Even as China is facing a lot of heat over its persecution of minority Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang province, another major allegation of human rights violation has surfaced against the country. While China continues to oppress Uyghur Muslims, Beijing has now shifted focus on another Muslim minority – the Utsuls of Hainan Island.

According to a report by The New York Times (NYT), the Chinese government has imposed new restrictions on the Utsuls residing in the Chinese city of Sanya to “erode the religious identity of even its smallest Muslim minorities”.

Utsuls, a Muslim community with less than 10,000 population in the Chinese city, are the latest to be targeted by the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) campaign against foreign influence and religions. The ethnic minority of Utsuls of Hainan Island in China faces increased surveillance and religious persecution similar to that of the Uyghur Muslim minority of Xinjiang.