Gov’t executes 2 from banned sect for murder at McDonald’s

A father and daughter have been executed in China for attacking and killing a woman who had refused to join their outlawed religious group during an altercation at a McDonald’s outlet, a court said yesterday. Zhang Fan and her father, Zhang Lidong, were executed after the Supreme People’s Court approved the death penalty, the Yantai Intermediate People’s Court in the eastern province of Shandong said in a statement. It didn’t say when the executions took place. The two were convicted and sentenced in October along with three other women who received sentences from life imprisonment to seven years. The court said the group had called the victim “an evil spirit” and a “demon” before beating her to death one evening last May while at a McDonald’s restaurant. She had refused to give them her number so that they could recruit new members into the “All-powerful Spirit” group, which China considers an illegal cult. The anti-Communist sect believes Jesus was resurrected as a Chinese woman. China’s Supreme People’s Court must review and approve all death sentences.

Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping

Beijing, Delhi reaffirm ties following Obama’s trip

China and India reaffirmed their warming ties Friday following U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to New Delhi that underscored Beijing’s complicated relationship with both countries. Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to Beijing and said he expected greater developments in ties between the two Asian giants this year. Swaraj is attending a trilateral forum in Beijing among China, India and Russia. Obama’s visit to India last month was seen in China as an attempt to deepen American influence in countries on China’s periphery.  China’s government said it hoped closer U.S.-India relations would be a positive force for the region, but the state-run news agency Xinhua dismissed Obama’s visit as “more symbolic than pragmatic, given the long-standing division between the two giants, which may be as huge as the distance between them.” Beijing’s own relations with New Delhi received a big boost from Xi’s visit to the country in September, although the sides still differ over their disputed border, unequal trade and China’s attempts to expand its influence into the Indian Ocean.