Yunnan Muslims protest outside government building as imam detained

UPDATED at 4:25 P.M. ET on 12-16-2024

Hundreds of Muslims in the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan are protesting outside government offices in Yuxi city after local police detained an imam from a local mosque over the weekend, according to footage posted to social media and overseas Muslims with links to the region.

Police detained imam Ma Yuwei of the Yuxi Daying Mosque, prompting crowds of local Muslims to converge on municipal government buildings, with many praying outside, and some demanding his release.

Activists said recent developments in Palestine and Syria could be exacerbating the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s fear of “instability” among Muslim communities, as it continues to put pressure on them to show loyalty to the party line.

Ma Ju, a U.S.-based Hui Muslim with links to the region, confirmed the accounts to RFA Mandarin on Monday, and said the protest is still ongoing.

“These people went to the Yuxi municipal government to call on them to release [Ma Yuwei],” he said. “The crowd started gathering at around 2.30 p.m., and has continued to grow right up until midday [on Monday].

“They mobilized a large number of military and police from Kunming and southern Yuxi to cordon off the whole protest area.”

U.S.-based Muslim activist Sulaiman Gu also confirmed the reports.

“Hundreds of people have gathered in front of the Yuxi municipal government building to protest the government’s arrest of Imam Ma Yuwei,”' he said.

“Large numbers of military and police vehicles are heading toward Yuxi.”

Since Sept. 1, 2023, monasteries, temples, mosques, churches and other religious venues have been required to support the leadership of the party and leader Xi Jinping’s plans for the “sinicization” of religious activity.

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Gu said the protesters had submitted a petition asking the government to explain the reasons for the arrest and to guarantee their right to religious freedom.

Repeated calls to the Yuxi municipal government, its religious affairs bureau and the local police department rang unanswered during office hours on Monday.

The protests came after large numbers of plainclothes police surrounded the Shuxiang Chuanchuanxiang restaurant near Yuxi’s Nie Er Square on Sunday, as Ma Yuwei was having lunch there, according to accounts posted to the X citizen journalist account, “Mr Li is not your teacher.”

Eyewitnesses said restaurant employees and other customers had asked police to show official documentation before they took Ma away, but were told to “cooperate with our investigation.”

Police also detain Ma Yuwei’s brother, Ma Yuqing, at about 3 p.m. local time on Monday, and had also taken away the imam’s parents, Ma Ju said.

Police said they would hold Ma Yuqing for no more than eight hours, as protesters gathered outside the police station, demanding his release.

Ma Yuwei’s arrest for “illegal religious activities” comes amid an ongoing campaign by the Chinese Communist Party under Xi Jinping to control every aspect of religious life, a policy known as “sinicization.”

“A lot of people also called the mayor’s hotline, but to no avail,” Ma Ju said, adding that Ma Yuwei is highly respected among the local community, with a reputation for religious dedication and knowledge of the Quran.

But he has been repeatedly targeted by the authorities under the “sinicization” policy, and has been living on the mosque premises with his family for around six months, seldom going out, he said.

He went out on Sunday to eat with someone after receiving a phone call, and was taken away by police just five minutes after sitting down, Ma Ju said.

Instability anxiety

Sulaiman Gu said Daying Mosque was also targeted under the “sinicization” policy.

“The Daying Mosque was designated by the government as site of illegal religious activity,” Gu told RFA Mandarin on Monday. “Religious affairs officials from Yuxi municipal government and Hongta district held a meeting with them in May to warn them about it ... and to order them to shut down a Quranic study class that had been going for more than 20 years.”

“Part of the reason for [Ma Yuwei’s] arrest was ‘illegally preaching the Quran,’” he said.

Taiwanese national security researcher Shih Chien-yu said the protests come amid growing fears of “instability” in the Chinese government.

“International issues like Syria and Palestine have affected China to varying degrees, and the Chinese government has to suppress religious forces to maintain stability,” Shih told RFA.

“This arrest could have something to do with that background.”

Ma Ju said the cause of the incident is linked to the ongoing repression of Muslims by the Chinese Communist Party in Xinjiang.

“During the operation of the Uyghur concentration camps, there is ample evidence that many Hui people had also been imprisoned as part of the same campaign,” he said.

Previous unrest in Yunnan

Yunnan has seen unrest among Muslim communities before under the “sinicization” policy.

The mostly Muslim town of Nagu saw clashes between police and Muslims in May 2023 when a government demolition team toppled the minarets and dome roof of the historic Najiaying Mosque as part of “sinicization” work.

The mosque, run by Hui Muslims, had recently expanded its minarets and dome, a move that was ruled illegal by a court in Yunnan’s Tonghai county.

The Chinese Communist Party, which embraces atheism, exercises tight controls over any form of religious practice among its citizens, including what clerics may or may not say in places of worship, on who may call themselves a religious follower, and where and with whom they may gather.

Local officials have also used brainwashing and torture to get Christians, Muslims and Tibetans to renounce their allegiance to any power other than Beijing.

Additional reporting by Nuriman Abdureshid for RFA Uyghur.
Translated by Luisetta Mudie.

The story was updated to add further comments by Ma Ju.