Alexandra Ma

China is waging an unprecedented war on religion.

Over the past year alone, China has detained Muslims because of their faith, forced Buddhists to pledge allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party, and coerced Christian churches to take down their crosses or shut down.

china uighur uyghur security checkpoint police

<h1> The sinicization of religion </h1>

The Party, which is officially atheist, has for decades attempted to control religious organizations to maintain its dominance.

Its <a id="250b9b3b-38f1-3c7e-aa3b-954e4a875aa4" href="http://english1.english.gov.cn/2005-10/09/content_75331.htm"> State Administration for Religious Affairs </a> , set up in 1951, allows five religious organizations to exist under the state's control: a Party-sanctioned form of Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Protestantism, and Catholicism.

The state controls these groups' personnel, publications, and finances. Technically, citizens are free to practise religion freely, as long as their sect is officially sanctioned by the government.

Party officials <a id="45432f1d-45c4-3b44-acf2-6432cf5865cf" href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1822607/sinicise-religion-combat-hostile-forces-chinese"> in 2015 </a> introduced the term "sinicization" into official government lexicon, in which they called on Muslim, Buddhist, and Christian leaders to fuse their religions with Chinese socialist thought.

Roderic Wye, a former first secretary in the British Embassy in Beijing, told Business Insider:"The party has always had trouble with religion one way or another, because often religious activity tends to imply some sort of organization. Once there are organizations, the party is very keen to control them."

But under the presidency of Xi Jinping, the government's crackdown appears to have increased at an alarming scale.

Read more: <a id="255b92bb-a091-3fc3-a591-33b245785128" href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/how-china-propaganda-department-glosses-over-human-rights-2018-6?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> Planting spies, paying people to post on social media, and pretending the news doesn't exist: This is how China tries to distract people from human rights abuses </a>

<h1> They want to ... cut off Islam at the roots </h1>

In the western region of <a id="79cb3e7b-abe9-3a82-a767-3b96aca1b19d" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/xinjiang?r=US&amp;IR=T?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> Xinjiang </a> , the home of the majority-Muslim Uighur ethnic minority, authorities have <a id="c3f0967b-c67b-313b-a6a9-a82308e9971c" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/xianjiang-province-china-police-state-surveillance-2018-7?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> installed a massive police state </a> and reportedly imprisoned up to 1 million Uighurs.

Many detainees said they were <a id="af425164-dfd4-367b-a9e6-381ef1e3d2f2" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/china-gives-these-excuses-to-imprison-uighur-ethnic-minority-2018-9?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> arrested for showing distinct markers of Islam </a> , like wearing a veil or growing a long beard.

The majority-Muslim Hui people, who are scattered around China, also fear that the government will extend its crackdown to them.

In the northern city of Yinchuan, home to the largest concentration of Hui Muslims in the country, authorities have banned the daily call to prayer because it apparently created noise pollution, the South China Morning Post <a id="50ddd8a7-e104-3740-a071-3a878e26af59" href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2145939/how-china-trying-impose-islam-chinese-characteristics"> reported </a> .

One unnamed imam in Linxia, central China, also <a id="6dd6bf65-9d36-38cc-acdf-6adf1640dfbf" href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2155428/chinas-atheist-communist-party-trying-eradicate-islam"> told Agence France-Presse </a> in July: "They want to secularize Muslims, to cut off Islam at the roots.These days, children are not allowed to believe in religion: Only in communism and the party."

Read more: <a id="6f01ece0-27a3-322a-aee0-4477df3a7a2f" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/china-tries-to-cite-islamophobia-to-export-model-of-muslim-repression-2018-11?r=US&amp;IR=T?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> China is locking up its Muslim minorities, and pushing Islamophobia to get Europe to do it too </a>

<h1> Monitored services, censored sermons </h1>

The crackdown extends beyond Islam.

Authorities have also targeted Christians outside the state-sanctioned Catholic and Protestant associations by burning Bibles, shutting down churches, and ordering people to renounce their faith, the Associated Press <a id="d36de0ae-a222-398d-a3f7-7d940632888b" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/china-burning-bibles-to-make-everyone-loyal-to-communist-party-report-2018-9?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> reported </a> .

