ANALYSIS: China focus scoops prizes - China was the subject that excited this year's SOPA judges, reports Alfred Hille

<p>The focus on China continued to be a major theme among print titles </p><p>at this year's Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) awards for editorial </p><p>excellence. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>It's not surprising given that Beijing is trying to improve its human </p><p>rights record, ostensibly at least, as it moves to join the World Trade </p><p>Organisation. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>SOPA awards judges rewarded publications, including The Asian Wall </p><p>Street Journal and BusinessWeek, for their focus on mainland </p><p>stories. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Business stories also took home prizes, notably the AWSJ's "The Battle </p><p>for Cable & Wireless HKT", which examined the takeover of the Hong Kong </p><p>telecom giant by Richard Li's Pacific Century CyberWorks early last </p><p>year. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Similarly, tales of journeys off the beaten track also found favour </p><p>among the judges, with Time Asia and Silkroad emerging as winners. Time </p><p>Asia scored two other major wins with the Young Journalist Award and the </p><p>Best Editorial Team title. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Newsweek was an Honourable Mention winner in the two categories as </p><p>well. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, the biggest prizes of the night went to BusinessWeek, AWSJ, </p><p>Reader's Digest and Ming Pao Newspapers. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Now in its third year, the 2001 SOPA Awards received a record 193 </p><p>submissions from across Asia, including Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, </p><p>the Philippines, Australia and the US. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>SOPA EDITORIAL EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNERS </p><p>CATEGORY COMPANY </p><p>Excellence in magazine (Chinese) Reader's Digest </p><p>Excellence in magazine (English) BusinessWeek </p><p>Excellence in newspaper (Chinese) Ming Pao Newspapers </p><p>Excellence in newspaper (English) Asian Wall Street Journal </p><p>Excellence in reporting Asian Wall Street Journal </p><p>Excellence in feature writing Action Asia Magazine </p><p>Excellence in business reporting Asian Wall Street Journal </p><p>Excellence in technology coverage CFO Asia </p><p>Excellence in design Elle Taiwan </p><p>Best news photo Time Asia </p><p>Best feature photo Silkroad </p><p>Best interactive publication Asian Wall Street Journal </p><p>Young journalist award Time Asia </p><p>Best trade media Finance Asia </p><p>Best front cover Time Asia </p><p>Best opinion piece Asian Wall Street Journal </p><p>Best editorial team Time Asia </p><p><BR><BR> </p>