China seals 3 mosques in southern province

By Fuat Kabakci

BEIJING (AA) - Chinese authorities have shut down three mosques in Weishan town of the country’s southern Yunnan province, media reported.

The mosques belonging to Hui Muslims were shut for what the authorities said “illegal religious education,” the South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong-based daily, said in a report.

A video shared by the daily on its website shows dozens of uniformed police officers confronting Hui Muslim worshippers, who were trying to prevent the closure of a mosque.

It is not known whether the security forces detained any of them.

The footage also showed that a door of mosque was chained and sealed. No details were shared about the name of the mosque.

According to China’s People’s Daily, a Weishan local government’s official statement said the police in coordination with the Weishan County Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee carried out a raid in the villages of Huihuideng, Sanjia and Mamichang to "protect harmony and stability in the religious domain."

It is estimated that 700,000 Chinese Hui Muslims live in Yunnan province.

Muslims comprise 10 of around 56 ethnic minorities in China. The Muslim ethnic groups -- Hui, Uyghurs, Kyrgyzs, Kazakhs, Tajiks, Tatars, Uzbeks, Salars, Bao’ans, and Dongshiangs -- mostly live in northern and northwestern China.