Xinjiang is home to China's largest Muslim population because of the high proportion of ethnic Uyghurs
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China has banned burqas, veils and “abnormal” beards in a predominantly Muslim province in what it claims is a crackdown on religious extremism.
The measures, which also force people to watch state television, follow decades of ethnic and religious discrimination against Xinjiang’s 10 million-strong ethic Uyghur population.
New regulations, to come into force on Saturday, require government workers in airports, railway stations and other public places “dissuade” women who fully cover their faces and bodies from entering and report them to police.
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They also prohibit the “abnormal growing of beards and naming of children to exaggerate religious fervour”, without giving specifics.
It will be forbidden to “reject or refuse radio, television and other public facilities and services”, marrying using religious rather than legal procedures and “using the name of Halal to meddle in the secular life of others”.
The document also bans not allowing children to attend regular school, not abiding by family planning policies and deliberately damaging legal documents.
Successive bans on select "extremist behaviours" have previously been introduced in in areas of Xinjiang, including stopping people with headscarves, veils and long beards from boarding buses in at least one city.
Human rights attacks around the world
Show all 10
Human rights attacks around the world
1/10 China
Escalating crackdown against human rights activists including mass arrests of lawyers and a series of sweeping laws in the name of ‘national security’.
Getty Images
2/10 Egypt
The arrest of thousands, including peaceful critics, in a ruthless crackdown in the name of national security, the prolonged detention of hundreds without charge or trial and the sentencing of hundreds of others to death.
Getty Images
3/10 Gambia
Torture, enforced disappearances and the criminalisation of LGBTI people; and utter refusal to co-operate with the UN and regional human rights mechanisms on issues including freedom of expression, enforced disappearance and the death penalty.
Getty Images
4/10 Hungary
Sealing off its borders to thousands of refugees in dire need; and obstructing collective regional attempts to help them.
Getty Images
5/10 Israel
Maintaining its military blockade of Gaza and therefore collective punishment of the 1.8 million inhabitants there, as well as failing, like Palestine, to comply with a UN call to conduct credible investigations into war crimes committed during the 2014 Gaza conflict.
Getty Images
6/10 Kenya
Extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances and discrimination against refugees in its counter-terrorism operations; and attempts to undermine the International Criminal Court and its ability to pursue justice.
Getty Images
7/10 Pakistan
The severe human rights failings of its response to the horrific Peshawar school massacre including its relentless use of the death penalty; and its policy on international NGOs giving authorities the power to monitor them and close them down if they are considered to be “against the interests” of the country.
Getty Images
8/10 Russia
Repressive use of vague national security and anti-extremism legislation and its concerted attempts to silence civil society in the country; its shameful refusal to acknowledge civilian killings in Syria and its callous moves to block Security Council action on Syria.
Getty Images
9/10 Saudi Arabia
Brutally cracking down on those who dared to advocate reform or criticise the authorities; and committing war crimes in the bombing campaign it has led in Yemen (pictured) while obstructing the establishment of a UN-led inquiry into violations by all sides in the conflict.
Getty Images
10/10 Syria
Killing thousands of civilians in direct and indiscriminate attacks with barrel bombs and other weaponry and through acts of torture in detention; and enforcing lengthy sieges of civilian areas, blocking international aid from reaching starving civilians.
Getty Images
1/10 China
Escalating crackdown against human rights activists including mass arrests of lawyers and a series of sweeping laws in the name of ‘national security’.
Getty Images
2/10 Egypt
The arrest of thousands, including peaceful critics, in a ruthless crackdown in the name of national security, the prolonged detention of hundreds without charge or trial and the sentencing of hundreds of others to death.
Getty Images
3/10 Gambia
Torture, enforced disappearances and the criminalisation of LGBTI people; and utter refusal to co-operate with the UN and regional human rights mechanisms on issues including freedom of expression, enforced disappearance and the death penalty.
Getty Images
4/10 Hungary
Sealing off its borders to thousands of refugees in dire need; and obstructing collective regional attempts to help them.
Getty Images
5/10 Israel
Maintaining its military blockade of Gaza and therefore collective punishment of the 1.8 million inhabitants there, as well as failing, like Palestine, to comply with a UN call to conduct credible investigations into war crimes committed during the 2014 Gaza conflict.
Getty Images
6/10 Kenya
Extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances and discrimination against refugees in its counter-terrorism operations; and attempts to undermine the International Criminal Court and its ability to pursue justice.
Getty Images
7/10 Pakistan
The severe human rights failings of its response to the horrific Peshawar school massacre including its relentless use of the death penalty; and its policy on international NGOs giving authorities the power to monitor them and close them down if they are considered to be “against the interests” of the country.
Getty Images
8/10 Russia
Repressive use of vague national security and anti-extremism legislation and its concerted attempts to silence civil society in the country; its shameful refusal to acknowledge civilian killings in Syria and its callous moves to block Security Council action on Syria.
Getty Images
9/10 Saudi Arabia
Brutally cracking down on those who dared to advocate reform or criticise the authorities; and committing war crimes in the bombing campaign it has led in Yemen (pictured) while obstructing the establishment of a UN-led inquiry into violations by all sides in the conflict.
Getty Images
10/10 Syria
Killing thousands of civilians in direct and indiscriminate attacks with barrel bombs and other weaponry and through acts of torture in detention; and enforcing lengthy sieges of civilian areas, blocking international aid from reaching starving civilians.
Getty Images
The 15 new rules expand an existing list and apply them to the whole province in what the Chinese government claims is a campaign against religious extremism.
Xinjiang, which borders Pakistan and Muslim-majority nations including Kazakhstan, is home to the greatest concentration of Muslims in China because of its significant ethnic Uyghur population.
But restrictions are enforced on the practice of Islam, as well as China’s four other officially recognised religions, and the new rules threaten further punishment.
Hundreds of people have died in the ongoing conflict between separatists and the Chinese government in the autonomous region, which sits on China’s far north-western border.
Beijing has blamed the unrest on Islamist militants, though rights groups say the violence is a reaction to repressive Chinese policies and separatists claim the region has been illegally occupied since 1949.
Peaceful protests have taken place alongside bombings and other violent attacks on Chinese security forces and institutions.
A rise in violence has triggered a large increase in security, with President Xi Jinping calling for a "great wall of iron" to safeguard the region during the annual meeting of China's parliament earlier this month.
Deadly attack on market stalls in China's Xinjiang region
The government strongly denies committing any abuses in Xinjiang and insists the legal, cultural and religious rights of Uyghur, a Turkic ethnic group, are fully protected.
China officially guarantees freedom of religion but authorities have issued a series of measures in recent years to tackle what it sees as a rise in “extremism”, while expanding its military presence in the region.
The popularity of Islamic veils including the niqab and burqa, which cover the face, has been rising among Uyghurs in recent years, in what experts say is an expression of opposition to Chinese controls.
Human Rights Watch’s 2017 world report accused Beijing of increasing “restrictions on fundamental human rights and pervasive ethnic and religious discrimination”, noting that details of “counter-terror” operations are scarce.
Travel restrictions increased when passports were recalled last year, with authorities requiring applicants to provide a DNA sample, fingerprints, a voice recording, and a “three-dimensional image”.
Local authorities have previously banned Muslim civil servants, students, and teachers from fasting and instructed restaurants to stay open during the holy month of Ramadan.
Amnesty International said the move, as well as a crackdown on “unauthorised” Muslim prayer gatherings, constituted violations of freedom of religion.
Dozens of students and writers have been arrested under a “counter-terror law” brought in last year and critics of government policy have been jailed.
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