Some churches allowed to remain open have to <a id="3e373aa2-1c74-358e-acc5-bc3b1466e875" href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-religion/for-a-house-church-in-beijing-cctv-cameras-and-eviction-idUSKCN1LF0EF"> install facial-recognition cameras </a> in the building, or risk getting shut down. Party officials censor and add state propaganda to pastors' sermons, Bob Fu, who runs the US rights group ChinaAid, <a id="d40ea5eb-16ce-334b-af7a-74e4eeb6ff20" href="http://observers.france24.com/en/20180920-china-videos-church-closures-christians"> told France24 </a> .

In September, authorities in China and the Vatican signed an agreement in which Pope Francis officially recognized seven Beijing-appointed bishops, who had been excommunicated because they weren't approved by the Holy See. Critics <a id="0310295f-17c2-3b54-add4-f2c461140a2d" href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/10/05/despite-china-vatican-agreement-many-chinese-worry-about-religious-freedom"> said </a> the deal ceded power from the Holy See to the Communist Party.

The loyalties of China's approximately 10 million Catholics are split between the Vatican and the state-supervised Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association. China has about 100 million Protestants, the Financial Times reported.

Read more: <a id="03e15b1e-79da-33c5-ae55-8fa9ec2dddfa" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/china-burning-bibles-to-make-everyone-loyal-to-communist-party-report-2018-9?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> China is reportedly burning bibles and making Christians renounce their faith to ensure total loyalty to the Communist Party </a>

Buddhism and Taoism — which has historically deeper roots in East Asia — is not exempt either.

China restricts religious operations in Tibet, and spiritual leader the Dalai Lama remains in exile. Activists say the state <a id="77a850c6-8f95-3a5c-a5b7-ede950af782d" href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2018/country-chapters/china-and-tibet#bbae7b"> monitors the daily activities </a> of major Tibetan monasteries, <a id="80dc68d3-b25e-33a7-ab90-d4a643708881" href="https://freedomhouse.org/report/china-religious-freedom/tibetan-buddhism"> limits believers' travel and communications </a> , and has routinely <a id="795db186-9892-37cf-a379-f9036ef31e61" href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/detaining-09242018171452.html"> detained monks </a> on <a id="d284c797-63d4-37f6-a280-a43fd71ddcc3" href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/07/15/china-release-tibetan-monks-body"> terrorism charges </a> — not dissimilar from the situation in Xinjiang.

Earlier this year, China's famous Shaolin Temple — an ancient Buddhist monastery believed to be the birth place of kung fu — <a id="275836e3-a083-3ce0-ae79-7a4c261f07af" href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2161688/red-flag-buddhists-shaolin-temple-takes-lead-chinese-patriotism"> raised the Chinese national flag for the first time in its 1,500-year history </a> as part of a government campaign to demonstrate its patriotism.

<h1> No other source of moral or social authority is tolerated </h1>

The Communist Party, keen to maintain its sole grip on power, disapproves of all kinds of grassroots organizations as they are seen to undermine it and disrupt internal stability.

Read more: <a id="30a802c9-7dce-384c-a35e-3937fbaf77af" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/china-communist-party-crack-down-on-student-communists-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> China's Communist party violently cracks down on a new group — student communists </a>

Wye, the former British Embassy official, said China's keenness to exert control over religions is also to limit foreign influence.

"There's always been a concern the Chinese state has had about the extent of foreign influence over religion and the way foreign forces might use to manipulate societal thought," Wye, now an associate fellow at Chatham House, told Business Insider.

"This is part of the wider 'China dream' that Xi Jinping has, to make China big and strong again," he added.

"Whatever political and socialdevelopment China will take in the future, it is to be decided and promulgated by the Chinese Communist Party, and no other source of moral or social authority is tolerated."

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Jailing Muslims, burning Bibles, and forcing monks to wave the national flag: How Xi Jinping is attacking religion in China

President Donald Trump defended having "very legal" conversations about building a Trump Tower in Moscow during the 2016 presidential election, one day after his longtime fixer Michael Cohen <a id="58453e40-f913-3928-ae86-2d6509eed74d" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/legal-implications-mueller-plea-deal-michael-cohen-trump-russia-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> admitted lying about the project </a> .

Trump, who is in Argentina to attend the G20 summit, <a id="24cacf07-d3f0-34ea-a6d8-7349ce8ecf46" href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1068442531887632384"> tweeted </a> <a id="36ffe242-e412-3897-abef-d83906e65648" href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1068444287380025344"> on </a> Friday morning:

"Oh, I get it! I am a very good developer, happily living my life, when I see our Country going in the wrong direction (to put it mildly). Against all odds, I decide to run for President &amp; continue to run my business-very legal &amp; very cool, talked about it on the campaign trail...

