Thread: Chinese Authorities Order Muslim Uyghur Shop Owners to Stock Alcohol, Cigarettes

Authorities in northwestern China’s Xinjiang region have ordered shop owners and restaurateurs in a mainly Muslim Uyghur village to sell alcohol and cigarettes or face closure of their establishments, despite a public backlash against the products discouraged by followers of Islam, an official source said.

Last week, authorities in Laskuy township, in Hotan (in Chinese, Hetian) prefecture’s Hotan county, issued an announcement in the town seat of Aktash village that “all restaurants and supermarkets in our village should place five different brands of alcohol and cigarettes in their shops before [May 1, 2015].”

In addition to directing owners to create “eye-catching displays” to promote the products, the April 29 announcement stated that “anybody who neglects this notice and fails to act will see their shops sealed off, their business suspended, and legal action pursued against them.”

Signed by the Aktash village Party Committee of Laskuy Township, the notice stated that the order had been handed down “from the top echelons of [China’s ruling Communist Party], in order to provide greater convenience to the public.”

More here: Chinese Authorities Order Muslim Uyghur Shop Owners to Stock Alcohol, Cigarettes

from the full article:

...Aktash village party committee secretary Adil Sulayman told RFA’s Uyghur Service that the new policy was part of an effort to undermine Islam in the area. “We have a campaign to weaken religion here and this is part of that campaign,” he said.

Sulayman said authorities in Xinjiang—where China has launched a series of “strike hard” campaigns in the name of fighting separatism and terrorism—viewed non-smoking Muslim Uyghurs as adhering to “a form of religious extremism.”

Interesting way of trying to maintain order - force Muslims to sell items they deem inappropriate.

I think good on them, just shows the Muslims that hey this is our country and fcuk you. I wish the Aussie government had some balls

Malaysia offers a much better example. Moslem restarauteurs & shop owners have the choice to sell these legalised drugs, but often don't. Their Chinese equivalents of course, always do. Guess who cashes in?

And in a typically hot, humid Malay afternoon, guess who's gone off for a siesta, closing his doors (that would be Abdullah), and guess who remains open (Mr. Wong)? So, who cashes in?

And when it really comes to drugs, legalised or not, guess who smokes the most dope? Or is a more likely heroin user?

Yay!!

Originally Posted by Sumocakewalk

force Muslims to sell items they deem inappropriate.

Or tempting?

It's just a way for the Han Chinese to crush the Uyghur people's spirit. Same kind of things they do to the Tibetans. It's easier for the Han to take control when the local culture is damaged.

Whilst i agree with getting rid of religion, anyone should have the choice what they sell.

Originally Posted by Horatio Hornblower

Whilst i agree with getting rid of religion, anyone should have the choice what they sell.

Agreed but the local Imam, along with a veiled threat of reprisals, might have been at the root of this.

Perhaps the local Imam, will be taken away and will not be seen or heard of again.

Damn uppity separatists.....

Originally Posted by Rigger

I think good on them, just shows the Muslims that hey this is our country and fcuk you. I wish the Aussie government had some balls

I LOVE CHINA MORE AND MORE !!!

Let show to the world who is in charge !

I think China is going to save us !

The Beijing Bullies at it again.

Steal peoples' land, then force their shitty ways on them.

This will come back to bite the BJ Bullies.

Originally Posted by thefactoryoutlet

Originally Posted by Rigger

I think good on them, just shows the Muslims that hey this is our country and fcuk you. I wish the Aussie government had some balls

I LOVE CHINA MORE AND MORE !!!

Let show to the world who is in charge !

I think China is going to save us !

But who's going to save you from the Chinese?

Originally Posted by hazz

but mr wong is going for temporal gain at the cost of eternity in hell... whilst mr abdulla is going for heaven.

As for risks, if my abdullah is right he gets heaven. if he is wrong nothing. A much better bet than mr wong's

Pascal's wager carries great cost. It's a fools wager.

What's different between refusing to sell alcohol due to religion and refusing to back a gay wedding cake due to religion?

Originally Posted by hazz

if he is wrong nothing.

Maybe something Wong

Originally Posted by Necron99

What's different between refusing to sell alcohol due to religion and refusing to back a gay wedding cake due to religion?

Refusing to sell alcohol isn't discriminating against someone based on race, creedor sexual orientation.

Unless they were just refusing to sell it to gays.

We have beer shops here in the Middle East, but Muslims aren't allowed to buy it.

Originally Posted by Necron99

What's different between refusing to sell alcohol due to religion and refusing to back a gay wedding cake due to religion?

or back out a log due to constipation ?

China's Policy Forcing Uyghur Muslims to Sell Alcohol 'a Failure,' Sources Say



Policy directives ordering ethnic Uyghur shopkeepers in China’s Xinjiang region to stock alcohol and cigarettes are failing in their intended effect, with consumers refusing to buy the products and openly mocking the government’s apparent bid to undermine local Islamic custom, sources say.

Now in force for the last six months in Kashgar (in Chinese, Kashi) prefecture’s Kargilik (Yecheng) county, the policy has not led to an increase in alcohol consumption among the population, a local businessman and former government employee told RFA’s Uyghur Service.

“In fact, I would say the number of people drinking has gone down,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“The few people in the towns around here who habitually drink still buy their alcohol from shops run by Han Chinese, as they always have,” he said.

“This ridiculous policy has failed very clearly,” he said.

Chinese authorities’ efforts to promote the sale in Uyghur shops of alcohol and cigarettes were first reported in neighboring Hotan (Hetian) prefecture in May, with a public notice stating that the order had been handed down “from the top echelons of [the ruling Chinese Communist Party].”

“We have a campaign to weaken religion here, and this is part of that campaign,” one local official, Adil Sulayman, told RFA in an earlier report.

'I had no choice'

In the Islamic faith, the Quran refers to the use of alcohol as a “sin,” while many Muslims discourage the smoking of cigarettes as a self-destructive practice.

“I worried a lot about the public’s reaction to my selling alcohol in my store,” Kasimahun Hashim, a shopkeeper in Kargilik county’s Saybagh township, recently told RFA.

“But now I feel relaxed, because I see that the people’s anger over this is all being directed toward the [government].”

“As a religious man, I felt it would be impossible to keep alcohol in my store,” another shopkeeper, Memtimin Qari, said, adding, “But I had no choice.”

Though government officials then brought two crates of distilled liquor, a crate of beer, and boxes of cigarettes to his store with orders to prominently display them, “So far, I have only sold two packets of cigarettes, and no alcohol at all,” Qari said.

“The other stores in our township have not sold any either,” he said.

Stability concerns

Government orders forcing Uyghur shopkeepers to stock alcohol are not aimed at forcing anyone to drink, though, Hoyla village security chief Tursun Turaq told RFA.

“We just put in on the shelves so that people who want to drink may have the opportunity,” he said.

“Some religious extremists tell people, ‘don’t drink,’ and this pulls young people into their way of seeing things.”

“That is why the government issued these orders: to strengthen stability in the region,” he said.

Xinjiang, which is home to millions of Turkic-speaking Uyghurs, has seen an upsurge in violence that has left hundreds dead since 2012, and which China has blamed on terrorists and Islamic insurgents seeking to establish an independent state.

But rights groups accuse Chinese authorities of heavy-handed rule in Xinjiang, including violent police raids on Uyghur households, restrictions on Islamic practices, and curbs on the culture and language of the Uyghur people.

China's Policy Forcing Uyghur Muslims to Sell Alcohol 'a Failure,' Sources Say