Guangdong Muslims: Few but Increasing (C-DI5-01546)

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 GUANGZHOU 018749

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SUBJECT: Guangdong Muslims: Few but Increasing (C-DI5-01546)

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1. (SBU) Summary. The Guangdong Muslim population is small
but rapidly increasing. The increasing numbers are due
mostly to economic reasons (Guangdong's booming
manufacturing economy attracts domestic and foreign Muslims)
rather than religious ones (South China has no Islamic
institution of higher learning). In a meeting with the
Guangdong Province Muslim Association (GMA),while
unswervingly patriotic and politically correct from a
Chinese standpoint, the Association's leaders complained of
the need for more imams in the province. End Summary.


2. (SBU) On June 14, the Guangdong Province Muslim
Association (GMA) in Guangzhou City discussed with Econ/Pol
Section Chief and Poloff about the demographics and
religious climate of Guangdong's Muslim community. In
addition to the increase numbers of domestic Muslims,
Guangdong Province has also seen a rise in the number of
foreign Muslims, particularly from the Middle Eastern
countries of Yemen, Jordan and Syria (septel).

Background on Guangdong Muslim Associations
--------------


3. (SBU) The Chinese Islamic Association, located in
Beijing, is the headquarters of all Chinese Muslim
Associations. The Islamic Association is the link between
the local Muslim communities and the religious affairs
officials, including the Religious Affairs Bureau (RAB) and
the United Front Work Department (UFWD). TQRAB and UFWD
generally communicate instructions to imams and mosques via
the Islamic Associations, many of whose members also serve
on the RAB. Guangdong Province has a provincial Muslim
Association office, as well as city offices in some of the
province's largest cities: Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhaoqing
and Zhuhai. The Guangdong office has eight people. Senior
officers of the Association are volunteers, while the office
staff (mostly recent university graduates) is paid a small
salary. The leaders of the organization said it is self-
organized and supported by donations. The GMA is run mostly
with donations from Muslims and to a smaller extent by
Provincial Government subsidy. The GMA is registered with
the Guangdong Civil Affairs Bureau and the Guangdong
Religious Affairs Bureau. In South China, Guangdong
Province, Guangxi Autonomous Region and Fujian Province all
have Muslim Associations. Hainan Province is currently in
the process of establishing its own association.


4. (SBU) The Guangdong Muslim Association sees itself as "a
bridge between believers and the government." Besides
religious affairs, the GMA also helps to create job
opportunities for Muslims, provides free translation
services and carry out poverty relief programs. The GMA's
services are not limited to domestic Muslims, though all of
the Consulate's foreign Muslims contacts said they had never
used the Association's services. The director of the GMA
said all mosques in Guangdong have some kind of children's
religious education; for example, both Guangzhou and
Shenzhen mosques have summer religious training sessions for
children. Every Saturday, the Shenzhen association has
Arabic classes for children and elderly people.

The Guangdong Province Muslim Community
--------------


5. (SBU) According to the GMA, Guangdong Province has
around 100,000 Muslims from ten ethnic minority groups, who
mainly live in the cities of Guangzhou (Guangzhou was
estimated by the South China Morning Post to have 50,000
Muslims),Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Zhongshan and Dongguan.
About 85,000 of the domestic Muslims originally came from
other provinces, the majority after the Reform and Opening
Policy began in 1979 due to increased economic opportunities
in the Province. There are between 10,000-15,000 foreign
Muslims in Guangdong, mostly in Guangzhou and Shenzhen
(Note: The GMA also said most foreign Muslims live in the
cities of Beijing, Guangzhou, and Yiwu in Zhejiang Province.
End note.). Guangdong Province has seven Muslim religious
sites (six mosques and one ancient tomb). These mosques are
administered by 11 imams throughout the province. The GMA
said its statistics were based on two sources. First, the

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Association had statistics on the number of people who
attended services and contacted the mosque's imam. Second,
the Association took the number of Muslim trading companies
in Guangdong and estimated number of employees.


6. (SBU) In case of death, Guangdong has three public tombs
to inter domestic Muslims, though foreign Muslims whose
relatives die in Guangdong usually face the difficult choice
of local cremation or expensive repatriation of the body on
the excuse that there is not enough land to bury foreigners.
According to the association, Guangdong has several thousand
Muslim restaurants, both large and small. Foreign Muslims
have opened at around 100 Arabic restaurants in Guangdong,
18 of which are in Guangzhou City. Of the 100,000 Muslims
in Guangdong, an estimated 30,000-50,000 are business
people. However, according to the GMA, none of them has a
large business entity or has a private investment of over
100 million yuan (12.5 million USD).


