Ma Ju: Najiaying Mosque Protest and Hui Muslims 01

Maju:

أسلامعليكممورحمةاللهتعالى2وبركاته

The meaning of this sentence is a wish of peace to everyone, just like how we see Jews saying "Shalom," and many Christians expressing similar sentiments. May the Lord give peace to each and every one of us. This is our opening statement. As someone on YouTube every day, facing many viewers, I am a bit nervous today. The reason for the nervousness is, what if I don't have enough knowledge to answer all of your questions? I will do my best to answer everyone's questions because I believe there are no bad questions in this world, only bad answers. So, today, I hope everyone, all the friends present, can ask the sharpest questions, including harsh ones like how Islam deals with certain issues, such as stoning. I hope everyone dares to ask, because without discussing, we won't understand important concepts like how Muslims actually view these issues? And what is Islam as a religion?

I hope for everyone present and those who may encounter this conversation in the future through audio or video, today's event can open a window because Islam is unfamiliar to many. However, it represents a fifth or even a quarter of the world's population. When we walk on the streets, especially in New York, many of the people we see are Muslims. Today, when I and Xuecun took the subway, there was a Muslim sitting next to us. Then when we went to eat, we randomly picked a street stall run by a Muslim. However, for Easterners like us, we are not familiar with the Islamic world, and we may not even fully understand the Hui Muslims who live with us. Why is this? This lack of understanding is both a tragedy of the Muslim world's external outreach and a loss for most non-Muslims. Because you cannot avoid it; Americans cannot avoid it, Russians cannot avoid it, and the French and British cannot avoid it. So why should the East avoid it? This is what I want to explain today through this good opportunity.

As for our theme today, Najiaying, the reason it has received much attention is because the resistance of its people is visible to all. But what many people haven't seen behind Najiaying is what happened since 2014 when Yunnan implemented a policy called the "Two Clearances" campaign. The background of this policy, which was implemented in 2014, goes back to the July 5th Incident in 2009 and the massacre at Kunming Railway Station in March 2014. To most Chinese, the July 5th Incident in 2009 was a significant event that made them view Uighurs as terrorists. However, what were Uighurs before July 5th, 2009? They were considered thieves by people in Guangzhou, organized criminals by people in Shanghai, pickpockets in Beijing, and beneficiaries of the so-called "Two Minorities, One Leniency" policy, meaning when they committed crimes the police couldn't handle, they were often let go. They were viewed as bandits and troublemakers. This is the stereotype that many Chinese had of Uighurs. Why did many people have such a perception? Today, I will explain using this bottle of water. You see, this is the only bottle of water in this venue, prepared by the host for me. Do you know why? Can you guess why? I am grateful for it, but it reflects a certain mindset. What kind of mindset? They think I am special, not in any other way, but they believe I might not drink any other water because I am Muslim and might have my own customs. I want to tell you that Muslims are just like any other people, just like you and me. I have many Han Chinese Muslim friends, many Tibetan Muslim friends, many Muslim friends of Jewish ethnicity, and all kinds of other Muslim friends.

First of all, why am I using this water bottle to talk about this matter? In fact, everyone always restricts water bottles into small boxes, and under the backdrop of this era, under the anti-terrorism context of 9/11, Uighurs have become the representative of Eastern terrorists. They look different from us, speak differently from us, and have a different faith. The only things we know about them, besides their neck-twisting dance and the fact that their Hami melons are sweet and their raisins tasty, are that they are thieves. In China, there is a very important Uighur hater or "Muslim hater" person named Mei Xinyu. This person is a researcher at the Ministry of Commerce. He is from Wuhan, and I have always been curious about why he hates Uighurs so much. Every day online, he writes all sorts of made-up things about Uighurs. You know he's making it up, but many of his audience members don’t know it. Many nationalists, or what we call "Han Chinese nationalists," are very delighted by his writings. They think Mei Xinyu is right, that Uighurs are stupid, lazy, and so on. He uses similar descriptions as when describing black people in the United States, where far-right forces say that black people are lazy, and so on. 

