Jun

7 The Second Summit Meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is held in St. Petersburg, Russia. Presidents of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan sign three documents at the meeting, including the Charter of the SCO, an agreement on an anti-terrorist agency in the region, and the declaration of presidents of the SCO members.

24 Li Bingcai, Managing Deputy Director of the Taiwan Work Office of the CPC Central Committee, says that nongovernmental organizations across the Taiwan Strait may be first commissioned to negotiate the three direct links of mail, trade, and air and shipping services between the two sides. Deals resulting from these negotiations would then be implemented after confirmation by authorities on both sides, says Li, who is also executive vice president of the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait. This is the first time that the Chinese mainland has announced concrete propositions on a nongovernmental approach to the "three direct links" issue.

27 Chinese Center Yao Ming is picked up by the Houston Rockets of the U.S. National Basketball Association (NBA) in the draft in New York, becoming the first international player to be honored as the first draft of the season.