The British and United States governments are warning their citizens about possible threats against Westerners in China’s capital city.
The Beijing embassies of those two counties issued nearly identical advisories on Thursday, saying they received word that Westerners could be targeted in the city’s Sanlitun district “on or around Christmas Day.” The governments urged their citizens to be vigilant.
Sanlitun is a busy shopping and entertainment district.
Beijing police issued a yellow security alert, according to a post on one of its social media pages. The post says that more people will visit hotels, restaurants, malls and entertainment venues during the holiday season, and police will ensure that people remain secure.
China’s official Xinhua news agency reported that a yellow security alert is the second-lowest warning level on a four-tier system.
Neither the British nor the United States government mentioned the nature of the threat, though other countries issued similar warnings.
Global Affairs Canada, while not specifically mentioning Beijing or issuing any kind of nationwide travel advisory, said its citizens “should exercise a high degree of caution due to the occurrence of isolated acts of violence, including bombings and protests” in China.
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told its citizens about the United States government’s warning and said “possible road closures and checks” could impact travel in Sanlitun. The French embassy also shared the United States’ information with its citizens.
Officials in Beijing have issued the city’s first red alert for smog.
The Chinese capital city’s Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau issued the alert on Monday. In a translated posting on its website, the bureau said the warning was issued “to protect public health” and “reduce the degree of air pollution.”
The posting indicates that “heavy air pollution” is expected to continue through Thursday.
The Associated Press reported that the levels of fine particle matter (called PM 2.5) were approaching 300 micrograms per cubic meter on Monday. That’s 12 times the level that the World Health Organization, an arm of the United Nations, lists as a guideline for those particles.
The website posting indicates that schools are encouraged to close and that officials will be strengthening emergency measures. The city is also stepping up its public transportation and instituting alternating driving days for vehicles, among other pollution-curbing techniques.
The Xinhua News Agency reported it’s the only time a red alert was issued in Beijing since 2013, the year in which the city implemented emergency management protocols for air pollution.
The red alert was issued as leaders from China and nearly 200 other countries were entering the second week of a two-week climate changes summit in Paris. Much of the focus at the COP21 conference is how to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and curb rising temperatures.
China emits more greenhouse gasses than any other country in the world.
China is inviting Russia to join them for a series of military drills in the Sea of Japan.
The action comes amid the United States working with allies throughout the Asian region to counter Beijing’s aggressive moves to claim more waters in the South and East China Seas as “territorial waters” despite the waters being claimed by other nations.
The exercises will happen at the end of August and will happen both at the Russian port city of Vladivostok and in the South China Sea according to Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun.
“[The] purpose of the exercise is to consolidate and develop the China-Russia all-round strategic coordination partnership, to deepen the pragmatic and friendly cooperation between the Chinese and Russian militaries, and to enhance the organization and command capabilities and the levels of the two militaries in jointly conducting the joint traffic defense activities and joint landing activities, so as to further enhance their capabilities of jointly coping with maritime security threats,” Yujun said.
The exercises will include anti-submarine and anti-ship targeting with Chinese fighter jets, frigates, destroyers and supply vessels. The Russians will send ships, subs and fixed wing aircraft. Both will send marines and helicopters.
The two nations have already held joint naval exercises in the Mediterranean Sea.
A Christian man who was working to help other Christians open a bookstore in Shanxi Province, China is being released from a Chinese prison.
Wenxi Li, a native of Beijing, has been working with Chrisitans in Shanxi when he was asked to come to a police station on December 19, 2012 to pick up books that had been seized by authorities. When he arrived, he was immediately arrested and thrown in jail.
They denied him bail and he was sentenced to two years in prison on June 17, 2013.
Family members say that they are optimistic the Chinese government will follow through on their word to release Wenxi. He has been transferred to a prison where he’s receiving better medical treatment and food and has been able to make short phone calls to his family.
His wife, Cal Hong Li, told Voice of the Martyrs that her husband has been able to share Christ with many of his fellow prisoners during his time behind bars. She said that she is thankful God found him worthy to suffer for His sake.
Cal Hong said she hopes her husband will take some time to rest and spend time with her before going back into the field to serve Christ.
A boarding school in Beijing that had been taking care of Christians orphans and providing them with an education has been shut down by the Chinese government.
A teacher at the Angel Orphanage told the China Aid Association that the school was forced to move from their home in the Fangshan District of Beijing to Guangling, Shanxi. The school has been in Beijing for nine years but the government suddenly denied the school’s permit.
“Before the Oct. 1 holiday, our leaders suddenly said that the children must leave, and they brought some students to Guangling, Shanxi,” Yu, said. “Then they went to the education committee to process paperwork for the students’ transfer. When some children arrived in Shanxi, the school still hadn’t found a proper place to stay.”
A teacher who was identified only as Yu told China Aid that the local officials were angered because Christians from America came to teach the children in the summer.
China Aid reported that the government has shut down at least four Christian schools in the four months.
The heaviest rain to hit Beijing in 60 years has reporters and citizens questioning why better warnings were not given to residents. Reports say 37 people died in flash flooding that ravaged the city with seven more missing in the damage.
The storm struck Saturday night, shutting down airports and transportation systems. The airport was shut down through Monday and reports state most of the transportation systems are back to normal on Monday. Continue reading →
