China's tiny Muslim community provokes giant anti-Islam backlash

[Varun]

BEIJING — The flyer showed a restaurant takeout courier carrying two bags — one labeled "halal" for food prepared for Muslims and the other marked "majority food."

In the United States, the wording on the second bag could spark controversy as being discriminatory. In China, it's the first bag.

A backlash against Islam is on the rise in this officially atheist country, and the lightning rod is halal.

One of China’s biggest restaurant delivery companies, Meituan Takeaway, launched a halal service in July to attract more of China's 23 million Muslims.

By pressing a small green button marked with a mosque on the Meitaun smartphone app, customers can request that halal dishes be kept separate from orders containing pork or alcohol, which are banned under Islamic law.

“We have a halal box and non-halal box, so you don’t need to worry,” the company's ad said.

The move has outraged members of China’s dominant ethnic group, the Han. “Why should Muslims get special treatment,” one asked anonymously online. “Aren’t we an atheist country?”

Many Han called for a boycott, and Meituan withdrew the service. The Han comprise 92% of China’s 1.38 billion population vs. less than 2% who are Muslims.

“Concerns about halal food have become an outlet for irrational fears and concerns about Muslims and the perceived growing influence of Islam in China,” said James Leibold, a professor of Chinese politics at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia.

China’s Muslims generally are either Turkic-speaking Uighurs, who live in the autonomous and restive northwest region of Xinjiang, or Hui, who share the Han's ethnicity. Some Uighurs want independence from China, while the Hui are well integrated into Chinese society.

The communist central government, which censors any online comments it dislikes, has allowed the anti-Muslim hate speech to remain posted.

“It seems like it is turning a blind eye, which in China can only be interpreted as a deliberate refusal to interfere or restrict,” said Dru Gladney, an expert on Chinese Muslims at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif.

The halal debate heated up in 2016, when the government said it might regulate the Muslim food industry. Proponents said it would help Muslim and non-Muslims by establishing guidelines for producing and labeling halal food.

Halal food is a growing industry in China, where companies, often run by Han Chinese, export to neighboring majority-Muslim countries such as Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Some oppose tolerance of halal food as causing division in Chinese society. “This will strengthen the identity of Muslim people and make the gap between Muslims (and) non-Muslims ever larger,” Xi Wuyi, a professor of Marxism at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, wrote on China's microblogging service Weibo, similar to Twitter.

Many people who share that view and who identify themselves as mu hei — “Islamic haters” — campaign online against the “Islamificiation” of China with examples to prove their case.

In recent months, photos from airline flights where all the meals were labeled halal have caused an uproar, as have images of tissues, water and bread bearing halal logos.

Many say they don’t want symbols like that on their products, because they aren’t Muslim or religious. And some believe halal products fund Muslim terrorist groups. “You might as well buy bullets for the Islamic State,” someone going by the name Spicy Bean posted on Weibo.

Some experts say Islamophobia has been on the rise since 2009, when ethnic rioters killed 190 mainly Han people in Xinjiang’s provincial capital, Urmuqi.

The rise of the Islamic State, the global migrant crisis and President Trump's travel ban against certain majority-Muslim nations also has fueled anti-Islam attitudes and emboldened the mu hei.

“Suddenly it’s OK to be openly xenophobic,” said Ma Tianjie, a writer on Chinese public opinion.

Some Chinese Muslims who explained their beliefs and practices online only drew more condemnation. “We don’t want your evil cult,” wrote one person on the Hijab Channel, a social media account that tracks the lives of three Muslim girls in the southwestern city of Kunming.

At the heart of the problem is that most Han know nothing about Islam and have little contact with Muslims. Until recently all schools promoted atheism, and Islam is seen as foreign faith — even though it arrived in China in the seventh century.

Most people's impressions about Muslims come from the news and government reports about its massive security crackdown in Xinjiang against rebellious Uighurs.

In the past year, the government has placed 30,000 more security personnel on the streets in cities across the region and forced Uighurs to attend weekly flag-raising ceremonies where they swear loyalty to the Chinese state.

China has banned Uighur men from growing beards, women from wearing veils and children from attending mosques. It also has forced Uighurs to hand in their passports and return home from studying overseas.

Last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping even warned assimilated Hui Muslims to “uphold the law” and “promote social harmony.” He spoke about the need for non-Chinese religions to adopt “Chinese characteristics.”

"China’s political culture becomes more authoritarian under Xi Jinping," Australian professor Liebold said. "It is also becoming a more intolerant society, one with higher levels of mistrust and social anxiety and a reduced capacity to accept diversity and pluralism."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...uslims-and-halal-amid-islamaphobia/563300001/

Seems to be growing from the Halal vs Haram meat argument to something more.

 

[troodon]

Seems to be growing from the Halal vs Haram meat argument to something more.