I invited Mei Xinyu to have a meal, and I wanted to understand. I asked him, "Hey, Teacher, Uighurs are so bad. Do you know any Uighurs?" He slapped the table and said, "I do know!" He had two encounters with Uighurs, and both times, his wife's phone was stolen. He said that he spent ¥500 to buy his wife a new phone, but when she went to the market, it got stolen, and they saw a Uighur stealing it. They couldn't get it back, and the person denied it, so they went to the police. The police asked, "Did you catch them?" They said they hadn't caught them, and the police replied, "Then why are you bothering me?" He was very angry. Later, he bought another phone and went with his wife to the market. His wife had a fear of the market, saying there were many Uighurs there. Then, the second time, he bought a new phone and went with his wife. In public, someone separated him and his wife and cut open her bag with a knife, taking the new phone and a small bag inside. I asked, "What was your reaction at that time?" He said, "I didn't dare to react. It was dangerous; I was afraid they would harm me." He said, "From that moment on, I concluded that all Uighurs are thieves. I only had two encounters with them, but I concluded that they are all thieves. They only know how to steal and don't do anything else." I told him, "You know, I grew up in a minority area. Because after I was born, when I was not even two years old, my father was about to be executed by firing squad. After he escaped from a prison in the county, he brought our family to Xinjiang on a coal cart. In my life, when I was young, I had never seen Han people, nor had I ever had contact with Han people. The first time I had contact with Han people was when I returned to China proper from Xinjiang in 1983. My neighbor held a pig tail and said, 'Dip this pig tail in sugar. Whoever doesn't eat it is a son of a...,' using rougher and dirtier language. I really couldn't bear to say it. He came over with the pig tail or a piece of pigskin and showed it to me; this was my first encounter with Han people as a child. I knew that when a child does this, it's what their family taught them. If their family doesn't teach them, they wouldn't do it; children are naturally innocent. I said, 'When I encounter such a situation, do you think I would hate all Han people?' My family told me, 'They are just ignorant and uneducated. In our lives, we never reveal others' shortcomings.' Mei Xinyu told me, 'All of you Muslims are the same. They eat my food and smash my bowl, and then leave.' This was my first interaction with Mei Xinyu. Through this incident, I know that he is a person with flaws in his character, and he hates many things. Of course, what he says may not be the truth. I have some doubts about what he said; it's just too coincidental! Two phones in a row... and whatnot. Let's put this matter aside for now.

After such things have been widely circulated on China's internet, one result is that many violent acts against Uighurs by the Chinese government have received widespread tacit approval. I cannot say many people support violence against Uighurs, but many people tacitly approve, feeling that they should be dealt with. Then we saw that starting in 2012, the policies towards Uighurs kept becoming more restrictive. By the end of 2015, when Chen Quanguo arrived in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, my friend, a person from Kashgar, told me, "I might never see you again in this life."

I said, "Why do you talk like this?" He said, "A cold wind is blowing." In June 2015, when I went to Kashgar for the last time, I intentionally bought and wore a Uighur hat from the market. Many people think that Uighur hats are flower hats, right? Flower hats are not Uighur hats. What are Uighur hats like? They are white with a slightly pointed top, and there are six blue embroidered symbols on the side, representing the six pillars of Islamic faith. Uighurs are not allowed to wear this hat; anyone caught wearing it will be arrested. I intentionally wore this hat and walked on the streets of Kashgar. After passing each traffic light, there was a checkpoint, especially closer to the city center. I was stopped at two checkpoints because I only passed two checkpoints. Because they couldn't figure out whether I was a Han or a Uighur. My nose is high, and my eyes have a slight slit, right? I don't look completely like a Uighur. So, they couldn't judge, and they asked me to show my ID, but I said I didn't have an ID. He said, "Aye, aren't you Uighur?" I said, "It doesn't matter who I am. What's wrong with wearing a hat? Why can't I wear a hat?" “This hat is prohibited!” I asked, "Why should a hat be prohibited?" He forcibly made me remove it, and someone came and twisted my arms behind me, like how they dealt with class enemies during the Cultural Revolution, just like how the Red Guards handled people. 

