Mounting Islamophobia in the West has emboldened Beijing\u2019s repression of Uyghur human rights.<\/p>\n
By Massoud Hayoun
\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200bMay 3, 2017<\/p>\n
China\u2019s crackdown on its ethnic Uyghurs<\/a> has targeted the predominantly Muslim minority\u2019s beards, headscarfs, and even kebabs; now Chinese officials are banning<\/a> some Uyghur baby names.<\/p>\n That Beijing often aims to repress these symbols of Uyghur culture and faith has been interpreted as invasive, surreal, and draconian by members of the international press<\/a> and rights groups<\/a> alike. And it\u2019s getting worse, analysts say, because rising Islamophobic policy in the West has only emboldened Beijing\u2019s repression of Uyghur civil liberties.<\/p>\n Authorities in Xinjiang, the far-Western Chinese region abutting Central Asia from which the Uyghurs originate, have banned 29 Muslim and culturally Uyghur names, the media reported last month. Much of the reporting incorrectly<\/a> characterized<\/a> the bans as focusing on Muslim names, but several secular Uyghur-language names were also included in a measure called \u201cNaming Rules for Ethnic Minorities,\u201d according to Henryk Szadziewski<\/a>, senior researcher at the Washington, D.C., advocacy group Uyghur Human Rights Project.<\/p>\n \u201cThose with banned names would not be able to register for a hukou <\/em>[Editor\u2019s Note<\/em><\/strong>: Hukou refers to China\u2019s household registration system that determines where Chinese nationals\u200a\u2014\u200aincluding Uyghurs\u200a\u2014\u200aare allowed to live, work, and attend school<\/em>], nor send their children to school, or be permitted to use the health-care system. Imams, who are traditionally present at naming ceremonies, have been ordered to obey the new name blacklist,\u201d Szadziewski says.<\/p>\n Individual regions of Xinjiang have banned Uyghur names in the past. But this latest measure, much broader in scope, is part of a new regulation imposed last month called the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Regulation on De-extremification, explains Peter Irwin, project manager with the World Uyghur Congress<\/a>, a group that aims to represent the interest of Uyghurs internationally. Irwin points out article 9(8) of the regulation, which prohibits \u201cspreading religious fanaticism through irregular beards or name selection.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAlthough we are not surprised by the news, it does show clearly how far the Chinese government continues to push in terms of suppressing Uyghur identity through cultural and religious expression,\u201d Irwin says.<\/p>\n China\u2019s measure has certainly piqued the interest of America\u2019s far-right. Last week, Breitbart published an article entitled \u201cChina Bans Dozens of Islamic Names in Muslim Xinjiang: \u2018Jihad,\u2019 \u2018Saddam,\u2019 \u2018Muhammad.\u2019<\/a>\u201d (Despite what the Breitbart headline claims, Xinjiang is, as a part of the People\u2019s Republic of China, not Muslim, insofar as China is a constitutionally secular country.) Among the banned names are not just \u201cJihad\u201d and \u201cSaddam,\u201d but also those that aren\u2019t typically used to fuel fears\u2014names, for example, like Aisha, a female name simply meaning \u201clife\u201d in Arabic and also Turkic languages like Uyghur.<\/p>\n The prohibition on names is one of a series of measures seemingly unconcerned with maintaining Chinese constitutional protections against discriminatory policy.-<\/p>\n Chinese officials\u2019 attempts to undermine<\/a> Ramadan fasting\u2014teachers have reported being instructed to make sure that their students ate and drank state-sponsored snacks during the holy month of Ramadan, when practicing Muslims fast\u2014is widely documented, as are measures forbidding youth from entering mosques<\/a>. \u201cThe policies target the young because the Chinese manufacture of Uyghur identity will appear more natural to them as they grow up,\u201d Szadziewski says.<\/p>\n WUC\u2019s Irwin explains that regulations are often applied disproportionately among different age groups. \u201cThere has been a different approach to the Uyghur population depending on the age group,\u201d he says. \u201cFor example, those under the age of 18 are not able to go to the mosque or practice religion full stop. On the other side of the age spectrum, older Uyghur men wearing long beards have often been ignored by authorities there.\u201d<\/p>\n In September of 2013, prominent Uyghur rights advocate Ilham Tohti\u200a\u2014\u200awho is now serving a controversial life sentence in prison on charges of inciting separatism\u2014 told Al Jazeera<\/a> that local Chinese authorities had placed a Chinese flag at the head of a mosque, meaning that <\/strong>praying Muslims were essentially forced to bow before the state.<\/p>\n In April of 2014, Chinese state media reported that, in one area of Xinjiang, rewards<\/a> were being offered to civilians who informed the authorities of neighbors maintaining beards\u200a\u2014\u200awell-maintained facial hair is recommended but not required by Islam. Reports also arose of men with beards and women wearing hijab\u200a\u2014\u200athe traditional headscarf worn by some Muslim women\u200a\u2014\u200abeing barred from public venues like libraries and parks.<\/p>\n Also in April of 2014, amid a heightened number of reports<\/a> of extrajudicial killings of Uyghurs suspected of terrorism, Chinese state media announced a crackdown on barbecues in Beijing, where many Uyghur migrant laborers eke out a living selling kebabs on the streets of Beijing. Analysts<\/a> said the measure amounted to a thinly veiled bid to rid the nation\u2019s capital of Uyghurs.<\/p>\n