--- description: Several government departments in China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region have banned students and civil servants from fasting for Ramadan title: China: In Xinjiang, Ramadan Fasting Banned for Officials, Students image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte478b3ad8f31ffaf/69869a673bc999183c1a4641/rtr2pkfw.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # China Bans Ramadan Fasting for Officials, Students in Restive Northwest by [Emily Rauhala](/author/emily-rauhala/) ## Emily Rauhala Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 3, 2014 7:35 AM CUT  Ethnic Uighur men walk outside a mosque in Kashgar, Xinjiang province, on Aug. 3, 2011. Ethnic Uighur men walk outside a mosque in Kashgar, Xinjiang province, on Aug. 3, 2011.Carlos Barria—Reuters by [Emily Rauhala](/author/emily-rauhala/) ## Emily Rauhala Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 3, 2014 7:35 AM CUT Several government departments in China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region have banned students and civil servants from fasting during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Statements posted on school and government websites said the sure-to-be-unpopular policy was aimed at protecting students and stopping government offices from being used to promote religion, [reports](http://www.bigstory.ap.org/article/china-bans-ramadan-fast-muslim-northwest "undefined") the Associated Press. This is not the first instance of Chinese officials trying to curtail religious freedom among Xinjiang’s ethnic Uighur Muslims, but it comes at a particularly delicate time. A series of [brutal attacks](http://time.com/83727/in-china-deadly-bomb-and-knife-attack-rocks-xinjiang-capital/ "undefined") by what China says are religious extremists has spurred a year-long anti-terrorism crackdown in Xinjiang, including [mass arrests and trials](http://online.wsj.com/articles/china-says-29-arrested-in-xinjiang-antiterror-crackdown-1401958142 "undefined"), [cash awards for information](http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/4/25/china-xinjiang-authoritiesofferthousandstofacialhairinformants.html "undefined") and random searches. Critics counter that the chief concern is not links to global terrorism, but widespread dissatisfaction with Chinese rule. A Muslim people that take their cultural and linguistic cues from Central Asia, Xinjiang’s Uighurs say they have been overwhelmed by an influx of migrants from the Han heartland to the east. They also complain of discrimination in the job market, limits on free expression and restriction on their right to pray, dress — and now, fast — as they so choose. \[[_AP_](http://www.bigstory.ap.org/article/china-bans-ramadan-fast-muslim-northwest "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2952833/china-bans-ramadan-fasting-for-officials-students-in-restive-northwest/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2952833/china-bans-ramadan-fasting-for-officials-students-in-restive-northwest/"},"headline":"China Bans Ramadan Fasting for Officials, Students in Restive Northwest","datePublished":"2014-07-03T07:35:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:57:33.742Z","description":"Xinjiang's ethnic Uighur Muslims have been subject to an \"anti-terrorism\" crackdown after a spate of deadly attacks","url":"https://time.com/2952833/china-bans-ramadan-fasting-for-officials-students-in-restive-northwest/","keywords":["Religion","China","Human Rights","Terrorism","Muslim","fasting","Chinese communist party","faith","Islam","Xinjiang","Uighur"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte478b3ad8f31ffaf/69869a673bc999183c1a4641/rtr2pkfw.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Emily Rauhala","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/emily-rauhala/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte478b3ad8f31ffaf/69869a673bc999183c1a4641/rtr2pkfw.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ethnic Uighur men walk outside a mosque in Kashgar","caption":"Ethnic Uighur men walk outside a mosque in Kashgar","creditText":"Carlos Barria—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2952833/china-bans-ramadan-fasting-for-officials-students-in-restive-northwest/","name":"China Bans Ramadan Fasting for Officials, Students in Restive Northwest"}}]}] ```