For someone like me who grew up in the west of China for over a decade, I deeply understood that China's policies, once they cross Baoji in Shaanxi and head west, those policies would have a "+". Many people from the mainland don't know this, and even Han people in the west don't know it. All policies west of Baoji have a "+"; this is an inevitable thing. So, for those who have experienced those policies, we know very well that you cannot reason with them in this place. Under my resolute resistance, and after showing my passport, which had two passports stapled together, densely filled with visas and stamps from all over the world, they asked, "Who are you?" Someone said, "This person is a journalist." Then they were going to take some action against me. Later, I told them that I was just there as a tourist. I said, "Oh, I know someone here, a local official, and he's a fellow villager of mine." He said, "Really? I have to contact him." I said, "Sure, contact him." I said, "Use my phone to call him." He hesitated and then let me go. When I arrived at the second checkpoint, the attitude was exactly the same. Moreover, even if they spotted me from far away, they would come after me. They came after me, and I just calmly went over; it was the same experience. By that time, I understood that wearing a Uighur hat was not allowed. You can only wear a government-approved hat when they need to shoot videos or for propaganda purposes. You cannot wear anything with religiously conscious iconography. In such a context, many people provided photos, including photos of burning their Qurans, burning various things related to religion in their homes, such as prayer rugs. Everything related to religion was within the scope of being burned or banned. However, at that time, they weren't targeting ordinary people much; whom they targeted were poets, musicians, high-level intellectuals in religious fields, and rebellious figures at some universities. They didn't let any of these people go and found various excuses to arrest them, accusing them of illegal operations or various other crimes. It didn't reach a point where they arrested everyone. But in the winter of 2015, when Chen Quanguo was going to be appointed as the Party Secretary of Xinjiang, it was clear to everyone that the cold wind was coming because people knew what Tibetans went through during Chen Quanguo's era. Today, what I want to tell you is that among the ethnic groups in that land, Tibetans suffered the longest and most continuous persecution. Uighurs and Hui people had a period, and Ha... let me take a breath.

This terror has been ongoing since 1981, but it hasn't made your life any better. And for the Tibetan people it has always been like this. After Chen Quanguo arrived, the situation of repression and killings was felt by everyone. All the security posts increased their personnel, and all the ruffians in society, including Uighur, Kazakh, and Hui troublemakers, suddenly became police overnight. One of my relatives who fled to Xinjiang told me, "In our village, there were three ruffians, and we were always able to suppress them with righteous force. But now, we can't hold them back anymore. They have become officials." This was told to me by a Hui person from a county called Zhaosu in Ili. The sense of terror that came over cannot be felt by us present here; we are just narrating. Those who narrate and those who listen may only hear part of it, and they cannot feel the crisis and chill in their bones. Why? Because they know what happened in Baren Township. In the Baren Township massacre, all those people dead, they know it. They also know how the events in Ili unfolded, and how the massacre and imprisonment occurred. 

Everyone knew that the land was about to experience a bloodbath. In 2016, they started arresting high-level social elites. Who did they catch first? They began arresting businessmen. Their logic was to wipe out a nation, starting with its elites. Who are the elites? Many Han people from the mainland don't understand who the Uighurs are. I can tell you how the Arabs and Central Asians, including Persians, describe the Uighurs. They describe them as a nation of prime ministers. Do you know what that means? It means that the Uighurs are the most capable of governing a country, of managing a kingdom. Uighurs have been prime ministers in Turkey, Persia, Baghdad, and Saudi Arabia, not today's Saudi Arabia, but geographically, the Saudi Arabia at that time. They also served as senior officials during Egypt's Mamluk period because this nation was a cross-border nation, primarily focused on trade. If anyone has lived in Xinjiang before 1990, they would know that the living standards of people from the mainland, from any province, were not higher than those in Xinjiang. Do you know why? It's because they were always involved in commerce, they were always trading. The destruction of Uighur culture and the continuous economic struggles caused them to experience conflict in the Ladakh region. Do you know what Ladakh is? It is the most critical transit point in South Asia for transporting goods from the Indian Ocean to Central Asia. This Central Asian transportation route goes through the Wakhan Corridor into Afghanistan or through the Khorgos Port, and then through Ili into Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and other countries. All of these routes were controlled by the Uighurs. The Uighurs have a city called Atush, and many people may not have heard of this place. The merchants of Atush were the richest in Central Asia for thousands of years, and everyone knew this. However, after the Communist Party severed their connections in 1950, they didn't stop. They found ways to do various small businesses to make a living. 

