Free Republic

Hundreds of Chinese police clashed with thousands of "underground" Christians over the demolition of a church which was deemed to be an illegal structure. Up to 500 police forced back as many as 3,000 Christians who had gathered at the weekend to mount a peaceful demonstration against the state's demolition of the church in the eastern province of Zhejiang. More than 20 Christians were injured in the clashes on Saturday, while five organisers of the protest were arrested, according to the Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy. Its spokesman, Frank Liu, said that the unregistered church was...

China is preparing for nuclear war with the United States over Taiwan, and a conflict is likely in the near future because of divisions among Beijing's leaders, a Chinese democracy activist says. Wei Jingsheng, a leading international advocate for political reform in China, said in an interview with The Washington Times that President Bush and other U.S. leaders do not fully understand the chance of a conflict breaking out and must do more to avert it.