China has banned civil servants, students and teachers in its mainly Muslim Xinjiang region from taking part in Ramzan fasting, Government websites said, prompting condemnation from an exile group on Wednesday.
China’s ruling Communist party is officially atheist, and for years has restricted fasting in Xinjiang. Xinjiang sees regular and often deadly clashes between Uighurs and state security forces, and Beijing has blamed recent deadly attacks on militants seeking independence for the region.