China’s tightening grip on Islam revealed

‘THEY REALLY WANT TO ELIMINATE RELIGION’

The “Sinization of religion” was first mentioned by President Xi Jinping in 2015, hot on the heels of the declaration of his “Strike Hard Campaign” against violent terrorism. That policy was announced in the wake of a series of attacks by Uyghurs and ultimately led to the crackdown in Xinjiang.

In a cache of leaked internal Chinese government documents known as the Xinjiang Papers, one written in 2018 called “Document 10” lays out plans to control Islam across China by “actively guiding Islam to adapt to socialist society”.

Achieving this includes an explicit plan to reduce the number of mosques outlining that “the principle of tearing down more and building fewer”, the document says.

It also states that Arabic should be forbidden and party members must be atheists.

Another document produced by the state-run China Islamic Association is called “Five Year Plan For The Sinisisation Of Islam”.

It talks about the need to enforce the use of “the nation’s common language to preach,” to “persist in the separation of religion and education” and to ensure mosques contain visual reminders of the importance of state; “the national flag, the Constitution, laws, and regulations; the Core Socialist Values, and the exceptional Chinese virtues”.

Chinese officials have also described the leaked Xinjiang papers as a “fabrication” and an attempt to “smear China’s counter-terrorism and de-radicalisation efforts”.

Ma Haiyun, associate professor at Frostburg State University and a member of the Hui community that has now gained US citizenship, says: “From a communist, Marxist perspective they really want to eliminate religion. Without eliminating religions and beliefs you really cannot have loyal subjects.

“You cannot compete with the CCP for social influence or cultural influence.”

The Chinese embassy in London told us: “Following policies that protect freedom of religious belief, China, like other countries, administers religious affairs in accordance with law. We are resolute in rejecting and fighting religious extremism. Believers’ normal religious activities are guaranteed in accordance with law and their customs respected.

“Today, in more than 35,000 mosques in China, over 20 million Muslims are free to practice their religion in accordance with law.”

On the issue of mosques undergoing architectural changes, the Chinese embassy in London said some mosques in certain regions were “built in the 1980s and 1990s or even earlier” and “have become so dilapidated as to render religious activities impossible during windy and rainy weather”. It said local governments have responded to the calls of Muslim communities and made “mosques safer, better situated and cleaner”.