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DE RUEHCN #0045/01 0570617
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 260617Z FEB 10
FM AMCONSUL CHENGDU
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INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 4494

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 CHENGDU 000045 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR DRL, EAP/CM 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PINR SOCI KISL SA CH
SUBJECT: YUNNAN IMAMS ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, THE HAJJ, AND BUILDING 
CHINA'S LARGEST MOSQUE 
 
REF: A) 10 CHENGDU 30; B) 10 CHENGDU 32; C) 07 CHENGDU 100 
 
CHENGDU 00000045  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: Southwest China's Yunnan Province has one of the 
PRC's highest concentrations of Muslims, with over 640,000 
Muslims in the province and 140,000 in the provincial capital of 
Kunming.  Muslims' religious freedom in Yunnan is increasing, 
though unannounced visits by Religious Affairs Bureau (RAB) 
officials remain common, Imams in Kunming and Shadian told us. 
One Imam, standing in front of provincial officials, opined that 
now may be the "best time" in history for China's Muslims due to 
positive government policies.  ConGenOffs observed on-going 
construction of a colossal mosque in Shadian with a capacity of 
20,000 -- larger than the town's Muslim population -- that will 
become China's largest mosque when completed later this year. 
End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
¶I. Kunming Imam: Religious Freedom Increasing 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) People's freedom to practice Islam in Yunnan is 
increasing, the Imam of the 400-year old Suncheng Mosque in 
Kunming, Zhang Caiwei, told Consul General on January 18.  "More 
people need religion.  You can see from the number of believers 
who come to the mosque."  There are currently over 640,000 
Muslims in Yunnan, Imam Zhang said, of which some 140,000 live 
in Kunming.  (Note and Comment: Although the Imam felt that more 
people were turning up to the mosque on Fridays, he also told us 
that only 0.5 percent of Muslims in Yunnan had converted to 
Islam.  The rest, he indicated, were Muslims who had passed 
their faith from one generation to the next.  This suggests that 
Islam is growing in Yunnan at a far lower rate than Christianity 
(ref A).  At the same time, Muslims in Yunnan may be becoming 
more active in practicing their religion.  This would also be 
consistent with the increasingly strong self-identification with 
Islam that Tibetan Muslims recently described to us (ref B). 
End Note and Comment.) 
 
¶3. (SBU) Mosques in Kunming are managed by two 
government-affiliated bodies, Zhang said.  The first is the 
Kunming Muslim Association, a government-controlled NGO that is 
chiefly in charge of religious affairs at the mosques.  The 
second is the Kunming RAB, which is part of the city government, 
and which is concerned with the mosque's "administrative" 
matters.  Kunming RAB officials also occasionally visit the 
mosque to check on its activities, Zhang added.  Zhang explained 
that he was the second-ranking Imam at the mosque, and is also 
the second-ranking of three members of the Mosque's own 
Management Committee.  His mosque's head Imam, and head of this 
Management Committee, is also a Deputy in the Wuhua (a district 
of Kunming) District People's Congress. 
 
¶4. (SBU) There are 136 mosques in Kunming, including in the 
surrounding rural districts under the city's municipal 
government, Zhang said.  Bigger mosques, including Suncheng, 
generally have their own Islamic school.  Zhang estimated that 
there were as many as 100 such schools in Kunming alone.  (Note: 
 For an in-depth discussion of Islamic education in China, see 
www.asiaquarterly.com/content/view/166/.  End Note.) 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----------------- 
II. Shadian Imam: Leader of a Proud, Wealthy Islamic Community 
--------------------------------------------- ----------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Shadian, which is just outside Mengzi, the capital of 
Yunnan's Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, has long been 
a center for Islamic learning in Southwest China, and is home of 
the first Chinese translation of the Qur'an.  While driving into 
Shadian, we noted gas station and store signs in Arabic and 
Chinese, many Chinese women with colorful head scarfs, and a 
large, multi-storied building that was a four-year Islamic 
college with boarding facilities housing 300 students from 
Yunnan and other provinces.  The influence of Islam in the town 
appears to be pervasive: over 95 percent of Shadian's population 
of 15-20,000 are Hui Muslims.  Shadian has 10 mosques; most also 
have Islamic schools.  During a lunch hosted by local FAO 
officials, we were told that: local Muslims did not eat pork; 
Shadian forbade liquor stores within city limits; and local 
Communist Party members were allowed to practice Islam openly. 
 
