This is huge. The folks in Wenzhou don’t take any stuff from anybody. They were up in Communism’s face during the Cultural Revolution doing their capitalist thing when China was clamped down a la North Korea. This could escalate into a showdown. If I were Mr. Party head in the province who provoked this mess I’d clear out my desk and make up two envelopes for my successor. One which is numbered 1 and inside has a piece of paper that says “blame me” and the other numbered 2 with a piece of paper inside that says “make up two envelopes.” The New York Times has some video from Youku on its Sinosphere site.

FROM THE TELEGRAPH:
Christians form human shield around church in ‘China’s Jerusalem’ after demolition threat
Christians have flocked to defend a church in eastern China after Communist Party officials claimed it was an “illegal construction” and announced plans to demolish it

Thousands of Chinese Christians have mounted an extraordinary, round-the-clock defence of a church in a city known as the 'Jerusalem of the East'

Thousands of Chinese Christians have mounted an extraordinary defence of a church in a city known as the ‘Jerusalem of the East’
By , Wenzhou

9:25PM BST 04 Apr 2014

Thousands of Chinese Christians have mounted an extraordinary, round-the-clock defence of a church in a city known as the ‘Jerusalem of the East’ after Communist Party officials threatened to bulldoze their place of worship.

In an episode that underlines the fierce and long-standing friction between China’s officially atheist Communist Party and its rapidly growing Christian congregation, Bible-carrying believers this week flocked to the Sanjiang church in Wenzhou hoping to protect it from the bulldozers.

Their 24-hour guard began earlier this week when a demolition notice was plastered onto the newly-constructed church which worshippers say cost around 30 million yuan (£2.91 million) and almost six years to build. Read more.