China bans religious activities in Xinjiang

Members of China's Uighur minority worship at the Grand Mosque in Kashgar, in the Xinjiang region

August 2, 2012 7:49 am
By Kathrin Hille in Beijing

The Chinese Communist party has banned students and officials in Xinjiang from religious activities during Ramadan, in an illustration of the policies that continue to stir resentment among the restive north-western region’s indigenous population.

Municipal areas across the region are implementing special “security and stability work plans” for the Muslim holy month, under which local governments and schools are required to make sure students and officials do not fast or visit mosques.

Beijing has long enforced such restrictions during Ramadan in Xinjiang, but there are signs of even tighter measures as levels of unrest have been rising since racial riots in July 2009 killed almost 200 people.

The Uighurs, a Turkic people who make up about half of Xinjiang’s population following massive migration of Han Chinese, are mostly Muslim. Many of them oppose Chinese rule and complain of colonialist policies in their homeland. The resource-rich region, which accounts for about one-sixth of China’s land mass, borders eight countries from Pakistan to Mongolia.

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