China welcomes IOC as attack kills 16

BEIJING - With only four days to the opening of the 2008 Summer Games and Beijing wrapped in a heavy cocoon of security, Chinese President Hu Jintao gave no hint of concern that a deadly terrorist attack in the restive Xianjiang province would affect the Olympics.

Instead, as officers in the remote city of Kashgar continued to probe a grenade attack that killed 16 police officers, Hu welcomed International Olympic Committee members to the opening of the annual IOC session with a lavish ceremony at the National Centre for the Performing Arts.

Chinese separatists blamed for police grenade massacre

The two men who killed 16 policemen in the Kashgar massacre were today identified as members of an ethic group engaged in a shadowy insurgency in China’s north-western Xinjiang region.

The attackers, aged 28 and 33, were overcome and arrested at the scene and have been confirmed as Uighurs, a predominantly Muslim Turkic people, who make up the majority of Xinjiang’s 20 million population.

Although the official media did not spell it out there appears to be little doubt that they were members of the insurgency seeking to break Xinjiang away from China and establish an independent Islamic state of “East Turkistan”.

The Road to Beijing, Part I
By Jay Nordlinger
The Road to Beijing, Part II
The Road to Beijing, Part III
The Road to Beijing, Part IV
Part five tomorrow.


Olympic Athletes: Faith More Important than Gold Medals

It takes years of sweat, pain and determination to qualify for the Olympics, but some of the world’s top athletes heading to Beijing want the world to know there is something more important than winning gold medals – a relationship with God.

Three American Christians Released from Custody After Arrests in Beijing

WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 /Christian Newswire/ -- Three Christian activists were arrested in Tiananmen Square and forcibly taken into custody after displaying a banner that read "Jesus Christ Is King" in both English and Chinese. They were later released.

Rev. Pat Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition in Washington DC, Brandi Swindell of Generation Life in Boise, Idaho, and Michael McMonagle, National Director of Generation Life were standing in solidarity with the victims of human rights abuses, including forced abortion, religious persecution of Christians, and other denials of fundamental civil liberties.

World leaders gather for Olympics

Leaders and dignitaries from around the world are gathering in Beijing for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.

Some 11,000 athletes from 205 countries will compete in more than 300 events over the next two-and-a-half weeks.

But the lead-up to the Games has been overshadowed by issues such as China's human rights record, internet access, and air pollution in Beijing.

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Please, please pray for the persecuted church in China. Pray for the believers who will be there for the games, both as athletes and as workers and tourists. Pray that God will glorify His Name mightily in this time, and that He would draw more people to Him.