China bans Islamic dress in Xinjiang

BEIJING, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- Officials in Xinjiang, China's mostly Muslim Uighur region, have banned Islamic dress aboard public transportation.

According to the Karamay Daily, officials have instituted a ban on "five types of people," namely those who wear headscarves, veils, burkas, clothes bearing the crescent moon and star symbol, and "youths with long beards."

Violators, the paper wrote, "will be reported to the police."

The ban was explained as part of an effort to "ensure social stability and protect the lives, property and safety of citizens of all races."

Xinjiang is an expansive area of China that was traditionally inhabited by the Muslim Uighurs, Kazaks and some smaller groups. Over the last two decades, however, there has been an influx of Han Chinese migrants. Resentment against Han Chinese political and cultural domination simmers and sometimes erupts into violence.