Building China's "Largest" Mosque; Photo Essay of Shadian 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
¶6. (U) Beaming with pride, Imam Lin told Consul General on 
January 19 that, upon its scheduled completion in August, 
Shadian would have China's largest mosque in terms of physical 
space.  The huge structure will be big enough to hold 20,000 
people -- more than all Muslims in Shadian combined.  Total 
investment was about RMB 130 million (USD 20 million), 10 
 
CHENGDU 00000045  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
percent provided by the local government, and the rest coming 
from private donations from within China.  Local Muslims are 
well known for doing business and many are owners of mining 
fields, "so they are rich enough," one official told us. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Local officials hope the huge Mosque will promote 
Islamic tourism and trade to Shadian, possibly even attracting 
visitors from Southeast Asia and the Middle East.  While the 
city only recorded 100 international tourists last year, it 
believes that most tourists will come from within China, and 
plans to build an airport to encourage tourism.  (Note: Honghe 
Prefecture bills itself as the mining capital of China, and the 
area's wealth is obvious.  ConGen Chengdu's previous trip to 
Shadian in 2007 is reported Ref C, and described a board in 
front of the old mosque listing donations from mining companies. 
 End Note.) 
 
¶8. (SBU) For a photo essay of the nearly completed mosque, and 
other sites in Shadian with an Islamic flavor see 
www.intelink.gov/communities/state/chengdu/ar chives/a_visit 
_to_yunn.html. 
 
Now "Best Time" in Chinese History for Muslims? 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Standing within earshot of local and provincial PRC 
officials who joined the "unofficial meeting," Lin, who spent 10 
years living in Saudi Arabia studying Islam and Arabic, said now 
is the best time in history for China's Muslims because the 
Communist Party's religious policies are "so good." 
 
¶10. (SBU) Lin said the leading members of his mosque's 
management committee were first elected by mosque members before 
being "recognized" by the Islamic Association and the local RAB. 
 This management committee is headed by Imam Ma Kaixian, who is 
also Deputy Director of China's Islamic Association and Vice 
Chairman of the Yunnan Chinese People's Political Consultative 
Conference (CPPCC).  Asked whether any proposed members had ever 
been refused by the government, Lin said he was unaware of any 
such cases. 
 
Rising Incomes Mean More Muslims Trying to Visit Mecca 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) As incomes in China rise, more and more Muslims are 
eager to make the Hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca, Lin said, though 
they must submit their applications one year in advance and must 
cover all expense themselves.  Each Imam offered a different 
figure for the number of Chinese Muslims allowed to make the 
Hajj each year, based on an agreement between the PRC and Saudi 
Arabian governments, with Imam Zhang in Kunming saying it was 
one person per 2000 Muslims, and Imam Lin in Shadian offering 
the figure of one per 1000.  1400 Muslims from Yunnan are 
generally allowed to go, Zhang said; in 2009, 118 of these were 
from Kunming.  Imam Lin said Shadian gets a special dispensation 
and is allowed to send 200 people per year -- perhaps a 
concession granted to Shadian as a predominately Muslim town 
within an autonomous minority prefecture. 
 
¶12. (SBU) Note and Comment: We understand that Saudi Arabia uses 
0.1 percent of a country's Muslims as a guideline on how many 
can visit Mecca for the Hajj in a given year -- a percentage in 
line with Imam Lin's figure for Shadian, but which suggests that 
Kunming Muslims face a quota only half as big as that allowed 
theoretically by the Saudi Government.  This suggests that, for 
at least some parts of China, the PRC government continues to 
allow fewer of China's Muslims to travel on the Hajj per year 
than the actual number who should be allowed per agreement 
between the Saudi and PRC governments.  End Note and Comment.) 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------------ 
III. Background on Muslims in Yunnan: Protection Under Yuan, 
Persecution Under Qing, and Killings During Cultural Revolution 
--------------------------------------------- ------------------ 
 
¶13. (U) Yunnan has one of the highest concentrations of Muslims 
in China, dating from Yuan Dynasty emperor Kublai Khan's 
appointment of Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar to be provincial 
governor in 1274.  Most of Yunnan's Muslims belong to the Hui 
ethnic minority, descended from Western and Central Asia Muslims 
who first migrated to China during the Tang Dynasty. 
 
¶14. (SBU) Lin described misfortunes under the Qing Dynasty, when 
Han-Hui tensions and perceived mistreatment by government 
officials led to a series of uprisings and massacres during 
which 700,000 of Yunnan's 800,000 Muslims were killed.  The most 
significant of the violent episodes, according to historical 
sources, was the so-called Panthay Rebellion in the mid-1860s 
 
CHENGDU 00000045  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
that led to the brief establishment of an independent sultanate 
in Dali lasting almost 20 years, as well as to the deaths of 
perhaps as many as one million Muslims. 
 
¶15. (U) Shadian was also site of the 1975 "Shadian Incident" 
during the Cultural Revolution, when rising Han-Hui tensions 
ultimately led to armed clashes and a crackdown by the People's 
Liberation Army that left 866 of Shadian's Hui Muslims dead. 
BROWN