Chinese students have questioned the British Prime Minister Tony Blair over the case for war against Iraq and a domestic political crisis that has overshadowed his Far East tour.
In a tough question-and-answer session lasting nearly an hour, Mr Blair was asked to justify the war and about the suicide of Dr David Kelly, a British scientist at the centre of a bitter row over Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction.
Mr Blair defended his decision to go to war against Iraq and said he had no regrets. He said he had no doubt Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction - the primary Anglo-American motive for war.
"What you have got to do as a political leader in ademocracy is you have got to say this is where I stand, that is what I believe," Mr Blair told the students at Beijing's elite Tsinghua University.
"If you believe that, you can vote for me; if you don'tbelieve it, you don't have to vote for me," he said.
China opposed the war on Iraq, a position reflected in the the line of questioning from the students, who asked how sure he could be there were weapons of mass destruction and objected to the notion of another country invading another state to liberate its people.
Journalism student Lu Yanan, 21, asked how Blair felt when he first heard of Dr Kelly's death last week and how the prime minister planned to weather the political crisis.
"He expressed his sorrow, but I don't think he answered me directly and clearly," she said later. "He answered it like a disguise, I think".
There were light moments, however, including a song from Cherie Blair, and many students praised him as eloquent and persuasive.