China expanding crackdown on mosques to regions outside Xinjiang, Human Rights Watch says………………….

The Chinese government has expanded its campaign of closing mosques to regions other than Xinjiang, where for years it has been blamed for persecuting Muslim minorities, according to a Human Rights Watch report released Wednesday.

Authorities have closed mosques in the northern Ningxia region as well as Gansu province, which are home to large populations of Hui Muslims, as part of a process known officially as “consolidation,” according to the report, which draws on public documents, satellite images and witness testimonies.

Local authorities also have been removing architectural features of mosques to make them look more “Chinese,” part of a campaign by the ruling Communist Party to tighten control over religion and reduce the risk of possible challenges to its rule.

“The Chinese government is not `consolidating´ mosques as it claims, but closing many down in violation of religious freedom,” said Maya Wang, acting China director at Human Rights Watch.

“The Chinese government´s closure, destruction and repurposing of mosques is part of a systematic effort to curb the practice of Islam in China,” the director added.

It should be mentioned that a United Nations report last year found China may have committed “crimes against humanity” in Xinjiang, including through its construction of a network of extrajudicial internment camps believed to have held at least 1 million Uyghurs, Huis, Kazakhs and Kyrgyz.