Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07BEIJING4871
2007-07-25 23:25:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Beijing
Cable title:  

XINJIANG: AMCIT REPORTS HAJJ RESTRICTIONS,

Tags:  PHUM PREL KIF KISL SOCI CASC CH PK SA 
pdf how-to read a cable
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OO RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #4871/01 2062325
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 252325Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0143
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 004871 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EAP AND DRL
NSC FOR ABRAMS/WILDER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/25/2032
TAGS: PHUM PREL KIF KISL SOCI CASC CH PK SA
SUBJECT: XINJIANG: AMCIT REPORTS HAJJ RESTRICTIONS,
MISSIONARY EXPULSIONS, HARASSMENT OF EMPLOYEES

REF: BEIJING 4237

Classified By: Political Minister Counselor
Aubrey Carlson. Reasons 1.4 (b/d).

Summary
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 004871

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EAP AND DRL
NSC FOR ABRAMS/WILDER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/25/2032
TAGS: PHUM PREL KIF KISL SOCI CASC CH PK SA
SUBJECT: XINJIANG: AMCIT REPORTS HAJJ RESTRICTIONS,
MISSIONARY EXPULSIONS, HARASSMENT OF EMPLOYEES

REF: BEIJING 4237

Classified By: Political Minister Counselor
Aubrey Carlson. Reasons 1.4 (b/d).

Summary
--------------


1. (C) Chinese authorities have increased restrictions on
Xinjiang's Uighur population by collecting Uighurs' passports
to prevent unauthorized Hajj travel, according to an American
citizen businessman in Xinjiang and other Embassy contacts.
A low-ranking PLA officer reportedly told the businessman
that 2,000 Muslim Uighurs were detained in southern Xinjiang
for "illegal religious activities." The businessman also
reported that recent expulsions of foreign missionaries may
have been in response to complaints from local Muslim leaders
about the growth of Christianity at a time when Muslims face
significant restrictions. Three of his current and former
employees, all of whom are Christian, have been harassed by
Chinese authorities, though he believed the harassment had
more to do with their work for an "American" company rather
than their religious beliefs. Separately, a Uighur contact
in northwest Xinjiang Prefecture related word of a rise in
arrest of Uighurs in that area, with local cadres supposedly
emphasizing the need to maintain stability in advance of the
Olympics. End Summary.

Restrictions on "Unsanctioned" Hajj Pilgrimages
-------------- --


2. (C) In a July 20 meeting with Poloffs, American citizen
businessman, warden and long-time Xinjiang resident Steve
Brannon (strictly protect) discussed reports of increased
Chinese restrictions designed to prevent Uighur Muslims from
traveling on "unsanctioned" Hajj pilgrimages to Saudi Arabia.
According to Brannon, passport-holding Uighurs have been
told to turn their passports into local Public Security
Bureau (PSB) offices or risk having them canceled altogether.
Some Uighurs attempting to leave China overland find out
that their passports have been canceled and are turned back

by border guards.


3. (C) Brannon's comments track closely with a June 27 Radio
Free Asia (RFA) report that Xinjiang authorities were
collecting Uighurs' passports. A Chinese official quoted by
RFA suggested the mass collection was designed to prevent
Uighurs from going on the Hajj without Government approval.
Since the 1980s, large numbers of Chinese Uighurs have
traveled overland to Islamabad, Pakistan, to obtain visas for
the Hajj from the Saudi Embassy there. According to a South
China Morning Post article from October 24, 2006, over 5,000
Uighurs sought visas at the Saudi Embassy in Islamabad in

2006. Some apparently were issued visas but only after weeks
of protests and a Saudi decision that this would be the "last
time" such visas would be issued. The article goes on to say
that the Chinese and Saudi governments supposedly agreed in
May 2006 that all PRC passport holders who travel on the Hajj
must go through the official Chinese Patriotic Islamic
Association, instead of a third country.


4. (C) In a separate conversation on July 23, Abdul Rayim
(strictly protect),a Uighur currency trader at the Horgos
Pass on the China-Kazakhstan border, told Poloff that these
passport restrictions were in effect in Yining City, Yili
Prefecture, in the northwest of Xinjiang. Rayim said he
heard authorities are applying the policy in all of Xinjiang.
Once the PSB has collected a passport, police will only
return it if the bearer can put up a deposit of up to RMB
30,000 (USD 4,000),Rayim stated, which is more than double
the amount of cash a would-be pilgrim would need to make the
Hajj.

Xinjiang Press Campaign
--------------


5. (U) A review of the Xinjiang press over the past month
reveals that the province's official media ran a number of
articles warning against illegal pilgrimages. For example,
in a July 11 article from the official Xinjiang Ribao
(Xinjiang Daily),the Xinjiang Autonomous Region Chairman
Ismail Tiliwaldi emphasized the need to prevent unsanctioned
Hajj travel and called upon employers, customs and border
guards to prevent such activity.


6. (C) In a July 16 conversation, Xinjiang Academy of Social
Sciences scholar and member of the Xinjiang People's
Political Consultative Conference Ehmetjan Hesen (strictly

BEIJING 00004871 002 OF 003


protect) told Poloff that the Government recently held
mandatory "training" courses for those suspected of having
previously gone on the Hajj so as to warn them not to make
any future unauthorized pilgrimages.

