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China to Scrutinize Muslim Religious and Folk Customs
in Xinjiang
BEIJING, Jan 8 (AFP) - China is
stepping up control of Muslim religious and folk
customs in its western-most Xinjiang region, as
Beijing cracks down on separatist groups there,
government and other sources said Tuesday.
The government of Yili prefecture, a hotbed of Muslim
unrest in China's border region with Kazhakstan, has
issued a circular calling on officials to step up
surveillance of local religious and folk customs, the
Munich-based East Turkestan Information Center said.
The circular specifically targets weddings and
funerals as well as circumcision ceremonies,
house-moving rituals and the wearing of ear rings, the
center said in a statement.
"Since the September 11 terrorist incident (on the
United States), the Chinese government is not only
using counter-terrorism to strike at Uighur people
legally seeking political rights, but now views
traditional ethnic lifestyles as a major element of
instability," the center said.
Ethnic Uighur government and party officials have been
told to seek permission before attending any such
festivals or ceremonies and report back to the
government upon the completion of their activities,
the circular said.
An official from the Communist Party office of Yili
prefecture told AFP by phone that the circular was
issued on January 3, but was aimed at "establishing
spiritual civilization," curbing waste at
over-extravagant ceremonies and eradicating "feudal,
superstitious and backward ideas."
The regulations applied only to Yili prefecture and
not to the whole of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous
Region, he said.
"This is not the first time we've had this kind of
document, we are always issuing these. This is not
aimed at the religious practices of ethnic minorities,"
he said, while declining to identify himself.
Violent clashes between the majority Muslim population
in Yili in February 1997 and July 1998, resulted in
the arrests of hundreds of suspected separatists and
the execution of scores of Muslim's convicted of "endangering
state security" and other crimes against the state.
China has stepped up its crackdown in the region since
the September 11 attacks on the United States and the
subsequent bombing of neighboring Afghanistan.
Besides arresting suspected separatists, Beijing has
clamped down on religious, educational and other
cultural activities.
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ETIC REPORT 2000 
