Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08SHANGHAI476
2008-11-04 02:01:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Consulate Shanghai
Cable title:  

(C) YIWU'S MUSLIM COMMUNITY: POSSIBLE TRANSIT POINT FOR

Tags:  PGOV PREL PINR PTER XF PK CH 
pdf how-to read a cable
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RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 7892
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SHANGHAI 000476 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/CM
NSC FOR LOI

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/4/2033
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR PTER XF PK CH
SUBJECT: (C) YIWU'S MUSLIM COMMUNITY: POSSIBLE TRANSIT POINT FOR
XINJIANG SEPARATISTS?

CLASSIFIED BY: Christopher Beede, Pol/Econ Chief, U.S. Consulate
Shanghai, U.S. Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)



C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SHANGHAI 000476

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/CM
NSC FOR LOI

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/4/2033
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR PTER XF PK CH
SUBJECT: (C) YIWU'S MUSLIM COMMUNITY: POSSIBLE TRANSIT POINT FOR
XINJIANG SEPARATISTS?

CLASSIFIED BY: Christopher Beede, Pol/Econ Chief, U.S. Consulate
Shanghai, U.S. Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)




1. (C) Summary: The Muslim community in Yiwu, a key trading
center in East China's Zhejiang Province, is thriving on the
back of China's growing trade with South Asia and the Middle
East. In an effort to attract Muslim businesspeople to the
city, local government officials have set up Muslim schools and
a mosque (with an additional one scheduled to be built in 2009)
with no apparent restrictions on Muslims' practice of religion
or other activities, according to Muslim interlocutors. There
were some visa restrictions in the period prior to and during
the Olympics, however, though these restrictions have now been
relaxed. A Shanghai academic who researches terrorism believes
the Chinese authorities are concerned about Yiwu being used as a
transit point for Uighur separatists of the East Turkestan
Islamic Movement traveling from the Middle East to Xinjiang
Province. This is the first in a series of reports on Muslim
communities in East China. End summary.

Yiwu's Muslims
--------------

2. (SBU) Yiwu is a cosmopolitan city located in the interior of
Zhejiang Province about 300km southwest of Shanghai. According
to Yiwu Government officials, there are more than 10,000 foreign
residents out of a total permanent local population of 700,000
(there are an additional one million migrant workers). Of the
foreign population, the vast majority are Muslims from the
Middle East and South Asia, particularly Pakistan, Saudi Arabia,
Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran. Vice Consul Mahmood Akhtar Mahmood
of the Pakistani Consulate in Shanghai estimates there are 1000
Pakistanis living in Yiwu, making it one of the largest
Pakistani communities in China. (Note: Mahmood proudly noted
that several Pakistani "pioneers" laid the foundations of Yiwu's
rise as a global trading hub when they set up business there
about 15-20 years ago. End note.) Most of the foreigners in

Yiwu arrived within the past decade and now run trading
companies or restaurants, according to Mahmood. In addition to
its permanent foreign residents, Yiwu sees thousands of foreign
visitors every day, mostly traders from South Asia, the Middle
East, and Africa visiting the city's massive commodities
markets, said Yiwu Vice Mayor Li Xuhang.


3. (C) Yiwu boasts a large mosque where "thousands" of Muslims
of various nationalities gather for prayer every Friday,
according to the mosque's Chinese-Muslim administrator who is
originally from Qinghai Province. He said he has never
witnessed any divisions along national or sectarian lines within
the mosque or in the city. He added that the mosque is
administered by the local government, and the imam is from
Xinjiang Province. Mahmood of the Pakistani Consulate noted
plans by the local government to construct another mosque in
Yiwu in 2009, attesting to the growing Muslim population in the
city.


4. (SBU) Several parts of the city are teeming with Middle
Eastern stores and restaurants. Poloff observed these areas
bustling with activity, especially at night, with groups of
Middle Eastern men eating at Arabic, Iraqi, Iranian, and
Pakistani restaurants or sitting around in small groups smoking
pipes and chatting. Along the sidewalk were many young males
ostensibly from Xinjiang or other western provinces of China
cooking and selling meat. The few women out at night in these
areas appeared to be of Chinese ethnicity but were likely
Muslim, as they wore scarves to cover their heads. Poloff saw
no obvious Chinese public security officials in these areas.