In 2016, Chen Quanguo began arresting all the businessmen. If you had some money or engaged in foreign trade, they killed you. Why? Commerce is the most effective way of transmitting information channels, and by killing you, they could cut off your voice. After that, they started arresting anyone who studied abroad or had been abroad. This is what everyone witnessed. In 2017, they began arresting anyone who went to the mosque. If you weren't a troublemaker in that area, you were definitely an enemy of the Party and the state. If you didn't drink alcohol, didn't smoke, didn't visit entertainment venues, they would arrest you! From age sixteen to seventy-five. I lost contact with all those Uighurs. The Chinese Communist Party is not only arresting people in Xinjiang; they are arresting Uighurs in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and all five Central Asian countries. The most shocking event was a mass arrest that took place in Cairo, Egypt. More than 500 Chinese police officers, in collaboration with over 2,000 Egyptian military police, began arresting Xinjiang students studying at Al-Azhar University. There were Kazakhs, Uighurs, Kyrgyz people, and people from various ethnic groups. I have many students in Cairo, and suddenly they said, "The arrests have started again." We were helpless. Some Egyptian officials I knew clearly stated that this was a task and order from President Sisi. No one could resist it. 

Someone advised me to go to the United States government and the United Nations. Perhaps that was the only way to stop it. I went to Washington and made an appointment with the US State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, as well as the Commission on International Religious Freedom. I also tried to contact the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom at the time to tell them what was happening. I remember an official from the US Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. We cannot disclose their name, but it's not their fault, it's just the way things are. They told me, "Do you have evidence? Please present this evidence, and then we can talk." I was so angry that I pounded the table and said to him, "You people only ask the weak and victims for evidence, and when state sponsored terrorism is rampant, you actually ask the weak and victims for evidence. How can you say that? How can those words come out of your mouth?" I said, "You represent the US government!" A friend quickly advised me to calm down and not say such things. I said, "If I don't say it now, when will I say it?" Of course, it ended on bad terms. Later, two years later in 2019, he specially found me to apologize and said there was no way; it was just that... I said, "I understand, but my anger represents the anger of everyone. When these people suffer such humiliation, and you still stick to your procedures and shirk responsibility, it will be a disgrace in your life." I don't want to condemn the US government, nor do I have the right, because, in the end, I am someone who is asking for their help. After that, I went to New York and tried to contact United Nations officials. I couldn't get through to any of them; no one cared. Even though I knew some people, it didn't work.

I knew that the Chinese government, with its state sponsored terrorism and vast resources, was incredibly powerful. Standing outside the United Nations building in New York, I couldn't even enter. But I knew that behind me, countless people needed to be rescued. At that moment, tears welled up in my eyes, but I had to stay strong. Why am I sharing all this? It's because of a broader context. 

After the Kunming railway station incident, I'm sorry (sobs), sometimes emotions and feelings take over. Then, in Yunnan, a policy was initiated to clear out all the Northwest Muslims. As part of this policy, the first group to be targeted were Uighurs who studied Islamic religious knowledge. The second task was to reduce the number of mosques in Yunnan. Why reduce them? Because the proportion of mosques in Yunnan is relatively high. Economically, Yunnan's Muslims have always been better off than other ethnic minorities, even in comparison to the entire country. Muslims in Gansu and Yunnan have relatively more wealth. The reason Yunnan's Muslims have accumulated wealth is twofold. First, historically, Yunnan was a hub for the "caravan trade," and the majority of these caravans were led by Muslims because they were the ones who could reach the Indian Ocean. From Yunnan, these Muslim merchants traveled all the way to the Myanmese border. However, many people may not know that these people fled China after the Dungan Revolt and the Bai Muslim Uprising. Following the failure of the Dungan Revolt, they traveled along the Myanmese border and eventually reached the Indian Ocean through Myanmar. Muslims have a culture deeply rooted in commerce, and they are good at business. They engage in various types of trading, both small and large. Therefore, they had a foundation. The second factor was that because they were good at business, they had access to more information. They developed various mineral resources in Yunnan, like Sha Dian, which is known for its tin mines. Many of these mines were controlled by people from Sha Dian. Najiaying is another place known for manufacturing a variety of industrial products, such as automotive parts and various accessories. Najiaying and Sha Dian, along with other Muslims in Yunnan, controlled the economic aspects of the entire Yunnan region quite well. 

