Points of Interest

Once a month I receive from ZGBriefs a condensation of news items gathered from published sources in relationship to China. From time to time I have made reference to their articles in my correspondence to you. This blog entry contains such information, which I hope you will find interesting and informative.

There has been a constant debate about how many Christians there are in China. Counting China’s Christians is a good article on this.

Maybe you are planning on a cruise up the Yangtze River this summer. If you are you will be viewing things from a low elevation as the river is very low. If your captain isn’t careful you might even stay in one spot for a while. The following article tells you why:

“Prolonged dry season threatens navigation on Yangtze River, warns officials (May 5, 2011, Xinhua)

Chinese officials on Wednesday warned that an extended low-flow period, caused by the lingering spring drought in central China, might pose a threat to navigation in parts of the Yangtze River, the longest waterway in China. The persistent drought has reduced water levels in the middle of the river to a "worrying level", driving up the danger of ships grounding, said Wang Xiandeng, head of the Changjiang (Yangtze River) Wuhan Waterway Bureau. Statistics indicate that the water level near Hankou of Wuhan, the provincial capital of Hubei, on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, was measured at 2.87 meters on Wednesday, which was 3.26 meters lower than one year earlier.”

(I take the ferry across this spot each Friday.)

Instead of a cruse maybe you want to take a scenic hike. Here is one coming up that is not for the faint-hearted. Some job isn’t it?

Did you know that we have “complete religious freedom” here in China? The following article claims we do:

China says US report on religious policy biased (May 4, 2011, AP)

A U.S. commission that accused Beijing of restricting religious freedom is biased and is meddling in China's internal affairs, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Chinese citizens enjoy "complete religious freedom" despite the assertions by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom in a report issued last week. In a statement, Jiang urged the commission to "abandon its prejudices, respect facts and stop intervening in China's domestic affairs by means including issuing reports." In its annual report, the commission listed China among the worst violators of religious freedom, saying the government imposes severe restrictions on unregistered religious groups and those deemed to threaten national security or social harmony.