After the persecution of Uighur Muslims, now the state-sponsored violence on another community is being reported from China. The new restrictions in Sanya, a city on the resort island of Hainan, underlines the fact that China is following the principle of eradication of alien cultures and put forward its Han culture.
Authorities have closed two Islamic schools and have twice tried to bar female students from wearing headscarves.
Signs on shops and homes that read “Allahu akbar” – “God is greatest” in Arabic – have been covered with foot-wide stickers promoting the “China Dream”, a nationalistic official slogan. The Chinese characters for halal, meaning permissible under Islam, have been removed from restaurant signs and menus. Authorities have closed two Islamic schools and have twice tried to bar female students from wearing headscarves.
“We need to use ethnic differences as a foundation on which to build a unified Chinese consciousness,” said Xiong Kunxin, a professor of ethnic studies at Minzu University in Beijing. “This is the direction of China’s future development.” For now, the Utsuls are in an uneasy coexistence with authorities.
The government sees the assimilation of China’s various ethnic minorities as key to building a stronger nation.
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