Why China is banning beards and veils in Xinjiang

by Dramelin 8:00 PM 0 comments

There has been a spate of high-profile attacks involving ethnic Uyghurs, a Turkic-speaking minority, outside the province.
"They`re doubling down on security in Xinjiang," said James Leibold, an associate professor at Australia`s Le Trobe University, whose research focuses on China`s Uyghur minority.
Tensions have arisen between Uyghurs and the Han, the predominant ethnic group in China, who have migrated to Xinjiang in large numbers over the past 60 years.
The Uyghurs are largely Muslims, who are the dominant ethnic group in Xinjiang, a large autonomous region that borders Russia, Mongolia, central and south Asia.
China is intensifying its crackdown against what it deems religious extremism in the far-west province of Xinjiang, which is home to 10 million Muslims.