Sep 21, 2019

China's anti-Muslim crackdowns extend beyond Uighurs

Axios

An ethnic Hui Muslim man standing in front of Laohuasi Mosque after Friday prayers in the Gansu province. Photo: Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images

The Chinese government is expanding its crackdown on Muslims from beyond the Uighurs to include the Hui minority in Gansu province, reports the Washington Post.

Driving the news: The "tide of 'Sinicization'" is reaching the "Hui, a Chinese-speaking people with no recent record of separatism or extremism," the Post notes.

“The Xinjiang policy is already being implemented here. At least we’re moving in that direction. We’re born and raised Chinese. Our passports are Chinese. Our forefathers are Chinese. How do you want us to be more Chinese?”
— An unnamed imam told the Washington Post

State of play: The 10 million Hui Muslims haven't been held in concentration camps or faced intense surveillance, but the government is working on erasing anything deemed not Chinese, according to the Post.

  • Government cranes appeared over Hui mosques, with one mosque having its dome smashed in, per the Post. Officials claim it was an accident.
  • It's illegal to sell the Islamic holy book, the Quran.
  • All Arabic script in public places is now illegal.
  • Skullcaps and headscarves have been removed from public museums, and aren't allowed to be shown on public broadcasts.

Go deeper: Brutal dictatorships defend China's mass detentions of Uighur Muslims

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