China: Treatment of Muslims in China; specifically those of the Uighur ethnic group
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 29 January 2002 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | CHN38408.E |
| Reference | 2 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, China: Treatment of Muslims in China; specifically those of the Uighur ethnic group, 29 January 2002, CHN38408.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3df4be1fc.html [accessed 25 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Islam is one of five officially recognized religions in China; each have a corresponding government-affiliated association that supervises and monitors its activities (Annual Report on International Religious Freedom for 2001 Oct. 2001, section 2). According to the Annual Report on International Religious Freedom for 2001, there are approximately "20 million Muslims, 35,000 Islamic places of worship, and more than 45,000 imams" in China (Oct. 2001). In their Country Assessment, the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND), UK, writes that "unofficial estimates" from the 2001 census put the population of Muslims in China at 23 million people (Oct. 2001, section 5.228).
For a discussion of the overlap of religious and ethnic identities of Muslims in China, please refer to IND's October 2001 Country Assessment, under the heading of "Religious Freedom."
In general terms, the treatment of Muslims is varied across China, according to the Annual Report on International Religious Freedom for 2001 (Oct. 2001). It states:
[t]here are thriving Muslim communities in some areas, but government sensitivity to Muslim community concerns is varied. In areas where ethnic unrest has occurred, particularly among Central Asian Muslims (and especially the Uighurs) in Xinjiang, officials continue to restrict the building of mosques. However, in other areas, particularly in areas traditionally populated by the non-Central Asian Hui ethnic group, there is substantial religious building construction and renovation (Oct. 2001).
This report further states that, from 1 July 2000 to 30 June 2001, the government offered congratulations on major Islamic holidays and, in some cases, subsidized citizens to make the pilgrimage to Mecca (ibid., section 2). According to the People's Daily Online, in late 2001, Muslims across China were supported in their efforts to fast over Ramadan and government officials helped to check mosques to ensure fire-prevention (6 Dec. 2001).
However, in contrast to communications from the Chinese government, a Munich-based Uighur group, the East Turkistan Information Centre (ETIC), alleged that Muslims in Xinjiang were ordered to ignore religious rites, such as fasting, and rules during Ramadan (AFP 16 Nov. 2001). Human Rights Watch (HRW) also reports that students at state schools and universities in Xinjiang are "formally forbidden to pray, keep the fast during Ramada, or show any pious behaviour" (Oct. 2001) and religious observances are reported to take place within "tight parameters" (CNN 14 Dec. 2000).
Throughout the 1990s, the Chinese government became increasingly concerned with separatism the Uighur in Xinjiang Autonomous Region (Annual Report on International Religious Freedom for 2001 Oct 2001, section 2; The China Journal July 2000; IND Oct. 2001). This concern has reportedly resulted in a "police crackdown on Muslim religious activity and places of worship accused of supporting separatism in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region" (IND Oct. 2001; AFP 8 Jan. 2002), "political re-education campaigns" for Islamic religious leaders (South China Morning Post 14 Nov. 2001; Xinhua 4 Jan. 2002; HRW 2002), and a general crackdown, from early 2001, towards "ethnic separatists" (DPA 17 Apr. 2001; HRW 2002; Sing Tao Jih Pao 18 Jan. 2001; The Chicago Tribune 18 June 2001; China Study Journal Aug. 2001).
Human Rights Watch (HRW) writes that Chinese authorities have used "religious extremism" and "separatism" to "justify widespread and systematic human rights violations against Uighurs, including many involved in non-violent political, religious and cultural activities" (Oct. 2001).
The October 2001 Human Rights Watch Backgrounder entitled "China: Human Rights Concerns in Xinjiang" provides detailed information on the alleged impacts of Beijing's "Strike Hard Campaign," associated restrictions on religious freedom and Uighur freedom of association and expression. HRW details the authorities' activities in Xinjiang as including:
... widespread arbitrary arrests; closure of places of worship; crackdowns on traditional religious activities, prohibition of personal religious practices in state-controlled institutions such as administrative offices, schools, and enterprises; and the sentencing of thousands of people to harsh prison terms or death after grossly unfair and often summary judicial processes (ibid.).
The East Turkistan Information Centre (ETIC), a federation of Uighur independence groups operating from outside of China, has also released reports that allege mistreatment of the Uighur within Xinjiang (ETIC 29 Oct. 2001; ibid. 5 May 2000; ibid. 12 June 2000). Their Special Report on Violations of Human Rights of Uighurs in East Turkistan by the Chinese Authorities contains numerous allegations of arbitrary detention and imprisonment, summary execution, torture and "forced birth control policy" (29 Oct. 2001).
