Islam in China

[Salahudin]

According to the 1990 census, the Muslim population of the People’s Republic of China is 17.6 million, out of which there were 8.6 million Hui, 7.2 million Uighur, 1.1 million Kazakhs, 375,000 Kyrghyz, 33,500 Tajik, and 14,500 Uzbeks. The Hui primarily speak Chinese, the Tajik an Indo-European language related to Persian, and all the others Turkic dialects. The Hui are unique among the fifty-six officially recognized nationalities of China in that religion (Islam) is their only unifying category of identity. They have no common unique national tongue, have had much intermarriage with Han Chinese, and live in almost every city and town across China. They have one autonomous region – Ningxia, between southern Gansu and Inner Mongolia – two autonomous prefectures and nine autonomous counties. The Chinese word “Hui” is also used to refer to all Muslims, both inside and outside China.

Although the Hui are one of the national minorities of China, they do not constitute an ethnically homogeneous group. They come from Arab, Persian, Central Asian, and Mongol origins, and arrived in China in several waves. The first Arab Islamic delegation came to Tang Dynasty China in 651, nineteen years after the death of the Prophet Muhammed and one year after the Arab conquest of Persia. From this time onward, mostly Arab, but also a smaller number of Persian merchants settled along the southeast coast of China. In 758, the Tang Chinese emperor requested the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad to send an army of 20,000 soldiers to help put down the An Lushan rebellion. The Arab and Persian soldiers remained in China afterward, settling in the northwest areas of Ningxia and Gansu. Further, in 801 the Tibetans engaged 20,000 Arab and Sogdian mercenaries to help in their war against the Nanchao kingdom in Yunnan, southwestern China. Although the Tibetans suffered defeat, the Muslim soldiers remained in the region. A further wave of 15,000 Arab soldiers came in 1070 and 1080 at the invitation of the Northern Song Chinese emperor to establish a buffer zone in northeastern China between his diminished kingdom and the expanding Khitan Empire.

The largest portion of Hui, however, descends from the two to three million Central Asian Muslims that the Mongol ruler Khubilai Khan brought to China in the 1270s as a military reserve. They helped with his conquest of southern China in 1279 and, in peace, settled throughout China as merchants, agricultural laborers, and craftsmen.

One of Khubilai Khan’s grandsons, Ananda, was raised by Persian Muslim foster parents. In 1285, he became Prince of Anxi, an area that spanned the conquered Tangut kingdom in Gansu, Ningxia, and Sechuan. The Tanguts followed a combined form of Tibetan and Chinese Buddhism. Together with his cousin, Ghazan Khan of the Il Khanate in West Turkistan, Prince Ananda converted to Islam in 1295. Consequently, the 150,000 strong Mongol army in Anxi and most of the Tanguts also adopted the Islamic faith. Thus, by the end of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty in 1368, the Hui were the largest minority in China.

According to many scholars, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, the native Han Chinese dynasty that ruled China after the Mongols, was actually of Hui descent, although this fact was kept well hidden. After defeating the Mongols, he gave religious, political, and economic freedom to the Hui. As a way to protect them from Han Chinese prejudice, however, he decreed that the Hui must marry, speak, and dress Chinese. From this time onward, the Hui lost their varied cultural roots.

As a backlash against Ming protection of the Hui, the next dynasty to rule China, the Manchu Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1912), began a persecution of Muslims in China. This persecution extended to the Muslim Uighurs in East Turkistan as well. Between 1648 and 1878, more than twelve million Hui and Uighur Muslims were killed in ten unsuccessful uprisings against Qing oppression. The Tibetans, however, who were also persecuted by the Manchu and Han Chinese Qing forces, maintained good relations with the Hui. The Fifth Dalai Lama, for example, visited Hui Islamic leaders in Yinchuan, the capital of present-day Ningxia, in 1652 on his way to the Manchu Imperial Court in Beijing. They discussed philosophical and religious issues.

Two waves of Hui migrated to West Turkistan under Russian rule in the late nineteenth century. The first group came in 1878 from Gansu and Shanxi, after an unsuccessful uprising against Manchu rule. The second wave came in 1881 from the Ili River valley in far western East Turkistan. The Russians had occupied the region in 1871, but after its return to China with the Treaty of St. Petersburg in 1881, the local people were given the choice of Russian or Chinese citizenship. These two waves of Hui immigrants settled mostly in the Chu River valley of Kyrghyzstan, near Bishkek. They called themselves Dungans.

At present, the Hui in China divide into two major groups. The Western Hui, centered in Ningxia, live also in Gansu (both within and outside the Amdo portions), Qinghai, the western half of Inner Mongolia, and the northern Chinese provinces of Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, and Hebei. These are the Muslims who are moving in large numbers into Central Tibet and who now own one-third of the stores in Lhasa. Their spiritual and cultural center is Lingxia, situated between Labrang Monastery and Lanzhou in Gansu. The Eastern Hui live primarily in the eastern half of Inner Mongolia.
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Today, the Muslims of China is estimated to be between 20 million to some 200 million, according to unofficial counts. This big disparity may stem from the existing census method, although it is worth noting that before the liberation in 1949, government estimates were already at 48 million.

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Fo More Information:
CHINA: A BRIEF OVERVIEW:
http://www.ehalal.net/china/overview.html

CHINA'S MUSLIMS:
http://www.ehalal.net/chinamosques/chinaguide.htm

[Malcom]

After Mao Zedong's revolution in 1948 and the beginning of communist rule in China, the Muslims, as well as other ethnic minorities found themselves once again oppressed. They actively struggled against communists before and after the revolution. In fact, in 1953, the Muslims revolted twice in an effort to establish an independent Islamic state [in regions where Muslims were an overwhelming majority]. These revolts were brutally suppressed by Chinese military force followed by the liberal use of anti-Muslim propaganda.

[Salahudin]

Thanks Malcom, For Sharing that Knowledge with us.

Sadly Only Few muslims are aware of their Brothers In China, that they even excist! That Sadence and Hurts Me Sevearly!:mad:

The same goes for even Indonesia!

[M.H.Mubarak]

786

Thank both of you for your data on our Asian Brothers and Sisters. I wish the world Muslim population had better access to contemporary communications. Unfortunately, many hardware and software companies prohibit use of their technology outside of estabished markets, for national security reasons, or somethinng of the like.

MaSaalama

[Salahudin]

I Know What you Meen M.H.Mubarak, But These Days Muslims are bonding and uniting to learn and share Ideas On The Internet, It is Quite Amazing when you see how the Muslims use the Internet and how others use it. I feel Like this is a gift, and so far we, the muslims, are on the right track using this gift:

Whether it is Learning Islam,The Qur'an, The Sunnah Of the Prophet(saas), or Inviting People To Islam, Or Inter-acting with one another and discusing the issues that are facing the Ummah.

Truly I'm Proud of how We, Muslim Ummah, specially the Muslim Youth, are using this Information High Way, Internet, Honestly, when you look at the Awarness of The Brothern and Unity amongs the Ummah that is in the Air, and being discoused in evey Forum or Chat, It is quite Pleasing to see and witness such a thing.

Insha'Allah, Hopefully we'll continue using this tool the right way, I look on the Internet as a Knife, It is Up To You How You Use It:

You Can Use it to Slice your fruits and Veges, or You can Choose to Slice it with your hands or even worst other's.

As far as I Know we are using it the Right way, Slicing The Issues that Face the Ummah to-day. Insha`Allah, we'll continue using it for our advantage.

[AbuMubarak]

A Brief History

The Emperor asked them as to the meaning of the term Hui (Those who shall Return the Chinese name for Muslims) to which one of them answered: It refers to the temporary stay of man upon earth, which he leaves to Return at death; it refers to the soul's Return to the Beyond, to the Return of the erring conscience to the Right Way, to the Return to the Real and True from the elusive and false.

Tang Dynasty Tradition
The Advent of Islam in South China:
The advent of Islam in South China makes a fascinating study. The earliest Muslims came to these parts by sea. Arab traders were known to have sailed to China even during the period beyond historical records. Records exist from 5th century A.D. (Tang Dynasty 618-907) which show the route from Siraf in the Persian Gulf to Muscat in the Gulf of Oman, thence to the South Indian (Malabar) coast. From there the route continued to Ceylon (Sarandip), to Nicobar group of islands, to straits of Malacca, then round the South coast of the Malay Peninsula to the Gulf of Siam and thence to Canton and Hangchow in China.
According to Muslim traditions, when the early Muslims were being persecuted in Mecca some of them were allowed to migrate to Habash (Abyssinia) but most of them later came back, including the famous companions and muazzin Bilal. However, the Books of Individual Records noticed that four companions did not return, one of them being Abi Waqqas, a maternal uncle of the Holy Prophet. It is narrated that Abi Waqqas had gained favour with the Najashi King of Habash who had allowed him to sail to China.
This tallies with the account of Liu Chih (who wrote a 12-volume Life of the Prophet in Chinese in 1721 A.D.) according to which Abi Waqqas, the Holy Prophets maternal uncle, arrived in China with three other Sahaba. Broomhall gives the date of this arrival in China of the Sahaba. Broomhall gives the date of this arrival in China of the Sahaba as 611 A.D. The Chinese historian gives the date as 587 A.D. Both the dates are incorrect, since the first revelation to the Prophet came in 611 A.D. and the first batch of Muslim emigrants went to Abyssinia in 615 A.D. Abi Waqqas could not have reached Canton before 616 A.D.) Abi Waqqas then went back to Arabia to being the Holy Quran and came to China the second time after 21 years. An inscription at Canton dated 1861 A.D. Also states that Abi Waqqas landed in Canton in 587 A.D. and built the mosque of Holy Remembrance. It is believed that the earliest mosque built in China is the present mosque of Holy Remembrance at Canton. The mosque was built along-side the Smooth Minaret (Kwang Ta) which was built earlier by the Arabs as a lighthouse. The mosque and the minaret exist even today in Canton, and the tomb of Abi Waqqas as Well as a small mosque are also located in the Muslim graveyard of Canton. According to Great Ming Geography, two of his companions lie buried in nearby Fukian. It is almost certain that these were the first Muslim preachers who came to South China by sea and propagated Islam in the coastal cities of kwangchow, Chuanchow, Hangchow and Yangchow. There is, however, a difference of opinion about the exact dates because of the difficulties in calculations in the Western Gregorian Calender and the Chinese and Muslim Lunar Calenders.
The introduction so Islam in Western China makes a still more colourful and fascinating study. According to Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.) records, two embassies, one from Yezdegrid, the grandson of Khosroes and the other from the Roman Empire, came to the court of Tai Tsung, the second tang Emperor (627-650) in 638 and 643 respectively and both reported their defeats at the hands of the Arabs. Yezdegird, the last of Sassanian Kings of Iran, had sought refuge with the Turkish tribes of Ferghana an had also sought friendship with Emperor Tai Tsung whose capital was at Chang An (modern Sian). The Chinese of the time were at the hight of their power, and had their frontiers with the persian Empire. In 650 Tai Tsung died and his son, Emperor Kao Tsung, received an appeal for aid from Firuz, the son of Yezdegird. Kao Tsung sent an emissary to Caliph Osman at Madina to plead for Firuz and the Caliph in return sent one of his generals to Sian in 651 and thus the first Muslim Embassy was established in Western China.
During the reign of the Omayyad Caliph, Walid I, Central Asia, India, North Africa and Spain were being conquered. At the time when Mohammad Bin Qasim had landed in Sind, Qutaiba Bin Muslim was making advances in Central Asia. Emperor Hsuan Tsung and the envoy refused to kow tow to the Emperor saying he could only bow to the Almighty Allah. However, Qutaiba agreed to release the Chinese prisoners on the condition that they taught Muslims how to make paper an art the Chinese had masteres. Thus the art of paper-making was acquired by the Arabs and taken to Baghdad. From there this art spread to Egypt, Spain and later to Europe.
It was because of the death of Caliph Walid I (719 A.D.) the assassination of Qutaiba and the overthrow of the Omayyads by the Abbasids that the Arab advance in Central Asia was halted. This period corresponds in time with the Battle of Tours in France (732 A.D.) when Muslim advances in Europe were also halted.
In 755 A.D., five years after the rise of the Abbasids, during the reign of Abu Jaffar, the 3rd Abbasid Caliph, a rebellion broke out in China the leader of which was a Turk named An Lu-shan. Emperor Hasuan Tsung was driven from his capital and he abdicated in favour of his son Su Tsung (756-763 A.D.) who appealed to the Arabs for help. Abu Jaffar sent 4,000 Muslim soldiers who recovered Sian and Honanfu for the Emperor in 757 A.D. These soldiers never went back, but instead married in China and formed the nucleus of the naturalised Chinese Muslims in Western China whose descendents live there even today. The story was repeated by Tai Tsung (763-780 A.D.), son of Su Tsung, who also sought help from Abu Jaffar when 300,000 Tibetans invaded his kingdom. Abu Jaffar sent a large contingent so much so that the Chinese government was obliged to double the tax on tea to raise funds to pay them. These Muslims also settled down in Western China and some in Yunnan, in South China, where they came to be known as Panthays.
As a result of contact with Muslim armies, many people accepted Islam, among them a tribe ralled Hui Chi, after whom the Muslims of China were known until the time of the Yuan (Mongol) dynasty, when the name was changed to Hui-Hui, by which name they are still known. But there is another name, which is generally used by Muslims, that is, Ching Zhen, In Chinese, Islam is called Ching Zhen Jiao, meaning Pure Religion, as Ching and Zhen mean clean and real respectively.

