China Mimics Central Asian States, Bans Long Beards in Restive Region
Chinese President Xi Jinping called recently for the creation of a “great wall of iron” in an effort to curb extremist violence in China’s troubled far-western province of Xinjiang. Shortly thereafter, the Xinjiang People’s Congress adopted legislation that targets Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking, mostly Muslim ethnic minority. The new legislation, which came into effect April 1,…