"...Lightly looked at doing a building somewhere in Russia. Put up zero money, zero guarantees and didn’t do the project. Witch Hunt!"

Cohen, who served as Trump's personal lawyer and fixer, on Thursday <a id="a05e6288-2bce-3400-a040-72c21433e3a7" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/michael-cohen-reaches-new-plea-deal-with-mueller-report-2018-11?r=US&amp;IR=T?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> pleaded guilty </a> to making false statements to Congress about the Trump Organization's plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. The company ultimately did not go ahead with the project.

Prosecutors said Cohen knowingly misled congressional investigators when he said negotiations for the deal ended in January 2016 and that he did not discuss it extensively with Trump Organization executives.

Read more: <a id="5f7188d0-dcff-38e9-aadc-1fca76834713" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/legal-implications-mueller-plea-deal-michael-cohen-trump-russia-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> Michael Cohen's latest plea deal shows Mueller's 'starting to finally get to the truth' behind Trump and Russia </a>

Cohen's guilty plea was a confirmation that Trump was not being truthful when he denied having any financial interests in Russia during the campaign, <a id="9dfd8734-6121-3d84-a7dc-9f6ebc193cb4" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/legal-implications-mueller-plea-deal-michael-cohen-trump-russia-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> according to reporting by Business Insider's Sonam Sheth </a> .

It also adds context to other meetings and financial dealings between Trump campaign associates and Russian nationals during the 2016 election.

Cohen is <a id="57599128-214b-3d7c-a75a-fb3761d5dfe8" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/michael-cohen-reaches-new-plea-deal-with-mueller-report-2018-11?r=US&amp;IR=T?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> expected to give dozens of hours of testimony </a> that could severely damage Trump. The president called his former lawyer a liar and a "weak person" after the announcement of the plea deal:

Read more: <a id="1449fa92-0a81-381e-a40d-968277b31f23" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-lawyers-contradict-stories-michael-cohen-trump-tower-moscow-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> Trump's team can't seem to get its story straight on whether Michael Cohen is a liar </a>

Two law-enforcement officials also said that Cohen discussed the idea with a spokesman for Dmitry Peskov, Putin's press secretary, <a id="5cfcfe34-e98a-35db-aa55-6406179c5af9" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-organization-putin-penthouse-trump-tower-moscow-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> BuzzFeed News reported </a> .

The Trump Organization also reportedly wanted to give Russian President Vladimir Putin the penthouse in the building.

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Trump defends 'very legal' conversations about Trump Tower Moscow after Michael Cohen admitted lying about the project

President Donald Trump said he would have a "very productive" 48 hours at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires this weekend after a <a id="a5cfa137-c8df-3953-aac8-b3018722acb0" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-reportedly-planned-a-fast-g20-trip-to-get-home-to-his-own-bed-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> report </a> said he deliberately cut short his time abroad because he likes to stay home in his own bed.

Trump arrived in Argentina on Thursday night and <a id="e1ef0af0-eaa5-35ae-a19a-1f290104b306" href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1068346689784696833"> tweeted </a> that he had "a very busy two days planned."

He added that he "will be very productive!"

The tweet followed an <a id="0ff19b0b-50df-3a77-a23a-70644570ba2f" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-reportedly-planned-a-fast-g20-trip-to-get-home-to-his-own-bed-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> Associated Press (AP) report </a> that Trump packed in eight high-level meetings with world leaders during his 48 hours at the G20 summit this weekend.

Trump enjoys following his routine and sleeping in his own bed, the news agency reported.

Read more: <a id="b7899465-7183-35c8-aae5-e3a915cc9b0a" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-reportedly-planned-a-fast-g20-trip-to-get-home-to-his-own-bed-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> Trump reportedly planned a lightning-quick G20 trip because he likes to stay at home </a>

According to the AP, Trump's schedule is so tight that a previously planned, one-on-one meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will turn into a "trilateral" meeting when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi joins them halfway.

Current and former White House officials told the AP that Trump had at time expressed his frustration about overseas travel, and they have cut short his trips to please him.

One of the focal points of Trump's flying visit will be a meeting with President Xi Jinping of China.

