China’s ruling Communist Party is hardening its rhetoric on Islam, with top officials making repeated warnings about the spectre of global religious extremism seeping into the country and the need to protect traditional Chinese identity. Officials from Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, which has an ethnic Hui population that is predominantly Muslim but, unlike Xinjiang, rarely sees separatist or religious violence, warned similarly this past week about the perils of Islamic extremism. Speaking at a regional meeting open to the media, Ningxia Communist Party secretary Li Jianguo drew comparisons to the policies of President Donald Trump’s administration to make his point. The government, meanwhile, says Xinjiang faces a grave separatist threat from Uighur fighters linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, though it provides little evidence for such claims. As was the case for several other regions and provinces, most of the Xinjiang delegation’s meetings were conducted with top Chinese leaders behind closed doors this past week, according to state media reports.

Source: Dhaka Tribune March 12, 2017 14:46 UTC