Top Asian News 1:27 a.m. GMT

At 100, China's Communist Party looks to cement its future

BEIJING (AP) — For China's Communist Party, celebrating its 100th birthday on Thursday is not just about glorifying its past. It's also about cementing its future and that of its leader, Chinese President Xi Jinping. In the build-up to the July 1 anniversary, Xi and the party have exhorted its members and the nation to remember the early days of struggle in the hills of the inland city of Yan'an, where Mao Zedong established himself as party leader in the 1930s. Dug into earthen cliffs, the primitive homes where Mao and his followers lived are now tourist sites for the party faithful and schoolteachers encouraged to spread the word.