MUSLIMS IN SHANGHAI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SHANGHAI 000021

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 1/9/2034
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR PTER SOCI CH
SUBJECT: MUSLIMS IN SHANGHAI

REF: A) 08 SHANGHAI 519; B) 08 SHANGHAI 476; C) 08 SHANGHAI 580

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




1. (C) Summary: There are over 200,000 Muslims in Shanghai,
according to one estimate, most of them migrants from Western
China. The Muslim population in Shanghai has recently leveled
off, though the number of Muslim students at Shanghai
universities has increased. Muslims face no restrictions in
their practice of religion, and Shanghai's seven mosques are
"overflowing" on Fridays. Shanghai's top imam is undergoing
religious training at Fudan University in order for the local
government to "maintain control," said one scholar. Many Muslim
migrants work in restaurants and are "free to make a living."
Han Chinese understand little about Islam and often associate
Muslim migrants with petty theft. Two Shanghai scholars do not
believe Muslim extremism is a serious concern in Shanghai, but
think local authorities may take measures, such as moving
migrants back to Xinjiang, to ensure a smooth 2010 World Expo in
Shanghai. This is one in a series of reports on Muslim
communities in East China. End summary.


200,000 Muslims in Shanghai
--------------

2. (C) According to Wang Jianping, Professor of Islamic Studies
at Shanghai Normal University, there are "at least" 200,000
Muslims in Shanghai. He calls this a "conservative estimate,"
explaining that it is difficult to get an accurate figure since
only 60,000 are officially registered Shanghai residents (Note:
Most of the officially registered Shanghai Muslims are Hui
Chinese who have been in Shanghai for generations, dating back
to the first major influx of Muslim traders from Nanjing shortly
after the Opium War in the 1840s, according to Wang. End note.)



3. (C) The majority of the Muslim population in Shanghai are
unregistered migrants from provinces in Western China, including
Xinjiang, Gansu, and Ningxia, said Wang Jianping. Shanghai also
has temporary residents from Pakistan, Iran, and other Muslim
countries mostly here on business, but it is difficult to assess
their exact number, added Wang. (Note: Mahmood Akhtar Mahmood,
Vice Consul at the Pakistan Consulate in Shanghai, estimates
there are 200 Pakistanis living in Shanghai. See Ref A. End
note.) Both Wang Jianping and David Wang, Professor in the
Department of Religious Studies at Fudan University, think the
Muslim population in Shanghai has stabilized, and the influx of
Muslim migrants from Western China has slowed in recent years.
"There are already many here (in Shanghai),and those who wanted
to come have already come," said David Wang. He feels that Hui
Muslims who have been in Shanghai for generations are "more
liberal" than the more recently arrived Muslims from Western
China, but sees no noticeable tension between the two groups.

Preferential Treatment for Uighur Students
--------------

4. (C) Wang Jianping noted an increase in the number of Muslim
university students in Shanghai in recent years. He said there
are many university students from Xinjiang (about 30 Uighur
students at Shanghai Normal University) and a rising number of
exchange students from Turkey, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan,
Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Northern Africa, and Malaysia. He said
many of these students study science and engineering. According
to Wang, the Shanghai Government, perhaps at the behest of the
Central Government, is actively trying to increase the number of
Uighur students at its universities by "lowering the bar" for
entry and assigning quotas to some universities. Wang
speculates the Chinese Government is making an effort to better
integrate Uighurs into general society. Uighur students are
often given part-time jobs, living allowances, and financial aid
by the universities and the Shanghai Government to cover tuition
and cost of living.

Free to Worship
--------------

5. (C) Wang Jianping thinks Muslims in Shanghai have no
restrictions on the practice of their religion, and mosques are
"overflowing" on Fridays. The oldest mosque in Shanghai is 700
years old, built during the Yuan Dynasty. There are currently
seven mosques in Shanghai, one of which is solely for women
while the other six cater to both men and women, though the

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prayer halls inside are segregated, according to Wang. The
mosques are Sunni, since "99 percent of Chinese Muslims are
Sunni," but Muslims of all denominations, both Chinese and
foreigners, pray together in the same mosques, said Wang.

Government-Sponsored Training for Imams
--------------

6. (C) The imams in Shanghai are originally from Shanghai,
Ningxia, Henan, and Hainan, and they are appointed to their
positions by the local government, said Wang Jianping.
According to David Wang, the "top imam" in Shanghai is currently
studying for a PhD in Islamic Studies at Shanghai's Fudan
University. David Wang thinks more Muslim leaders in Shanghai
are developing an interest in such religious study programs in
order to become "more worldly." Wang Jianping, however,
believes these Muslim leaders, like some Christian, Buddhist,
and Taoist leaders, are undergoing religious training at Fudan
University so that the local government, which sponsors the
training, can "maintain control" over them.

