Chinese Hui mosque protest ends after authorities promise to consult community
Talks on changes to new place of worship to begin after major Islamic festival next week, residents say
A three-day protest by thousands of ethnic Hui Muslims in northwest China came to a quiet end over the weekend, after authorities held off on demolition of a new mosque and promised not to alter its appearance without community approval.
The peaceful gathering at the Weizhou Grand Mosque, which started on Thursday over a government ultimatum to demolish the building, was by far the biggest show of opposition by the Hui against a sweeping Communist Party push to “Sinicise religion”, including Islam.
China delays plan to demolish Weizhou Grand Mosque after protest by Hui Muslims
Residents in Weizhou, a Hui town of about 20,000 people in the northern Ningxia region on the Yellow River floodplain, said that life was returning to normal after assurances were given on Saturday afternoon by the chief of Tongxin county, which governs Weizhou.
“It’s all calmed down now,” a resident who witnessed the protest said. “The county’s party chief has told everyone that the mosque is to be revamped, not demolished, and the reconstruction will only take place after everyone is happy [with the renovation plan].”
A business owner said: “[The county chief] said we should first celebrate Eid al-Adha, and negotiations over the reconstruction could resume afterwards.” Eid al-Adha, known as “festival of sacrifice”, is one of the two major annual Islamic festivals and starts next week, running over four days.