Germany

www.spiegel.de — Half-timbered buildings and medieval romance -- that's what the Chinese wanted. But the architecture firm Speer thought it knew better, and built a modern German residential quarter on the outskirts of Shanghai. Now that it is complete, though, nobody wants to live there. Even Oktoberfest was cancelled.

www.bbc.co.uk — "We asked them to manufacture it. They did that, but after half a year very proudly they came back to us and showed us their own product, which they intended to sell in Germany.

www.chinaeconomicreview.com — Malcolm Moore discusses a recent economic study that quantifies the damage done to a nation if it "hurts the Chinese people's feelings," according to the report, a country's exports to China may fall as much as 12.8% if they host the Dalai Lama

www.spiegel.de — China is seeking to engage with the West, but on its own terms. German companies are beginning to feel the effects of this policy. For instance, they note with concern that there is a growing tendency among the Chinese to blatantly demand the divulgence of industrial know-how in return for the right to do business in China.

washingtontimes.com — What if we get the regime change we've always wanted? Last week, German president Horst Kohler warned South Korea to prepare to reunify with North Korea sooner than is commonly expected. The German president's ad- -vice is a warning, drawn from the experience of integrating East Germany with West Germany at the end of the Cold War.