"Xinjiang" Holds Patriotic Islamic Clergy Training
From: Information <info@mail.uyghurinfo.com>

Washington, May 3 (UIA) -- The second session of patriotic Islamic clergy training, which was under the direct supervision of CCP, was officially ended in Urumchi, the capital of "Xinjiang", on April 28, China's state media reported on Sunday.
According to "Xinjiang" TV report, the autonomous  regional government held the training session upon the  order of Chinese government to create a patriotic  Islamic clergy in "Xinjiang". The purpose of this  religious training is to educate the Uyghur clergy to  love China's socialist system, fight against
separatism, and uphold communist party leadership, the
unity of nationalities as well as the unification of
China, the report said.

200 Uyghur clergy from 15 different prefectures and
municipalities in "Xinjiang" attended the training
session in Urumchi, the report said.

During the training session, Bekimhamet Musa, the vice-
chairman of "Xinjiang" Political Consultative
Conference, said "We must conclude past experiences in
our religious work in order to strengthen the political
awareness of the Islamic clergy and better serve for
the development and stability of "Xinjiang".

China condemns those Uyghur religious practitioners who
put God above the CCP and charges them with so-
called "religious fundamentalism" and "illegal
religious activity". However, China uses Islam as a
political weapon to control the minds of Uyghur clergy
and populace in "Xinjiang". "Patriotic" religious
training has been an extremely useful tool for China to
keep the Uyghur clergy and religious practitioners
faithful to CCP and its leadership.

According to Xinhua, the Chinese government created a
steering committee on Islamic affairs in mid-April in
an attempt to further oppose "Islamic fundamentalism"
and "accurately interpret the Islamic doctrines within
the legal framework of China".

Xinhua said, "The China Islamic Affairs Steering
Committee, which is under the administration of the
Islamic Association of China, is also responsible for
drafting sermon pamphlets, regulating sermon content,
better educating administrators on Islamic affairs, and
furthering the adoption of Islam to China's socialist
society".

China sees the growing influence of Islam among the
Uyghurs a direct threat to its rule in "Xinjiang".
While China has failed to root out the religious belief
of the Uyghur people in the past fifty years but it has
never stopped manipulating the Uyghur clergy and Uyghur
political leaders to keep "Xinjiang" in the fold of the
Chinese state.

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