Muslims Under Sung, Yuan and Ming Dynasties:
During the Sung Dynasty (960-1280), the Court Records mention twenty embassies from Arabia. Muslims received good treatment from the kings of this dynasty and many of them were given titles and appointed to high posts.
The news of this treatment spread to the Muslim countries and many Muslims came from Turkestan to find employment in the Chinese army.
During the Mongol period (Yuan Dynasty, 1260-1368 A.D.) the Muslims thrived and established themselves as an important section of Chinese society.
The records of Yuan Dynasty include many biographies of distinguished Muslims who were employed by the Mongols. Sayid Ajjal (Sai Tien-Chih) of Bokhara became the conqueror and governor of Yunnan. His son, Nasaruddin is mentioned by Marco Polo. He distinguished himself in the wars against Cochin China and Burma. Alauddin (A-lao-wa-ting) and Ismail (I-ssu-ma-yin) were sent from Persia to China as expert makers. Their machines were used in the catapult siege of Siang Yang fu in 1271 A.D. Jamal-ud-Din, a Persian astronomer presented to Kublai Khan seven Persian astronomical instruments (1267 A.D.) and a new chronology entitled Wannianli (The Ten Thousand Year Chronology).
Under the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) also, the Muslims enjoyed privileges, and, both in the army and the civil services, occupied high positions. Numerous embassies came to China from Arabia and Muslim arts and crafts influenced China. A number of Muslim artistic motifs can be seen in the famous Ming porcelain and the beautiful blue of this porcelain is due to the introduction of Persian cobalt. A good deal of porcelain belonging to this period bears Arabic words and inscriptions and verses from the Holy Quran. Moreover, many shapes of Tang, Sung and Ming china are based on those common in Islamic countries.
During the Ming period, Admiral Zheng Ho and his lieutenant Ma Huan (Muhammad Hasan) became famous as navigators and explorers. Zheng Ho was the name bestowed on Sai Ho Ch'ih (i.e. Sayyid Haji) by Yung Lo, the third Emperor of the Ming. He is also known by the title San Pao Kung (Our Master of the Three Jewels) given to him by the grateful Chinese settlers of South East Asia, who worship him to this day as one of their saints. Zheng Ho was born in 1371 A.D. in the fourth year of the reign of the first Ming Emperor Hung Wu. Having los this father at the early age of twelve he joined military service and took a prominent part in the subjugation of his ancestral Yunnan province fro the newly risen Ming power. he achieved spectacular successes in the pacification of the frontier provinces of China while he was still in his teens. His distinguished services to the state brought him royal favour, which he utilised for the welfare of his fellow Muslims, A living monument of his solicitude for the Chinese Muslims is the stone tablet of the Sian mosque, which commemorates some of the generous concessions that he obtained for them from the grateful Emperor. In 1403 Emperor Yung Lo ascended the throne and planned to extend the Chinese political influence and trade overseas. For this ambitious venture he selected Zheng Ho to lead Chinese armadas in the China Sea and the Indian Ocean. The story of his seven maritime expeditions has few parallels in the history of navigation. Having churned the waves of the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean almost a century before Vasco da Gama reached India, Zheng Ho made his last voyage to the Eternal Home in 1435 at the age of 65.

The Panthays of Yunnan:
Islam was introduced in Yunnan (literally South of Clouds ) province by the soldiers of Kublai khan in the beginning of Yuan Dynasty (1260-1368 A.D.). Marco Polo writes of the presence of Saracens in Yunnan. Rashid-ud-Din, who died in 1316 A.D. wrote: All inhabitants of Yachi (modern Talifu) are Mohammedans . Kublai Khan united this province in 1257 A.D. and appointed one of his ministers Sai Tien-Chih (Syed Ajjal) as governor. Syed Ajjal was from Bokhara and traced his lineage to the Holy Prophet in the 27th generation. His son Nasaruddin and grandson Saddi were also governors of Yunnan.
It was during the Manchu rule that the Panthays of Yunnan (so named after the Burmese name for Muslims) had their difficulties and clashes with the Central government in which millions are said to have perished. An Imam of Talifu, Ma Teh-hsing and his lieutenant Ma Hsien (Mohammad Hassan) declared their independence in 1855 and so did Tu Wen-siu (Sultan Suleiman) who made Talifu his capital at a time when the Central government was engaged in the Taiping uprising and the Second Opium War which led to the occupation of Peking by Western powers.
Sultan Sulaiman adopted the title of Generalissimo (Yuan Shuai) and established regular caravan trade with Burma. Ma Hsien, meanwhile, accepted service with the Imperial Army in the rank of Brigadier General (Chen Tai). While serious differences arose between Ma Hsien and Sultan Sulaiman, the Taiping uprising was put down with the help of General (Chinese) Gordon in 1864 and the Central government then concentrated forces against Sultan Sulaiman. It is said that when he was finally convinced of his impending defeat at the hands of Imperial Army at Talifu, Sultan Sulaiman first poisoned his three wives and five daughters and then himself committed suicide on 15 January 1873 after having ruled the area for 16 years. Since then the population of Panthays in Yunnan has been on the decrease.

The tungans of Western China:
Tungan or Dungan is the word for converts in turkish and the term was generally used for muslims in the areas now comprising Kansu, Ningsha and Xinjiang. These were the people converted to Islam through contacts with Arabs since the days of Tang Dynasty. Vigurs (or Vighurs), a Turkish race originally Buddhists, they had followed the example of their beloved prince Sartook Bookra Khan (Satoq Bughra Khan) and had become Muslims en masse.
The Tungans also had a difficult time under the Manchus specially in 1785, from 1862 to 1876 and in 1895 because they resented wearing of Manchu style queues and also the restrictions imposed on building mosques and performing pilgrimage etc.

The Story of Yaqub Beg:
Yaqub Khan came to Chinese Turkistan from Khokand in 1864 as a subordinate officer with approximately 60 men. Being a man of action and ability, he set up an independent kingdom in Yangi Hissar, Kashgar and Yarkand which lasted for 12 years. The Amir of Bokhara conferred on him the title of Atalik Ghazi. He added Kucha, Aksu, Urumchi and Turfan to his territories and in 1872 his independence was recognised by the Russians and subsequently by Britain and Turkey. The Sultan of Turkey conferred on him the title of Amir-ul-Momineen. In the meantime the Ching Emperor having successfully dealt with the Taiping uprising, deputed an experienced general, Tso Chung-tang, to establish Chinese suzeranity in the area. General Tso raised an Agricultural Army which produced its own food as it went along thus overcoming the logistic problem of crossing the Gobi desert. The campaign was slow and it cost the Chinese government 30 million pound sterling but it succeeded. Urumchi fell in 1876. Yaqub Beg suddenly died on 1st May 1877. Although the Ching Emperor tolerated a Muslim local chieftain at Turfan, his position was maintained for political purposes without any real power.

Recent History
Coming nearer our times, Dr. Sun Yatsens revolution which delivered the Chinese people from the Manchus and overthrew the Ching Dynasty in 1911 was welcomed by the Chinese Muslims also. Dr. Sun Yatsen proclaimed the doctrine of harmony and equality of five races . These five races (or nationalities as these are called now) were Han, Manchu, Tibetan, Mongol and Hui (i.e. Muslim) and are represented on the flag of the People's Republic by the 5 stars. During this period Muslims were appointed to important positions in the Army and they also secured seats in the National Legislative Assembly and held high posts in the Nationalist government.
When Chairman Mao led the Workers and Peasants Red Army in the famous Long March of 6,000 miles (1934-35), many Muslims joined the Red Army. It is said that a mosque was built for them at Yenan, Chairman Maos headquarters after the Long March. later, during the war against the japanese and during the struggle against Chiang Kai Shek, most Chinese Muslims joined the struggle alongwith the majority of the Han Chinese. Xinjiang was secured without a fight due to the efforts of Burhan Shahidi and Aziz Saifuddin. Burhan Shahidi is now the President of the Islamic Association of China and Saifuddin an Alternate Member of the Politburo. Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou Enlai took special care to look after the Muslims in China so much so that the People's Liberation Army was especially instructed to follow at 10-point code in Muslim areas which include the protection of Mosques, a ban on eating or mentioning of pork and a ban on fraternisation with Muslim women. During the Agrarian Reforms of 1950, when all lands belonging to temples and monasteries were nationalised, the waqf (endowment) property attached to the mosques was exempted from confiscation. Article three of the agriculture Reform Law (1950) stipulated that lands belonging to the mosques may be kept by them depending on circumstances and with the consent of the Muslim residents in the area where the mosques are located .
During the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), however, the Muslims of China were persecuted along with the Buddhists and Christians, by the ultra-leftists led by Lin Biao and the Gang of Four. The Red Guards made all-out attacks on religious institutions calling them bourgeois and reactionary institutions. They attacked and defaced mosques as well as burned religious books despite government directives that the mosques must be protected. It is a tribute to the wisdom of Chinese leaders like Zhou Enlai who opposed the policies of the Gang of Four and the Red Guards and eventually brought the situation under control.
After the down-fall of the Gang of Four the People's Government under the directions of the present leaders has implemented a policy of national equality and regional autonomy. They have followed a liberal policy towards religious minorities aimed at allowing freedom of religious belief and freedom to speak and write minority languages and respect for the customs and habits of the minorities. Old mosques are being renovated and reopened. The famous Peking Niu Chief mosque (built in 996 A.D.) for instance, has been completely renovated and draws large crowds of Muslims not only on festivals but on Fridays and weekdays. One can see that the environment for Muslims in China is growing more and more congenial.
Central Asia, Journal of Area Study Centre, University of Peshawar.

[AbuMubarak]

Islamic Heritage of Muslims in China
by Prof. Li Hua Ying, Published in Al-Nahdah Magazine
Since Islam reached China in the middle of the 17th century, many Chinese have embraced Islam due to the simple nature of Aqidah, for its high regard in tolerance and high moral principles.

Besides surging toward well-being in this world and the hereafter, with utmost regard in ensuring the practice of Allah's commandments, the Chinese steadfastly proceeded to acquire knowledge and traditions of their own motherland. They also benefitted from good values induced from their cultural heritage.

The Muslims, together with the Han tribe and others, helped develop China during times of joy and agonyu. They were responsible to a great extent for restoring peace to the border states, improving the economy and developing religious knowledge.

Just as Islam was thought to be the religion of the peasants, so too was it considered only to be taught in the mosque. There was no support from the authorities, past or present, when it came to Islam. Therefore, the development of Islam in the provinjces inhabited by Muslims was basically through individual families. It was difficult for Islam to gain a footing in provinces where there were no Muslims. This led to research into the reasons for the ignorance about Islam.

This meant that no alim took the task to acquire knowledge of Chinese traditions and culture in the provinces around the Yangtze river and the Yuan region as a means of disseminating Islamic teachings and hasting its spread throughout China. Only after the 17th Century was this importance realised.

Islamic books in the classical Han language about linguistics, philosophy, fiqh, akhlaq, history and Chinese thought and traditions were published. Writers such as Ma Chu (1640-1711), Leo Tse (1660-1730) and Chang Chung (1584-1670) were respnsible for producing their own works and not merely translating from Arabic and Persian. A number of these books clearly synchronised with the teachings and philosophies of Confucius.

