New Xinjiang regulation aims to prevent extremism

Lawmakers in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region have passed China's first legislation on anti-extremism to prevent terrorism from spreading in the region.

The regulation, adopted on Wednesday by the Xinjiang People's Congress, prohibits people in the region from wearing full-face coverings and long beards, which are deemed to promote extremism.

Thirteen other behaviors that indicate extremism are also banned, such as forcing others not to associate with people from other ethnic groups and extending the concept of halal, Islamic dietary law, to apply to things other than food.