schlieffen
New Member
Recently the issue of Halal food has became a hotly debated issue in China because of a bill proposed by certain Muslim representatives in the People’ Congress. The legislation aims to institution the halal food certification in China. Until now the halal certification (which existed for more than 30 years) carried no legal l binding force so everyone who don’t serve pork can claim to be Halal. This will change if the bill got passed.
Unusual for a Chinese legislative process it sparked a huge public debate and went well beyond internet. The public outcry is such that the authority decided to suspend the discussion, impose heavy censorship and put the legislation on hold for the time being. The main driving force behind the backlash is the growing islamophobia among Han middle class due to the intensifying terrorist attacks in Xinjiang and elsewhere. It is also driven by the fear that the intervention of the state will tip the delicate balance of power between Han and Hui/Uyghur Chinese in the western part of the country. For almost a thousand years Muslims have live alongside Han Chinese who are not only non-Muslim but also non-religious (Confucianism is not a religion), in other words among shirk. The state traditionally stayed aloft and let the Han and Muslim sort out their own disputes. Attempts by the state to intervene in a heavy handed manner always result in disasters.
The necessity for survival drove those Muslims to be more flexible and accommodating than usual. For example, in many parts of the country the word 清真(halal) has been corrupted for centuries and Muslims did not always protest - people simply got used to it. In case people don’t already know, 清真 is not a transcription of Halal, but a word borrowed from Taoism. There has always been debate whether it is truly equivalent to halal. So if we’re talking about 清真 in the Chinese context as opposed to Halal in a more universal context, no it is NOT necessarily a religious issue. Or should I say it has more than a religious dimension. Actually, facing tough opposition, many Muslim activist groups have started to emphasis the ethnical/culture aspect as oppose to religious aspect of the matter.
Unusual for a Chinese legislative process it sparked a huge public debate and went well beyond internet. The public outcry is such that the authority decided to suspend the discussion, impose heavy censorship and put the legislation on hold for the time being. The main driving force behind the backlash is the growing islamophobia among Han middle class due to the intensifying terrorist attacks in Xinjiang and elsewhere. It is also driven by the fear that the intervention of the state will tip the delicate balance of power between Han and Hui/Uyghur Chinese in the western part of the country. For almost a thousand years Muslims have live alongside Han Chinese who are not only non-Muslim but also non-religious (Confucianism is not a religion), in other words among shirk. The state traditionally stayed aloft and let the Han and Muslim sort out their own disputes. Attempts by the state to intervene in a heavy handed manner always result in disasters.
The necessity for survival drove those Muslims to be more flexible and accommodating than usual. For example, in many parts of the country the word 清真(halal) has been corrupted for centuries and Muslims did not always protest - people simply got used to it. In case people don’t already know, 清真 is not a transcription of Halal, but a word borrowed from Taoism. There has always been debate whether it is truly equivalent to halal. So if we’re talking about 清真 in the Chinese context as opposed to Halal in a more universal context, no it is NOT necessarily a religious issue. Or should I say it has more than a religious dimension. Actually, facing tough opposition, many Muslim activist groups have started to emphasis the ethnical/culture aspect as oppose to religious aspect of the matter.
