The Weizhou grand mosque, with numerous domes and minarets in a Middle Eastern style, had not received proper permits before construction, officials in the town of Weizhou said in a notice on Aug. 3.
The mosque would be forcibly demolished on Friday, they added in the notice, widely circulated among Chinese Muslims on social media.
Hundreds of ethnic Hui Muslims are staging a sit-in protest in China’s western region of Ningxia against government plans to demolish a huge new mosque, amid tightening curbs on Islam to pull its practice in line with the Chinese mainstream.
China officially guarantees freedom of religion, but in recent years officials nervous about the possibility of radicalization and violence have tightened controls in heavily Muslim areas.
Hundreds of villagers were gathering at the mosque on Friday morning, and the town’s mayor was expected to hold discussions in the afternoon, added the source, who requested anonymity.
Videos on social media on Thursday showed large crowds gathered outside the mosque and police vans parked nearby. The protest appeared to be peaceful.
Source: Reuters
