China ‘expanding crackdown on mosques to regions outside Xinjiang’

The Chinese government has expanded its campaign of closing mosques to provinces other than Xinjiang (AP)

The Chinese government has expanded its campaign of closing mosques to regions other than Xinjiang, where for years it has been blamed for persecuting Muslim minorities, according to a Human Rights Watch report.

Authorities have closed mosques in the northern Ningxia region as well as Gansu province, which are home to large populations of Hui Muslims, as part of a process known officially as “consolidation”, according to the report, which draws on public documents, satellite images and witness testimonies.