China widens mosque crackdown – HRW

CHINA has expanded its campaign of closing mosques to regions other than Xinjiang, where it has been blamed for persecuting Muslim minorities for years, said a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report released on Wednesday.

Authorities have closed mosques in the northern Ningxia region and northeastern Gansu province, which are home to large populations of Hui Muslims, as part of a process known officially as "consolidation," said the report, which draws on public documents, satellite images and witness testimonies.