Mick Hartley

From the Telegraph:

Muslim protesters surrounded a 13th century mosque in China’s Yunnan province to keep it from being torn down by authorities in a rare display of defiance.

Hundreds of police in riot gear fought back members of the Hui ethnic group who had rallied around their local Najiaying Mosque after residents reported the arrival of cranes to demolish it.

Residents threw rocks at the police who responded by hitting them with batons.

“This is our last bit of dignity,” a local witness told CNN. “It’s like coming to our house to demolish our home. We can’t allow that to happen.”

The protest marks a rare escalation in tensions between southern Muslims and the authorities whose apparent attempt to tear down the mosque shows there is to be no let up in China’s bid to crack down on religion.,,,

In Yunnan and other nearby provinces, residents say nurseries, childcare centres and religious schools run by Hui have been closed down. Mosques have also been destroyed, with authorities removing prominent Islamic features such as domes and minarets from thousands across the country.

In 2018, thousands of Hui in Ningxia protested by sitting inside a newly-built mosque for three days to prevent its demolition. Authorities backed down from destroying it, but erected traditional Chinese-style pagodas in place of its domes and minarets. The Najiaying Mosque was one of the last remaining intact.

We await the vigorous protests from China's Muslim trading partners – in particular neighbouring Pakistan, which is always vocal in its condemnation of any perceived slight to the dignty of Islam from the West. Since they've failed to raise a squeak against the Uighur genocide, though, we may be waiting a while…