Opinion | Why Xi Jinping’s muscular approach in Tibet, Xinjiang and Hong Kong will backfire

Name: Xinjiang’s vanishing mosques reflect growing pressure on China’s Uygur Muslims
Uploaded: 2020-11-23T20:00:11.000Z
Duration: 1 min 55 s
Description: Xinjiang’s vanishing mosques reflect growing pressure on China’s Uygur Muslims

The clamping down on the rights of those living in China’s periphery is not unprecedented, but the resurgence of these policies may make tensions even more intractable, instead of leading to long-lasting stability

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A men wearing a “Free Tibet” T-shirt is surrounded by police in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, on China’s National Day on October 1. Photo: AP

Allen Carlson

Published: 4:00am, 24 Nov 2020Updated: 4:34am, 24 Nov 2020

A narrative has taken root around the world that China under President Xi Jinping is making an unprecedented move to strip away the rights previously granted to those living on the country’s periphery. Such a story is wrong.

Not because the Chinese leader isn’t clamping down on this population. He is. But, rather, it lacks proper historical perspective. For while Beijing has long pledged to protect China’s border regions, autonomy for those who call such places home has never been more than a false promise.

Yet, over time, within the walls of such an empty fortress, Chinese policies have varied.

During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) a harshly assimilationist line dominated. Monasteries and mosques were torn down throughout the country, including in Tibet and Xinjiang. Religious practices were effectively banned. Tibetans could not openly express their Buddhist faith. And Uygurs’ faith in Islam was also closeted in fear of it being labelled anti-revolutionary.

While Hong Kong was beyond China’s control at this juncture, it also did not escape unscathed.

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Xinjiang’s vanishing mosques reflect growing pressure on China’s Uygur Muslims

Following Mao’s death in 1976, Beijing began to govern with a softer hand. In Tibetan regions, monastic institutions were rebuilt. Muslims in Xinjiang (and the rest of China) were once again given wide berth to observe Ramadan and to take part in the haj. A compromise was also reached with the British regarding the resumption of Chinese sovereignty over Hong Kong beginning on July 1, 1997.

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