Going against the "commander" and "chief", a federal judge has ordered the release of 17 Chinese Uighurs from the Guantanamo detention centre in Cuba - where they've been held for seven years.

China on Saturday denounced the U.S. government's decision to sell arms worth of about 6.5 billion U.S. dollars to Taiwan. Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said the Chinese government and people firmly opposed this action which seriously damaged China's interests and the Sino-U.S. relations.

China kicked off its National Day celebrations Monday by highlighting its hosting of the Beijing Olympics and the country's first spacewalk, two hard-won successes in a tumultuous year marked by natural disasters, ethnic unrest and another food safety scandal.

A powerful typhoon headed toward the eastern Chinese coast on Monday forcing over 200,000 people to seek higher ground, state media said, after it battered Taiwan over the weekend.

TALK ABOUT FOREPLAY! A news story describing a successful launch of China's long-awaited space mission and including detailed dialogue between astronauts launched on the Internet Thursday, hours before the rocket had even left the ground.