China’s Muslims to the rescue of Henan’s Hui minority

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Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Unconfirmed reports say that Muslims from across China are trying to get to Nanren where minority Hui Muslims have clashed with majority Han Chinese. Local sources claim that many Muslims travelled to Henan by train but were prevented by police from getting off, while others arrived in buses and managed to break through the cordons.

Yesterday, police lined the road from 10 km outside the town stopping cars at checkpoints. Martial law has been declared in part of the province while the authorities have imposed a news blackout. Foreign journalists trying to enter Nanren on Monday were either turned back or detained.

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A religious affairs expert in Beijing said clashes could be easily triggered in other areas where majority Han Chinese and minorities live together. “Ethnic Han Chinese are often impolite and even offensive sometimes to others because of their lack of knowledge of other ethnic groups' religious customs,” He Xingliang, of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said.

In the meantime, China is experiencing unprecedented social upheavals as its economic development widens the gap between haves and have-nots. For instance, up to 100,000 farmers took to the streets in Sichuan to protest against unfair compensation payments for farmland expropriated to make way for a hydroelectric plant. Protesters clashed with armed police last week.

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