Beijing's "seventh generation" of leaders emerges onto stage

Persecution and martyrdom are signs of today's Christians. In Holy Week, we should remember our commitment to evangelization. Even as a minority.

In Lanzhou another priest forcibly taken away. A church destroyed in Xiangtao (Hubei). Underground priests do not feel safe: they can disappear at any time. The faithful are holding a sit-in from this morning in front of the local government office.

Fr. Anthony Yao Shun for Jining,; Fr. Stephen Xu Hongwei for Hanzhong,. Both had already been chosen by the Holy See years before. Both elections took place in a hotel, under the full control of the local civil authorities, with a single candidate imposed. There does not seem to be a need for the chosen ones to be presented to the pope for approval and appointment. Perhaps only for sheer formality.

Decades of tourist expeditions have turned the summit into the highest open-air dump. A series of eco-friendly bathrooms for climbers.

For Beijing, the elimination of foreign influences from religious practice in China is an urgent matter. State-controlled religious organizations are leading this ideological campaign. The reasons stem from the Party's fears of possible social unrest. Lamaist Buddhism, Christianity and Islam are under greater suspicion because of their "foreign" origins.

The fund, which now has a reserve of 4800 billion yuan, will be reduced to zero. In 2050 only one active worker will have to support a pensioner. After decades of imposition on the One Child Law, the government now supports the birth rate, but without success.

The head of the Anglican communion will go to Beijing and Shanghai and then to Hong Kong. He will meet the new leaders of the Three-Self Movement. No meeting with unofficial Protestant communities, which are the majority.

The Maldivian Democratic Party, led by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, won 65 seats out of a total of 87. The agreements signed with China are under careful scrutiny.

Rev Chu Yiu-ming is one of the founders of Hong Kong’s umbrella movement. Yesterday he read his mitigation letter, moving those present, hoping “consciences may wake up”. Two other movement co-founders, Benny Tai and Chan Kin-man, have asked that the 75-year-old pastor be spared prison.

Amnesty International reports a 31% drop in 2018 over the previous year. Last year, executioners took the lives of 690 people compared to 993 in 2017. The five major executioners are China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Iraq. In Iran, the number of executions dropped by 50 per cent.

Since yesterday evening the faithful have been holding a sit-in to protect the sanctuary, located in the district of Taibai, a very poor mountainous area. The authorities want the whole diocese to join the Patriotic Association. The faithful ask all Christians to pray for the preservation of the sanctuary and the salvation of the population.

The spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism will remain in care at the Max Super Specialty Hospital in South Delhi for a few days. His personal doctor reassures that "there is no reason to worry". Beijing has always considered him a "wolf in sheep's clothing", even though the Dalai Lama has renounced his political office.

The none include three founders of Occupy Central: the academicians Chan Kin-man and Benny Tai, and the Baptist pastor Chu Yiu-ming. Welcomed and applauded by democratic groups that exhibited yellow umbrellas. Benny Tai: "We will persist on and do not give up."

Cities are losing residents at a time when they suffer from a large number of vacant residential units and labour shortages. Getting a residency permit (hukou) is now easier. Several cities will allow migrants to settle if they are graduates or university students. By 2020, China plans to grant new residency permits to 100 million people.