Following 11 September 2001, several reports expressed concern that the current global sentiment against terrorism would translate into further action against Uighurs in Xinjiang by authorities (HRW Oct. 2001; The Chicago Tribune 10 Nov. 2001; Channel News Asia 8 Nov. 2001, AI 11 Oct. 2001; The New York Times 5 Oct. 2001). According to AFP, between 20 September and 30 November 2001, 166 ethnic Uighurs suspected to be separatists were arrested (4 Jan. 2002), and, according to a police spokesperson, a public rally in Xinjiang at which 21 of 28 alleged separatists were convicted ended in the immediate execution of two (ibid. 15 Nov. 2001).
According to The China Journal, the Chinese government actively promotes Han Chinese migration into Xinjiang, a strategy referred to as "mixing sand" (July 2000, 74). HRW reports that:
This influx has considerably heightened the competition between Han and local ethnic minorities for land and water resources in rural areas, as well as for jobs in urban areas. Local authorities have been more and more inclined to discriminate against local minorities, which has only increased Uighur resentment (Oct. 2001).
Further, the Han immigrant population are reported to be dominant economically and politically (ibid.; The Chicago Tribune 18 June 2001), and, while "senior government posts are often allocated to Uighurs, the real administrative and political power resides in the parallel organizational hierarchy of the Communist Party", whose leaders are mostly Han Chinese (HRW Oct. 2001).
An article in The China Journal describes the following as the situation of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang throughout the 1990s:
[m]any urban ethnic-minority businesspeople complained ... that they had encountered prejudice when seeking access to bank loans and administrative authorizations. Some mentioned that ethnic managers of small state-owned enterprises have been evicted and replaced by Han Chinese. This sidelining of ethnic-minority employees has given rise to a belief that when a work unit downsizes its workforce and lays off (xiagang) workers, cadres will first choose to xia Wei ("sack Uighurs").
Similarly, during the past decade, the education system has had to accommodate a growing number of the newcomers' [Han Chinese] offspring, often at the expense of ethnic-minority students and classes. Funding for schools for the children of local ethnicities (minzu jiaoya) has been falling, while schools offering a "regular education" (zhenggui jiaoyu) in Mandarin are on the rise. Degradation of the ethnic-minority educational facilities, increased political pressure on teachers and students, and fewer job prospects make them feel increasingly discriminated against. Only "minkaohan" (minority students educated within the regular system) are said to have a reasonable chance of escaping discrimination (July 2000).
China Rights Forum also comments on the failure of the Chinese government to provide for the educational needs of children in regions dominated by ethnic minorities (Summer 2001).
According to a report entitled Chinese State Birth Planning in the 1990s and Beyond, commissioned by Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), the application of China's family planning policy has differed between the Han Chinese majority and ethnic minorities:
The distinction between "Han Chinese" and "minority nationalities" is the biggest distinction between provinces in formal birth policy. In order to protect national unity and national defense, the Chinese government has taken great trouble to avoid antagonizing the minority nationalities (of which there are more than 55). More over, because they constitute only 9% of China's population (as of 1995), the minority nationalities represent only a small part of China's population "problem". Consequently, central policy makers applied birth policy earlier and more strictly to Han Chinese areas and later and less strictly to minority nationality areas. When the birth planning program did begin to formalize rules for minorities, it allowed them to have three to four children, not just one to two. ... It was perhaps only in the late 1990s (during the 1996-2000 Five-Year Plan) that the central government seriously began to try to get minority nationalities to move toward the stricter rules enforced on the Han (Sept. 2001).
According to ETIC, the application of birth planning policy to the Uighur in Xinjiang is "strict" and "inhumane" (20 Nov. 2001).
More recent information on the treatment of the Hui than that found in CHN32678.E of 8 September 1999 is scarce among the documents consulted by the Research Directorate, however the Annual Report on International Religious Freedom for 2001 notes the following:
In December [2000], six Hui Muslims were killed by members of Shandong's paramilitary People's Armed Police when they tried to march into Yangxin county to protest anti-Muslim activity there. Central government authorities reacted quickly, punishing several local officials and ordering a number of forums to discuss tolerance. Local Muslim leaders publicly expressed their appreciation for the Government's intervention, but tensions remain high between Hui and non-Hui members of the community (Oct. 2001).