The first attempt at translating the Quran took place in the 19th century. Ma Pu Shu completed 5 juz, and though it was incomplete, it did serve to bring a measure of knowledge to the common people.

The 20th century saw successful attempts by numerous scholars to achieve this goal. One of the most distinctive was Shaikh Wang Jing Chai (1879-1949). Forty Hadith by Imam Nawawi was translated by Yang Shi Chian.

Philosophy and social sciences also benefitted from Chinese Muslim scholars. Works by Wang Dai Yu and Liu Tsi during the Ming and Chend Dynasties were hgihly regarded. They not only became the basis of Chinese Islamic philosophy, but also helped in the enrichment of thought in Chinese philosophy.

Ties were restored through multilateral trade between China and many foreign countries during the 17th century. Thsi resulted in closer relations between Chinese Muslims and other Muslims countries. More scholars from China were able to gain access to Islamic educational institutions abroad. Presently there have been greater interaction between Muslims in China and abroad. As Muslims we all continue to remain under the banner of a single brotherhood. (We Care, 4:11).

[AbuMubarak]

What is surprising and shocking about Friday's report from the human
rights group Amnesty International saying that thousands of Muslim
Uighurs in China's province of Xinjiang have been imprisoned without
trial during the past six months is not the allegation; there has
been a steady, unpleasant stream of stories of Chinese oppression in
Xinjiang in recent years. Rather, it is that no one, either in the
Muslim world or in the wider international community, seems
particularly vexed by it. This disinterest in the fate of the Uighurs
contrasts starkly with the passions rightly raised on behalf of the
Palestinians.

Yet the suffering of the two are very similar. Both are oppressed by
a remorseless state machine. Like the Israelis, the Chinese want to
create facts on the ground. They too have pursued a rigorous
settlement policy in the hope of altering the local demography. And,
unlike the Israelis, they are succeeding. As thousands of Chinese
settlers are implanted each week, the Uighurs are now a minority in
their own oil-rich land.

It is even arguable that, if anything, the oppression suffered by the
Uighurs is even greater than that visited on the Palestinians. As the
Amnesty report notes (and there is solid evidence to support it),
most of the thousands arrested have done nothing more subversive than
practice their faith and live their culture. Imams have been arrested
for teaching the Qur'an and fasting during Ramadan. Not even the
Israelis have gone that far — although if they were not under the
international spotlight, they might very well try.

But that is the whole point.

If the plight of the Uighurs is more tragic than that of the
Palestinians, it is largely because it is a plight ignored. There are
no international agencies working on the ground to alleviate Uighur
suffering, no political pressure on Beijing to halt its oppression.
This cannot be allowed to continue. There may well be one or two
terrorists among the Uighur population; certainly there has been a
bombing campaign against Chinese rule in the province, although it
has been singularly ineffective; there is also evidence of some
Uighur militants having been members of Al-Qaeda.

But that does not give China the right to use the international
campaign against terrorism to suppress legitimate dissent and, worse,
to terrorize a people into surrendering their identity and faith.
China's campaign is outrageous and illegal — and it must not be
allowed to get away with it. It is the refusal to see this and do
something about it that shocks.

Around the world, Muslims are in bitter and furious mood at Israel's
actions; they are indignant at America's persistent past refusal to
rein in its ally. But when it comes to East Turkestan (as Xinjiang is
historically known), there is nothing more than a shrug of the
shoulders. It is as if people think that China is beyond pressure so
there is not much point doing anything about it.

That is not right. The world is focused on the Palestine issue for
the moment, but the sufferings of the Uighurs must not be ignored.
China must be told firmly that it has to end its oppression; if not,
its hopes of prosperity and international trade will be short-lived.

http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=13725&ArY=2002&ArM=3&ArD=24


http://www.iiie.net/Opinions/Uighurs.html

[INTENSE]

i just did i guess you could say "halaqa" on this
here's some other stuff i found on bbc:
China Today
Under China’s current leadership Islam is undergoing a modest revival and there are now many mosques in China. There has been an upsurge in Islamic expression and many nation-wide Islamic associations have been organised to co-ordinate inter-ethnic activities among Muslims.

In most of China Muslims have considerable religious freedom, however in areas like Xinjiang, where there has been unrest among Uighur Muslims, activities are restricted.

China is fighting an increasingly protracted struggle against members of its Uighur minority, who are a Turkic people with their own language and distinct Islamic culture. Uighar separatists are intent on re-establishing the state of East Turkistan, which existed for a few years in the 1920s.

China believes the separatists are being assisted by Muslim fundamentalist groups in Afghanistan and other Central Asian republics.

China fears the influence of radical Islamic thinking filtering in from central Asia, and the role of exiles in neighbouring states and in Turkey, with which Xinjiang's majority Uighur population shares linguistic ties.

Recent reports (2000/2001) by human rights organisations claim that in parts of Xinjiang there are considerable restrictions
-Government officials control mosque building
-Government officials control appointment of imams
-Large gatherings of Uighur Muslims are discouraged
-Mosques must record the names of those who attend
-School children and students may be expelled if they attend mosques too often

Continued In April 2001, the government set up a China Islamic Association which was described as aiming to "help the spread of the Koran in China and oppose religious extremism".

The association, according to the China Daily, is to be run by 16 Islamic religious leaders who are charged with making "a correct and authoritative interpretation" of Islamic creed and canon.

It will compile and spread inspirational speeches and help imams improve themselves, the paper said.

The committee of imams will also vet sermons made by clerics around the country.

This latter function is probably the key job as far as the central government is concerned. It is worried that devout, anti-secular clerics are using their sermons to spread sedition.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/china/china3.shtml

[Salahudin]

Islam in China: by Abdur Rauf


History of Islam in China

During the days of the third caliph of Islam, Uthman Ghani (rta), a Muslim deputation led by Sa`ad Ibn Abi Waqqas visited China in 651 A.D (29 A.H.) to invite the Chinese emperor to embrace Islam. They built a magnificent mosque in Canton city. This mosque is known as "The Memorial Mosque".


Islam and Muslims in China

After the early beginnings, relations between the Muslims and the Chinese progressed fairly well. The first Muslim settlement in China was established in Cheng Aan port during the Tang dynasty. Thousands of Muslims have been turning to China in different times. Sometimes these neo settlers had petty skirmishes with the local Chinese. The first regular war was waged at the Chinese border in 133 A.H. The Muslims were led by Ziyad. They were far less in numbers. But they gave a crushing defeat to the Chinese. After this victory, the Muslims came to command complete control over the entire Central Asia.

These early successes opened the doors of China for the Muslim missionaries. In 138 A.H. General Lieu Chen revolted against Emperor Sehwan Tsung. On a request for help from the emperor the Abbasid caliph, Al-Mansur deputed a unit of 4,000 armed Turk Muslim troops to China. With their help the emperor overpowered the rebellion. After crushing the rebellion, the Turk soldiers settled in China. They married Chinese women. The Muslim influx to China continued thereafter through sea and land routes.

The early Muslims settling in China bore all sorts of circumstances. The long rule of the Manchu dynasty (1644-1911 AD) was the hardest for the Muslims. During this period the following five wars were waged against the Muslims: (1) the Lanchu War, (2) the Che Kanio War, (3) the Sinkiang War, (4) the Uunanan War, and (5) the Shansi War. In these destructive wars, the Muslims suffered inestimable losses. Countless Muslims were martyred. Half of Kansu’s population, totalling 15 millions, was Muslim. Only 5 million could escape alive. Chinese Muslims sustained similar setbacks in several other small and big wars. During the past three centuries, the Muslim population has decreased at 30%.

However, despite the great Muslim massacres during the past, the present Chinese Muslim population still exceeds 60 million. The Chinese Muslims follow the Islamic theory and practice. They practice all the five fundamentals of Islam. They differentiate between the forbidden (Haram) and the permissible (Halal). They are leading a decent and a civilized life in China.


Pro-Muslim Shift in Chinese Policy

The great Chinese statesman, Mao Tse-tung (1893-1976) achieved his political objective through ‘The Long March’. When he settled down at his headquarters at Niyan, the Chinese Muslims supported him. The Muslims also joined his Red Army. However, at no stage of their cooperation with the great Chinese leader did the Muslims forsake their Islamic identity even for a while. In 1954, the Muslims were given guarantees about their prayers, traditional rites, civilization and culture. As compared to other minorities they were extended more liberal facilities, especially in the matters of cementing ties with the Muslim world. Friendly relations with the Muslim countries is a great economic need for modern China. Muslims have accordingly loomed large in China’s foreign policy ever since 1985. The under-developed areas predominated by the Muslims are now extended preferential treatment.

During China’s Cultural Revolution (1966-76) locks were forcibly put on a number of Chinese mosques. All such mosques have now been restored to the Muslims. Chinese Muslims have been accorded complete religious freedom. The Chinese Radio even broadcasts Qur’anic lectures. The Muslims feel satisfied with such welcome official measures. The pleasant pro-Muslim shift in the Chinese policy is currently making an exceedingly favourable impact on the dissemination of Islam in China. China has exceptionally cordial relation with its neighbouring Muslim state, Pakistan. Throughout this period only on unpleasant incident of a petty clash between Chinese and Muslims was reported in 1990 at the Pakistan – China border at Khunjrab.



Report on Chinese Muslim population

Beijing, Muharram 14/Apr 19 (IINA), 2000 - The number of Muslims in China is estimated at 200 million at the moment. Muslim traders introduced Islam to China way back in 681 AD, and there are ancient mosques in China that are over a thousand years old.

The Deputy President of the Chinese Muslim Society told ALDAWA that there are 3,500 mosques in China at the moment, with the number of Imams standing at 4,000. He said that Muslims in China are now living in state of relief and openness, particularly for the last twenty years, adding that before that they were being persecuted and oppressed. He said now new mosques are being built, and the number of Muslims is on the increase in the country as a whole, with many Muslims attending mosques and prayers regularly.

The Deputy President of the Chinese Muslim Society went on to say that there nine Islamic universities in China at the moment, and attached to every mosque is a Quran schools. This means that there are 3,500 Quran schools, in which the Quran, Hadith and the Islamic doctrine are being taught, with attendance being on the increase. Furthermore, he said, there are Chinese Muslim students pursuing further Islamic Studies at universities in Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Algeria, at the same time learning the Arabic language.

The majority of Chinese Muslims are involved in commerce and industry, and cooperation between China and Islamic countries has its salutary and positive effect on the Muslim community in China, said the Deputy President.

He appealed for an increase in the number of scholarships that are extended to Chinese students, and also support for Islamic schools and universities, in addition to the sending of Daawa activists and supporting the Islamic publications that are published in China.

He pointed out that the Chinese government does give support to the Islamic schools, and also repairs mosques.

:::themodernreligion.com (http://www.themodernreligion.com/convert/china.html)

[M.H.Mubarak]

As-Salamu Alaikum,

While searching though the archives, it was good to re-read this post. InshaAllah the internet will help this Ummah to support each other in researching the knowledge of the "wealth and plenitude" of our Muslim Bothers and Sisters through-out the world. It (the internet) can be a good tool for rounding up a "talent search" and developing a "brain trust" whereby we can produce "documentaries" that shed the "NUR"(light) of Al-Islam into the mainstream of the contemporary and future Media.

Let's start assembeling a production studio!

[Salahudin]

Subhanallah. just yesterday I was discussing this subject. Insha'Allah I'll be willing to invest my time and effort, if we can
find few other brothers and sisters who can help it would be great!

There is a great need for an pure Islamic media that as you say
sheds the Nur of Islam to the world!

[Blaster]

I reckon RUSSIA is the big next thing to watch out...

Many many many revert to Islam... they hate Putin the kremlin etc.... They saw what Muslims endured in Chechnya and around and many do embrace Islam ...

The voodka did much harm to Russian and now they start to see Islam as the ONLY way out of the vicious circle...

Wal Hamdulilah...:)

Russia is THE BIGGEST country in the world... ;)

Islam is the only way to stop the corruption criminality etc..... that Russia suffers and some do start to understand that...

[M.H.Mubarak]

As-Salamu Alaikum,

InshaAllah, Allahu ta'ala would find favor in such an endeavor. The electronic media will allow us a "virtual workshop". Small overhead! LOL!

