China is reportedly closing, destroying, and repurposing mosques as part of a "systematic effort" to curb the practice of Islam in the country. The crackdown is part of a "systemic effort" to align religion with its political ideology and Chinese culture, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). There are about 20 million Muslims in China, which is officially atheist but claims to allow religious freedom. However, observers say there has been an increased crackdown on organized religion in recent years, with Beijing seeking greater control.
The report follows mounting evidence of systematic human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims in China's north-western Xinjiang region. Most of China's Muslims live in the country's north-west, which includes Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, and Ningxia. In the Muslim-majority village of Liaoqiao in the autonomous region of Ningxia, three of six mosques have been stripped of their domes and minarets, while the rest have had their main prayer halls destroyed. Satellite footage obtained by HRW showed a round dome at a mosque in Liaoqiao village being replaced by a Chinese-style pagoda sometime between October 2018 and January 2020. About 1,300 mosques in Ningxia have been closed or converted since 2020, representing a third of the total mosques in the region.
Under China's leader Xi Jinping, the Communist Party has sought to align religion with its political ideology and Chinese culture. In 2018, the Chinese Communist Party's central committee published a document urging state governments to "demolish more and build fewer, and make efforts to compress the overall number" of such structures. The construction, layout, and funding of mosques must be "strictly monitored".
There are two major Muslim ethnic groups in China: the Huis, descended from Muslims who arrived in China in the 8th Century during the Tang Dynasty, and the Uyghurs, mostly residing in Xinjiang. About two-thirds of the mosques in Xinjiang have been damaged or destroyed since 2017, according to a report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, an independent think-tank.
The Chinese government claims the consolidation of mosques helps reduce the economic burden on Muslims, but some Hui Muslims believe it is part of efforts to redirect their loyalty towards the Party. Some residents have publicly opposed these "Sinicisation" policies, but their resistance has so far been futile. Local governments would then remove facilities essential for religious activities such as ablution halls and preacher's podiums after removing external elements from mosques.
Before the "Sinicisation" campaigns, Hui Muslims have received support and encouragement from the state. The campaign has radically narrowed the space in which it is possible to be Muslim in China, putting the weight of the state behind a very particular vision of patriotism and religious observance.
