China’s “war on terror” is really a war on Islam

By: Simon Denyer

Source: washingtonpost.com

The month of Ramadan should have been a time of fasting, charity and prayer in China’s Muslim west. But here, in many of the towns and villages of southern Xinjiang, it was a time of fear, repression, and violence.

China’s campaign against separatism and terrorism in its mainly Muslim west has now become an all-out war on conservative Islam, residents here say.

China: Islam still on the rise despite crackdown

By: Hannah Beech

Source: http://time.com/

The road to Linxia, in China’s vast, sere northwest, is known locally as the Quran Belt, with a profusion of newly built mosques and Sufi shrines lining the motorway. Some are built in a traditional Chinese style, with pagoda-like eaves; others, with their green tiled domes, echo Middle Eastern architecture.

China’s biggest gold mine found in Muslim majority province of Xinjiang

Source: http://www.5pillarz.com/

Geologists have discovered China’s largest gold mine in the Muslim majority province of Xinjiang, according to the state news agency Xinhau.

The new find, close to the border with Kyrgzstan, has proven gold reserves of 127 tonnes, Xinhua said. If the estimates are correct, the reserves could be worth around 40 billion yuan ($6.5bn, £3.8bn, €4.8bn.)

It the biggest gold mine discovered in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region to date.

China bans beards, veils from Xinjiang city’s buses in security bid

Uighur women stand next to a street to wait for a bus in downtown Urumqi, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region May 1, 2014.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – A city in China’s restive western region of Xinjiang has banned people with head scarves, veils and long beards from boarding buses, as the government battles unrest with a policy that critics said discriminates against Muslims.

Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uighur people who speak a Turkic language, has been beset for years by violence that the government blames on Islamist militants or separatists.

Desert Strike: Sandstorm chokes China (Video)

 Sandstorms swept parts of northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Thursday, reducing visibility and suspending school classes.