[Salahudin]

the "desktop editing systems"

using the advances in technology in media activism. reducing the cost without hurting the quality!
indeed this is a gift, an opportunity! we should use it well!

[M.H.Mubarak]

As-Salamu Alaikum,

Here is a map of China and a demographic chart that was embedded in the text of the article on Chinese History.

http://www.ehalal.net/chinamosques/mosques.html

[AbuMubarak]

:)

[AbuMubarak]

:o

[AbuMubarak]

:D

[AbuMubarak]

:eek:

[AbuMubarak]

:rolleyes:

[AbuMubarak]

:p

[Salahudin]

Masha'Allah nice pictures AbuMubarak! Jazakallahu Khayr! :)

[Salahudin]

here are few picture of Muslim Martial Arts! :D

[Salahudin]

another one! ;)

[Salahudin]

sunrise exercise! :)

[Salahudin]

:cool:

[Salahudin]

the #1 Kung Fu master in the world today! :D

[Salahudin]

Click Here: To learn more about Chinese Muslim kung fu styles! (http://cclib.nsu.ru/projects/satbi/satbi-e/martart/wushu/moslems/index.html)

[AbuMubarak]

China and the Taliban: Some facts
A Strategic Affairs Compilation

http://www.stratmag.com/issue2Nov-15/page05.htm

The following has been extracted from writings on the subject by a number of Indian and foreign journalists and commentators.

Extracted from John Cooley. 1999. Unholy Wars: Afghanistan, America and International Terrorism. Pluto Press; London, Sterling, Virginia. pp. 65-79:

DURING the opening years of the Afghan jihad, China joined the anti-Russian coalition. It paid a terrible price during the blowback period after the war's end. That price was a renewed and spreading revolt of the Uihgurs, the Muslim and Turkic-speaking peoples of China's far west, the vast province of Xinjiang, many of whom earned for independence in their own Muslim state, after the fashion of the six ex-Soviet states of Central Asia which won independence with the Soviet empire's break-up during the early 1990's.

China's decision to join the anti-Russian coalition was a logical effect of its gradual rapproachement with the United States. This began with Harold Brown's visit to Beijing in January 1980. Due to extensive preparations on both sides, both sides began to work against the Soviet advances in Afghanistan. For the CIA and its Pakistan ally, the ISI, the logical challenge of cooperating with China was how to get Chinese weapons to the fighters themselves. One of the agreements secured by Brown was for US planes to fly cargoes of arms for the Mujahideen through Chinese airspace. The other route for transfer of material was through the Silk road and Karakoram highway.

Accounts differ on the amount of material that was passed through, but Russian sources insist that the first Chinese arms for the Afghans were spotted as early as June 1979, six months before the Soviet invasion. In June 1979, Russian intelligence sighted in Karachi harbour, a Pakistani freighter the Rustam, arriving from China. It contained arms and ammunition which was taken to Peshawar. By the early 1980, reported a White Book on outside intervention published by the Afghan communist government in Kabul, China was "flying large supplies of arms and ammunition to the insurgents in Afghanistan."

In charge of Chinese military training, both the jihad volunteers in Pakistan, and of the Uighur Muslims trained in Xinjiang, was the Military Intelligence Department of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) General Staff Department. Intelligence Experts in the West call it by its Chinese name, Er Bu, or the Second Department. Its chief at the end of the 1980'swas Major General Xiong Guankai, a veteran PLA intelligece officer.

China's Second Department had already trained many volunteers from Maoist or other Leftist Latin American and African groups in the 1960s. Its input into the Afghan operation was the largest of this kind, lasting fro 1980 to 1988. This was almost, although not quite, the entire duration of the Soviet deployment. The Chinese supply operation was well underway about a month after Harold Brown's January 1980 visit to Beijing. By February, at least six of the Mujahideen groups were competing for Chinese assault rifles, heavy machine guns, mortars and recoilless guns. By September 1984, when Brigadier Youssaf's watch with the ISI was well under way, 107 mm and 122 mm artillery pieces were appearing at the various fronts in Afghanistan. One type was the 107 mm Type 63-1 12-tube rocket launcher with lightweight alloy tubes.Youssaf states that "until 1984, the bulk of all arms and ammunition was purchased from China and they proved to an excellent supplier, completely reliable, discreet etc.

The PLA Second Department's training operation, including, by 1985, in addition to training for Uighur fighters in Xinjiang, about 300 advisors and instructors in camps in Pakistan. Locations included Muhammad Gard, near the Pakistani town of Nawagai; Shahqdar, 12 miles north of Charsadda; Lwara Mena, in the drug running region of the North-West Frontier province about 8 miles northeast of Landi Kotal and at Fariqabad, near Peshawar. In 1985, China opened more camps on Chinese territory, near Kashgar and Hotan, in Xinjiang. Those selected for training use of Chinese weapons, explosive and PLA combat tactics, probably not unlike that which others were receiving from Pakistani, American and British Special Forces.

Extracted from Surya Gangadharan. 2000. The China-Taliban Equation. Aakrosh: Asian Journal On Terrorism and Internal Conflicts. January. Volume 3, Number 6. pp. 55-77:

CHINA'S concern in Xinjiang is not only about the ethnic and religious upsurge among the minorities but also about the protection of the region's 30 billion tonnes of proven petroleum, which are critical to China's energy security. Over the years, foreign oil companies have been exploring for more oil in the Tarim basin. Xinjiang is also home to China's nuclear testing range at Lop Nor.

According to the Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid, Uighur Islamic militants have long been students of the Afghan mujahideen. They have trained and fought with the mujahideen since 1986. Many Uighurs also study in madarsas run by the Taliban. Hundreds of Uighurs, who were earlier trained by Pakistanis and Afghan Mujahideens during the Afghan war, are unable to return to China and are presently believed to be fighting for the Taliban in Afghanistan.

But direct links between the Uighurs and the Taliban is hard to prove. The Taliban inherited the Uighurs when it took control of most areas of Afghanistan by 1998. It also inherited the links these Uighurs had forged with their countrymen in Xinjiang. Western intelligence agencies say the Uighurs are also linked to Osama bin Laden, the Saudi-born Islamic extremist based in Afghanistan. He is suspected of providing financial and other help to Uighur separatists. The Uighurs are also being trained at camps in the northern town of Mazar-i-Sharif The camps are run by the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan headed by Tahir Yoldasev. Although the Taliban have denied helping Yoldasev and his movement, aides to ousted Afghan President Rabbani confirmed that the Taliban gave him a house in Kandahar after he fled Uzbekistan. They also say that the Taliban allowed him to set up camps in May 1999 and that Yoldasev is training 200 to 300 militants from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgystan and Uighurs from Xinjiang province of China.

Ahmed Rashid writes that "huge quantities of consumer goods, foodstuffs and heroin are smuggled across the border between Afghanistan and China. Almost all the arms and explosives used by Uighurs in attacks on Chinese security forces in recent months have come from Afghanistan." In many cases, they also happen to be of Chinese origin and were supplied by China to the Afghan mujahideen fighting the Soviet occupation.

Prof Giri Deshingkar says Peshawar is the main point from where drugs, weapons and copies of the Koran enter Xinjiang. In comparison, he says the route through the Wakhan Corridor in north-east Afghanistan into Xinjiang is mountainous and difficult. The Chinese realised this during the Afghan civil war when they found it easier to route arms supplies to the Mujahideen through Peshawar and the Karakorum highway. But reports now suggest that Beijing sees the highway in a different light because it seems to have intensified contacts between Uighur separatists in Xinjiang with extremist Islamic groups and drug barons in Pakistan.

China has blamed the Lahore based Tabligh-e-Jamaat, headed by Pakistan's former ISI chief, for fomenting unrest in Xinjiang. Pakistan's Jamaat-e-Islami has become one of the several fundamentalist groups that has been giving regular arms training to militants from Xinjiang, creating strong embarrassment for Islamabad. Since 1992, China has been asking Pakistani authorities to prevent such activities. For this reason, Beijing has been going slow on upgrading the Karakorum highway even though an agreement for upgrading it has existed since March 1995. The upgraded highway would have boosted transit trade from Pakistan to Kazakhstan and Kyrghystan. This was confirmed by Ahmed Rashid in an article in the Pakistani Herald magazine in December 1995: "Beijing's reluctance stems from the fact that the proposed road would run across Xinjiang and the Chinese fear that the route would increase the traffic in fundamentalism. After an abortive Islamist uprising in the town of Baren in 1992 in which 22 people were killed, China closed its road links with Pakistan for many months."

The Pakistani government was concerned enough about preserving good relations with its strategic ally, and on May 5, 1997 handed over 12 Uighurs to China. They were all wanted for bomb attacks in Xinjiang. It's not clear what happened to them. Three months later, China announced plans to lay a security fence along the border with Pakistan to check infiltration by Islamic extremists and drug runners. In February 1998, former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif visited China and apparently gave a firm assurances that he would take measures to stop fundamentalists infiltrating into China. This seems to have been followed up in October 1998, when a Chinese delegation led by a senior official from the Xinjiang provincial government, arrived in Gilgit, in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, for talks on steps to check trans-border smuggling, infiltration and other activities.

The case of Abdul Rasul, a Pakistani citizen of Xinjiang origin merits attention. He fled Xinjiang in 1967 and sought refuge in Pakistan where he heads the Asian Muslim Human Rights Bureau. The Bureau was set up in October 1998. The Islamabad-based Nation newspaper carried an interview with him in November 1998 where Rasul made the following claims:

Uighurs from Xinjiang are receiving religious training in madarsas in Pakistan and Egypt. Many are fighting alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan and with the Hizbul Mujahideen in Kashmir

Rasul had met the Afghanistan-based Saudi extremist Osama bin Laden in Khost in Afghanistan and promised all assistance to China's Muslims. There are, according to Rasul, 4,000 separatist Uighurs who are committed to the fight for independence for Xinjiang. Rasul's claims were soon to be proved correct.
In January 1999, China protested to Pakistan following the arrest of 16 Uighur separatists all of whom had been trained in madarsas in Pakistan. The Uighurs had apparently confessed to being trained in guerrilla warfare in camps in Landi Kotal in the Khyber Agency of Pakistan and Jalalabad in Afghanistan. The Pakistanis predictably deny the existence of any training camps in Landi Kotal. The response from Afghanistan is not known. In the last week of January 1999, the gates of the Chinese embassy seem to reopen with the arrival of five senior Chinese diplomats including the head of the Asia desk in the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Sun Guoxian. The visit was never commented on publicly by Beijing. Unofficial reports suggested that the visit was China's way of saying 'thank you' to the Taliban who, in October 1998 had allowed in Chinese missile experts to recover and examine the remains of the Cruise missiles the US had fired on Afghan terrorist bases in August that year. The Taliban also allowed the Chinese to take back an unexploded Cruise missile.

But it's difficult to accept the argument that the Chinese had sent a top team of diplomats to Kabul merely to say thank you. It also overlooks the sustained Pakistani lobbying with the Chinese on behalf of its proteges in Kabul, the Taliban. In fact, much of the credit for the diplomatic breakthrough (although short of diplomatic recognition) can be traced to Pakistan's quiet efforts on behalf of the Taliban. According to the Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid: "Pakistan has been trying to convince Beijing that the Taliban, to which it gives substantial military and financial aid, are willing to clamp down on the drug trade and have no desire to fund or support Islamic Uighurs in their fight for independence." Rashid also quotes a Pakistani diplomat as saying: "We urged China and the Taliban to establish formal contacts so that their mutual mistrust can be eliminated. The Taliban pose a threat to nobody and want the best of relations with China."

