Xinjiang Government Strengthens Campaign Against Political and Religious Publications

Authorities in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) will make "illegal" political and religious publications the focal point of their campaign to "Sweep Away Pornography and Strike Down Illegal Publications," according to a January 18 report from Xinhua. Li Yi, head of the XUAR Propaganda Bureau, made the announcement at a January 17 conference at which he stressed the importance of censoring illegal publications and taking actions such as eliminating pornography and removing "harmful information" from the Internet to ensure reforms develop in a stable manner and to promote a "sound cultural environment." He described the situation regarding "illegal" religious and political publications as "severe," and called for enforcement agencies to maintain vigilance against such publications. While "Sweep Away Pornography and Strike Down Illegal Publications" campaigns targeting a range of materials exist throughout China, authorities in the XUAR target religious and political materials also as part of broader controls in the region over Islamic practice and expressions of political dissent.

The report noted that in 2007, authorities in the XUAR confiscated a total of 1.82 million copies of illegal publications, which included pirated and pornographic items in addition to "illegal" political and religious publications. The report did not disaggregate the figure, but data for 2006 indicates that XUAR authorities confiscated 6,999 copies of "illegal political publications" and 11,580 copies of "illegal religious propaganda materials" out of a total of 1.73 million copies of illegal publications collected between January and November of that year. (See a January 2007 Xinhua report reprinted in Tianshan Net for more information.) Reports from local governments provide more details on the scope of the operation and the types of religious and political materials targeted in the past year:

• Officials from the XUAR "Sweep Away Pornography and Strike Down Illegal Publications" bureau made a trip to the Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture in June 2007 to examine the prefecture's work to "attack" "illegal" political and religious publications, according to a report posted that month on the Changji Autonomous Prefecture Government Web site. XUAR authorities told local officials to make "illegal" political and religious publications the focus of their work on illegal publications. In a 13-day campaign held earlier that month and in late May, local officials inspected marketplaces as well as areas in the vicinity of schools and mosques and confiscated 135 copies of "illegal" religious publications.
• Changji City authorities targeted four types of "illegal" religious publications in their work to supervise the city's cultural market: items that incite religious fanaticism, propagate violent terrorism, advocate holy war, or incite sentiment against Han Chinese and sentiment promoting their expulsion from the region, according to a July 2007 report on the Changji City Government Web site. In an inspection of those categories of materials, authorities confiscated 74 copies of "illegal" religious materials. The article did not detail the standards used to determine whether a publication falls into one of the categories above, but past examples suggest the threshold is low. In 2005, authorities found that a short story about a caged bird who chooses suicide over a life without freedom, titled "Wild Pigeon," incited separatism and sentenced the story's author, Nurmemet Yasin, to 10 years in prison. Korash Huseyin, chief editor of the literature journal that published the story, served a three-year sentence for dereliction of duty and is presumed to have been released from prison upon the expiration of his sentence on February 2, 2008.
• Authorities in Qumul City confiscated 32 copies of "illegal" religious publications and 5 copies of "illegal" political publications in an inspection of sites including religious gathering places, according to a June 2007 report from the Qumul City Government Web site. The report said the inspection was carried out in accordance with a regional action plan to "attack" "illegal" political and religious publications.

For more information on restrictions over freedom of the press in the XUAR, see prior CECC analyses on campaigns to confiscate illegal publications in February and May 2006. For more information on conditions in the XUAR, see Section II--Ethnic Minority Rights, subsection on Rights Abuses in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, in the 2007 CECC Annual Report (via the Government Printing Office Web site).