China bans clothing associated with religious extremism

China has criminalized clothing associated with "religious extremism" in new amendments that further narrow the definition of terrorism in a bid to ta

Nov 03, 2015

BEIJING, CHINA: China has criminalized clothing associated with "religious extremism" in new amendments that further narrow the definition of terrorism in a bid to tackle Muslim separatist violence in Xinjiang.

Amendments to the Criminal Law announced by China's highest court Nov. 1 included preparing an attack, inciting terrorism, using extremism to break the law, carrying goods for terrorism purposes and wearing clothing or logos linked to religious extremism.

"Anyone who violently forces others to wear such garments will be put under surveillance, detained or face a maximum of three years in prison," reported the state-run Global Times, a nationalistic tabloid printed in Chinese and English.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Supreme People's Court did not define what constitutes extremist garments or symbols, in a brief joint statement. State media said the amendments were designed to target extremism in Xinjiang, home to more than 12 million minority Muslim Uighurs.

Under President Xi Jinping, China has tightened restrictions against religious groups deemed a threat to China's sovereignty, national security or Communist Party power.

Authorities in Zhejiang province have removed at least 1,200 church crosses since the end of 2013.

Xinjiang issued a ban on burqas in January and has urged residents to inform on women wearing burqas and young men with "large beards." T-shirts and flags featuring the Islamic crescent — also the symbol of the pro-independence East Turkestan flag — are also banned.

China's heavily shackled state media has quoted a number of experts on religion and security praising the new legislation as a means to tackle separatist violence that reportedly left at least 500 dead across China last year.

"The key to fighting terrorist attacks is to root the extremists out, so I'm glad to see the revised Criminal Law has highlighted this. The law also provides us with the legal basis to fight extremism and I believe it will be more effective," Ma Pinyan, a researcher at the Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences, was quoted as saying by state news agency Xinhua.

The former editor of the Xinjiang Daily, Zhao Xinwei, was fired and expelled from the Communist Party for "improperly discussing" government policy on Xinjiang, according to a separate announcement by Xinhua on Nov. 2. It was unclear whether the charges against Zhao related specifically to the new legal amendments.

China's social media has included freer discussion on the new measures. Still, most users reposted news of the amendments from official sources or appeared to agree they were necessary in the name of national stability.

"Such deliberately vague wording leaves judicial practice inoperable," wrote one user on micro-blogging site Weibo, in rare criticism.

Defending stricter rules on Islamic dress, the government and state media have likened China's new rules to burqa bans in European countries including France. Officials have also stated that burqas were never traditionally worn in Xinjiang, warning their recent popularity stems from opposition to Communist Party rule.

Timothy Grose, an assistant professor of China studies at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, said this claim was partly correct although travelers to Xinjiang in the late 1800s reported women wearing a netted veil, a tor romal, which is still worn today.

"To be sure, veiling may sometimes be a political or religious act, but the decision to cover is mediated in complex ways by shifting community standards, global fashion trends and consumption practices," he told.--Ucannews.com