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China may conduct

another N-test

TOKYO: China might conduct another nuclear test sometime between August 10 and 20, the Japanese newspaper Mainichi reported on Sunday quoting diplomatic sources here.

The possibility was described by the sources as "high" while a Japanese government official said such a test was "very likely," the newspaper said.

China conducted an underground nuclear test in May. France's decision to resume its own nuclear testing has been met by international outcry.

VISIT DISALLOWED

TAIPEI: China will not allow a senior Taiwanese official to visit in its latest retaliation for Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui's landmark private visit to the United States in June, an official said on Sunday.

"The mainland side said cross-strait relations remain at low levels," Shih Chih-ping, Deputy Secretary-General of Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), said on state television.

Shih was scheduled to attend an economic and trade seminar that was to have started on Friday, but was rejected by the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), SEF's Chinese counterpart.

"Currently, cross-strait relations are not normal, and this needs more contract, more communication and more talks between the two sides," Shih said.-AFP/Reuter