MCLC: Uighurs have to face China flag

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: Han Meng <hanmeng at gmail.com>
Subject: Uighurs have to face China flag
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My alternate title: "Pledge allegiance to the flag"

Han Meng

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Source: Al Jazeera America (9/18/13):
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/9/18/uighurs-bow-downtochinesefl
agatxinjiangmosque.html

Uighurs at Xinjiang mosque have to face China flag when praying
by Massoud Hayoun

Activists say local officials' move aims to 'dilute the religious
environment' in the restive region

Authorities have placed a Chinese flag at the head of a mosque in western
China, forcing ethnic Uighurs to bow to it when they worship, Uighur
activists said Wednesday.

The local government in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region’s Aksu area
placed the flag over the mihrab -- the traditional prayer niche that
points the direction to Mecca -- prominent Uighur rights advocate Ilham
Tohti told Al Jazeera. He called it an effort to “dilute the religious
environment” in the area, where minority Uighurs often complain of ethnic
and religious repression.

Al Jazeera was not able to independently verify the report at time of
publication, and Aksu officials did not respond to multiple calls for
comment.

Reports from Uighurs in the area said the placement of the flag has upset
residents amid a series of fresh religious restrictions, which analysts
say Beijing hopes will integrate Uighurs into Chinese society and pacify
the strategically important region. Xinjiang is perennially rocked by
clashes between Muslim Uighurs and China’s majority ethnic Han Chinese.

“They placed the flag at a very sensitive place in the mosque,” Tohti
said, explaining that he has seen Chinese flags prominently positioned in
mosques in China before -- but never in such a sensitive spot.

Tohti noted that Muslims pray facing Mecca in Saudi Arabia, but Chinese
law and authorities demand unwavering allegiance to Beijing.

“They are essentially saying the flag is higher than religion,” he said.

Authorities in Xinjiang have recently imposed new restrictions on
religious behavior. These including posting signs across the region
barring women from wearing headscarves in public venues.

Tohti said the religious restrictions -- in a Chinese region bordered by
Kyrgzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan -- are part of Beijing’s
attempts to secure its business inroads in Central Asia, which analysts
say is set to become a leading source of China’s natural energy imports.

“China is opening up its foreign affairs to the West. They hope not to
have any problems as they expand their influence, especially not in
Xinjiang. They are worried about this danger,” Tohti said.

China’s efforts to promote calm in a region that is key to its economic
endeavors appear to be two-pronged. New religious restrictions compound
decades-old bans on minors entering mosques to receive religious
instruction and attempt to curb traditional fasting during the Muslim holy
month of Ramadan. The government has also engaged in a protracted
crackdown on what Beijing calls violent Uighur separatists.

Radio Free Asia reported Tuesday that local officials said 12 more Uighurs
had been killed in a raid in western Xinjiang last month, bringing the
total reported dead in crackdowns that month to 34.

Beijing attributed the ethnic clashes that killed at least 21 in April and
another 27 in July -- after similar riots that killed hundreds in 2008 and
2009 -- to what it calls "terrorist" and "separatist" groups. Uighurs say
the assailants are upset with social repression and a lack of
opportunities to partake in the Han Chinese-dominated local economy.

“In (his recent visit to) Central Asian states, President Xi [Jinping] was
really pointing out a Uighur terrorist threat,” said Sean Roberts, a
George Washington University professor specializing on Chinese and Central
Asian affairs.

“In context of U.S. military pull-out of Afghanistan, China is concerned
about ruffling feathers of Muslim populations to the West, as they have
large plans of expansion of influence into Pakistan and Central Asian
Muslim majority countries,” he said.

But Roberts said it appears that Beijing's current methods are less than
effective.

“Putting myself in the position of Chinese bureaucrats, their strategy is
not working, so they are pushing it harder and harder. And their strategy
is only exacerbating the problem.”

Tohti offered his own suggestions for a new strategy.

“If China really believes Uighurs are part of the country, then meet your
responsibility to them. Uighurs are impoverished and have no rights. China
needs to improve their living standards,” Tohti said.