Foreign governments, particularly member countries of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, should press the Chinese government to cease its mosque consolidation policy and the broader ‘sinicisation’ campaign.
Team Clarion
NEW YORK — The Chinese government is significantly reducing the number of mosques in Ningxia and Gansu provinces under its “mosque consolidation” policy, in violation of the right to freedom of religion, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said.
Chinese authorities have decommissioned, closed down, demolished, and converted mosques for secular use as part of the government’s efforts to restrict the practice of Islam. The authorities have removed Islamic architectural features, such as domes and minarets, from many other mosques.
“The Chinese government is not ‘consolidating’ mosques as it claims, but closing down many in violation of religious freedom,” said Maya Wang, acting China director at Human Rights Watch, this week. “The Chinese government’s closure, destruction, and repurposing of mosques is part of a systematic effort to curb the practice of Islam in China.”
Chinese law allows people to practice only in officially approved places of worship of officially approved religions, and authorities retain strict control over houses of worship. Since 2016, when President Xi Jinping called for the “Sinicisation” of religions, which aims to ensure that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is the arbiter of people’s spiritual life, state control over religion has strengthened.
Available government documents suggest that the Chinese government has been “consolidating” mosques in Ningxia and Gansu provinces, which have the highest Muslim populations in China after Xinjiang. Since 2017, Chinese authorities in Xinjiang have damaged or destroyed two-thirds of the region’s mosques, according to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI). About half have been demolished outright.
In Ningxia, Human Rights Watch has verified and analysed videos and pictures posted online by Hui Muslims and used satellite imagery to corroborate them in order to examine the policy’s implementation in two villages. Of these villages’ seven mosques, four had significant destruction: three main buildings had been razed and the ablution hall of one was damaged inside. The authorities have removed the domes and minarets of all seven mosques.
Human Rights Watch said it was unable to determine the number of mosques shuttered or repurposed throughout Ningxia and Gansu, as official documents do not give precise details. It is estimated that one-third of mosques in Ningxia have been closed since 2020. A March 2021 Radio Free Asia report estimated that between 400 and 500 mosques faced closure in Ningxia, which had 4,203 mosques as of 2014.
The Chinese government claims that the mosque consolidation policy aims to “reduce the economic burden” on Muslims, especially those who live in impoverished and rural areas. Action against mosques often takes place as the Chinese government relocates villagers from these areas, consolidating several villages into one. The government also claims that as different Islamic denominations share the same venues, they learn to become more “unified” and “harmonious.”
Some Muslims have publicly opposed the policy, despite government censorship. In January 2021, Ningxia officials indicted five Muslims for “creating disturbances” after they led 20 people to oppose the policy at the village party chief’s office. People have also protested mosque closures and demolitions, as well as the removal of domes and minarets in Ningxia, Gansu and other regions such as Qinghai and Yunnan.
Foreign governments, particularly member countries of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), should press the Chinese government to cease its mosque consolidation policy and the broader sinicisation campaign, the HRW said.
“The Chinese government’s policies of sinicisation show a blanket disregard for freedom of religion not only of all Muslims in China, but all religious communities in the country,” Wang said. “Governments concerned about religious freedom should raise these issues directly with the Chinese government and at the United Nations and other international forums,” he added.
