Chinese police clash with protesters over plans to demolish mosque

RELIGIOUS NEWS AGENCY (REDNA) – Residents of a majority-Muslim town in southwestern China clashed with police over the weekend as they tried to stop the demolition of a domed roof from a centuries-old mosque, part of the Chinese Communist Party’s expanding effort to control religion.

Dozens of officers in riot gear beat back a crowd as they pushed toward the gate of the Najiaying mosque, an important seat of worship and religious teaching for ethnically Hui Muslims in Yunnan province, on Saturday morning, according to videos sent to overseas activists and posted to Twitter.