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FM AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 GUANGZHOU 018749 
 
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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINR SCUL SOCI CH
SUBJECT: Guangdong Muslims: Few but Increasing (C-DI5-01546) 
 
REF: A) State 74399 
 
(U) THIS DOCUMENT IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  PLEASE 
PROTECT ACCORDINGLY.  NOT FOR RELEASE OUTSIDE U.S. 
GOVERNMENT CHANNELS.  NOT FOR INTERNET PUBLICATION. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  The Guangdong Muslim population is small 
but rapidly increasing.  The increasing numbers are due 
mostly to economic reasons (Guangdong's booming 
manufacturing economy attracts domestic and foreign Muslims) 
rather than religious ones (South China has no Islamic 
institution of higher learning).  In a meeting with the 
Guangdong Province Muslim Association (GMA), while 
unswervingly patriotic and politically correct from a 
Chinese standpoint, the Association's leaders complained of 
the need for more imams in the province.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On June 14, the Guangdong Province Muslim 
Association (GMA) in Guangzhou City discussed with Econ/Pol 
Section Chief and Poloff about the demographics and 
religious climate of Guangdong's Muslim community.  In 
addition to the increase numbers of domestic Muslims, 
Guangdong Province has also seen a rise in the number of 
foreign Muslims, particularly from the Middle Eastern 
countries of Yemen, Jordan and Syria (septel). 
 
Background on Guangdong Muslim Associations 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The Chinese Islamic Association, located in 
Beijing, is the headquarters of all Chinese Muslim 
Associations.  The Islamic Association is the link between 
the local Muslim communities and the religious affairs 
officials, including the Religious Affairs Bureau (RAB) and 
the United Front Work Department (UFWD).  TQRAB and UFWD 
generally communicate instructions to imams and mosques via 
the Islamic Associations, many of whose members also serve 
on the RAB.  Guangdong Province has a provincial Muslim 
Association office, as well as city offices in some of the 
province's largest cities:  Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhaoqing 
and Zhuhai.  The Guangdong office has eight people.  Senior 
officers of the Association are volunteers, while the office 
staff (mostly recent university graduates) is paid a small 
salary.  The leaders of the organization said it is self- 
organized and supported by donations.  The GMA is run mostly 
with donations from Muslims and to a smaller extent by 
Provincial Government subsidy.  The GMA is registered with 
the Guangdong Civil Affairs Bureau and the Guangdong 
Religious Affairs Bureau.  In South China, Guangdong 
Province, Guangxi Autonomous Region and Fujian Province all 
have Muslim Associations.  Hainan Province is currently in 
the process of establishing its own association. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The Guangdong Muslim Association sees itself as "a 
bridge between believers and the government."  Besides 
religious affairs, the GMA also helps to create job 
opportunities for Muslims, provides free translation 
services and carry out poverty relief programs.  The GMA's 
services are not limited to domestic Muslims, though all of 
the Consulate's foreign Muslims contacts said they had never 
used the Association's services.  The director of the GMA 
said all mosques in Guangdong have some kind of children's 
religious education; for example, both Guangzhou and 
Shenzhen mosques have summer religious training sessions for 
children.  Every Saturday, the Shenzhen association has 
Arabic classes for children and elderly people. 
 
The Guangdong Province Muslim Community 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) According to the GMA, Guangdong Province has 
around 100,000 Muslims from ten ethnic minority groups, who 
mainly live in the cities of Guangzhou (Guangzhou was 
estimated by the South China Morning Post to have 50,000 
Muslims), Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Zhongshan and Dongguan. 
About 85,000 of the domestic Muslims originally came from 
other provinces, the majority after the Reform and Opening 
Policy began in 1979 due to increased economic opportunities 
in the Province.  There are between 10,000-15,000 foreign 
Muslims in Guangdong, mostly in Guangzhou and Shenzhen 
(Note:  The GMA also said most foreign Muslims live in the 
cities of Beijing, Guangzhou, and Yiwu in Zhejiang Province. 
End note.).  Guangdong Province has seven Muslim religious 
sites (six mosques and one ancient tomb).  These mosques are 
administered by 11 imams throughout the province.  The GMA 
said its statistics were based on two sources.  First, the 
 