We know that Erhai Lake is in Dali, and Dali's tea has always been well-known. Of course, I also want to tell you another fact: the trafficking of drugs in Dali was also dominated by Hui people. Everyone should know that we shouldn't think of Hui people as just innocent lambs; they have also done many bad things. This is the complexity of human nature, which applies to every group. Because these people controlled many economic interests and elements, they built mosques all over the place as an expression, as a religious expression. In Chinese society, though Hui people are Muslims, they also cannot avoid the urge to show off their wealth. So all the wealthy people were willing to build a beautiful mosque to show off their status. If I built one, I would gain standing. As a result, they competed to build mosques. Per capita, Yunnan has the most mosques in the whole country. For example, in a village of eighty households, it's standard to have two mosques. If one mosque existed in the past, but later, if you were rich and became the wealthiest person, I, the second wealthiest person, also had to build one. It became a false display; it had nothing to do with faith, just pure religious vanity. The fact is that religion and faith are two different things. Many people confuse them, and I want to emphasize that they are indeed different. Thus, gradually, the phenomenon of clustering mosques in Yunnan emerged, and the "two cleans" in Yunnan began: one was to clean up these people, and the other was to reduce the number of mosques. In my personal opinion, and to a certain extent, in terms of understanding, I agree with the second clean. Why? Because these things are useless; they are just ways for individuals to show off. Demolishing them is the right thing to do.

This is an idea that came to my mind. Of course, during the implementation of the Two Cleansings movement, Yunnan encountered some difficulties. Yunnan is known as a model region for ethnic unity in China and an important area for ethnographic studies of multicultural life. When many people talk about Asia, they mention Yunnan. The various ethnic groups here have different belief systems, including Tibetan Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, Catholicism, Buddhism, and Taoism, among others. They coexisted and maintained this religious diversity for a long time. The various ethnic minorities protect each other because they understand that protecting others means protecting themselves.

Therefore, when Yunnan Province implemented this policy, it faced challenges in enforcing the strict policies from Beijing. It struggled to fully implement the policy. Until there was a well-known figure on the internet called Xi Wuyi, have you heard of him? You should look him up, but when you try to search for Xi Wuyi's Weibo overseas, you won't find it. He blocked foreign IP addresses, so only Chinese domestic IP addresses can access his Weibo. As we mentioned before, foreigners who want to study China need to use VPN to access China, and then they can use Chinese IP addresses to access a lot of information.

This Xi Wuyi is a figure specifically released by the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Essentially, this woman is the one who directs the focus of the religious policies. You must know this person, as understanding Xi Wuyi is crucial to understanding ethnic issues and China's current situation. Her Xi is the Xi of "May 1st" Labor Day, Xi Jinping's Xi. She is a researcher at the Institute of Marxism at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Her ex-husband, who is now divorced, is a Muslim. According to rumors, her ex-husband later ran off with a young woman, abandoning her. Of course, this is just a rumor, and we don't know the specifics. But in Yunnan, with this background, in 2016, the construction of the Xinjiang internment camps took place.

Since 2016, I have been talking about the Uighur issue, constantly offending the CCP. After 2017, I became the only one, as a non-Uighur, speaking up for the Uighurs. I have been talking about these things all the time, whether on my YouTube or Twitter; they are directly related to this matter. In this process, the CCP gradually saw me as a thorn in their side, just like a little girl striking a match in the dark, and they hate me endlessly. They use all kinds of methods to approach and strike me, with both carrots and sticks, everyone knows the series of tactics used by the CCP. However, these methods have not stopped me. At the same time, the international community's attention to the CCP's ethnic policies and genocide has not led to any changes by the Chinese government. Although it has put significant pressure on the CCP, economically, politically, and diplomatically, the CCP's essence remains unchanged, and it continues to advance firmly towards “the rejuvenation of the great Chinese nation”.

The rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is probably seen by many Han friends as a collective effort, but in fact, all ethnic minorities know that it has nothing to do with them. It has nothing to do with us, with the Han, or with ordinary Han people; it has to do with the people at the top. This is a fact. Under the concept of unity, the only result is that all people under the god of the party serve his will, and all people under him can be sacrificed. This is the concept of unity that we know.

After 2019, under global attention, China carried out a secret campaign to demolish mosques, with Ningxia as the core in the Northwest region. What you see today in Najiaying is actually the end of the movement. When they were preparing to demolish the Weizhou Grand Mosque in Tongxin County, Ningxia, we reported it through The New York Times, CNN, and various media. However, the CCP, as I mentioned before, had a policy of exceptions, which meant foreigners, journalists, or vehicles from other regions were prohibited from approaching the Tongxin area. So, many journalists we arranged couldn't reach the mosque. The area had no internet before the work began. The information people managed to transmit was recorded beforehand. It was recorded and then released. Some local Hui people working in the county government or police station opened their phones and transmitted the videos. This method allowed some information to leak out.

The CCP dispatched four thousand armed police at that time. However, all the local people and the surrounding people just bypassed the roadblocks because they couldn't block every piece of land, every piece of land connecting this and that. About fifty thousand people gathered. Seeing this, the CCP decided not to demolish the mosque to avoid potential casualties. After they dispersed, they used various methods, just like the current Najiaying incident. They arrested people at the village heads. If you obstructed the demolition of the mosque, you might be a business person, right? The Industrial and Commercial Bureau and the Tax Bureau would run a check, and if you had 300,000 in the bank, they would ask whether you paid personal income tax. They would accuse you of tax evasion. They would check if you had disputes with someone in a restaurant, with records in the police station, being linked to the underworld. If you had conflicts with someone in the field, the village head and village committee had records of you as a rural bully. If your daughter worked at the county government, they would tell you clearly: if you dared to come out, your job would be over, it would be the end.

Your child, for example, is attending university in Xi'an, the school teachers will go and tell your child. They will ask: Do you still want to graduate? Go talk to your dad. They use all sorts of methods, and nobody dares to obstruct them. Then they demolish it. After the Weizhou Grand Mosque was partially demolished, what did they say? They only demolished the roof of the mosque, everything else was left intact. But let me tell you, after Weizhou, they demolished all the mosques in Ningxia. Unless the mosque looked like a temple, then they wouldn’t demolish it. Anything that doesn't look like a temple was demolished. 

Now, what is a mosque for Muslims? Many people think that a mosque is a place for Muslims to worship. That is just a small part of its functions. What is a mosque? It is a community center, a cultural center, and a place for weddings and funerals. A mosque is where my partners and I, for example, want to do business. I contribute 5000, he contributes 5000, and we want to do business together, so we sign an agreement. But no, we have to go to the local government notary office or the mosque to notarize it. We all sit down, I contribute 5000, he contributes 5000, and we do business together. We all become witnesses, and Allah becomes a witness too. We sign, this is the community's morality, etc. These are for your supervision, so you can't say in the end: Oh, I worked harder, so I should get more, basically not. Or I borrowed money from you, that won't work. Muslims have a principle that you cannot borrow money from just two people; you must have two other people. For a marriage, in order for two people to be married, there must be two other people, for what purpose? What is the purpose? The purpose is to form a complete social contract. These are all functions of the mosque, including mediating conflicts, like conflicts between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, father and son, and dividing property among brothers. 

The CCP does what? They break down all your social structures. After they completely demolish your mosque, they install cameras and identity card checkers at the entrance of the mosque. If you don't check in, you can't enter the mosque. Right, you check in, right? If you are a business person, would you dare to go there every day? You wouldn't dare to go. If you have social insurance or a pension, you can't go either. If you go, you won't receive a pension. If you are an ordinary farmer and you want to receive discounted fertilizer, which is 60 yuan cheaper than regular market fertilizer, 180 instead of 120, you won't get it if you go to the mosque. If you participate in health insurance and you have a serious illness and want to be reimbursed, you can't get it! What will happen afterward? The mosque will be empty. After the mosque is empty, the government will implement a new policy, a wonderful policy. What is it? One mosque for one hundred households in a village, the mosque will spend ¥100,000 annually, and each household will have to contribute ¥1000. This is a huge burden on the people, destroying their health and undermining poverty alleviation efforts. All the achievements of poverty alleviation and President Xi Jinping's efforts for long and short... toward a moderately prosperous society, all thwarted by the mosques. How they spread superstitions and whatnot. Originally, nobody criticized the mosques, great! Combine villages and mosques. Three mosques combined into one, four combined into one, five combined into one. 

