Outlas

Beer festival in Muslim-majority region of China angers exiled leaders

• The centerpiece of the festival, held in Niya County in Xinjiang, was a drinking competition that offered monetary prizes to the winners among the 60 attendees from the largely agricultural community.
• The local government–with regional backing–promoted the event in the run-up to Ramadan, and with Quranic prohibitions on the consumption of alcohol, Muslim leaders from the exiled World Uyghur Congress considered the event a deliberate provocation.
• The Communist Party allows restricted freedom of religion only for recognized groups, and fears of extremism have led to crackdowns on activity in Muslim communities, of which ethnic Uyghur communities form a part.

Read the full story at Reuters.