Thread by @DSORennie

China puts a lot of work into covering up repression in Xinjiang, wheeling out party-approved imams and diplomats from Iran, Russia and other allies to declare that Islam is flourishing. Here’s some on the ground reporting from Xinjiang this week 1/ economist.com/china/2024/04/…

I went to Urumqi and Turpan this week for the final days of Ramadan and the Eid al-Fitr holiday. Independent reporting from Xinjiang runs constant risks of harming Uyghurs, who face arrest for speaking to foreign media. I was followed by plain-clothes agents on foot and by car 2/

My column reports what I heard and saw about an apparent ban on fasting for Ramadan, and hard evidence of cancelled Iftar suppers in a mosque once praised by state media for feeding worshippers. Here are some photos showing additional signs of forced secularisation 3/

This is the lovely, adobe-brick mosque in the shadow of an 18th century minaret, the Sugong Tower 苏公塔 in the vineyards outside Turpan, an oasis town watered by mountain streams. It used to attract large crowds of local Muslims for Eid. 4/

It is now a museum and “patriotic education base”, offering a party-approved take on 18th century wars between local rulers to turn a Uyghur chieftain into a Chinese patriot. No mention is made of its role as a mosque, until a few years ago. 5/

Let me take you on a walk from the Sugong Tower back into central Turpan, down a lovely, tree-lined rural lane, Jiefang Lu 解放路 (Liberation Road). Chinese propaganda insists that it’s a “ridiculous lie” to say that Xinjiang mosques have been closed or damaged. Let’s go 6/

This is the Kangka Mosque 康卡清真寺 on Jiefang Road. It’s padlocked, the interior courtyard is full of dust and locals say it’s closed like many others nearby. 7/

Further down Jiefang Road there used to be a pair of mosques side by side, the Guanxiang 关乡 and Youlewu 优勒乌清真寺. These are images from Baidu street view from May 2016 8/

The Guanxiang mosque on the right has had the tops removed from its minarets. The Youlewu mosque to the left has been part-demolished and is now a car park. What remains of its gate is entombed in cement panels. Where they’ve crumbled the original tiled columns may be seen 9/

Reporting on forced secularisation in Xinjiang, the attention to detail stands out. Many Uyghur homes on Jiefang Road have colourful tiled pictures over the entrance gates. They’ve been defaced with paint, cement or boards. In each case the image being hidden is of a mosque 10/

Lastly, here’s the Dongda Mosque 东大寺 in Turpan. I went the night before Eid and again at dawn on Wednesday. I found plain-clothes men blocking the lane with cars and questioning locals arriving for prayers. “The foreign journalist is back,” I heard, and the cars moved 11/

Several dozen older men came to pray for Eid. After prayers they were lined up in the mosque garden to watch a flag raising. An amplified voice told them to be respectful, not talk, and that patriotism is their duty. A few Han Chinese officials belted out the national anthem 12/

I heard worshippers at the Dongda Mosque being told “After raising the national flag, we will prepare for follow-up meetings and activities.” Turpan’s backstreets felt subdued and I saw none of the crowds of happy families in new clothes that are traditional at Eid 13/

To end, I see comments asking why this isn’t a report on the war in Gaza. We are reporting that in @TheEconomist , as we should. This is a thread about China, and forced secularisation in Xinjiang. I’m privileged to be a reporter on the ground in China. This is what I saw. 14/fin