Unauthorized Hajj Cheaper, Free of Minders
--------------


7. (C) A range of Embassy contacts have suggested that many
Uighurs choose to take unsanctioned Hajj pilgrimages overland
so as to both save money and avoid government scrutiny.
While the official Islamic Association of China (IAC)
organizes charter flights that are supposedly free of charge
for Chinese Muslims, Post contacts say these official IAC
charters are actually quite expensive. For example, both
Brannon and a Uighur contact from Hotan, Abdul Raheem
(strictly protect),told Poloff that aside from saving money,
Uighur pilgrims want to avoid official supervision out of
fear that participation in the Hajj would adversely affect
the careers of relatives who hold government jobs. Brannon
separately commented that many "unauthorized" pilgrims use
the Hajj as a business opportunity, purchasing religious
goods in Mecca to sell in Xinjiang, an activity which IAC
minders likely would restrict.

Rumors of Mass Detentions in Hotan, Yili
--------------


8. (C) Brannon told Poloffs that one of his customers, a
low-ranking PLA officer, reported that 2,000 Muslim Uighurs
had been detained in Moyu (also known as Karakash),in Hotan
County, for "illegal religious activities." These detentions
may be the result of a new policy in Hotan to give cash
rewards for citizens who report "illegal religious
activities" to police, Brannon surmised. Abdul Rayim
likewise separately reported an increase in arrests,
commenting that those recently arrested include participants
in the 1997 "February 5" Yili riots, many of whom had already
served prison time in connection with the incident. He also
said local cadres have been publicly emphasizing the
connection between the approaching Olympics and the need to
maintain stability in Xinjiang. (Note: Hotan and Yili are
historically sensitive areas that both witnessed major
incidents of Uighur unrest in 1995 and 1997, respectively.
According to a January 2007 report in the Nanfang Zhoumou
(Southern Weekend) newspaper, Moyu was the site of a secret
meetin of "East Turkestan" separatists in 1994, after which
the movement gained momentum and began to establish greater
contact with forces outside Xinjiang.)

Muslim Discontent over Christian Missionaries
--------------


9. (C) According to Brannon, there is currently a great deal
of talk among Xinjiang-based expatriates about reports of
expulsions of foreign missionaries this year (see reftel).
(Note: In the same July 11 Xinjiang Ribao article mentioned
in para 5 above, Xinjiang Chairman Tiliwaldi calls for
strengthening "management" of Catholicism and Protestantism,
in accordance with the law, so as to "strictly prevent"
outside forces from using Christianity to "infiltrate and
harm" the interests of the people. End note.) One reason
for the expulsions, Brannon said, may be pressure from local
Muslim leaders, who are upset over the spread of Christianity
among ethnic Uighurs. Officially sanctioned Muslim clergy
apparently have complained that, while authorities tightly
limit Muslims to participation in officially sanctioned
Islamic groups, they turn a blind eye to illegal Christian
missionary activities. In a February 2007 meeting,
Urumqi-based Protestant Pastor Fan Chenguang (strictly
protect) related similar Chinese
concern about Muslim perceptions of Christian activity,
telling Poloff that PRC officials closely scrutinize her
church's activities to avoid Muslim complaints of a double
standard. Fan, whose church operates within the official
Three Self Movement, told Poloff that the government asks
that she keep various activities, such as her Sunday school
program, extremely low key.

MSS Harassing Employees of U.S. Firm
--------------


10. (C) Brannon complained that Chinese Ministry of State
Security (MSS) personnel have been harassing three of his
Uighur employees, all of whom are Christian, though he said
he believes their connection to his "American" company,
rather than their religious beliefs, is the primary reason
they are under MSS scrutiny. Two former employees are

BEIJING 00004871 003 OF 003


regularly interrogated by Xinjiang MSS officials even though
they left his company at least three years ago. One of the
workers was arrested for three months in 2006, though the
charges were "unclear." Authorities released the man after
Brannon posted bail for him via an intermediary. In July
2007, the MSS turned its attention to Brannon's current
employee, who has already endured three 12-hour interrogation
sessions. Although required to appear as necessary for
questioning, the employee is not under arrest or detention.
Brannon noted that neither he nor his employees engage in
proselytizing.


11. (C) The apparent reason for the unwanted attention,
Brannon said, is MSS suspicion that his company is "spying"
on behalf of the U.S. Government. His company, Pacific
Research Development, runs two plum farms in Lop County,
Hotan, and Yensigar County, Kashgar. The location of his
Hotan farm along the flight path to a military airfield
apparently reinforces this mistaken belief. For now, Brannon
said he does not want the Embassy to become involved in the
case, though he wants the U.S. Government to be aware of the
situation. Although the safety of his employees is his first
priority, Brannon said he is also concerned about the effect
the "pressure" applied by the MSS could have on his company's
development. For example, Brannon was frustrated that the
MSS had interviewed a group of university students who had
interned at his company, thereby scaring away potential new
employees.
PICCUTA