appreciate and blamed the US for strained ties between Washington and Beijing.

Those pushing for a re-valuation of the yuan highlight the fact that a stronger currency could help Beijing achieve its goal of making the economy more self-sustaining by boosting consumer buying power and reducing reliance on exports and investment.

Currency policy has been a sticking point between China and the US for years, with many US legislators complaining that China's currency is undervalued by as much as 40 per cent.

Other disputes between the two powers include Chinese internet controls, new US weapons sales to Taiwan and a meeting between the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader, and Barack Obama, the US president.

Asked about these tensions between China and the US, Wen said: "The responsibility for the serious disruption in US-China ties does not lie with the Chinese side but with the US."

While Wen's news conference was dominated by economic issues, in its parliament session China's ruling Communist Party has focused on plans to raise welfare spending for farmers and China's poor.

Al Jazeera: China backlash at US rights report 12/03

China has hit back at the US over human rights, telling Washington to get its own house in order before criticising others and blaming US policy for the global financial crisis.

The angry comments - the latest in a series of terse exchanges between Washington and Beijing - follow the release of a US State Department report condemning what Washington says is a worsening of China's human rights record.

In what has become an annual tit-for-tat exchange, China published its own report on Friday accusing the US of using human rights as a political tool to interfere in other countries' political affairs.

Al Jazeera: China hits back at Dalai Lama 11/03

China has reacted angrily to a speech by the Dalai Lama who accused authorities of trying to "annihilate Buddhism" and expressed sympathy for Uighur protesters in China's western region of Xinjiang.

The speech was quickly condemned by Chinese state media with a commentary by the state-run Xinhua news agency describing the Dalai Lama's remarks as "resentful" and full of "angry rhetoric".

"Regardless of his allegations of not separating China, the Dalai Lama's request for 'genuine autonomy' on one quarter of the Chinese territory is anything but acceptable for the central government," the commentary said, referring to Tibet.

Chinese officials were also angered by the Dalai Lama's expression of sympathy towards ethnic Uighurs living in China's western region of Xinjiang.

Al Jazeera: China: US should act to mend ties 08/03

China has said that it is up to the US to mend diplomatic ties strained over Washington's sale of arms to Taiwan and a recent meeting between President Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama.

Yang Jiechi, China's foreign minister, said on Sunday that the arms sale and the meeting had undermined China's interests.

Yang did not indicate if a recent visit by James Steinberg, the deputy secretary of state, and Jaffrey Bader, a senior White House Asia adviser, had helped put relations back on track.

Other irritants include Google's contention that its email accounts were hacked from China.