International media attention persuaded the CCP to “postpone” the destruction of the mosques’ “Arabic” features. It has now started again.
by Chen Tao
On June 1, 2023, Bitter Winter reported on protests over the “Sinicization” of the Najiaying Mosque in Yunnan and the authorities’ plans to “Sinicize” the Shadian Grand Mosque in the same province. Ostensibly, the “Sinicization” of the Najiaying mosque was suspended after protests by local Hui Muslims and international media attention. However, Bitter Winter has received an update that local authorities in Yunnan have in fact continued to move forward with the “Sinicization” of the local mosques in June.
The day after the May 27 protest, authorities in the town of Nagu, Tonghai County, Yuxi City, Yunnan Province, posted on a local street bulletin board the same “Notice on Urging Relevant Criminal Suspects to Surrender” that authorities had posted online, and displayed a “rendering of the Najiaying Mosque” that clearly informed the local people that the mosque would be transformed into a Chinese-style building.
On June 15, local authorities posted a notice issued in the name of the head of Najiaying Mosque, Najiaying Mosque Management Committee, and Najiaying Mosque Supervisory Committee, announcing that “the mosque is scheduled to gradually resume construction on June 17, the construction cycle will be about six months, the construction area is closed to management, no unauthorized entry of extraneous personnel and vehicles [will be allowed].”
Although the notice claims that the “renovation” work will be carried out and supervised by the Najiaying Mosque, Ma Ju, a U.S.-based Muslim dissident who was the first to disclose online that the “Sinicization” of the Najiaying Mosque had triggered protests, tweeted, “The temple management committee and supervisory committee mentioned in the notice are not elected by the people, and the original organization has been forcibly dissolved by the CCP, and the members of the existing organization are either ‘patriotic and religious’ (爱国爱教) CCP supporters or long-term ‘lurkers’ of the CCP’s United Front Organization, and do not represent the will of the people.”
Pictures and videos received by Bitter Winter also show that the local authorities have begun again the “Sinicization” of the Najiaying mosque, with scaffolding already erected around the minaret and dome to begin dismantling it. Even after it rained in the area, construction workers were pressured by the authorities to carry out the work despite the weather.
While the Najiaying Mosque is being “Sinicized,” Yunnan authorities are also taking the “Sinicization” of the Shadian Grand Mosque（沙甸大清真寺, the only mosque in Yunnan previously to retain its Arabic architecture apart from the Najiaying mosque) very seriously.
On June 8, the police of Honghe Prefecture, where the Shadian Grand Mosque is located, publicly issued a notice on its WeChat public account about “cracking down on disrupting social order and other illegal and criminal acts,” warning local people against “illegal gatherings and processions” and “spreading false information on the Internet.” Although the notice did not mention the renovation plan of the Shadian Grand Mosque, it was widely believed to be a warning to local Muslims not to follow the example of the May 27 demonstration in Naga town after the “Sinicization” of the Najiaying Mosque began.
Sources told Bitter Winter that although the internet at the site of the Najiaying mosque has been restored after a period of disruption, many people in Najiaying and Shadian have recently received calls from the local police, telling them that they are not allowed to use VPNs to browse social media platforms outside of China, nor are they allowed to take or post pictures or videos related to the mosques’ “Sinicization.”
Bitter Winter also learned from an informed source in Chuxiong, Yunnan province, that the Chuxiong City District New Mosque (楚雄市城区清真寺新寺), which was completed on 21 April 2018 to replace the Guanxiang Street Mosque in Chuxiong City (楚雄市观像街城区清真寺), which was demolished by the authorities on 20 November 2019 (a matter that sparked protests at the time and was reported by RFA and NTDTV), was also “Sinicized” in early September 2022, with the Arabic-style minaret and dome removed and replaced with a completely Chinese structure.
This informant also revealed to Bitter Winter that the Guanxiang Street Mosque in Chuxiong City was forcibly demolished because the authorities had previously included it in the shantytown renovation, and wanted to take it back to build houses for developers. At the time, a new mosque was purposely built to convince the Muslims to accept the matter, advertising that the new place of worship was “uniquely Islamic.” “The new mosque, which was originally built to appease the Muslims, has hardly escaped being ‘Sinicized.’ It seems that the government has really come down hard on the Hui Muslims and can turn its back on what it promised before,” the informant said.
