In Tonghai county, harsh repression of protests over a renovation plan that wants to impose the reconstruction of the dome “in the Chinese style”. Through symbols, the authorities tighten their control and censorship over religions. They cut communications and censored the search “Najiaying Mosque” on Weibo. They removed Arabic words from Muslim shop signs.
Beijing () – The Muslim community of a city in southwestern China has been in fierce clashes with law enforcement throughout the weekend, in an attempt to prevent them from demolishing the Arab-style dome of a mosque as ordered by the authorities . According to the project promoted by the local administration, the new vault will be built in the “Chinese style”, which sparked the ire of the Islamic faithful. Police officers in riot gear surrounded the place of worship, hampered by Muslims (here the video) who tried to stop him. Local sources report that the plan to renovate and remodel the mosque is part of a broader “sinicization” plan – which also affects Christians – in order to strengthen religious control.
The clashes took place in front of the Najiaying Mosque (纳家营清真寺), in the city of Nagu, in Tonghai County, Yunnan Province (云南省通海县纳古镇), an area where the Hui Muslim ethnic group is the majority. compared to the rest of the country. On May 27, Islamic worshipers rallied in front of the place of worship to try to oppose the authorities who had ordered the demolition of the dome. The locals promoted sit-ins in front of the mosque day and night, in an attempt to protect it. Videos circulating online showed officers in riot gear using shields to block protesters’ access as they began to throw cobblestones and stones at police. Some protesters broke through the blockade and tore down the scaffolding that had been previously installed to allow for demolition work on the façade.
On May 28, more agents arrived in the vicinity of the mosque, while new images were spreading on the networks showing dozens of police vehicles stationed around the building.
The Najiaying Mosque dates back to the 13th century and was a Muslim place of worship inspired by a Chinese-style temple. The current building is the result of a 2004 renovation, in which a Moorish-style dome and four towers were built, and can accommodate up to 3,000 people for prayer. Today, the mosque is an important place of worship for the local Muslim community, not only for the faithful but also for the authorities themselves, who wanted to restore it to its old Chinese style as part of a larger project of “sinicization” of places of worship and religions. According to him Washington Postthe conflict could have its origin in a 2020 court ruling that had declared part of the building’s structure illegal.
Local authorities are urging protesters to turn themselves in to police by June 6 to benefit from lighter punishment. Telephone calls to the city went unanswered, since the police reportedly sent vehicles with devices on board to interrupt mobile phone communications, which were mostly cut off or interrupted. Meanwhile, videos and information about the reasons for the protest are also censored on Chinese social media. Searching for “Najiaying Mosque” on Weibo, a Chinese service similar to Twitter, yields no results.
The Chinese authorities advocate the concept of “sinicization” to tighten control over the cult. Religious groups are ordered to preach the ideology of the Chinese Communist Party, including Xi Jinping Thought, and to reinterpret “basic socialist values” as part of religions’ doctrines and ethics. In recent years, Beijing has imposed further restrictions on Xinjiang and an estimated 1 million ethnic Chinese Muslims – including Uyghurs and Kazakhs – are incarcerated in re-education camps. The authorities have denied the existence of the camps, claiming that what are called detention centers are actually schools for vocational training and fighting (Islamic) extremism.
Efforts by the authorities to sinicize other Muslim groups have quietly spread outside of Xinjiang. In the past, the Chinese-speaking Hui ethnic group was more tolerated, but since 2019 they have also come under greater scrutiny. The government has removed domes and symbols such as the crescent moon, converting buildings in Yunnan, Ningxia and Qinghai, where there are large Muslim populations, to the Chinese style. Finally, across the country Islamic symbols and Arabic words were also removed from Muslim shop signs.
