The Inquirer:
BEIJING – China has arrested nearly 1,000 people in a crackdown on a Christian sect that spread doomsday rumors and targeted communist rule, state media said Thursday ahead of the supposedly Mayan-foretold apocalypse.
The Christian-inspired group “Almighty God” has been accused of spreading doomsday rumors apparently linked to the ancient Mayan Long Count calendar and urging followers to slay the “red dragon” of communism, state media reports said.
Close to 1,000 followers of the sect, which state-run media labels an “evil cult” — the same description it applies to the banned Falun Gong group — have been held in a nationwide crackdown that began last week, state-run CCTV reported.