VZCZCXRO2537
OO RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #4871/01 2062325
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 252325Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0143
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 004871 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP AND DRL 
NSC FOR ABRAMS/WILDER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/25/2032 
TAGS: PHUM PREL KIF KISL SOCI CASC CH PK SA
SUBJECT: XINJIANG: AMCIT REPORTS HAJJ RESTRICTIONS, 
MISSIONARY EXPULSIONS, HARASSMENT OF EMPLOYEES 
 
REF: BEIJING 4237 
 
Classified By: Political Minister Counselor 
Aubrey Carlson.  Reasons 1.4 (b/d). 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (C) Chinese authorities have increased restrictions on 
Xinjiang's Uighur population by collecting Uighurs' passports 
to prevent unauthorized Hajj travel, according to an American 
citizen businessman in Xinjiang and other Embassy contacts. 
A low-ranking PLA officer reportedly told the businessman 
that 2,000 Muslim Uighurs were detained in southern Xinjiang 
for "illegal religious activities."  The businessman also 
reported that recent expulsions of foreign missionaries may 
have been in response to complaints from local Muslim leaders 
about the growth of Christianity at a time when Muslims face 
significant restrictions.  Three of his current and former 
employees, all of whom are Christian, have been harassed by 
Chinese authorities, though he believed the harassment had 
more to do with their work for an "American" company rather 
than their religious beliefs.  Separately, a Uighur contact 
in northwest Xinjiang Prefecture related word of a rise in 
arrest of Uighurs in that area, with local cadres supposedly 
emphasizing the need to maintain stability in advance of the 
Olympics.  End Summary. 
 
Restrictions on "Unsanctioned" Hajj Pilgrimages 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶2. (C) In a July 20 meeting with Poloffs, American citizen 
businessman, warden and long-time Xinjiang resident Steve 
Brannon (strictly protect) discussed reports of increased 
Chinese restrictions designed to prevent Uighur Muslims from 
traveling on "unsanctioned" Hajj pilgrimages to Saudi Arabia. 
 According to Brannon, passport-holding Uighurs have been 
told to turn their passports into local Public Security 
Bureau (PSB) offices or risk having them canceled altogether. 
 Some Uighurs attempting to leave China overland find out 
that their passports have been canceled and are turned back 
by border guards. 
 
¶3. (C) Brannon's comments track closely with a June 27 Radio 
Free Asia (RFA) report that Xinjiang authorities were 
collecting Uighurs' passports.  A Chinese official quoted by 
RFA suggested the mass collection was designed to prevent 
Uighurs from going on the Hajj without Government approval. 
Since the 1980s, large numbers of Chinese Uighurs have 
traveled overland to Islamabad, Pakistan, to obtain visas for 
the Hajj from the Saudi Embassy there.  According to a South 
China Morning Post article from October 24, 2006, over 5,000 
Uighurs sought visas at the Saudi Embassy in Islamabad in 
¶2006.  Some apparently were issued visas but only after weeks 
of protests and a Saudi decision that this would be the "last 
time" such visas would be issued.  The article goes on to say 
that the Chinese and Saudi governments supposedly agreed in 
May 2006 that all PRC passport holders who travel on the Hajj 
must go through the official Chinese Patriotic Islamic 
Association, instead of a third country. 
 
¶4. (C) In a separate conversation on July 23, Abdul Rayim 
(strictly protect), a Uighur currency trader at the Horgos 
Pass on the China-Kazakhstan border, told Poloff that these 
passport restrictions were in effect in Yining City, Yili 
Prefecture, in the northwest of Xinjiang.  Rayim said he 
heard authorities are applying the policy in all of Xinjiang. 
 Once the PSB has collected a passport, police will only 
return it if the bearer can put up a deposit of up to RMB 
30,000 (USD 4,000), Rayim stated, which is more than double 
the amount of cash a would-be pilgrim would need to make the 
Hajj. 
 
Xinjiang Press Campaign 
----------------------- 
 
¶5. (U) A review of the Xinjiang press over the past month 
reveals that the province's official media ran a number of 
articles warning against illegal pilgrimages.  For example, 
in a July 11 article from the official Xinjiang Ribao 
(Xinjiang Daily), the Xinjiang Autonomous Region Chairman 
Ismail Tiliwaldi emphasized the need to prevent unsanctioned 
Hajj travel and called upon employers, customs and border 
guards to prevent such activity. 
 
¶6. (C) In a July 16 conversation, Xinjiang Academy of Social 
Sciences scholar and member of the Xinjiang People's 
Political Consultative Conference Ehmetjan Hesen (strictly 
 
BEIJING 00004871  002 OF 003 
 
 
protect) told Poloff that the Government recently held 
mandatory "training" courses for those suspected of having 
previously gone on the Hajj so as to warn them not to make 
any future unauthorized pilgrimages. 
 