China does not have enough Muslims to have serious arguments with the majority.

 

[Varun]

China does not have enough Muslims to have serious arguments with the majority.

There is a province called Xinjiang where they're the majority though:

58% Islam
41% Chinese religions / Buddhists / Non-religious
1% Christianity

 

[kaayal]

Chinese police order Muslims to hand in all copies of the Koran and prayer mats or face 'harsh punishment'

This is unfortunately true. Some of my friend's relatives staying there confirmed this news.

 

[kaayal]

Link-http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/china/article-4929064/Chinese-police-ask-Muslims-hand-copies-Koran.html

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

More examples of the intolerance of atheists once they are given a free hand. Even food needs an atheist stamp before it can be consumed under the watchful eye of big brother.

 

[IndYeah1]

Chinese police order Muslims to hand in all copies of the Koran and prayer mats or face 'harsh punishment'

This is unfortunately true. Some of my friend's relatives staying there confirmed this news.

Wow. "Iron Brother" sure is acting harshly.

 

[hafeezrocks]

More examples of the intolerance of atheists once they are given a free hand. Even food needs an atheist stamp before it can be consumed under the watchful eye of big brother.

Good Point.

Maybe [MENTION=26195]DW44[/MENTION] and [MENTION=5869]yasir[/MENTION] can still defend this bigotry.

 

[DW44]

Good Point.

Maybe [MENTION=26195]DW44[/MENTION] and [MENTION=5869]yasir[/MENTION] can still defend this bigotry.

No thanks. I take great pride in the fact that unlike the Islamist lot, my outrage over human rights violations is not dependent on the religion of the victims and perpetrators. I will however like to point out the hypocrisy of sarkari Pakistanis who condemn atrocities against Muslims exclusively while either ignoring or justifying similar atrocities when the perpetrators are Muslim, especially in Pakistan. You'd be better off turning your focus towards the "haye Burma, haye Falasteen" brigade that conveniently goes missing when it's China violating Muslims' basic human rights.

 

[vagabond007ti]

I am sure Pak will pressure China to ensure human rights for fellow muslims in China.. Pak did wonderful job of showing plights of Kashmiri muslims in UN but hope this time they dont use incorrect picture

 

[TM Riddle]

More examples of the intolerance of atheists once they are given a free hand. Even food needs an atheist stamp before it can be consumed under the watchful eye of big brother.

Well said. Pakistan should break all ties with China including the CPEC to teach these wretched atheist a lesson.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Well said. Pakistan should break all ties with China including the CPEC to teach these wretched atheist a lesson.

Pakistan is virtually a voluntary province of China now with Russian applause ringing in the background. The Pakistan atheist lobby will have tears streaming down their cheeks as they are handed their rations of pork and beef dim sum when the red flag is unfurled in future generations.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Chinese police order Muslims to hand in all copies of the Koran and prayer mats or face 'harsh punishment'

This is unfortunately true. Some of my friend's relatives staying there confirmed this news.

China have officially denied this.

All religions have issues within China but Islam is better off than the rest.

 

[Varun]

China have officially denied this.

Of course they will officially deny it, their state PR is a well oiled machine to suck in gullible individuals such as yourself.

 

[cricketjoshila]

Pakistan is virtually a voluntary province of China now with Russian applause ringing in the background. The Pakistan atheist lobby will have tears streaming down their cheeks as they are handed their rations of pork and beef dim sum when the red flag is unfurled in future generations.

Are you serious?

 

[KingKhanWC]

Of course they will officially deny it, their state PR is a well oiled machine to suck in gullible individuals such as yourself.

It's China not India.

 

[kaayal]

China have officially denied this.

All religions have issues within China but Islam is better off than the rest.

Tbh, i have never cared about the Muslim communites in China. But this news was shared to me by my friend whose sisters are doing MBBS in China. There is no reason for them to falsely claim it unless it is a truth. And seriously does anybody believes in what China says?

 

[Napa]

It appears that though both are Muslims, the Huis and Ugyhurs have no love lost for each other, and the Huis closely identify with the Hans. Ethnicity trumps religion in this case.

Alas, if only ethnicity also trumped religion in South Asia.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Tbh, i have never cared about the Muslim communites in China. But this news was shared to me by my friend whose sisters are doing MBBS in China. There is no reason for them to falsely claim it unless it is a truth. And seriously does anybody believes in what China says?

No offence but we I have to take the official word from a government who isn't shy of saying what it has banned over an Indian poster on a forum.

 

[Black Zero]

No offence but we I have to take the official word from a government who isn't shy of saying what it has banned over an Indian poster on a forum.

Totally agree...we should never doubt free-and-fearless Chinese media.