Dialogue with the Taliban also fits in with China's broader strategy to build a working relationship with all its neighbours. "In China's assessment," says Professor Giri Deshingkar, "the Taliban is probably seen as the dominant political and military group in Afghanistan and therefore it is pragmatic and sensible to establish a dialogue with them." Intrinsic to this strategy is cooperating in defence and security issues. That explains the clutch of agreements between Beijing and Kabul:

Most important from Beijing's point of view, the Taliban have reportedly agreed not to encourage Uighur Muslim militancy in Xinjiang province and handed over 13 Uighur separatists (it's believed the Chinese had them shot)

The Chinese agreed to start direct flights between Kabul and Urmuqi, the capital of Xinjiang and train Taliban pilots in Jalalabad

Formal trade ties with the Taliban are being opened. Whether the flights between Kabul and Urmuqi ever got off the ground is doubtful now that the UN has imposed sanctions on Afghanistan. The same would apply to trade and Chinese help in developing Taliban industry
Diplomats are also intrigued by reports that military cooperation agreement was also signed by senior military commanders of the Peoples Liberation Army and Taliban representatives. The agreement was apparently signed on December 10,1998 and the PLA agreed to:

Raise and train the Taliban armed forces beginning with an initial batch of 25,000 men

The PLA would also repair and maintain equipment captured by the Taliban militia from adversaries. Initial training in maintenance and overhaul of equipment will be done in Taxila in Pakistan

The PLA would provide training facilities for the Taliban's air force pilots and would provide $10 million to improve infrastructure for the Taliban armed forces. The report quoted senior Indian diplomats as saying that the agreement provides an outlet for the Taliban to launder its drug money through Chinese banks. The banking infrastructure in Afghanistan is virtually non-existent
The Taliban has indicated it's positive about this opening the Chinese have given it and the militia is currently willing to meet any demands from Beijing. There are indications that the Taliban militia may open an office in Beijing to meet the requirements of Chinese personnel who wish to visit Kandahar, Kabul and other important places in Afghanistan. It's important to note that China has never commented publicly on its dealings with the Taliban. In fact, China has not shown any departure from its present position (which is the same as India's) that ousted President Rabbani represents the legitimate government of Afghanistan and is entitled to represent his country in the United Nations.

For India, China's move into Afghanistan with Pakistani backing and the accord with the Taliban adds to a long list of previous Chinese transgressions beginning with the 1962 border war. Barring problems with South-east Asian countries over the Spratly Islands and with Vietnam over the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, China has settled its land border disputes with most other countries. Many believe China is deliberately going slow in resolving the dispute because having won its gains on the battlefield, it has no interest in negotiations.

Beijing has been a strategic ally of Pakistan, transferring a range of conventional weapons and then nuclear devices and missiles. Writes commentator Rajeev Srinivasan: "By investing a small amount, say $ 50 million in arming and supplying the Pakistanis, who will then spill their blood for the glory of God, the Chinese have succeeded in 'containing' India, the only nation in the region that has the capability in the long run to challenge China's dominance. It is a terrific return on investment, and China has the money to spare, their huge foreign exchange reserves of $110 billion or so can sustain Pakistani lunacy for quite a long time. At a very low cost to China itself, it is able to cripple India."

A Chinese presence south of the Pamirs, for the first time, strengthens Pakistan's role in support of the Taliban. Chinese consumer goods are making steady inroads into Afghanistan through the Pakistani border city of Peshawar. Analysts in this country predict that in the long-run, Chinese goods will be followed by Chinese engineers, doctors and other specialists, gradually displacing Indians who have been traditionally favoured for such appointments in Afghanistan.

The Pakistan-Taliban nexus has been obvious for many years in Kashmir. Since 1992-93 when the Taliban began its swift rise to prominence (or notoriety) in Afghanistan, Afghan militants had begun to make their presence felt in Kashmir. They were responsible for some of the worst acts of terror in the state including the burning down of the Charar-i-Sharif shrine. Latest reports suggest that Afghan mercenaries are being settled all along the Pakistani side of the Line of Control to make infiltration into Kashmir easier. The Taliban influence over militant groups in Kashmir is documented fact. That was also the period when militancy in Kashmir began acquiring a pronounced Islamic character.

This was commented upon by in 1993 by the US House Republican Committee appointed Task Force on Unconventional Warfare. The committee noted that that Kashmir is the only area in India where Islamic revivalism has taken a radical political stance and slogans of an Islamic state have been publicly raised. If one could call it coincidence, in February 1992, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, chief of Pakistan Jamaat-i-Islami called for "a great Islamic state spreading from Kashmir to Central Asia that would emerge after the independence of Kashmir." Although China has not publicly acknowledged its dealings with the Taliban, reports about China training Taliban pilots and Taliban militiamen are disturbing. Arms supplies are only a logical next step. Warned Iran's Ambassador to India Ali Reza Sheikh Attar: "The activities of the Taliban, which are getting solid moral and material support from various nations, would have a destablising impact on India and other neighbouring nations".

Taliban-China Deal Puzzles Diplomats Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi February 12, 1999 rediff.com:

THE DIPLOMATIC community in South Asia is puzzled by a military co-operation agreement signed between the Taliban militia in Afghanistan and the People's Republic of China. Diplomatic sources said the agreement was signed on December 10 and that the agreement was not signed between the two governments but between the Taliban military commanders and representatives of China's People's Liberation Army. According to the agreement, the PLA has agreed to:

Repair and maintain equipment captured by the Taliban militia from adversaries

The PLA would assist in raising and training the Taliban armed forces. Initial, 25,000 troops are to be trained

The PLA would provide training facilities for the Taliban's air force pilots

The PLA would provide from its own funds about 10 million US dollars to improve infrastructure for the Taliban armed forces

Initial training and maintenance of equipment are to done at Taxila in Pakistan. In return, the Taliban has given an undertaking that it will not provide any training to Chinese Muslims in China's Xinjiang province and that it will assist the Chinese authorities maintain places of worship and madrasas as in China.
Diplomatic sources indicated that the agreement has been brokered by Pakistan to provide the Taliban with some sorely-needed legitimacy. The Chinese authorities have yielded to pressure from Islamabad since Beijing has found it difficult to control the unrest among the Uiigur Muslims in Xinjiang. They said if the Chinese deal with the Taliban works, Beijing would be able to get matters settled without "actually dirtying its hands". The Taliban has indicated it's positive about this opening the Chinese has given it and the militia is currently willing to meet any demands from Beijing. There are indications that the Taliban militia may open an office in Beijing to meet the requirements of Chinese personnel who wish to visit Kandahar, Kabul and other important places in Afghanistan.

Ahmed Rashid. China forced to expand role in Central Asia "Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst", July 19, 2000:

UYGHUR militants are acquiring much wider connections to the world-wide Jihad movement than ever before, forcing Beijing to cast an equally wide net to contain them. China has no option but to become a major player in Central Asia due to this rising tide of Uyghur unrest in Xinjiang province, along with security threats along its long and porous borders with three Central Asian republics, weapons and drug smuggling, and Islamic militancy from Taliban controlled Afghanistan. China's regional partner in this drive for security is likely to be Iran, rather than its long time ally Pakistan, Russia or the United States. An increased Chinese military and political presence in the region will further complicate the Great Game of influence in Central Asia.

Background: President Jiang Zemin's visits to Turkmenistan and Tajikistan, his participation in the Shanghai Five summit meeting in Dushanbe, and the hard hitting Dushanbe Declaration, to which China signed on demonstrates a new and more expansive Chinese foreign policy in the region. Only two weeks earlier, Iranian President Mohammed Khatami's visited China and was allowed an unprecedented visit to Xinjiang's Islamic Mecca Kashgar - the first foreign Muslim leader privileged to visit volatile Xinjiang.

Despite China's repressive campaign against the Uyghurs and Iran's previous foreign policy of supporting oppressed Muslims everywhere, Khatami chose to praise Chinese policies in Xinjiang. The main thrust of the Dushanbe Declaration was to contain ''separatism, terrorism and extremism'' from spreading into Central Asia and Xinjiang from Afghanistan. The leaders agreed to ''create a joint anti-terrorist center'' in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. All leaders including China's President Jiang Zemin backed Russia's crackdown in Chechnya and condemned the terrorist incidents and bombing campaigns by Islamic militants that have taken place in Central Asia over the past 12 months.

China's limited policy thrust over the past few years has been to persuade Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan not to give sanctuary or support to Uyghur militants. China is now looking further afield, drumming up similar pledges from Tajikistan and warning the Taliban. Uyghur militants from Xinjiang are increasingly using Afghanistan as a sanctuary, a supply base for training and weapons, and a means to fund their movement back home through the lucrative opium trade. Heroin addiction is now a major social problem in Xinjiang.

Although the Taliban are not directly recruiting Uyghurs into their forces, Uyghur militants have enlisted with and get support from the foreign Islamic units fighting for the Taliban. These units include the 800-man Arab brigade led by Osama Bin Laden, units of Pakistani student militants, and the 2,000 man force of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan led by Juma Namangani now based in northern Afghanistan.

Implications: China with its long-standing communist policies towards ethnic minorities and religion, is primarily concerned with Uyghur Islamism and separatism, but wants to avoid a confrontation with the wider Muslim world. Significantly Jiang Zemin warned that the use of military force in Afghanistan ''is not a solution'', thereby rebutting Russia's June threat to bomb Taliban camps northern Afghanistan. Jiang Zemin stressed that the United Nations must be given full support to persuade the Afghan factions to form a coalition government. Unlike Russia and the Central Asian leaders, China sees the Taliban as a reality that has to be moderated and contained.

China's apprehensions of the Taliban and their role in supporting Islamic militancy in Central Asia and Xinjiang, has led to problems with Pakistan, its long standing ally in the region which supports the Taliban. For China the moderate government in Tehran is a much more acceptable ally. Although Shia Iran supports the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance with military aid, it has developed diplomatic and trade links with the Taliban. It also has a limited defensive strategy in Afghanistan, does not support Sunni militancy in Central Asia or Xinjiang, and helped mediate an end to the civil war in Tajikistan in 1997 that earned Chinese praise. A Chinese-Iran partnership is already developing to build strategic oil and gas pipelines in Central Asia, which would both counter United States and Russian pipelines and give the Central Asian states alternative routes to export their energy. Chinese companies are helping build the Neka-Tehran oil pipeline in Iran that will allow Iran to swap oil with Central Asia, while China is interested in helping build a Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran pipeline to Bandar Abbas on the Gulf as well as a pipeline from Central Asia to China. A new China-Iran axis in Central Asia will add a new twist to the Great Game.

Conclusion: President Jiang Zemin met with Russian President Vladamir Putin for the first time in Dushanbe and Putin pledged a strategic partnership with China. Although Russia, China and the United States share a common concern for stability in the region, China's strategy in Central Asia is generally at odds with both Russia and the United States. Russia is committed to an unabashed anti-Islamic crusade in the Caucasus and Central Asia that is rapidly turning both racist and chauvinistic whereas the United States continues to be obsessed with 'Islamic' terrorism and Osama Bin Laden rather than wider strategic objectives.

China is concerned about a repeat invasion this year by Namangani's forces in both Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan and has vociferously condemned the support that Namangani's forces have received from Afghanistan. Last year, Namangani's forces threatened to invade Uzbekistan, but got only as far as Kyrgyzstan. China is worried that an invasion by Namangani could trigger further Uyghur unrest in Xinjiang and lead to a stepped up Russian presence thus increasing United States-NATO activity in the region. In response, the Taliban authorities in an unprecedented statement on July 6, rebuffed China's attitude at the Dushanbe summit.

China Strengthens Ties With Afghanistan. John Pomfret Washington Post Service Thursday, September 13, 2001 athttp://educate-yourself.org/cnchinatieswithkabul14sep01.html:

IN A SIGN of Beijing's increasingly close ties with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, China has signed a memorandum of understanding for economic and technical cooperation with Kabul, press reports from Afghanistan and Pakistan said. The agreement was reported Tuesday, the same day terrorists hijacked four planes in the United States and crashed them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A Chinese delegation signed the deal in Kabul with the Taliban's minister of mining, Mullah Mohammed Ishaq, the news reports aid. China's agreement with the Taliban is the most substantial part of a series of contacts that Beijing has had with Afghanistan over the last two years.

Of all non-Muslim countries, Beijing now has the best relationship with the isolated regime in Kabul in the world, a senior Western diplomat said. While Beijing is not believed to be violating any United Nations-imposed sanctions in its dealings with the Taliban, the contacts have disturbed high-ranking officials from the West and some of China's Central Asian neighbors. Several senior officials in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, in recent interviews, said they worried that Beijing was trying to curry favor with Kabul at the same time it made a public show of opposing terrorism which seemed to be supported by Afghanistan.

China has helped form the Shanghai Cooperative Organization that joins Russia and three central Asian nations in a loose grouping. One of its main purposes is to combat cross-border terrorism and it is specifically aimed at Afghanistan. At the same time, China is quietly dealing with the Taliban as part of an effort to convince its officials to close Afghan-based camps that are used to train Muslim separatists from China's restive Xinjiang region. Those separatists on occasion re-enter China and launch attacks on China's security services or on civilian targets. As part of a sweetener, Asian diplomats say, China has dangled the prospect of providing Afghanistan with much needed help on its infrastructure and economic development.