No one dares to resist. As Muren and I chatted yesterday, we said a sentence, what is most terrifying? What is most terrifying is oppression, you don't have the ability to resist, cannot resist. People take everything away from you, and you can't utter a "no," you can't resist. Today, for China's ethnic minorities and Muslims, the most painful thing about not being able to resist is, do you know what it is? I want to tell everyone today, make sure everyone remembers this sentence, the most painful thing for us is not the government's oppression, but the indifference and tacit approval from countless Han Chinese towards the actions of the Chinese government. When ethnic minorities and Muslims are suffering so much and cannot resist, they not only experience the oppression of government power, but also face the indifference, sarcasm, and mockery from countless Han Chinese in their online and real-world communities.

Every Eastern Muslim has a wound in their heart, a deep wound. This wound is not something that can be healed overnight. That's why members of the Najiaying Mosque in Yunnan, as I mentioned before, stood up and resisted, and I brought out the information, so the world came to know about it. But in reality, tens of thousands of mosques in China have been affected. Mosques are no longer allowed to teach students or serve their social functions; they have been disbanded. What else is the Chinese government doing? In January of this year, I submitted a report to UNESCO, and in one chapter, it talked about the so-called "poverty alleviation" policy in Yunnan's mountainous areas, such as the Xihaigu region. It's very specific: a society of Hui people is relocated from the mountains to the plains, and the government provides subsidies for building houses. But let me tell you, not a single person wants the government's subsidy; they prefer to build houses on their own. Why? The government gives you a subsidy of 30,000, but it is required that you have to spend 50,000 or 80,000 on your own. In the end, the house built with that money is not worth 20,000. A farmer told me, "Can I forgo the government's subsidy? I'll spend my own money and build it myself." But no! You have to pay 50,000. The government subsidizes 30,000. In some places, it's a bit better, the government subsidizes 40,000, and you have to pay 40,000. But the house built is still not worth 20,000. So farmers suffer greatly. 

This is something that many of us may know, how China's corruption and various projects are used to collect money. Do you know what they do to ethnic minorities? We know that the characteristic of Hui people is that they live in large dispersed groups but gather in small communities. So how do they deal with this? Let's say there are fifty households, in principle, they should relocate all together. But for ethnic minorities, they don't do that. Among fifty households, they divide them into ten Han Chinese villages, where there are a hundred households, and there are only five Hui households. They scatter you like pepper, spread you among Han Chinese society, and with only five households, how can you afford to build a mosque? Naturally, they stop building mosques. Gradually, they distance you, and gradually, they distance you, and gradually, they distance you, until finally, it's gone. This is a blatant policy of assimilation. I once saw a government document from Lanzhou's Chengguan District in Gansu Province about urban renewal and shantytown renovation. It clearly stated: it must comply with the directives of the United Front Work Department of the CCP Central Committee regarding the resettlement arrangements for ethnic and religious people, and the specific implementation should be what? They should disperse and spread ethnic minorities. This is something I saw, a government explicitly expressing that they want to do this. This is a nationwide policy with the same purpose, completely overthrowing and assimilating groups. Whether you are Uighur, Tibetan, Mongolian, Bai, Zhuang, Yi, Manchu, it's all the same. Another reality we must face today is this: let's take the example of Manchu people, a minority that ruled China for nearly 300 years, and today, how many people can speak the Manchu language? (Raises hand) Not that many. What is this? This is something we need to ask, and this is what I wanted to talk about today. But what I hope for even more is for everyone to ask questions, ask sharp questions, the sharper, the better. I won't answer them if I don't have the ability, but as long as you ask, if I can answer, I will. Thank you, everyone.