Landmark Beijing Mosque Gives Way to 'Sinicization' Program

Beijing's Doudian Mosque, the largest Islamic house of worship in northern China, is the latest architectural landmark to be transfigured under Beijing's Sinicization program aimed at downgrading or eliminating foreign religious influences from the country. According to Hong Kong's Sing Tao Daily, the original Arabic-style dome of the mosque was replaced by five Chinese-style white round spires during a major renovation completed in April. Another slogan provides what may be the strongest indication of the thinking behind the architectural revisionism: "Adhere to the direction of Sinicization of religions in China." The Arabic features of the towering structure - spanning nearly 15,000 square meters and capable of accommodating 1,500 worshippers at a time - were not controversial when the mosque was completed just 10 years ago. The Islamic symbols and folk culture of mosques across China have been steadily eliminated since China launched the Sinicization program targeting Muslims outside Xinjiang in 2018, according to the human rights publication Bitter Winter. Dilshat Rishit, spokesman for the World Uyghur Congress, lamented the change in the Doudian Mosque's character in an interview with VOA. "China transformed the Arabic style into what China considers to be a Chinese style. And when you look at it, you call it a temple, but it is not a temple, and you call it a mosque, but it is not a mosque," he said. Uniting "All the sons and daughters of China at home and abroad ... requires adhering to the direction of the Sinicization of religions in China, actively guiding religions to adapt to the socialist society, uniting religious believers and maximizing the strength of working hard together," Xinhua said.