7. (SBU) Within the Muslim community, the GMA estimated
almost 100 percent of Guangdong's Muslims are Sunni.
According to the Association, only a very small minority of
Guangdong's Muslims are Shiite, who are mostly ethnic Tajiks
coming from Xinjiang Province. Some of the Consulate's
other Middle Eastern contacts said that Muslims from
Xinjiang are generally looked down upon by the Chinese in
comparison with the Hui Muslims, who have facial features
more similar to the Chinese. The GMA leaders did not
mention any other minor sects in the province.

Send Us Some Imams!
--------------


8. (SBU) The GMA leaders complained of a dearth of imams in
Guangdong, with only eleven to serve the Muslim population.
The leaders have told the Chinese Islamic Association in
Beijing they are looking for more imams and they expect more
imams to be confirmed in the near future. The South China
Morning Post (SCMP) was even more critical when it reported
in 2005 that Guangzhou's mosques are filled to capacity.
The SCMP wrote that the city's three mosques only have
enough room for 5,000 worshippers on Friday prayers. In
addition to the limited space, some mosques are also in need
of repair. One of the Guangzhou's mosques was cited by SCMP
as tilting and cracking in 48 places. During the twice-
yearly China Export Commodity Fair--when Muslim travelers
flock to Guangzhou--the crush can be so great that Muslim
believers spill out onto the footpath next to the mosque.
The GMA admitted they have a number of applications for new
mosques awaiting confirmation from the Religious Affairs
Bureau. The city that most critically needs another mosque
is Shenzhen, with a population of nine million and only one
mosque. While the GMA director said the Shenzhen government
has already designated a 7,000 square meter area to be
developed for a new mosque, the application for the mosque
is still awaiting government approval.

Imam Training
--------------


9. (SBU) One imam was present at the meeting and spoke
about his background and training. The imam, who appears in
his 30s, originally came from Xinjiang Province. In
Guangdong, imams are required to have a four-year bachelor's
education (this particular imam had studied at the China
Islamic Institute). Once they obtain the degree, imam
applicants must submit their application to the Islamic
Association in Guangdong. According to the GMA, the Chinese
government has no hand in the certification process.
Instead the GMA itself has a committee of retired imams who
create a training and exam system to confirm imam status to
applicants. The imam present at the meeting said he had
passed his exams in 2003 and went on to study at the
International Islamic University in Pakistan in 2004. The
imam's Arabic was rather good, because he had taken all his
classes in Pakistan in Arabic.

Government Control of Religious Rituals
--------------


10. (SBU) According to the GMA, Muslims can easily buy the
Koran in Muslims stores. The Koran comes from a state
publishing house, authorized to print the books. What
remains much harder for Chinese Muslims is establishing
contacts with foreign Muslims. According to the GMA, last
year 7,000 Chinese Muslims went to Mecca for the Hajj (which

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is an improvement from 20 Chinese Muslims a year in the
1950s). Of those, Guangdong only sent eight
representatives, of whom most were elder members, presumably
with vetted loyalties to the Chinese government. The GMA
had to collectively decide on its applicants and then submit
their names to the national Chinese Muslim Association.
Besides the official seven mosques in Guangdong, the GMA was
not aware of any underground Islamic groups. In terms of
missionaries, every year the GMA briefly receives missionary
delegations from Hong Kong, Pakistan and Malaysia.


11. (SBU) According to the GMA director, the Chinese
government does not observe its meetings or religious
services. Only in the case of "trouble" mosques, would the
government send inspectors to observe services. The GMA
members said they do not feel discriminated by the
government, rather they think they receive better support
because of their minority status.

Comment
--------------


12. (SBU) The Guangdong Province Muslim Association leaders
closely represented the government's opinion on Islam in
China. The leaders said they were content with government
support of religion in China and their only complaint was
that the national Chinese Muslim Association had not
provided them enough imams. In terms of domestic Muslim
activity, Guangdong Province has little significance.
Guangdong Province, as well as Yiwu in Zhejiang, Province,
however, are more significant because of their
concentrations of foreign Muslims. In Guangdong Province,
Muslim traders come from every potential Muslim country in
the world (Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia, South Asia
and Central Asia) and potentially hold every Muslim
religious viewpoint. The Consulate's septel on Middle
Eastern Muslims in Guangdong will address some of the
opinions and goals of the Middle Eastern population.

DONG