<a id="60cc0ac9-8bff-3c6f-a9d1-fbaca1597ed0" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-china-trade-war-xi-jinping-meeting-at-g20-course-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> As Business Insider's Bob Bryan reports </a> , the talk has the potential to alter the course of Trump's trade war with China, with huge ramifications for both economies.

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Trump says he will be 'very productive' at the G20 summit after report claimed he would rather stay at home

Michael Cohen, the longtime personal lawyer for President Donald Trump, has reached a new plea deal with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, <a id="d544fefb-8931-3401-a430-32fc902d5183" href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/michael-cohen-expected-plead-guilty-lying-congress-collusion/story?id=59491450"> ABC News reported on Thursday </a> .

Cohen is scheduled to appear in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday, where he is expected to plead guilty to giving false statements to Congress in a closed-door testimony last year, ABC News reported.

He is also expected to give dozens of hours of testimony that could implicate Trump, the channel said.

The news comes as Mueller's probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election appeared ready to issue new indictments soon.

Read more: <a id="3de4d60f-95e0-3a0b-aec4-004fc9ac4183" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mueller-russia-probe-accelerate-indictments-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> Robert Mueller's Russia probe looks like it's speeding up, and could lead to big indictments soon </a>

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Michael Cohen reportedly reached a new plea deal with Mueller, and is expected to give dozens of hours of testimony that could damage Trump

China's ambassador to the US has described his country's unprecedented crackdown on its Muslim minority as a measure "to turn them into normal persons."

Authorities have subjected the Uighurs — a majority-Muslim, Turkic ethnic minority populated in western China — to an unprecedented amount of surveillance in their home region, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/xinjiang?r=US&amp;IR=T?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest" id="79cb3e7b-abe9-3a82-a767-3b96aca1b19d"> Xinjiang </a> . Uighurs refer to the region as East Turkestan.

Earlier this year activists accused China of imprisoning up to 1 million Uighurs in detention centers or re-education camps, a characterization China has routinely fought against. Beijing justifies its crackdown against Uighurs as a counterterrorism measure, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-calls-xinjiang-uighur-detention-camps-free-vocational-training-2018-10?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest" id="0b3405aa-50dd-39a0-a390-5cd7dcef1eab"> called the camps "free vocational training" </a> that make Uighurs' life "colorful."

Cui Tiankai, the Chinese ambassador, hit back at those accusations again, telling Reuters in an interview published Tuesday: "We are trying to re-educate most of them, trying to turn them into normal persons [who] can go back to normal life."

The Trump administration is reportedly considering sanctions to target companies and officials over Xinjiang, including Chen Quanguo, the regional Communist Party secretary who is considered the architect of the Uighur crackdown.

Earlier this month, a group of congressmen also <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-lawmakers-bill-punishing-china-over-uighur-muslim-persecution-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest" id="399b4058-938a-32bb-a48e-620895647467"> introduced a bipartisan bill </a> to pressure the White House into consider banning exports of US technology that could be used to oppress Uighurs and imposing sanctions against human rights offenders.

Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-lawmakers-bill-punishing-china-over-uighur-muslim-persecution-2018-11?r=US&amp;IR=T?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest" id="85415134-7dbf-3280-a159-3cf0f41cc6e8"> China tells Congress to back off after planned legislation looks to sanction Beijing over imprisoning Muslims </a>

Cui said China would hit back on any sanctions the US would impose on China over the Uighur issue. He told Reuters: "If such actions are taken, we have to retaliate." He did not say how exactly Beijing would react.

He also likened China's crackdown on the Uighurs to the US fight against the Islamic State terror group.

"Can you imagine [if] some American officials in charge of the fight against ISIS would be sanctioned?" he said.

Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-tries-to-cite-islamophobia-to-export-model-of-muslim-repression-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest" id="dd46a364-2eac-30cd-aa64-edc92ef00c57"> China is locking up its Muslim minorities, and pushing Islamophobia to get Europe to do it too </a>

Earlier this week Bitter Winter, an online magazine reporting on human rights in China, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-camps-for-muslims-look-like-jail-cells-in-purported-video-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest" id="3126556b-9034-33b9-a02b-6c3b98c33d27"> published footage from inside a detention center </a> in Yingye'er, western Xinjiang.

The footage shows a series of dorm rooms fitted with double iron doors and tightly secured windows, making the compound look like a conventional prison.

Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-camps-for-muslims-look-like-jail-cells-in-purported-video-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest" id="5d471637-2953-3c55-acac-049abc023478"> Shocking footage purportedly shows cells inside prison camp where China oppresses Muslim minority </a>

NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/serving-military-taught-beauty-youtuber-jackie-aina-2018-10?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest" id="80916965-7418-327a-abe4-f8e63bb7500e"> What serving in the military taught beauty YouTuber Jackie Aina </a>

<ul><li> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-camps-for-muslims-look-like-jail-cells-in-purported-video-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest">Shocking footage purportedly shows cells inside prison camp where China oppresses Muslim minority</a> </li><li> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/shots-fired-at-chinese-consulate-in-pakistan-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest">Terrorists opposed to Xi Jinping's Belt and Road megaproject claim responsibility for killing 4 at Chinese Consulate in Pakistan</a> </li><li> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-gru-chief-igor-korobov-dies-of-illness-after-uk-spy-poisoning-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest">Head of Russia's GRU spy agency dies from 'serious illness' after Putin reportedly berated him for botching an assassination in the UK</a> </li></ul>

Chinese ambassador to the US says mass surveillance and oppression of Muslim minority is to make them 'normal persons'

President Donald Trump renewed his threat to shut down the government shutdown if Congress does not approve funding for his border wall.

Trump has asked for $5 billion for a wall between the US and Mexico, which Congress has yet to grant. Democratic leaders have said that they would approve $1.6 billion for the wall.

He <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/28/trump-politico-interview-1023306" id="0194ce6a-e854-3c8b-a299-dacedf991172"> told Politico on Tuesday </a> that he would "totally be willing" to trigger a government shutdown if he doesn't get the full amount.

Lawmakers have to pass a spending bill,estimated at $312 billion, to keep government agencies funded by December 7. Affected agencies include the Department of Homeland Security, which polices the border.

Trump has threatened to shut down the government over the border wall in the past. He said <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/17/politics/trump-southern-border-government-shutdown/index.html" id="02330d06-b639-3d99-a08c-f916e6ef51f7"> earlier this month </a> that "this would be a very good time to do a shutdown" over border security.

The president told Politico that the $5 billion would only pay for the physical wall, adding that "the number is larger for border security."

He added that the border wall, which he promised to build during his presidential campaign, was a "total winner."

"I don't do anything ... just for political gain," he said. "But I will tell you, politically speaking, that issue is a total winner."

He added: "People look at the border, they look at the rush to the police, they look at the rock throwers and really hurting three people, three very brave Border Patrol folks — I think that it's a tremendous issue, but much more importantly, is really needed. So we have to have border security."

He was referring to a confrontation on Sunday between US border authorities and migrants at the border crossing between Tijuana and San Diego, California, when some rushed toward the US.

US authorities fired tear gas toward migrants, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mexico-investigates-tear-gas-at-border-2018-11?r=US&amp;IR=T?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest" id="32e1ee1d-e157-395a-a709-14a8fffef621"> four border patrol agents were hit by rocks </a> , but did not suffer serious injuries. Trump's reference to the rock throwers' "really hurting three people" is not clear.

Read more: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/border-patrol-also-used-tear-gas-pepper-spray-at-border-under-obama-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest" id="cd3b010b-9a0a-3097-ae35-b341b9611d12"> Border Patrol also used tear gas and pepper spray at US-Mexico border during Obama administration </a>

NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/obama-barack-michelle-make-spend-money-net-worth-2018-10?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest" id="c5f96678-6469-3e0e-af4f-1ec389f5bb13"> The Obamas are worth $40 million — here's how they make and spend their money </a>

<ul><li> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mueller-russia-probe-accelerate-indictments-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest">Robert Mueller's Russia probe looks like it's speeding up, and could lead to big indictments soon</a> </li><li> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/border-patrol-also-used-tear-gas-pepper-spray-at-border-under-obama-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest">Border Patrol also used tear gas and pepper spray at US-Mexico border during Obama administration</a> </li><li> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mom-tear-gas-children-migrants-us-border-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest">Mom pictured fleeing with her kids from tear gas at the US border says she never thought Border Patrol would use it on children</a> </li></ul>

Trump says he would 'totally be willing' to shut down government if Congress doesn't pay for his border wall

Jamal Khashoggi's killing was born out of a brutal culture around the Saudi crown prince, which included members of the royal family jockeying for power, spying on one another, and tricking China into arresting a critical businessman, according to a <a id="b743812d-143b-3fb9-ab45-0dd87ff72f2f" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/the-khashoggi-killing-had-roots-in-a-cutthroat-saudi-family-feud/2018/11/27/6d79880c-f17b-11e8-bc79-68604ed88993_story.html"> wild insider account in The Washington Post </a> .

