China arrests nearly 1,000 \\\'cult\\\' members

China has since June arrested nearly 1,000 members of a Christian sect which Beijing refers to as a ‘cult’, state media said on Tuesday. Those arrested are members of ‘Almighty God’, a Christian group which has found followers in some parts of the Chinese countryside for more than a decade. They include ‘high-level organisers and backbone members’ of the group, the official Xinhua news agency said, citing officials. It did not give details of what crimes the suspects, said to come from more than six provinces, are accused of. China has previously cracked down harshly on groups it labels as ‘cults’, most notably the Falun Gong spiritual movement, which was banned in the late 1990s. Falun Gong members insist they were targeted because the ruling Communist party saw the group as a threat, detaining and allegedly torturing thousands of its followers, according to AFP.