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China forbids minors in Xinjiang from practicing religion

Last updated Nov 23, 2022

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Main Source: Devastating Blows; Religious Repression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang

The situation is markedly different in Xinjiang, where article 14 of the XUAR regulation entitled Implementation Measures of the Law on the Protection of Minors states that “parents and legal guardians may not allow minors to participate in religious activities.”1 The implementation of the ban seems to vary from place to place, but some mosques display signs prohibiting the entry of anyone under eighteen years of age.2 Uighur Muslims report that the ban is implemented against them more harshly than against members of other ethnic or religious groups, but it applies to all religions in the region.3 This ban on religious activity among children has no basis in Chinese law and is not known to exist anywhere else in China. The national Law on the Protection of Minors4 does not include this clause. Neither do similar implementation measures adopted by other provinces. Even Tibet does not have such stringent regulations. The Chinese government has always denied the existence of such a prohibition, which contradicts both China’s own constitution5 and international legal obligations.6

In the document Learning and Identifying 75 Religious Extreme Activities in Parts of Xinjiang, “forcing, encouraging, or coercing minors to pray, study religion, and fast” is a religious extremist activity.

It was criminalized in 2018: Xinjiang Implementing Measures for the P.R.C. Counter-Terrorism Law (2018)

  1. Standing Committee of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Regional People’s Congress, Implementation Measures of the Law on the Protection of Minors, September 25, 1993 “新疆维吾尔自治区人民代表大会常务委员会: 新疆维吾尔自治区实施’未成年人保护法’办法, 1993年9月25日”. Article 14 is the relevant section: 第十四条 父母或者其他监护人不得允许未成年人从事宗教活动。 ↩︎

  2. Statement by Dr. Jacqueline Armijo (Acting Assistant Professor, Religious Studies, Stanford University) to the United States Congressional-Executive Commission on China, July 24, 2003 ( http://www.cecc.gov/pages/hearings/072403/armijo.php#_edn1). ↩︎

  3. Implementation of the ban for Xinjiang Catholics has been reported as recently as September 2003. A Catholic priest in Yining city, Father Song Zunsheng, reported to UCA News in September 2003 that government officials had banned people younger than eighteen, as well as all students, teachers, soldiers, and government officials from practicing any religion and taking part in any religious activity. He reported that two government officials guarded the entrance of the city’s only church from April to June 2003 and drove away any children who may have wanted to enter it. “GovernmentRestrictionsHamperChurch Development in Remote Muslim Area,” UCA News, September 22, 2003. ↩︎

  4. Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Minors, September 9, 1991 [国人民代表大会常务委员会: 中华人民共和国未成年人保护法), 1991年9月4日]. ↩︎

  5. Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, Art. 36 [中华人民共和国宪法, 第三十六条]. ↩︎

  6. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which China ratified in March 2001, enshrines the rights of the parents to provide religious education: “States parties undertake to have respect for the liberty of parents () to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions.” (art. 13). The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), to which China is also a party, stipulates that “States Parties shall respect the right of the child to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.” (art. 14). See also the Convention against Discrimination in Education (CDE) which prohibits “any distinction, exclusion, limitation or preference which, being based onreligionhas the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing equality of treatment in " (art. 1). China ratified the CDE on February 12, 1965. ↩︎

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