Infighting within the House of Saud started as early as 2015, around the death of King Abdullah, the half-brother and predecessor of King Salman, The Post said.

Abdullah's sons, and King Salman and his family, started competing for power, most likely in an attempt to control the royal family's wealth and retain power in government, the Washington Post columnist David Ignatius wrote in an opinion column. Salman was appointed king two days after King Abdullah died in January 2015.

"The cutthroat scheming within the House of Saud over the following years matches anything in the fantasy series 'Game of Thrones,'" Ignatius wrote.

The two main sides started plotting against each other, with members of the Abdullah faction reportedly bugging the phones of senior princes, purchasing a device that could remotely and secretly detect phone calls within a 100-yard radius, and hiding surveillance devices in ashtrays around royal palaces to pick up on conversations.

King Salman's son Mohammed bin Salman — who was appointed crown prince in mid-2016 — also reportedly grew increasingly anxious about his public image and started organizing the kidnappings and detentions of his critics, The Post said.

One of the wildest plots was said to have taken place in August 2016, when The Post said then-Prince Mohammed's associates misled Chinese authorities into kidnapping and interrogating a Saudi businessman who had criticized Prince Mohammed's policies and was close to the Abdullah camp.

The column offered the plot as evidence of the lengths to which Saudi royals were prepared to go to achieve their ends. It is, the column contends, the same kind of scheme that led to the brutal death of Khashoggi.

Read more: <a id="1e8f31dd-47e2-3960-acef-de75c558ee23" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-exoneration-of-crown-prince-will-probably-work-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> Crown Prince Mohammed comes out on top of Khashoggi case </a>

In the 2016 plot, Prince Mohammed's associates had falsely told Chinese intelligence agents that the Saudi businessman Tarek Obaid had been funding terrorist activities and had been organizing a plot by Pakistani militants to disrupt a G-20 summit later that year, The Post said.

The purported goal was for Chinese authorities to arrest Obaid under terrorism suspicions and extradite him to Saudi Arabia.

Acting on the Saudis' information, Chinese intelligence agents detained Obaid in Beijing, covered his head and body in a bag, and handcuffed him to a chair in an interrogation room, the column said.

Obaid was reportedly subjected to a long and painful interrogation, during which he said he had no idea what their accusations were about. Chinese authorities eventually let him go after finding no incriminating information on his iPad and cellphone, The Post said.

Obaid, who has a Swiss passport, now lives in Geneva.

Shortly after becoming crown prince last year, Mohammed also consolidated his power by imprisoning more than 200 members of the Saudi elite, including 11 princes and dozens of top businessmen <a id="4f7bb01c-026f-36e5-a609-f718d9317c29" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/inside-saudi-arabia-ritz-carlton-five-star-prison-2017-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> at the luxury Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh </a> .

Some princes reportedly negotiated their release by <a id="0480f0e9-346c-3715-acaa-5b170515a8ad" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-arabia-ritz-carlton-prison-reopen-as-hotel-2018-1?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest"> promising to pay the government billions </a> .

<ul><li> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/white-house-accused-of-shielding-saudis-in-jamal-khashoggi-murder-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest">Jamal Khashoggi's editor at The Washington Post claims the White House is trying to 'cover up' for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman</a> </li><li> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-defends-saudi-crown-prince-in-khashoggi-death-disputes-cia-reported-conclusion-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest">Trump suggests 'the world' is to blame for Khashoggi's murder, because it's 'vicious'</a> </li><li> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/turkey-cia-has-a-wiretap-nailing-saudis-prince-in-the-khashoggi-case-2018-11?utm_source=intl&amp;utm_medium=ingest">Turkey says the CIA has a 'smoking gun' tape nailing the Saudi crown prince in the Khashoggi case</a> </li></ul>

Khashoggi's killing was born of a brutal 'Game of Thrones'-style culture around the Saudi crown prince, according to a wild insider account

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