President Xi Jinping has urged officials to make greater efforts to preserve the idea that faiths in the nation should conform to the socialist society being sought by the Communist Party of China, which is now in power, and that Islam in China must be Chinese in orientation.
Xi travelled to the dangerous Xinjiang region, where Chinese security forces have been attempting for years to quell Uygur Muslim demonstrations against Han Chinese communities outside the province.
Xi spoke with officials during his four-day tour of the area, which began on July 12. According to the state media, he emphasised developing a strong feeling of community for the Chinese people and encouraging encounters, exchanges, and integration among various ethnic groups.
Xi emphasised the necessity of enhancing religious affairs’ capacity for governance and realising the healthy development of religions. He was reported by the state news agency as stating that greater efforts should be made to defend the notion that Islam in China must be Chinese in orientation and to adapt faiths to socialist society.
According to Xi, believers’ basic religious requirements should be met, and they should stick together tightly around the party and the government.
The president has been promoting the “sinicization” of Islam for the last few years, which is a general term for aligning it with the ideologies of the Communist Party, which is currently in power.
China has been defending itself against claims that it imprisons Uygur Muslims in large numbers in camps, which Beijing refers to as social reform and education facilities.
China holds the regionally active separatist East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) responsible for multiple terrorist attacks.
Beijing also disputes US and EU claims of a genocide against Muslims in the province and downplays Western claims of widespread human rights abuses against Uygur Muslims.
Following protracted negotiations with Beijing, Michelle Bachelet, the head of the UN Human Rights Council, recently paid a visit to Xinjiang to investigate claims that more than a million Uygur Muslims of various ages had been interned as part of China’s campaign against Islamist extremists.
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