Further information on the treatment of the Hui and this particular incident could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Agence France Presse (AFP) [Hong Kong, in English]. 8 January 2002. "Circular Urges Scrutiny of Muslim Religious, Folk Ceremonies in China's Xinjiang." (FBIS-CHI-2001-0108 8 Jan. 2002/WNC)
_____. 4 January 2002. "PRC Police Arrest 166 Xinjiang Separatists, Criminals During 3-Month Campaign." (FBIS-CHI-2001-0104 4 Jan. 2002/WNC)
_____. 16 November 2001. "China Puts Pressure on Xinjiang Province Muslims During Ramadan." (FBIS-CHI-2001-1116 16 Nov. 2001/WNC)
_____. 15 November 2001. "China Sentences 21 Xinjiang Separatists at a Public Rally." (FBIS-CHI-2001-1115 15 Nov. 2001/WNC)
Amnesty International (AI). 11 October 2001. "China: Fight Against Terrorism No Excuse for Repression." (AI Index ASA 17/032/2001)
Annual Report on International Religious Freedom for 2001. October 2001. Washington, DC. United States Department of State.
Cable News Network (CNN) [Beijing]. 14 December 2000. "Rumblings of Discontent Among Ethnic Muslims on China's Asian Frontier."
Channel News Asia [Singapore]. 8 November 2001. "UN to Press China Against Cracking Down on Ethnic Minorities." (NEXIS)
Chicago Tribune. 10 November 2001. "Reports of Abuses Growing, UN Says." (NEXIS)
_____. 18 June 2001. Michael A. Lev. "In China, A Province Simmers; Beijing Resolute in Keeping Lid on Muslim Uighurs." (NEXIS)
The China Journal [Canberra, Australia]. July 2000. Vol. 44. Nicolas Becquelin. "Xinjiang in the Nineties." Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies Australian National University. Pp. 65-90.
China Rights Forum [New York, NY]. Summer 2001. Vicky Boyle. "Education for Ethnic Minorities: Diversity Neglected in Stress on Manufactured Unity."
China Study Journal. August 2001. Vol 16. No 2. "Clerics Held in Crime Purge." (Hong Kong iMail, 14 May 2001)
Deutsche Press-Agentur (DPA). 17 April 2001. "China Targets Moslem Separatists in Northwest Region." (NEXIS)
East Turkistan Information Centre (ETIC) [Munich]. 29 October 2001. A Special Report on Violations of Human Rights of Uighurs in East Turkistan by the Chinese Authorities.
_____. 5 May 2000. Human Rights Violations in East Turkistan in 1999.
_____. 12 June 2000. Perhat Muhemmedi. "The Chinese Government is Violating its Own Constitution by the Contradictory Religious Campaigns in Eastern Turkestan."
_____. 20 November 2001. China's Birth Control Policy Towards Uighurs.
Human Rights Watch (HRW). October 2001. "China: Human Rights Concerns in Xinjiang." Backgrounder.
_____. January 2002. Human Rights Watch World Report 2002.
Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND), Home Office, UK. October 2001. China Country Assessment.
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). September 2001. Susan Greenhalgh and Edwin Winckler. Perspective Series: Chinese State Birth Planning in the 1990s and Beyond. INS Resource Information Centre. Washington, D.C.
The New York Times. 5 October 2001. Craig S. Smith. "Fearing Unrest, China Presses Muslim Group."
People's Daily Online [Beijing]. 6 December 2001. "Life as Usual for Muslims in China."
Sing Tao Jih Pao [Hong Kong, in Chinese]. 18 January 2001. "Region Intensifies Crackdown on Uighur Separatists." (BBC Summary 20 Jan. 2001/NEXIS)
South China Morning Post [Hong Kong, in English]. 14 November 2001. "China Steps up 'Political Re-education Campaign' for Xinjiang Mosque Leaders." (BBC Summary 14 Nov. 2001/NEXIS)
Xinhua [Beijing, in English]. 4 January 2002. "China: Islamic Leaders of Different Ethnic Backgrounds Receive Training." (FBIS-CHI-2002-0104 4 Jan. 2002/WNC)
Additional Sources Consulted
Asia Week
Asian Survey
China Perspectives
IRB Databases
Internet Sites including:
Human Rights in China
The Mail Archive, Uighur News List
Minorities at Risk
Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO)
Search Engines used:
Yahoo
