In light of recent news that the city Beijing was making it policy to strip Arabic off of signs in public spaces, I thought it might be instructive to illustrate the kinds of signs we're talking about. For the most part, Hui (and even more broadly, Islamic) culture in Beijing is concentrated in the neighborhood on Niu Jie on the southern edges of the city's Xi Cheng District. I've written about Niu Jie before, as I spent a lot of time there, especially during the early stages of my fieldwork. When I was there in 2015-2016, the community proudly displayed its Islamic heritage. Even the post office had Arabic script on its sign. In fact, Niu Jie always felt like a spot where the state promoted a picture (albeit heavily idealized) of positive relations with the Islamic community. All over the neighborhood stores, and restaurants surrounding the famous Niu Jie Mosque proudly displayed Arabic:
Though certainly the most prominent Hui neighborhood in town, Niu Jie is hardly the only place in Beijing where one finds Arabic on public signs. The script is pervasive throughout the city, adorning restaurant and small business signs. On Dou Ban Hutong a former Hui enclave near the Chaoyang subway stop the community office across the street from the community mosque contains both Arabic and Chinese characters
Likewise, the decorative arch leading to the Beijing Provincial Offices of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region located just off of Andingmen Nei Dajie in Dongcheng District proudly display Arabic script:
Countless restaurants and shops throughout the city bear Arabic language testifying to their status as halal, or serving as a visual reminder of their status as Islamic. Arabic language branding like this helps maintain the core of Hui identity, and allows Hui and other Muslims throughout the city to feel bonds of community by having a visible presence in the city. For instance, the Crescent Moon restaurant in Dongcheng not only features Arabic language, but a spire with a crescent moon reminiscent of a mosque.
These photos llustrate the kind of thing that Beijing is suppressing. These are not signs of extremism. Nor are they signs of an attachment to a cult. Nor are they indicators of mental illness (the state has compared Islam to a mental illness). These are not threatening. Instead, these public signs containing Arabic are markers of routine daily concerns: grocery stores, restaurants, the post office. What's alarming is that the CCP is striking out at these anodyne things. If even these are objectionable, what is safe?
China continues to press ahead with its program of Sinicization of religious communities. Though the policy of rectifying religious faith with traditional Chinese culture and the goals of the ruling CCP have affected numerous religious communities, Muslims bear extra scrutiny. The detainment of Xinjiang's Turkic speaking Muslims (Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and others) in prison camps has gained international attention, but even in the rest of the country programs of Sinicization have expanded. Almost a year ago, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region enacted measures similar to the ones Beijing is about to take. The signs continue to point toward the CCP expanding the tactics it has used in Xinjiang throughout the rest of the country. This continued effort to control ethnic and religious expression and targeting of Islam shows no sign of abating.