In 2000, two Chinese telecommunications firms, Huawei Technologies and ZTE, signed contracts to provide limited phone service for Kabul and Kandahar, near where the suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden is supposedly based, regional press reports and diplomatic sources said. Asian and Western diplomats earlier this year identified Huawei as one Chinese firm that was involved in helping Iraq bolster its air defenses by selling it communications equipment. Chinese engineers have also held negotiations with Taliban officials about renovating an American-built power station, according to an Asian diplomat. Meanwhile, a Taliban-led business delegation came to Beijing earlier this year. In addition, political contacts between China and the Taliban government have grown.

In November 2000, a delegation from the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, an influential think-tank run by the Ministry of State Security, visited Kabul and Kandahar. China's ambassador to Pakistan has also made at least one recent trip to Kabul and met with Taleban officials in Pakistan's capital Islamabad, Asian diplomatic Sources said. "China has got to make a decision and a decisive one on Afghanistan," said one senior diplomat. "It can play both sides against the middle and anger the West and other countries, or it can really work multilaterally to resolve the terrorism problem. Who knows which course it will take."

International Eurasian Institute for Economic and Political Research. Beijing Hopes To Gain From US Raids On Afghanistan A US-Led Assault Could Cure A Headache For China By David Murphy and Susan V. Lawrence Issue cover-dated October 4, 2001 Far Eastern Economic Review:

IT'S A CHINESE nationalist's nightmare. A United States military assault on a country bordering on China might well be the opening scene to the kind of anti-Beijing plot long imagined by many Chinese commentators and editorial writers. Self-proclaimed nationalist pundit Wang Xiaodong declares such a US attack would allow the US to "put a knife in China's back."

Beijing's leaders, however, are proving more flexible after the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Having failed to persuade the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan to stop training Muslims from the northwestern Chinese region of Xinjiang, China now has a real interest in seeing the defeat of the hardline Islamic regime based in Kandahar. Even if it means allowing the US to take on a neighbour of China. A well-placed Chinese official estimates that Afghanistan is host to between 2,000 and 3,000 Uighur militants from Xinjiang. Opposition Afghan sources previously put the number in the hundreds. Either way, enough Uighurs are training in Afghanistan to sound alarm bells in Beijing, and make it see clear benefits in a US-led offensive against such training camps--as long as an operation doesn't turn into a permanent US presence.

Beijing fears that the military training and religious zeal acquired by Uighurs in Afghanistan will provide backbone to what is a fragmented independence movement back in Xinjiang. Though the Chinese government has kept the upper hand in the majority-Muslim region, Yan Xuetong, director of the Institute of International Studies at Beijing's Tsinghua University, notes "in the mid-1990s one-third of Xinjiang had a separatist problem." China has tried other tacks.

The goal of countering independence movements and Islamic insurgents made China a major force behind the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which since June has grouped Beijing with neighbouring Russia, Kazakhstan, Kirgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in a permanent regional security and economic forum. China has also relied on Pakistan to press the Taliban to bar Uighurs from its forces. And in the past two years, Beijing has reached out on its own to the Taliban.

"Security in Xinjiang is the main element in China's Afghan policy," says an institute official. But while China dabbled with the Taliban, it never had plans to extend diplomatic recognition to the regime, say analysts. A senior Asian diplomat says Beijing approached the Taliban the way that Chinese go to temples. "They go for insurance," he says. And even then, "they burn paper money, never real money." The culmination of China's efforts to engage the Taliban was a meeting in Kandahar in December last year between Beijing's ambassador to Pakistan Lu Shulin and Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, who usually refuses to meet non-Muslims. According to Asian diplomats, Lu sought guarantees that Uighurs would not receive military training from the Taliban, while Omar wanted China to oppose United Nations sanctions on his regime, initially imposed in the wake of the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in Africa. Little transpired from the talks. A Pakistan-based Chinese diplomat said afterwards: "There are no plans to go again."

In fact, the problem only worsened for China. Another senior Asian diplomat in Beijing says that before Lu's visit, China put Islamabad under pressure to expel Uighurs from religious schools in Pakistan. Islamabad complied, but refused to send them back to China. Hundreds chose to go to Afghanistan, where they were welcomed by the Taliban, which resented China's failure to vote against United Nations sanctions. Some Uighurs now fight with the Taliban and others with the allied the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. "China has very bad relations with the Taliban. We try to ask Pakistan to impose leverage on the Taliban to stop that [training of Uighurs] but it is very ineffective," says Yan. Beijing appears to hope that U.S. firepower will prove more persuasive.

__________________
THE MUSLIM UMMAH

Due to a shortage of devoted followers, the production of
great leaders has been discontinued.

[AbuMubarak]

China 'cracks down on Muslims'


Amnesty says thousands of Muslims have been arrested

China has been taking advantage of the US war against terrorism to make sweeping arrests of its restive Muslim population in the far west, according to Amnesty International.


Although hardly any 'terrorist' acts have been committed in the XUAR (Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region) over the past few years, the authorities have detained thousands of people over the last six months

Amnesty International
The international human rights group said on Friday that thousands of ethnic Uighurs in Xinjiang have been detained since 11 September.

Small numbers of Uighurs have waged a low-level bombing campaign in the region in the last few years but Amnesty warns that many of those arrested may have done "little more than practice their religion or defend their culture".

A Chinese Government spokesman, while refusing to comment on the specific cases cited by Amnesty, dismissed the accusations as groundless.

Clampdown

"Although hardly any 'terrorist' acts have been committed in the XUAR (Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region) over the past few years, the authorities have detained thousands of people over the last six months, and imposed new restrictions on freedom of religion and cultural rights," Amnesty said.



"Some people have been sentenced to long prison terms and others have been executed," it said.

China claims that a large number of Uighurs have been trained in Afghanistan - which shares a short border with Xinjiang - and have close links with Osama Bin Laden.

But human rights monitors, including UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, are worried that China is using 11 September as an excuse to stamp on peaceful dissent.

Cultural pressure

By the end of 2001, 8,000 imams had been "trained" by the authorities to give them "a clearer understanding of the party's ethnic and religious policies," the rights group said.


Xinjiang shares a border with Afghanistan


It also reported that school pupils and officials have been pressured not to fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Amnesty's 33-page report echoes similar claims by other human rights reports but it is nevertheless likely to anger China, which was infuriated by the US report on its poor human rights record published last month.

Uighurs, who are Turkic speaking, are ethnically and linguistically distinct from China's Han majority.

Uighur separatists are campaigning for their own independent state, which would be called East Turkestan.

[Andalus]

From china-underground.com story with pics

http://www.cinaoggi.it/english/travels/islam-in-china.htm

In the popular imagination China has often been regarded as an ethnically, socially and politically homogenous society, an idea that the government in Beijing has been keen to perpetuate. However, with the ever increasing accessibility afforded the outside world, this fallacy is rapidly being eroded. Not least affected by this period of change are 20 million Muslims who live in china, many of whom find themselves very much at the centre of the countries economic future.

Islam has been a significant presence in china since the 8th century when Arab and Persian traders began to visit and settle in coastal communities. The influx of Muslim immigrants increased dramatically in the 13th and 14th centuries when the Mongol Dynasty installed many Islamic bureaucrats, soldiers and businessmen in favour of the indigenous Chinese population. The city of Dali in the western province of Yunnan had an Islamic governor as early 1274 and to this day remains an important Muslim center in China.

The intermarriage of Islamic immigrants with Han Chinese led to a superficial acculturation ¨C the adoption of Chinese language and dress, even the construction of mosques in the pagoda style. However, over time the descendants of these early immigrants continued to be regarded as foreigners by other Chinese and now the Hui, as they are known, are recognized as the third largest national minority in China with a population in excess of 7 million people.

Although the Hui can be found throughout China the remainder of the Muslim population, 13 million people divided into one Indo-European and eight Turkic groups, is found exclusively in the sprawling North West province of Xinjiang.

Unlike the Hui, these diverse groups prefer to eschew elements of traditional Chinese Islam, with its focus on personal meditation and the veneration of saints, for a model more akin to that found in the greater Islamic world. They live largely apart from the Chinese population, preserving identities based upon religious affiliations and ethnic origins ¨C a separation that has constantly resulted in a marked tendency towards autonomy.

The Chinese government continues to implement a program that discourages and suppresses ethnic separation and identity, a policy that has proved most effective in Tibet. However, as trade routes to the west begin to expand, the province of Xinjiang plays an ever more important role in the economic future of the country and the Muslim population once tenuous links with the greater Islamic world grow more intimate.

It is clear that as China moves into the 21st century it must find new and more productive ways to negotiate with it¡¯s Muslim population ¨C the only Muslim community under communist control, and one growing ever more aware of it¡¯s place in the global marketplace.


Robert Ross
Pictures by: Paul Banks

[japanz]

To tell you the truth, i never even considered China to have any muslims until last eyar when my islamic school teacher told me and i read several articles in some newspapers about it. I hope that everything thing will be ok and every1 will be in peace. However the fact that the artcile mentions "chinese islam" really bothers me into thinking another sect has been formed AGAIN!

[Abdul-Curim]

do you ppl think muslims in china account for just 20 million ?

click on the link below

http://islamicpopulation.com/china_muslim.html

[MalcomBanned4?]

http://www.ummah.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1028&highlight=china

[Andalus]

thanks malcom
Some chinise moslem websites

www.kyaz.com
www.salamacn.net
www.Islamcn.net

[Andalus]

Originally posted by currim
do you ppl think muslims in china account for just 20 million ?

click on the link below

http://islamicpopulation.com/china_muslim.html

Nah i don't think that number is accuarate. All the stuff i see says over 40 million.

THE UNREACHED PEOPLES PRAYER PROFILES
China - Land of Diversity
Part 5
Today's Muslim Population in China

It is extremely difficult to ascertain the number of Muslims there are in China today. Thus, at this time, any figure presented should be taken only as a best estimate. Care must be taken to distinguish clearly between facts on the one hand and assertions, possibilities, and hypotheses on the other.

In 1980, in the midst of the liberal mood of the "Four Modernisations" and the post "Gang of Four", post-Mao period, Beijing announced a new set of figures for the fifty-five ethnic groups that it currently identifies as "minority nationalities." Among these fifty-five minorities (whose total population Beijing states to be 55.8 million, or six percent of China's total population), ten are identified, among which Islam has been the prevailing religion. A tallying of the figures for these ten groups produces a total population of slightly more than thirteen million (13,152,200) or about 1.3 percent of the total Chinese population.

Beijing's general practice has been to avoid referring to these minority groups as Muslims per se, the rationale being that many members of the minority in question no longer "believe in religion". Nevertheless, this figure of about thirteen million may be taken as Beijing's present official position as to the total number of Muslims in China (excluding Taiwan province for which Beijing does not give statistics). Even this increase over the figure put forth by Beijing in 1953 is still unrealistically small, however, in view of the nearly one-hundred percent growth of the total Chinese population during the same period. Also, even if it were true that there were only ten million Muslims in 1953, it is highly unlikely that their rate of increase would have failed to keep up with that of the Han Chinese. Instead it is more likely that the Muslims would have surpassed the Han given that the minorities have not been obliged to conform to the rigid population control measures that the Chinese leadership has imposed upon the Han.

Muslim Minorities in the People's Republic of China
MINORITY LOCATION LANGUAGE FAMILY 1953 CENSUS 1957 PEOPLE'S HANDBOOK 1961 NATIONALITIE IN CHINA BEIJING REVIEW 1980 APPROX. AVG ANNUAL % GROWTH
Hui All Provinces but especially Ningxia, Gansu, Xinjiang, Qinghai, Henan, Hebei Sino Tibetan 3,559,350 3,550,000 3,934,335 6,490,000 2.3%
Uighur Xinjiang Altaic (Turkic) 3,640,125 3,640,000 3,901,205 5,480,000 1.6%
Kazak Xinjiang, Gansu, Qinghai Altaic (Turkic) 475,000 500,000 533,160 800,000 1.8%
Dongxiang Gansu Altaic (Mongolian) 150,000 159,345 190,000 0.8%
Kyrgyz Xinjiang Altaic (Turkic) 60,000 70,000 68,862 97,000 1%
Salar Qinghai, Gansu Altaic (Turkic) 30,000 31,923 56,000 2%
Tajik Xinjiang Indo Iranian 80,000 14,000 15,014 22,000 1.4%
Uzbek Xinjiang Altaic (Turkic) 13,000 13,000 11,557 7,500 2.4%
Bonan Gansu Altaic (Mongolian) 4,000 5,516 6,800 1.6%
Tatar Xinjiang Altaic (Turkic) 6,000 4,370 2,900 4.3%
Totals 7,827,475 7,977,000 8,665,287 13,152,200
Beijing Review Vol 23 #9 (March 3 1980), quoting figures based on 1978 statistics


Government attempts to favor the minorities have included the establishment of "autonomous" minority adminstrative units at three levels: the region (comparable to a province and of which five have been designated), the prefecture (zhou), and the county (xian). The Muslim-inhabited areas that have been designated as autonomous regions, prefectures, and counties are shown in the following table.

