China Expands Mosque Closures Beyond Xinjiang, Human Rights Watch Reports

The Chinese government has extended its campaign of closing mosques beyond the troubled Xinjiang region, according to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report released on Wednesday. Beijing has long been criticised for its treatment of Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.

Local authorities are reportedly closing mosques and altering their architectural designs to align with a more "Chinese" style. This expansion of the mosque closure campaign is part of the broader initiative by the Communist Party to exert increased control over religious practices and minimise potential threats to its authority, as highlighted in the HRW report.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has historically maintained strict control over China’s religious and ethnic minorities. Since 2016, when China's leader, Xi Jinping, called for the sinicization of China’s religions, the pace and intensity of alterations to mosques have escalated.

In April 2018, Beijing issued a directive instructing government officials to "strictly control the construction and layout of Islamic activity venues" and to "adhere to the principle of demolishing more and building less."

HRW researchers analysed satellite imagery to assess the mosque consolidation policy in two villages in Ningxia. The findings revealed that between 2019 and 2021, domes and minarets were removed from all seven mosques. Additionally, four of the mosques underwent significant alterations, including the demolition of three main buildings and damage to the ablution hall of one.

The international community has previously raised concerns about China's treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities.  Human rights groups estimate that China has detained more than one million Uyghurs against their will in a network of what the state terms "re-education camps." Hundreds of thousands have reportedly been sentenced to prison terms. Xinjiang is home to approximately 12 million Uyghurs, mostly Muslim, who see themselves as culturally and ethnically close to Central Asian nations. China, however, has consistently denied all allegations of human rights abuses in Xinjiang.