GUANGZHOU 00018749  002 OF 003 
 
 
Association had statistics on the number of people who 
attended services and contacted the mosque's imam.  Second, 
the Association took the number of Muslim trading companies 
in Guangdong and estimated number of employees. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) In case of death, Guangdong has three public tombs 
to inter domestic Muslims, though foreign Muslims whose 
relatives die in Guangdong usually face the difficult choice 
of local cremation or expensive repatriation of the body on 
the excuse that there is not enough land to bury foreigners. 
According to the association, Guangdong has several thousand 
Muslim restaurants, both large and small.  Foreign Muslims 
have opened at around 100 Arabic restaurants in Guangdong, 
18 of which are in Guangzhou City.  Of the 100,000 Muslims 
in Guangdong, an estimated 30,000-50,000 are business 
people.  However, according to the GMA, none of them has a 
large business entity or has a private investment of over 
100 million yuan (12.5 million USD). 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Within the Muslim community, the GMA estimated 
almost 100 percent of Guangdong's Muslims are Sunni. 
According to the Association, only a very small minority of 
Guangdong's Muslims are Shiite, who are mostly ethnic Tajiks 
coming from Xinjiang Province.  Some of the Consulate's 
other Middle Eastern contacts said that Muslims from 
Xinjiang are generally looked down upon by the Chinese in 
comparison with the Hui Muslims, who have facial features 
more similar to the Chinese.  The GMA leaders did not 
mention any other minor sects in the province. 
 
Send Us Some Imams! 
------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) The GMA leaders complained of a dearth of imams in 
Guangdong, with only eleven to serve the Muslim population. 
The leaders have told the Chinese Islamic Association in 
Beijing they are looking for more imams and they expect more 
imams to be confirmed in the near future.  The South China 
Morning Post (SCMP) was even more critical when it reported 
in 2005 that Guangzhou's mosques are filled to capacity. 
The SCMP wrote that the city's three mosques only have 
enough room for 5,000 worshippers on Friday prayers.  In 
addition to the limited space, some mosques are also in need 
of repair.  One of the Guangzhou's mosques was cited by SCMP 
as tilting and cracking in 48 places.  During the twice- 
yearly China Export Commodity Fair--when Muslim travelers 
flock to Guangzhou--the crush can be so great that Muslim 
believers spill out onto the footpath next to the mosque. 
The GMA admitted they have a number of applications for new 
mosques awaiting confirmation from the Religious Affairs 
Bureau.  The city that most critically needs another mosque 
is Shenzhen, with a population of nine million and only one 
mosque.  While the GMA director said the Shenzhen government 
has already designated a 7,000 square meter area to be 
developed for a new mosque, the application for the mosque 
is still awaiting government approval. 
 
Imam Training 
------------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) One imam was present at the meeting and spoke 
about his background and training.  The imam, who appears in 
his 30s, originally came from Xinjiang Province.  In 
Guangdong, imams are required to have a four-year bachelor's 
education (this particular imam had studied at the China 
Islamic Institute).  Once they obtain the degree, imam 
applicants must submit their application to the Islamic 
Association in Guangdong.  According to the GMA, the Chinese 
government has no hand in the certification process. 
Instead the GMA itself has a committee of retired imams who 
create a training and exam system to confirm imam status to 
applicants.  The imam present at the meeting said he had 
passed his exams in 2003 and went on to study at the 
International Islamic University in Pakistan in 2004.  The 
imam's Arabic was rather good, because he had taken all his 
classes in Pakistan in Arabic. 
 
Government Control of Religious Rituals 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU) According to the GMA, Muslims can easily buy the 
Koran in Muslims stores.  The Koran comes from a state 
publishing house, authorized to print the books.  What 
remains much harder for Chinese Muslims is establishing 
contacts with foreign Muslims.  According to the GMA, last 
year 7,000 Chinese Muslims went to Mecca for the Hajj (which 
 
GUANGZHOU 00018749  003 OF 003 
 
 
is an improvement from 20 Chinese Muslims a year in the 
1950s).  Of those, Guangdong only sent eight 
representatives, of whom most were elder members, presumably 
with vetted loyalties to the Chinese government.  The GMA 
had to collectively decide on its applicants and then submit 
their names to the national Chinese Muslim Association. 
Besides the official seven mosques in Guangdong, the GMA was 
not aware of any underground Islamic groups.  In terms of 
missionaries, every year the GMA briefly receives missionary 
delegations from Hong Kong, Pakistan and Malaysia. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) According to the GMA director, the Chinese 
government does not observe its meetings or religious 
services.  Only in the case of "trouble" mosques, would the 
government send inspectors to observe services.  The GMA 
members said they do not feel discriminated by the 
government, rather they think they receive better support 
because of their minority status. 
 
Comment 
-------- 
 
¶12.  (SBU) The Guangdong Province Muslim Association leaders 
closely represented the government's opinion on Islam in 
China.  The leaders said they were content with government 
support of religion in China and their only complaint was 
that the national Chinese Muslim Association had not 
provided them enough imams.  In terms of domestic Muslim 
activity, Guangdong Province has little significance. 
Guangdong Province, as well as Yiwu in Zhejiang, Province, 
however, are more significant because of their 
concentrations of foreign Muslims.  In Guangdong Province, 
Muslim traders come from every potential Muslim country in 
the world (Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia, South Asia 
and Central Asia) and potentially hold every Muslim 
religious viewpoint.  The Consulate's septel on Middle 
Eastern Muslims in Guangdong will address some of the 
opinions and goals of the Middle Eastern population. 
 
DONG