Mainland China

A mother has just welcomed her new born son into the world yet already her baby boy is setting records.

The 15.5-pound baby was born in the city of Xinxiang which is in China's Henan Province. The newborn has set the record for the heaviest baby born in China.

The baby named, Chun Chun, was delivered from a caesarean section which hospital officials said lasted about 20 minutes on Saturday. more >>

Although the year 2011 saw the greatest number of violations of human rights in China since the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, watch dog organizations have no good news for the New Year, as some groups insist 2012 may be even worse.

On Jan. 1, more than 10 policemen led by the vice head of the local Public Security Bureau stormed into the home of Lou Yuanqi, one of the house church leaders in Huocheng County in Xinjiang (north-western China), according to information provided by Human Rights in China (HRIC), one of several human rights organizations monitoring persecution of Chinese citizens, including religious minorities.

No great damage was done and the church leader and his wife, present during the raid, are now fine. However, the incident was clearly meant to intimidate Lou as the leader of a house church – an institution detested by the Chinese communist government, according to reports from HRIC.  more >>

Ethnic and religious minorities in China are facing the worst climate for human rights since 1989, the year of the Tiananmen Square massacre, experts say.

One year after Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, ethnic and religious minorities, as well as activists and their lawyers, are suffering from an escalating government crackdown. One reason analysts see for this situation is the influence of unrest from the Arab Spring protests that erupted in Northern Africa in winter of 2010 and spread throughout countries in the region and through the Middle East.

At the time, some observers suspected the revolution might spread to China, but the country's Communist government took precautions, such as tightening security, to ensure that no uprisings occurred. more >>

The People’s Republic of China is battling a culture war with the Western world, according to Chinese President Hu Jintao in a recently published essay.

The essay can be found in the Communist Party magazine, Seeking Truth, founded decades ago by China’s most prominent Communist revolutionary Mao Zedong.

“We must clearly see that international hostile forces are intensifying the strategic plot of westernizing and dividing China, and ideological and cultural fields are the focal areas of their long-term infiltration,” the Chinese president said, according to a translation by The Associated Press. more >>

Authorities in China again thwarted efforts by Shouwang Church to lease a worship facility at the year’s end, and the Beijing congregation again met outdoors on Sunday (Jan. 1) – resulting in the arrest of 48 members, sources said.

“The church tried three times to rent three different venues, but it was all to no avail because of the authorities’ intervention,” a source close to the church told Compass. “On Dec. 17, Shouwang signed a rental contract with a landlord for its new indoor worship venue. Two days later, the church’s books and some other belongings were moved into the new rented space.”

In the days that followed, however, the landlord terminated the contract due to pressure from “the local police station, the housing management office and leaders of various government agencies,” church leaders announced to members on Dec. 23. more >>

On Christmas Day, police across China tear gassed and beat down Christians for worshipping at "unofficial" Christmas services, according to an American aid group in the region.

“[On Christmas] morning at about 8.00 a.m. our church was holding a Christmas activity on Binjiang Road in Langzhong city,” Li Ming, said in an interview with RFA on Monday.

“There were around 20-30 police officers, and they used tear-gas canisters,” he said. “My eyes were so swollen I couldn’t see at all.” more >>