Unauthorized Hajj Cheaper, Free of Minders 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶7. (C) A range of Embassy contacts have suggested that many 
Uighurs choose to take unsanctioned Hajj pilgrimages overland 
so as to both save money and avoid government scrutiny. 
While the official Islamic Association of China (IAC) 
organizes charter flights that are supposedly free of charge 
for Chinese Muslims, Post contacts say these official IAC 
charters are actually quite expensive.  For example, both 
Brannon and a Uighur contact from Hotan, Abdul Raheem 
(strictly protect), told Poloff that aside from saving money, 
Uighur pilgrims want to avoid official supervision out of 
fear that participation in the Hajj would adversely affect 
the careers of relatives who hold government jobs.  Brannon 
separately commented that many "unauthorized" pilgrims use 
the Hajj as a business opportunity, purchasing religious 
goods in Mecca to sell in Xinjiang, an activity which IAC 
minders likely would restrict. 
 
Rumors of Mass Detentions in Hotan, Yili 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (C) Brannon told Poloffs that one of his customers, a 
low-ranking PLA officer, reported that 2,000 Muslim Uighurs 
had been detained in Moyu (also known as Karakash), in Hotan 
County, for "illegal religious activities."  These detentions 
may be the result of a new policy in Hotan to give cash 
rewards for citizens who report "illegal religious 
activities" to police, Brannon surmised.  Abdul Rayim 
likewise separately reported an increase in arrests, 
commenting that those recently arrested include participants 
in the 1997 "February 5" Yili riots, many of whom had already 
served prison time in connection with the incident.  He also 
said local cadres have been publicly emphasizing the 
connection between the approaching Olympics and the need to 
maintain stability in Xinjiang.  (Note: Hotan and Yili are 
historically sensitive areas that both witnessed major 
incidents of Uighur unrest in 1995 and 1997, respectively. 
According to a January 2007 report in the Nanfang Zhoumou 
(Southern Weekend) newspaper, Moyu was the site of a secret 
meetin of "East Turkestan" separatists in 1994, after which 
the movement gained momentum and began to establish greater 
contact with forces outside Xinjiang.) 
 
Muslim Discontent over Christian Missionaries 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (C) According to Brannon, there is currently a great deal 
of talk among Xinjiang-based expatriates about reports of 
expulsions of foreign missionaries this year (see reftel). 
(Note: In the same July 11 Xinjiang Ribao article mentioned 
in para 5 above, Xinjiang Chairman Tiliwaldi calls for 
strengthening "management" of Catholicism and Protestantism, 
in accordance with the law, so as to "strictly prevent" 
outside forces from using Christianity to "infiltrate and 
harm" the interests of the people.  End note.)  One reason 
for the expulsions, Brannon said, may be pressure from local 
Muslim leaders, who are upset over the spread of Christianity 
among ethnic Uighurs.  Officially sanctioned Muslim clergy 
apparently have complained that, while authorities tightly 
limit Muslims to participation in officially sanctioned 
Islamic groups, they turn a blind eye to illegal Christian 
missionary activities.  In a February 2007 meeting, 
Urumqi-based Protestant Pastor Fan Chenguang (strictly 
protect) related similar Chinese 
concern about Muslim perceptions of Christian activity, 
telling Poloff that PRC officials closely scrutinize her 
church's activities to avoid Muslim complaints of a double 
standard.  Fan, whose church operates within the official 
Three Self Movement, told Poloff that the government asks 
that she keep various activities, such as her Sunday school 
program, extremely low key. 
 
MSS Harassing Employees of U.S. Firm 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶10. (C) Brannon complained that Chinese Ministry of State 
Security (MSS) personnel have been harassing three of his 
Uighur employees, all of whom are Christian, though he said 
he believes their connection to his "American" company, 
rather than their religious beliefs, is the primary reason 
they are under MSS scrutiny.  Two former employees are 
 
BEIJING 00004871  003 OF 003 
 
 
regularly interrogated by Xinjiang MSS officials even though 
they left his company at least three years ago.  One of the 
workers was arrested for three months in 2006, though the 
charges were "unclear."  Authorities released the man after 
Brannon posted bail for him via an intermediary.  In July 
2007, the MSS turned its attention to Brannon's current 
employee, who has already endured three 12-hour interrogation 
sessions.  Although required to appear as necessary for 
questioning, the employee is not under arrest or detention. 
Brannon noted that neither he nor his employees engage in 
proselytizing. 
 
¶11. (C) The apparent reason for the unwanted attention, 
Brannon said, is MSS suspicion that his company is "spying" 
on behalf of the U.S. Government.  His company, Pacific 
Research Development, runs two plum farms in Lop County, 
Hotan, and Yensigar County, Kashgar.  The location of his 
Hotan farm along the flight path to a military airfield 
apparently reinforces this mistaken belief.  For now, Brannon 
said he does not want the Embassy to become involved in the 
case, though he wants the U.S. Government to be aware of the 
situation.  Although the safety of his employees is his first 
priority, Brannon said he is also concerned about the effect 
the "pressure" applied by the MSS could have on his company's 
development.  For example, Brannon was frustrated that the 
MSS had interviewed a group of university students who had 
interned at his company, thereby scaring away potential new 
employees. 
PICCUTA