The ethnic Hui minority in Gansu which is Muslim apprehend that the latest restrictions on education are the beginning of more severe measures. In January 2018, education officials from the local government in Guanghe county, which is a heavily Muslim area, banned children from attending religious education during the Lunar New Year break. The break lasts several weeks. It is unclear if the ban, similar to those used by the authorities in the Uygur communities, will continue after the holiday. Residents in the city of Linxia, the capital of Gansu’s “autonomous” prefecture for the Hui people, about 50km (30 miles) to the west of Guanghe, said similar restrictions were in place there. Li Haiyang, a Hui Imam from Henan who in a widely circulated online article denounced the policy as violating China’s constitution,

said  “We feel it is ridiculous and were astonished.” He said such bans were imposed earlier, but the more forceful roll-out this year showed authorities were serious about enforcement.The Linxia prefecture government, which oversees Linxia city and Guanghe, did not provide details of the policy, but said China’s constitution required separation of religion and education. In a fax in response to questions from Reuters, the Linxia government’s publicity department said "Religious affairs management … adheres to the direction of the Sinofication of religion and firmly resists and guards against the spread and infiltration of extremist religious ideology. Maintaining legal management is the greatest concept in the protection of religion.” Repeated phone calls to the Guanghe education bureau’s propaganda department went unanswered.

China's official media has also reported the removal of loudspeakers used to broadcast calls to prayer from mosques in Hui regions, ostensibly to prevent noise pollution. In April, the government-run Islamic Association of China said new mosques should reject the “Arabisation” of architecture, with its “excessive size and extravagance”, in favour of traditional Chinese designs.

(Comment: China has an estimated 20 million Muslims.)