Now it's time for a review of China's top 10 news stories in 2002. We saw events as prominent as the changing of the country's party leadership, and as catastrophic as air crashes that brought grief and sorrow to hundreds of families. In all, the progress made in every aspect of the society has made 2002 another year for the Chinese people to celebrate.
China unveils new leadership lineup
Waving to the press, the newly elected members of the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee walked into the hall, making their group debut. The new leadership was elected on November 15 at the first plenum of the 16th CPC Central Committee, to comprise the Party's top decision－making body.
With the exception of Hu Jintao, the newly elected CPC General Secretary, the other eight are all new faces on the Standing Committee. Their average age is 61.4 years old, four years younger than that of the previous leadership elected five years ago.
This leadership change was made after the successful conclusion of the 16th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, during which Party delegates elected a new Party Central Committee. More than half of the committee members are new faces. And more than 20 percent of them are under the age of 50.
The Party delegates unanimously passed the report of the 15th CPC Central Committee. The report set the building of a comprehensively well－off society in China as a clearly defined goal for the Party.
Delegates also enshrined the important thought of Three Represents into the Party Constitution.
It was decided at the Congress that the country should firmly encourage and support the non－public sector of the economy, instead of setting the public sector and the non－public sector against each other. And the Congress put its words into practice for the first time in the history of the CPC's National Congress that private businesspeople participated as delegates.
Sino－US relations on healthier path
 The third handshake in just over a year, another step in healthier Sino－US ties. On October 22, Chinese President Jiang Zemin paid a working visit to the US as the guest of his US counterpart George W. Bush.
At their closed－door meeting, the two leaders said it is very important to maintain top－level strategic dialogues and contacts between the two countries, and agreed to enhance such contacts. They also decided to resume military exchanges, paving the way for the frequent visits to China and the US later in the year.
The Texas presidential ranch talks showed that the relations between Beijing and Washington were on a positive path, after the rocky period brought by the mid－air collision of an encroaching US spy plane with a Chinese fighter last April.
The ties between the two countries have improved since Beijing strongly backed Washington's war on terror after the September 11 terror attacks. The fact that President Bush took time out from commanding this war to travel to China in February 2002 was an important sign.
In 2002, China and the US, two big countries, have begun a new stage of developing constructive cooperative relations in the new century.
Condemnation on Chen Shui－bian's separatist remarks
People across the Taiwan Straits were shocked by the current Taiwan region's leader Chen Shui－bian's separatist remarks in which he stated "each side of the Taiwan Straits is a country."
Chen Shui－bian made the separatist remarks on August 3 during a speech to an overseas Taiwan compatriots association in Tokyo. In his speech, he even proposed a referendum on an appropriate occasion to decide the destiny of Taiwan, and said Taiwan would, in his words, "walk down its own road."
The speech was condemned as a challenge against all Chinese people, including Taiwan compatriots, and in defiance of the internationally acknowledged one－China principle. It was believed to have a negative influence on the cross－Straits relations and to affect peace and stability in the Asia－Pacific region.
People from the Chinese mainland, along with compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions have voiced support for the principle that both the mainland and Taiwan are parts of China, and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China cannot be separated.
Banned Falun Gong cult disrupts transmission of China's TV service
Between June 23 and 30, the banned Falun Gong cult launched radio signals to jam the transmission of China's Sinosat Satellite. As a result, nine channels of China's Central Television and 10 provincial television stations were seriously affected. The satellite hijacking cut off television entirely for viewers in some rural areas.
Similar satellite break－ins happened twice in September.
After detailed investigations, the illegal signals were found to be originated from the city of Taipei on Taiwan Island. China has delivered one of its strongest warnings to the cult, and demanded the Taiwan authority take immediate and effective action to stop it happening.
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