Two Party-affiliated newspapers in Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region announced Thursday that Wednesday reports saying authorities had ordered that all school cafeterias in Yongning county be changed into halal facilities were wrong, issuing a correction that was met with skepticism from the public.
In fact, all 60 schools and kindergartens in Yongning county in the regional capital of Yinchuan will be required to have a halal cafeteria in addition to non-halal facilities, according to statements issued Thursday on the Sina Weibo accounts of the Yinchuan Daily and the Yinchuan Evening News. The statements also said previous reports that all school cafeterias would be made halal by the county's Bureau of Ethnic and Religious Affairs are wrong.
The newspapers added that the mistake occurred because the relevant materials provided by the bureau were inaccurately worded, admitting that they also failed to review the materials thoroughly.
The bureau had not replied to an interview request from the Global Times as of press time.
However, some members of the public suspected that the newspapers were forced to issue the correction, while others questioned whether the reports indicated that religious authorities are interfering in educational affairs.
Among the skeptics is Mei Xinyu, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce, who previously worked as an economic consultant for the Ningxia government for two years.
Mei told the Global Times that it is rare for two authoritative Party-run newspapers to make such mistakes.
Weibo user "hts36" questioned whether ethnic and religious authorities can interfere in school affairs, adding that since not all schools in Yongning are able to build new halal cafeterias, they will likely make their only existing cafeterias halal.
The Wednesday reports also said that the move aimed to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of students and teachers from ethnic minority groups. About 18 percent of Yongning's 230,957 residents are Hui Muslims.