Database Entry: Xinjiang’s Kashgar University Students, Teachers Forced to Give up Muslim Dietary Restrictions
Religious Persecution

Xinjiang’s Kashgar University Students, Teachers Forced to Give up Muslim Dietary Restrictions

November 06, 2018
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Officials at a university in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region are forcing students and staff to forgo their Muslim dietary restrictions in favor of traditionally pork-heavy Han Chinese cuisine, saying halal food is associated with religious extremism.



Chinese authorities have closed down all halal restaurants on university campuses in the XUAR and had initiated a campaign to remove halal signage from restaurants owned by Muslims in the region.



On Oct. 5, the Ministry of Justice in the XUAR capital Urumqi organized an advocacy meeting which called on all staff members to fight against “pan-halalism” and refrain from following dietary restrictions.



Oct. 7, the official Tengritagh news website ran a story about Ablikim Momun, the head of Maralbeshi’s Alaghir township, who it said invited Uyghur cadres to a Chinese restaurant to eat a meal made with pork, and praised him as a model official for doing so.