Islamisation and Sinicisation: Inversions, Reversions and Alternate Versions of Islam in China

In the People’s Republic of China (PRC), religious freedom is guaranteed by the constitution, but is hardly taken for granted. Media fanning public fears about the spread of radical Islam is a recent development, as seen on the front page of the Hong Kong daily Ming Pao, which juxtaposed an infl uential Islamic community in Yunnan province with the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris.1 Such editorial skew is largely motivated by the interest in playing upon popular prejudice to help sell newspapers, a motivation shared by both Western and Eastern media. But the underlying preconception is strikingly similar. Fear among non-Muslims of Islamisation – the spread of Islamic extremism, or simply of Islam – has made its way to China.