Free to Work
--------------

7. (C) According to both scholars, most Muslims in Shanghai,
especially the migrants from Western China, work in restaurants
or as street vendors selling barbeque meat, nuts, and trinkets.
Wang Jianping estimates there are 3000-4000 Lanzhou noodle shops
in Shanghai, mostly family-run with 5-6 employees, an indication
of the large Muslim population in the city. Lanzhou is the
capital of Gansu Province in Western China, and Lanzhou noodles
are common fare for Chinese Muslims. Ge Zhuang, a leading
Muslim scholar at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences
(SASS),half-jokingly told Poloff that the best way to tell how
many Muslims live in a specific neighborhood is to "see how many
Lanzhou noodle shops are on each block." Unlike the recent
migrants, many Muslims who have been in Shanghai for generations
work in white-collar jobs and "mix in well" with the rest of the
population, according to David Wang.


8. (C) Both scholars believe Muslims, both registered long-term
residents and migrants, are "free to make a living" in Shanghai.
Employees of a Uighur restaurant in Shanghai, all recent
migrants from Xinjiang, told Poloff that they experienced little
difficulty settling down in Shanghai due to strong community
support among Xinjiang migrants. The restaurant owner, himself
a Uighur, had "invited" the employees to move from Xinjiang to
work in his restaurant. They said the arrangements were all
made through family connections in Xinjiang. The employees,
ranging in age from early teens to early 30s, described life in
Shanghai as "very comfortable," though they said they plan to
eventually return to Xinjiang.

Little Understanding, Little Interaction
--------------

9. (C) Both David Wang and Wang Jianping think there is little
overt social discrimination towards Muslims in Shanghai since
"Shanghai people are generally very tolerant." However, very
few Han Chinese understand Muslims and their lifestyle. David
Wang believes there is very little interaction between Muslim
migrants and Han Chinese, and that "not many" Han convert to
Islam because it entails a "complete change in lifestyle," which
they do not fully comprehend. The only discrimination against
Muslims that Wang Jianping observed was shortly after 9/11, when
the Chinese media painted a negative picture of Muslims, and
prior to and during the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, when some
Muslims complained of searches and "mistreatment" by Shanghai
police in public areas, like train stations.

Petty Thieves, Not Extremists
--------------

10. (C) Both scholars believe there are no great security
concerns about Muslim extremism in Shanghai. "Most extremist
activities happen in Xinjiang," said David Wang. Wang Jianping
said most Muslims in Shanghai are here "just to make a living"
and have moderate views on religion. Most Shanghai residents,
however, associate Muslim migrants with petty theft. A Shanghai
storeowner once told Poloff that his apartment had been robbed,
and though he had no evidence, he was "sure" it was perpetrated
by migrants from Xinjiang who were living nearby. Many Shanghai
residents also associate pickpockets with Xinjiang migrants.



11. (C) According to Wang Jianping, Shanghai security officials
will likely remain on alert for extremist activities in the
months leading up to the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai. He heard

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rumors that Shanghai authorities had paid off Uighurs migrants
to return home to Xinjiang during the 2008 Olympics, and he
believes similar measures may be adopted in 2010 to ensure the
World Expo proceeds smoothly.

Other Muslim Communities in East China
--------------

12. (C) There are Muslim communities in several cities
throughout East China, including Shanghai, Yiwu, Kunshan,
Ningbo, Hangzhou, Wenzhou, and Nanjing, several of which have
mosques, said Wang Jianping. Yiwu, a commodities trading center
in Zhejiang Province, has the largest population of foreign
Muslims in East China, mostly from Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan,
Iran, and Egpyt (Ref B). Li Feng, a religious scholar at East
China Normal University said that Yiwu's Muslims represent the
best example of Chinese and foreign believers of any religion
mixing together in worship and fellowship (Ref C). The other
cities, like Shanghai, contain a mix of long-term Muslim
residents and more recently-arrived Muslim migrants from Western
China.

Biographic Note: Wang Jianping and David Wang
--------------

13. (C) According to Wang Jianping, there are only two
full-time scholars of Islamic studies in East China: himself
and Ge Zhuang of SASS. Wang has been researching Islamic issues
for 30 years. He first became interested in the subject when he
was sent to Yunnan Province for reeducation during the Cultural
Revolution in the 1970s, where he witnessed a Chinese Government
orchestrated "massacre" of thousands of Muslims. Wang has
conducted research on Islamic studies in Switzerland and at the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) in Beijing before
moving to Shanghai Normal University. He will be teaching and
doing research at Cornell University for a semester starting
January 2009. David Wang, by his own admission, only focuses on
Islamic studies "part-time." He originally began research in
Christian studies but was "forced" to focus on Islam when Fudan
University set up an Islamic studies program in 2000. He now
does comparative research on Christianity and Islam and recently
departed for the United States to be a visiting scholar at the
University of California Berkeley until March 2009.

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

14. (C) Although there appears to be little discrimination
towards Muslims in Shanghai, Muslim migrants from Western China,
especially Uighurs, clearly do not blend in with the rest of the
population, keeping to their own tight-knit circles and many
just barely able to converse in standard Mandarin. For the most
part, it seems many of the recently arrived Muslim migrants are
young and single, looking to earn money in Shanghai for a few
years before returning to their hometowns. One young Uighur man
told Poloff he plans to return to Xinjiang this year since he
cannot find a "good" conservative woman to marry in Shanghai.
Despite cultural and linguistic gaps, the Muslim migrants appear
to be comfortable in Shanghai, perhaps because of the support
network within the Muslim migrant community and mosques that
allow them to maintain a little home away from home.
CAMP