Chinese state media claimed the plan had been approved by eight Islamic associations. Beijing is attempting to increase its authority over the restive Xinjiang region in western China where many Muslims live. The ruling Communist Party is deeply suspicious of strong religious observance.
According to Chinese officials the Islamic Associations “agreed to guide Islam to be compatible with socialism and implement measures to promote Chinese culture in the region”.
In August a UN human rights committee heard reports that over a million Uyghur Muslims from Xinjiang are being held in “counter-extremism” camps.
Gay McDougall, a member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, accused Beijing of having “turned the Uighur autonomous region into something that resembles a massive internment camp”.
Geo Zhanfu, vice-dean of the Beijing sympathetic China Islamic Institute, welcomed the plan.
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He told the Chinese state owned Global Times it is “not about changing the beliefs, habits or ideology of Islam but to make them compatible with socialist society”.
However a statement from the World Uyghur Congress accused Beijing of attempting to suppress Islam in the country.
It said: “Practising Islam has been forbidden in parts of China, with individuals caught praying, fasting, growing a beard or wearing a hijab face the threat of arrest.
“As we have seen in the camps and in China’s treatment of Uighurs, ‘sinification’ is total assimilation and religious persecution”.
Sinification is the process of making an area more culturally Chinese.
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According to Amnesty International camp detainees have been forced to attend political ‘re-education’ lessons and sings songs praising China’s Communist Party.
On Monday China announced it would allow UN officials to inspect the Xinjiang region.
However it insisted they must “avoid interfering in domestic matters”.
Other religious groups have also faced government pressure.
Last month Chinese authorities arrested over 100 Christians during a crackdown on non state-sanctioned churches according to reports.