NEW YORK - A new Human Rights Watch report documents how China's government is significantly reducing the number of mosques in Ningxia and Gansu provinces under its “mosque consolidation” policy, a violation of the right to freedom of religion.

The Xi Jinping regime has decommissioned, closed down, demolished, and converted mosques for secular use as part of the government’s efforts to restrict the practice of Islam. The authorities have removed Islamic architectural features, such as domes and minarets, from many other mosques.

Maya Wang, HRW's acting China director says the government is not ‘consolidating’ mosques as it claims, "but closing many down in violation of religious freedom. The Chinese government’s closure, destruction, and repurposing of mosques is part of a systematic effort to curb the practice of Islam in China.”

The BBC reports that about 1,300 mosques in Ningxia have been closed or converted since 2020, based on information from Hannah Theaker, an expert on Chinese Muslims.

“The Chinese government’s policies of Sinicization show a blanket disregard for freedom of religion not only of all Muslims in China, but all religious communities in the country,” says Wang. “Governments concerned about religious freedom should raise these issues directly with the Chinese government and at the United Nations and other international forums.”