Sad thing is that my Chinese colleagues do not respect their own media. (of-course, I am trying to change their minds)

 

[IndYeah1]

It appears that though both are Muslims, the Huis and Ugyhurs have no love lost for each other, and the Huis closely identify with the Hans. Ethnicity trumps religion in this case.

Alas, if only ethnicity also trumped religion in South Asia.

It usually does. A telugu speaking muslim will often side with his ethnic brethren over a Bihari muslim. There are a select few who invert the logic - that inverted logic got the most it could few generations ago. Not anymore.

 

[yasir]

More examples of the intolerance of atheists once they are given a free hand. Even food needs an atheist stamp before it can be consumed under the watchful eye of big brother.

Good Point.

Maybe [MENTION=26195]DW44[/MENTION] and [MENTION=5869]yasir[/MENTION] can still defend this bigotry.

Since when China become model for Atheists?? - I don't consider Communists as Atheist, most of them are forced into whatever they are believing, its more of a Faith like any other religion or Faith based ideology. Its also a Dictatorship. Now we should all get inspired by North Korea as beacon of hope, after all they are China on Steriods

BTW: Why don't Pakistan takes a strong stand and people demand cut off all ties with China including CPEC? - After all they are killing our Muslim brothers and also an Atheist state, Didn't we know that for a very long time??

Decades ago, When China had legally banned all kind of Gods and religion in their homeland forcefully, Pakistan still was hand and glove with them, maybe because they needed military might of China against their neighbor. Moral and ethical standards that are driven by religious value were on back burner, they still are :

 

[Rafa]

It usually does. A telugu speaking muslim will often side with his ethnic brethren over a Bihari muslim. There are a select few who invert the logic - that inverted logic got the most it could few generations ago. Not anymore.

Then howcome Muslim Bengal and Hindu Bengal are different countries now? Muslim Kashmir, Muslim Punjab, Muslim Sindh. The only people who care about ethnicity are only Indian Hindus.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Since when China become model for Atheists?? - I don't consider Communists as Atheist, most of them are forced into whatever they are believing, its more of a Faith like any other religion or Faith based ideology. Its also a Dictatorship. Now we should all get inspired by North Korea as beacon of hope, after all they are China on Steriods

BTW: Why don't Pakistan takes a strong stand and people demand cut off all ties with China including CPEC? - After all they are killing our Muslim brothers and also an Atheist state, Didn't we know that for a very long time??

Decades ago, When China had legally banned all kind of Gods and religion in their homeland forcefully, Pakistan still was hand and glove with them, maybe because they needed military might of China against their neighbor. Moral and ethical standards that are driven by religious value were on back burner, they still are :

China is officially atheist, you can't get more atheist than that, so of course they are a model, just like Saudi Arabia is often used as a model for Islamic nations by critics like yourself. You can't have it both ways.

Pakistan won't cut ties with CPEC because they put economy ahead of religion. Probably a sensible approach, one I would have thought atheists would agree with. Or maybe you'd prefer Pakistan to side with the Taliban and wage war on the kafir Chinese regime in solidarity with their Muslim brothers?

 

[R0H1T]

Tbh, i have never cared about the Muslim communites in China. But this news was shared to me by my friend whose sisters are doing MBBS in China. There is no reason for them to falsely claim it unless it is a truth. And seriously does anybody believes in what China says?

Do you seriously believe the avg PPer believes what an Indian, or firangi, says? Saari khudiye ek taraf iron biradar dusri taraf

 

[SandyB]

AFAIK, china openly condemns public display of religion or religious symbols, and that include all religions. I suppose the Uighurs face the brunt of their laws because they feel the need to be overtly expressive about their faith.

For all that we know, China did pull out vast majority of their poor our of acute poverty and huge number of them live in prosperity now.

Wasn't the whole purpose of religion to let people live in prosperity and happiness ? If a country has managed to achieve that with their system which demands a certain level of detachment from religion, AND HAS THE RESULTS to show for it , should we complain that much . ?

What about the millions of people living in poverty and suffering in our nations. ?

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

AFAIK, china openly condemns public display of religion or religious symbols, and that include all religions. I suppose the Uighurs face the brunt of their laws because they feel the need to be overtly expressive about their faith.

For all that we know, China did pull out vast majority of their poor our of acute poverty and huge number of them live in prosperity now.

Wasn't the whole purpose of religion to let people live in prosperity and happiness ? If a country has managed to achieve that with their system which demands a certain level of detachment from religion, AND HAS THE RESULTS to show for it , should we complain that much . ?

What about the millions of people living in poverty and suffering in our nations. ?

Looking at the OP, it seems that the bone of contention is that Chinese Muslims are ordering halal food using a phone app and their food is then delivered in separate containers from the non-halal. Is that what you would call being 'overtly expressive' about their faith?

