The authorities in a city in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang have banned long beards and apparel with Islamic symbols on public buses as part of an effort to increase security and ensure stability, a state-run newspaper has reported.
The ban, which took effect Monday in Karamay, a city in northern Xinjiang near the border with Kazakhstan, is directed at “five groups of people,” said The Karamay Daily. These are anyone wearing headscarves, veils, hijabs or clothing bearing the crescent moon and star traditionally associated with Islam, as well as men with long beards. The ban will be in place until the conclusion of a local sports competition on Aug. 20, the newspaper said.
Those who do not comply with the ban will be “dealt with by the police,” it said.
The restrictions come at a time of heightened unrest in Xinjiang, the homeland to ethnic Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking, mostly Muslim group. After a string of deadly attacks around China over the past year that officials have blamed on Uighur separatists, the authorities vowed in May to institute a yearlong campaign to fight terrorism in Xinjiang.
The crackdown has focused in part on tightening security at public transportation hubs, where several attacks were carried out. The new measures announced in Karamay also prohibit passengers from carrying flammable or explosive items on buses, similar to a ban instituted last month in Urumqi, the regional capital.
The Chinese authorities have primarily blamed Islamic extremists or Uighur separatists in the region and overseas for stoking tensions and unrest in Xinjiang. Uighur advocacy groups, however, say the tensions have more to do with increasing frustration among Uighurs with the government’s heavy-handed governance and often discriminatory policies.
On Saturday, Zhang Chunxian, the Communist Party secretary of Xinjiang, vowed at a special meeting of the region’s top leaders to “exterminate” the “savage and evil” army of separatists.
“We have to strike hard, strike fiercely, strike accurately and strike with awe-inspiring force,” said Mr. Zhang, according to Tianshan, a news portal run by the Xinjiang regional government.
Mr. Zhang’s remarks came at the end of one of the bloodiest weeks since the crackdown was first announced in May. Nearly 100 people, both Uighurs and Han, the dominant ethnic group in China, were killed last week in clashes that the authorities have characterized as stemming from terrorism.