Muslim Inhabited Areas
Designated as Autonomous Regions, Districts, and Counties.
MINORITY PROVINCE AUTONOMOUS AREAS YEAR FOUNDED
Hui Ningxia Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region 1958
Gansu Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture
Zhangjiaquan Hui Autonomous County 1956
1955
Xinjiang Changji Hui Autonomous Coutny
Yenqi Hui Autonomous County 1954
1954
Guizhou Weining Yi-Hui-Miao Autonomous County 1954
Hebei Dachang Hui Autonomous County
Mengcum Hui Autonomous County 1954
1954
Liaoning Fouxian Hui Autonomous County 1957
Qinghai Hualong Hui Autonomous County
Menyuan Hui Autonomous County 1954
1953
Yunan Weishan Yi-Hui Autonomous County 1960
Uighur Xinjiang Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region 1955
Kazak Xinjiang Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture
Barkol Kazak Autonomous County
Mulei Kazak Autonomous County 1954
1954
1954
Gansu Aksai Kazak Autonomous Region 1954
Qinghai Haixa Mongol-Tibetan-Kazak Autonomous Prefecture 1954
Dongxiang Gansu Dongxiang Autonomous Region 1950
Kyrgyz Xinjiang Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture 1954
Salar Qinghai Xunhua Salar Autonomous Region 1954
Tajik Xinjiang Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous Region 1954
Uzbek Xinjiang None
Bonan Gansu, Qinghai None
Tatar Xinjiang None


To a great extent these territories are autonomous in name only. While the minority after which they are named does have considerable representation in local government and party organs, the Han generally retain ultimate control and pursue various colonising strategies designed to sinify the minorities and establish a strong Han presence. In no case is the "autonomous" unit inhabited only by the minority (or minorities) for which it is named and in some cases Han are in fact the majority. (This is even true, for example, of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region whose population is approximately only one-third Hui but two-thirds Han.)

As noted above, ten minorities have now been officially identified for which Islam has been the dominant religious tradition. As also noted, not all members of the ten minorities actually practice Islam. But Islam is so much a part of each of the ten ethnic identities that individual members of each group who, for one reason or another, do not practice Islam are still considered Muslim "by birth" or "by blood"; in nearly all cases, if members of any of these ten minorities do not practice Islam, then they do not practice any religion.

Each of China's ten Muslim minorities traces its descent to ancestors who were absorbed into China by Chinese territorial expansion or who migrated to China either for commercial purposes, as refugees from conflicts outside China, or to assist the Chinese court. Islam was not carried to China "by the sword" and, with minor exceptions, Muslims did not engage in proselytisation in China.

Nine of the ten Muslim minorities are of Central Asian derivation; they are the Uighur, Kazak, Dongxiang, Kyrgyz, Salar, Tajik, Uzbek, Bonan, and Tatar. Six of these nine live in what has traditionally been known as Eastern (or Chinese) Turkestan, territory that became a province of China (Xinjiang) only in 1884 but which constitutes one sixth of China's total land area; until only very recently these six Muslim groups made up well over ninety percent of Xinjiang's population.

Each of the nine Central Asian Muslim minorities still speaks its own native languages, all of which belong to the Altaic language family and are thus as different from Chinese as is English. Of the nine minorities, six (the Uighur, Kazak, Kyrgyz, Salar, Uzbek, and Tatar) speak Turkic languages which are similar to that spoken in Turkey and to those used throughout much of the former Soviet Union. Traditionally, when written, Arabic script was used for these peoples' languages although over the years both the former Soviet and Chinese governments have launched numerous campaigns to replace Arabic with other scripts. Four of the Turkic-speaking Muslim minorities represented in China - the Kazak, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, and Tatar - have, in fact, greater numbers of their members living in the former Soviet Union than in China and the first three of them also extend into Afghanistan. Two of China's six Turkic-speaking minorities (the Kazak and Kyrgyz), still maintain a pastoral nomadic herding mode of subsistence while four of the six (the Uighur, Uzbek, Tatar, and Salar), have long been sedentarised and are either agriculturists or urban oasis dwellers. Also in Xinjiang, and farthest away from China proper, are the Persian-speaking Tajik, a minority whose greatest numbers live across the border in Afghanistan and the former Soviet Union.

The two remaining Muslim groups of Central Asian origin are the Dongxiang and Bonan (also spelled Tunghsiang and Paoan respectively) of Gansu province, both of whom speak their own separate Mongolian language. Unlike other Mongols, who are pastoral herders, both the Dongxiang and Bonan have adopted sedentary agricultural patterns characteristic of the Han-influenced areas in which they live. The Dongxiang, like the Turkic Salar who also live in a more Han-influenced area than Xinjiang, have a long-standing reputation among Han for daring, fiercencess, and solidarity and played active parts in the Muslim rebellions that occurred up through the early twentieth century.

By an analysis of the mosque congregations in China we arrive at a higher total for the Chinese Muslim population. On the mainland of China according to the China Islamic Association there are 40,000 mosques. Traditionally a mosque is built by Muslim localities on demand, under the supervision of local Muslims. Conservatively speaking a mosque cannot be built and maintained by less than 500 Muslims in one locality; if we multiply the total number of mosques by 500 persons per mosque we arrive at a total of 20,000,000 Muslims in China in 1955, when this number of mosques are said to have existed. Yet we cannot use the 500 person per mosque as a mean average because in Peking, there are 42 mosques among a population of 80,000 Muslims which averages 2,000 Muslims under the jurisdiction of each mosque. This estimate of mosque do not even include the mosque used primarily by women who in many communities have their own mosques due to Islamic traditions. Taking these estimates into consideration the total Muslim population in China should not be less than 40 million.

Islam in China
http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/Park/6443/China/

[Huja Usman]

To see how brutal the communists han-chiniese are against muslims in east turkestan (xianjiang-china) see this website.





http://www.hyahya.org/e_turkestan01.php


Kesmir, Irak, Kosovo, Afghanistan, EAST-TURKESTAN (XIANJIANG) all Muslims lands will never be forgotten,

[alifromconroe]

As China allows more personal freedoms bit by bit, and opens up more to the outside world, I would love to see a spread of Islam among the Han. East Asia and Latin America are both two areas of the world in which I think we should focus on establishing a stronger Islamic prescence, since Islam has been established now in Western Europe and North America.

I think these two regions could be infact called 'Final frontier' for us. :).

[AbuMubarak]

Detailed account of Muslims in China:
The Ancient Record of the Tang Dynasty notes that in the second year of the rule of Gaozong (31; A.D. 651) an emissary from Arabia came to the royal court bearing gifts. The emissary claimed that his state had been established thirty-one years before, which would mean that he reached the Tang court during the Caliphate of Uthman. According to the traditions of the Muslims of China this is considered to be the first time that Islâm was brought to China. The leader of this delegation was Said Ibn Abi Waqqas, one of the noted Companions of the Prophet. His party included fifteen persons who had travelled together by way of the Indian Ocean and the China Sea to the port city of Guangzhou in southeaster China, going overland from there to the capital city, Chang'an, where they paid their respects to the emperor.

The emperor, after searching inquiries about Islâm, gave general approval to the new religion -- which he considered to be compatible with the teachings of Confucius -- but he felt that five daily prayers and a month of fasting were requirements too severe for his taste, and he was not converted. He gave Said Ibn Abi Waqqas and his delegation freedom to propagate their faith and expressed his admiration for Islâm by ordering the establishment of the first mosque at Chang'an, an important event in the history of Islâm. This mosque still stands in excellent condition in modern Xi'an after ages of repairs and restorations.

Years later when Said Ibn Abi Waqqas was advanced in age and in ill health, he received permission to return to his homeland, but unfortunately he died on the way and was buried at Guangzhou. The mosque built near the site of his grave, is still preserved today, the second historic mosque in China. Most of his followers died in China and others returned to their homeland.

The first Muslims to arrive in China came by the sea route, following the example of the visit and preaching of Said Ibn Abi Waqqas and his party which laid the foundation stone of Islâm in China. Many Arab and Persian visitors came to China for commercial and religious reasons, both under the Umayyads and the Abbasids. The Arabians who came in the time of the Umayyads were known in China as the White Robed Tashi and when relations between China and the Muslim empire further improved under the Abbasids, their emissaries were known as the Black Robed Tashi.

The Umayyads and Abbasids sent five or six delegations to China, ranging from a few to a score of persons in each party, bringing precious gifts to the Chinese emperors. These delegations were cordially received by the Chinese and laden with gifts to carry back to the Caliphs, indicating the continuing friendly relations between China and the Muslim rulers.

In the century and a half between 31 and 184 (A.D. 651-800) a considerable number of Arabs and Persians came to China by the sea route. Initially they settled in Guangzhou but gradually began to push their way along the coast to the main cities and even as far north as Hangzhou. Wherever they went they gathered contributions and built mosques as centres for their religion, mosques which were relatively large and well-built, attesting to the substantial economic position of the traders. Many of those historically important mosques are still preserved, but in some places the converts have dwindled through the ages and the mosques remain today as historical ruins. During this period a growing number of Arabs and Persians settled down in China, many of them marrying Chinese.

The Arabs and the Persians who came to China by sea exercised great influence in trade with a virtual monopoly of the import and export business. By the time of the Song dynasty (349-678; A.D. 960-1279) a foreign quarter and bazaar had been established in Guangzhou. The office of Director General of Shipping was created to take charge of the movement of commodities through the port and to supervise customs and other commercial matters -- a post which was for the most part held by a Muslim.

While the Muslims who came by sea were settling in the south along the coast, Islâm was introduced into northwest China by the overland route. For some time the Xiongnu tribes of northwest China had caused constant border disturbances. After they were conquered by the Arabs these tribes were gradually converted to Islâm. During the Tang dynasty, in 138-146 (A.D. 755-763), Emperor Xuanzong was faced with the An Lushan rebellion which forced him to take refuge in Sichuan. He sent emissaries to ask for assistance from the Abbasid Caliph of Baghdad who sent him a deputation of 40,000 soldiers who aided him in his struggle with the rebels. In recognition of their valuable services Xuanzong gave the soldiers the choice of returning to their homes laden with gifts or of remaining in China. When they all elected to remain they were settled on farm land and given young women in marriage. Thus they were provided with land, homes, and an opportunity to live in peace and happiness. These new settlers became the part of the founding fathers of the Muslim communities of northwest China.

The improved relations with the Xiongnu tribes brought greater numbers of their people into China proper for business, many of whom chose to settle there. Still later Iranians, Central Asian Turks and Afghans came through the northwest to Chang'an, continuing the introduction of Islâm to China by the overland route.


The Rise and temporary Fall of Islâm in China
During the Tang dynasty (ended 295; A.D. 907) and the Song dynasty (349-678; A.D. 960-1279) foreign trade grew steadily as Arabs, Turks and Iranians took silk, art objects, Chinese porcelain, and other commodities to the Middle East and to Europe, returning with herbs, spices, pearls, and other products of those areas. They became middlemen in a most profitable trade which attracted ever greater numbers for commerce and the propagation of their faith, and as the new traders came to China more Muslim communities were established in the southeast and northwest parts of the country.

These Muslim communities became a strong force in Chinese society. Because these Arab, Turk and Iranian Muslim were law-abiding and self-disciplined citizens of high economic status they were received with respect and friendship by the Han (Chinese) people and were given the confidence and protection of the government. During the Tang and Song dynasties there was no anti-foreign feeling on the part of the government, and the Muslim population was able to increase steadily and move inland. Thus the Chinese and Islâm lived together in harmony and tolerance.