 

[big_gamer007]

Looking at the OP, it seems that the bone of contention is that Chinese Muslims are ordering halal food using a phone app and their food is then delivered in separate containers from the non-halal. Is that what you would call being 'overtly expressive' about their faith?

It's all about the perception and ignorance.. When people read stories about only bad deeds of Muslims they get a negative perception.. And no one integrates with Muslims so they they are ignorant..

To cap it all of china doesn't want anything to do with religion and is an atheist country which does not want religion flourishing so they don't want to give any different privilege on basis of religion however small it maybe like writing halal on food..

China is communist and atheist so I don't see why people are surprised if you live in their country where you have a chance to live a decent prosperous life then you have to follow their rules and your religion needs to take a step back.. You can't have it both ways if you want special treatment based on religion you can live in sub continent but then your standard of living might not be any good..

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

It's all about the perception and ignorance.. When people read stories about only bad deeds of Muslims they get a negative perception.. And no one integrates with Muslims so they they are ignorant..

To cap it all of china doesn't want anything to do with religion and is an atheist country which does not want religion flourishing so they don't want to give any different privilege on basis of religion however small it maybe like writing halal on food..

China is communist and atheist so I don't see why people are surprised if you live in their country where you have a chance to live a decent prosperous life then you have to follow their rules and your religion needs to take a step back.. You can't have it both ways if you want special treatment based on religion you can live in sub continent but then your standard of living might not be any good..

That is a totalitarian viewpoint and while you may support it, myself I would say that what someone eats is their business. You might also feel that all Indian owned vegetarian restaurants should be shut down in Dubai as those Hindus or Sikhs should be prepared to eat from the halal menu provided by the local community if they want the right to live a prosperous life in their country.

This is your logic, can't say I agree with it, but each to their own.

 

[ManFan]

I sincerely hope you don't believe Saudi Arabia to be a model for Islamic nations. If anything, they have hijacked and ridiculed Islamic tradition worldwide.

 

[big_gamer007]

That is a totalitarian viewpoint and while you may support it, myself I would say that what someone eats is their business. You might also feel that all Indian owned vegetarian restaurants should be shut down in Dubai as those Hindus or Sikhs should be prepared to eat from the halal menu provided by the local community if they want the right to live a prosperous life in their country.

This is your logic, can't say I agree with it, but each to their own.

I don't agree with that viewpoint but in just pointing out why it's being done.. Whether it's right or wrong one can debate on it but that's how china has set up their country and if people want to live their then they have to follow their rules.. Only one who can change those rules are people of china who can come together and raise their voice somehow I don't see that ever happening..

You need to understand religion has been used in politics and foreign policy in sub continent a lot which has not let the sub continent develop, china could have gone the same path but they got a leader/leaders who realised the hinderance religion causes in a massive population and got rid of it..

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

I don't agree with that viewpoint but in just pointing out why it's being done.. Whether it's right or wrong one can debate on it but that's how china has set up their country and if people want to live their then they have to follow their rules.. Only one who can change those rules are people of china who can come together and raise their voice somehow I don't see that ever happening..

You need to understand religion has been used in politics and foreign policy in sub continent a lot which has not let the sub continent develop, china could have gone the same path but they got a leader/leaders who realised the hinderance religion causes in a massive population and got rid of it..

The first couple of sentences suggest you don't agree with Big Brother China's totalitarian policy, the rest of the post seems to justify it. Not really sure what's going on there, although I've got a good idea.

 

[big_gamer007]

The first couple of sentences suggest you don't agree with Big Brother China's totalitarian policy, the rest of the post seems to justify it. Not really sure what's going on there, although I've got a good idea.

I don't know why you try to complicate posts.. It's simple I don't agree with it but it doesn't matter what I think I'm not a Chinese citizen and it's not my concern what they do.. If it was my country who made such rules I would be vocal against it like I do against the stupid beef ban and other issues..

Second half of my post was to point out that this policy worked well for china compared to other sub continent countries who use religion to hide their incompetencies so I can understand why their citizens do not protest or care about it.. Nothing wrong in accepting the truth regardless of what you may think why I said that..

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

I don't know why you try to complicate posts.. It's simple I don't agree with it but it doesn't matter what I think I'm not a Chinese citizen and it's not my concern what they do.. If it was my country who made such rules I would be vocal against it like I do against the stupid beef ban and other issues..

Second half of my post was to point out that this policy worked well for china compared to other sub continent countries who use religion to hide their incompetencies so I can understand why their citizens do not protest or care about it.. Nothing wrong in accepting the truth regardless of what you may think why I said that..

The thread was about citizens protesting about Muslims being allowed to order halal food via a phone app so clearly it's okay to protest as long as it's in favour of the totalitarian govt. So while I agree in principle with keeping religion in it's place, this sort of Draconian enforcement makes me glad not to live in such a fundamentalist atmosphere.