More Comfortable Than Malaysia
--------------

5. (SBU) Poloff spoke with several foreign businesspeople in
Yiwu, one of whom was an Iraqi restaurant owner who had moved to
Yiwu three years ago from Baghdad. The restaurant was packed
with customers, mostly Iraqi men with Chinese women, even during
non-peak hours. The owner said he himself has a wife and child
in Iraq, but many foreigners end up marrying local Chinese
women. He said life is "very good" in Yiwu. Though he claimed
not to speak any Chinese (he spoke fairly good English),he said
he is comfortable there because of the large support network

SHANGHAI 00000476 002 OF 002


within the foreign community. "The Iraqis hang out with the
Iraqis, the Saudis hang out with the Saudis, but we all live
side by side and get along," he said.


6. (C) Ayoub Danka, a Muslim Pakistani businessman working for
a trading company in Yiwu the past two years, said he and his
family feel "very comfortable" in Yiwu. He finds no
discrimination against foreigners and no restrictions on his
activities or his practice of religion in Yiwu. Prior to moving
to China, he lived in Malaysia for several years working in the
trading business. Danka said he feels "more comfortable in Yiwu
than in Malaysia", where he experienced discrimination against
foreign Muslims. He extolled Yiwu's Muslim-friendly
environment, including a Muslim school (where his child is
taught by a Chinese Muslim teacher from Xinjiang),the number of
Muslim restaurants in the city, and the mosque where he goes to
pray every Friday. Danka added that Yiwu has almost "zero
crime", and he attributed the city's "very tight security" to
the local government's desire to keep the city safe for
businesses.

Visa Problems
--------------

7. (C) Danka mentioned visa restrictions prior to and during
the Olympics, however, stating that he had to renew his visa
every month during that period. Though restrictions have
loosened considerably in the post-Olympic period, he still has
to renew his visa every six months. He thinks this regulation
is aimed at certain nationalities, such as Pakistan,
Afghanistan, and Iraq, whereas people of other nationalities are
able to get visas valid for one year. In a separate
conversation, Vice Mayor Li acknowledged tightened visa
restrictions prior to and during the Olympics, when the local
government had to check the visa status of every foreigner and
"report any problems" to the Central Government. However, Li
did not say whether certain nationalities were particularly
targeted during this period.

Yiwu-Xinjiang Connection: Transit Point for Separatists?
-------------- --------------

8. (C) Zhang Jiadong, Associate Professor at Fudan University
in Shanghai, thinks Yiwu is fundamentally a "place of business",
and Muslims have assimilated well into the local community. But
he also thinks other activity is going on beneath the surface.
Although there are no restrictions on Muslims in the city since
the local government wants to attract foreign businesspeople,
Chinese authorities are keeping a close eye on the Muslim
community and collecting intelligence on people's movements,
said Zhang.


9. (C) Of particular concern to the Chinese Government, Zhang
continued, is the likelihood that Yiwu is serving as a "transit
point" for Uighur members of the separatist East Turkestan
Islamic Movement (ETIM) of Xinjiang. According to Zhang, some
Uighurs travel to the Middle East where they train and build
connections, establish new identities and names, and return to
China through Yiwu on their way to Xinjiang. He said they adopt
this route since they can easily blend in with other Middle
Eastern businesspeople, and once in Yiwu, it would be easy for
them to travel domestically. He speculated there are
"underground mosques" in Yiwu facilitating such movement.

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

10. (C) Zhang Jiadong of Fudan describes himself as "one of
very few" experts on terrorism in East China. It is not clear
where he gets his information about Uighur separatists in Yiwu
since he himself acknowledged that "terrorism is a very
sensitive topic in China" and obtaining any information from
Chinese public security officials is "very difficult." However,
there does appear to be a growing connection between Xinjiang
and Yiwu. One Yiwu interlocutor noted that 80 percent of Yiwu's
Arabic interpreters are from Xinjiang. The Pakistani Ayoub
Danka said "many Pakistanis" like to travel through Xinjiang on
their way back to Pakistan, though he did not elaborate on the
reasons for this. Mahmood of the Pakistani Consulate also said
it is "very possible" that Yiwu is being used as a transit point
for Uighur separatists.
CAMP