The Yuan dynasty was considered a foreign dynasty because it started under Genghis Khan, whose Mongol forces occupied China, Central Asia, Iran, Arabia, and parts of Eastern Europe. When these areas were divided into various kingdoms, Kublai Khan became the ruler of China and Mongolia, and the founder of the Yuan dynasty. Of the other areas which were for a time under Mongol control, the kingdoms of Central Asia were converted to Islâm. Throughout the whole area the freedom of travel maintained by the Mongols encouraged great crosscurrents of peoples and cultures -- the Chinese into Central Asia and the Arabs, Turks, and the Iranians into China -- which brought an influx into China of Muslim merchants and also Muslim doctors, scholars, astronomers, astrologers, and high-ranking warriors who were attached to the Mongol army as advisors, military aides, and staff officers. Although the Yuan dynasty was Mongolian, Muslims enhanced their standing by holding positions of military and civil power, and the propagation of the faith was greatly facilitated. According to the eminent Chinese historian Professor Ding Xuewu Ting, over thirty Muslims were high officials at the royal court in Peking, and the governors of nine provinces were Muslims.

Of the many important Muslims at the royal court of the Mongols, Sayid Ajal was the most prominent. Rising through a series of high offices, he became Commander-in-Chief of the Mongolian Expeditionary Forces in Sichuan and was appointed the governor of the province in 671 (A.D. 1272). Two years later he was transferred to the governorship of Yunnan where his enlightened and glorious rule hastened the spread of Chinese culture into the remote southwest, bringing the Thai and Malay indigenous people of Yunnan, Chinese law, education, and improved agriculture. He did this without prejudice as to race or religion and without forced conversion of the people to Islâm -- on the contrary, he was the first to establish Buddhist and Daoist temples in Yunnan. Many of the cultural patterns of the present day are due to this great governor whose name is still revered by all the people of Yunnan, Han and non-Han alike. Were it not for his religion, he would long since have been worshiped! in the temples.

The great Iranian historian, Rashidu'd-Din Fadlu'llah, in his remarkable history Iami'u't-Tawarikh -- the first volume of which deals with the history of the Mongols -- tells us that
"China during the Mongolian dynasty of Kublai Khan was administered in twelve districts, with a governor and vice-governor in each. Of these twelve governors, eight were Muslims. In the remaining districts, Muslims were vice-governors."


Thus we can imagine the status and importance of Muslims in China during the Yuan dynasty

The Yuan dynasty lasted for roughly ninety years (678-770; A.D. I 279-1368) until it was overthrown and the Ming dynasty was established. During the Ming dynasty -- which ruled almost three centuries, from 770 to 1054 (A.D. 1368-644) -- the Muslims made many great contributions to the life of China, and Islâm continued to occupy its rightful place as a popular religion.

By the beginning of the Ming dynasty Islâm had been in China for seven centuries. The considerable number of Muslims who had settled in China and the conversions that ensued among the Chinese had laid a secure foundation for Islâm, but during those seven hundred years in spite of the overall assimilation of foreign settlers into the Han Chinese mainstream, some Arab, Turkic, Iranian and Afghan Muslims had retained their alien status as a special class which preserved its own language, customs, and manners and was not yet fully integrated with the Han people. Under the Ming dynasty, however, they slowly lost their alien status and became Chinese citizens, and their manner of living was gradually Sinicized.

The most striking example of this process of integration was the adoption of Chinese surnames. Many foreign Muslims who married Chinese wives adopted the name of the wife. In most cases they picked Chinese names which sounded closest to their original names. For example, the surname Ma originally belonged to a prominent Han Chinese family and many historical figures were named Ma. Many Muslim men from the Middle East and Central Asia whose names started with the letter M took the name Ma, partly because of the similarity in sound, and partly because the Muslims love horses and the character Ma stands for horses. Thus so many Muslims of northwest China bear the surname Ma that there is a common saying,

"Nine Ma in ten Muslims."


The Chinese surnames Mo, Mai, and Mu have been adopted by Muslim immigrants whose names were Mohammed, Mustafa, Murad, Masoud. Many of them who found no existing common Chinese surname sounding like their names simply used the Chinese character sounding closest to their name -- Da for Daoud and Tahir; Ha for Hassan; He for Hussein; Ding for Jelaluddin, Shamsuddin, Ghamaruddin; Sai for Said and Sâd; Na for Nasser and Naguib; Sha for Salem, Salih, Sabih; Ai for Issa and Amin.

The Ming dynasty may be called the golden age of Muslims in China, for long years of peace and prosperity brought a flowering of art and culture in which the Muslims participated. Prominent Muslims had taken part in the establishment of the Ming dynasty, and later, in the reign of Yongle from 808 to 836 (A.D. 1405-32), the eminent Muslim statesman Zheng. He was sent by the monarch to establish friendly relations with the countries of the southeast Asia and with India, Arabia, and East Africa. During the Ming dynasty Muslims continued in positions of power, it is even said that the Ming was a dynasty of Muslims. There is even evidence for the claim that Zhu Yuanzhang (Hongwu), the founder of the dynasty, is a Muslim.

It is pointed out that his wife, Empress Ma, was a Muslim Turkic princess from Central Asia, that many of his responsible officials are Muslims, that he never worshiped in a temple after his accession, that he forbade public drunkenness, that he composed the hymn of praise of one hundred words to the Prophet Muhammad (p.b.uh.) which may still be found inscribed in the main mosque in Nanjing, and that historians mention his "strange" facial features, which may have been due to foreign blood as a descendant of a Persian or Arab. At any rate, Muslims were well treated during the Ming dynasty and there was perfect harmony between the Muslim and the non-Muslim Chinese.

The Qing dynasty ruled from 1054 to 1329 (A.D. 1644-1911). This last imperial dynasty of China was not a dynasty of the Han people, but of another smaller Chinese ethnic group that managed to secede from China, the Manchus. The Manchus established by force the Qing imperialism which ruled over the majority of Han, Turkic, Mongolian, and Tibetan people. Their ruthless policy of divide and rule, setting off one group of people against another, meant the beginning of trouble for the Muslims of China. The Qing dynasty, jealous of the influence of the Muslims and fearful of a counterrevolutionary attempt to restore the Ming dynasty, created many incidents to foment anti-Islâmic feeling.

The Chinese Muslims reacted with violence several times and the Qing dynasty retaliated with their army. Since their armies were led and manned by Han soldiers from southeast China, these incidents have led to enmity between northern and southern Han Chinese that until today continues to present a dangerous threat to Chinese national unity. There were four major so-called Muslim rebellions between 1236 and 1293 (A.D. 1820-76) even though many non-Muslims participated in the revolutionary struggle to free China from the Machu yoke.

The loss of life and property as a consequence of these events was severe, and the spiritual and psychological reactions of the Muslims were unfortunate. However with the downfall of the Manchu dynasty and the establishment of the Republic of China, the status of the Muslims in China entered a new era because the founder of the Republic, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, in his wisdom and foresight, proclaimed that all the components of the Chinese mosaic have equal status in that they are all of a big family.

[AbuMubarak]

How a Chinese Muslim made waves
By Benjamin Robertson in Beijing
Aljazeera
Sunday 22 February 2004
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6000A2D9-DE2E-483B-9ADF-211A76D29C76.htm


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photo:
The Muslim explorer Zheng He rose to the rank of
admiral
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/rdonlyres/6000A2D9-DE2E-483B-9ADF-211A76D29C76/29203/73F156B4534549BBB8C537B43C1FB6C6.jpg
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Given today’s technology, battling the high seas on a
25m wooden ship would at first glance appear an
obsolete task.

Next year though, a small group of Taiwanese and
Chinese adventurers will take the helm of a Ming
dynasty junk in an attempt to partially re-enact one
of the milestones in Chinese, and perhaps global,
maritime exploration.

Under the directorship of Admiral Zheng He, the year
1405 saw the first of seven grandiose naval
expeditions journeying from China to as far as East
Africa.

Undertaken while China was experiencing its zenith in
terms of international power, each fleet comprised
hundreds of ships, the largest of which has been
controversially suggested as being more than 130m
long.

According to one recent book, 1421, Zheng He should
even be credited with discovering America some 87
years before Columbus.

“I see him as the first hero in the history of Chinese
sea exploration,” declared Alan Hsu, the organiser of
next year’s 600th anniversary commemorative
expedition.

Brave or foolish?

Head of the Taiwan Society of Extreme Exploration, Hsu
is planning a three-year voyage that will retrace
Zheng He’s travels to India, the Middle East and East
Africa.

Entitled Gazing At Zheng He’s Era, Hsu will use
historical records to build a smaller version of a
Ming dynasty ship, one that will be big enough to
carry 16 brave - or some might say foolhardy
-volunteers.


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“I see him as the first hero in the history of Chinese
sea exploration”
Alan Hsu,
organiser of next year’s 600th anniversary
commemorative expedition
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Costing some $5m, Hsu’s trip aims to do more than just
promote a man who would appear to remain under
represented in the annals of world history. “We
ideally want volunteers from all areas of China. We
want to publicise the Chinese people’s love of peace
and peaceful co-existence.”

Such lofty ideals though stand in sharp contrast to
the life of Zheng He.

A devout Muslim, his Mongol ancestry forced his family
on to the defensive when the first Ming emperor took
the throne in 1368 and thereupon proceeded to
eliminate remnants of the former Mongol power.
Captured aged ten, he underwent castration before
entering into the service of the emperor’s son and
heir, Zhu Di.

According to Cambridge University history professor
Sally Church such practices were common among young
captives and allowed those with ability to rise within
the echelons of power as a court eunuch.

Good qualities

Evidently, his qualities served him well as, after Zhu
Di’s ascendancy to emperor, Zheng He was appointed
admiral of the largest navy in existence.

Although the technological and commercial sides of the
maritime voyages are usually stressed (notably China’s
invention of the compass and similar navigation
techniques), for Ming Dynasty historian Professor Liu
Yingsheng, the fleets had more than just a passive
role.


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photo:
The fleets were a symbol of Chinese supremacy
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“Although inclusive of merchant and scientific
personnel, one of the principle functions of the
fleets were to assert the image of Chinese supremacy
across maritime Asia and help maintain the so-called
tribute system whereby neighbouring rulers sent gifts
to the emperor as a sign of respect.”

Despite being touted as a system of equal respect,
failure to pay was tantamount to declaring war. The
fleets therefore needed to carry with them the
ultimate threat of force.

It is possible though that his Muslim status afforded
him added advantage when meeting with near and Middle
Eastern representatives of a similar faith. Although
he himself never made the hajj – the pilgrimage to
Makka carried out during the 12th month of the Muslim
lunar calendar – his father did and Zheng He sent
representatives in his stead.

Chinese Muslims

At that time, according to Liu, ties between China and
the Middle East were strong, aided by vibrant trade
conducted across both the land-based Silk Road and
maritime routes as well as a sizable Chinese Muslim
population.

First brought to China in the 7th century, Islam
developed in the country’s western regions where it
still holds sway today.

“In that period, the Middle East was in the eyes of
the Chinese, the West. Europe was virtually unknown,
nor at the time did it offer any technological
advancements,” added Liu.

It is Zheng He’s qualities as a sailor and ambassador
that will be stressed at next year’s events though
rather than his role as an agent of realpolitik.

Already, the government has laid out an impressive
list of nationwide exhibitions and conferences to mark
the event.

Americas claim


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“In today’s Chinese history, Zheng He is seen as
epitomising peaceful internationalism. That is the
image of China that current leaders wish to present to
the world”
Professor Liu Yingsheng,
Ming Dynasty historian
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Although the hotly disputed facts about whether ships
under his command made it to America are unlikely to
feature heavily, the notion of former naval supremacy
will not go unmentioned in a country keen to reassert
itself in world affairs.

Zheng He’s expeditions are made all the more poignant
for the fact that soon after Zhu Di’s death in 1424,
links with the outside world were gradually closed and
the prohibitively expensive naval and land-based
campaigns that were sucking the state coffers dry were
brought to an end.

At the last sizable ceremony held in 1984, then leader
Deng Xiaoping commented on how Zheng He epitomised the
last open period of China. The comparison with the
China that he was in the process of creating could not
have been clearer.

“In today’s Chinese history, Zheng He is seen as
epitomising peaceful internationalism. That is the
image of China that current leaders wish to present to
the