Muslims have been ordered to hand in all copies of their Koran or face really 'harsh punishment' for failing to do so.

In what will come across as a really shocking move, Chinese Muslims have been ordered to hand over religious items including copies of the Koran and prayer mats or they will face harsh punishment.

According to Radio Free Aisia, authorities are stepping up a campaign against Muslims in Xinjiang, north western China.

Dilxat Raxit, a spokesman for World Uyghur Congress, said that people in Kashgar, Hotan and other regions had been notified that all Uyghur people must hand over Islam-related items.

Notifications are also being broadcast via social network WeChat, telling people they must hand items in to government. authorities. Korans have been targeted in the region for the last five years because they are deemed to contain ‘extremist content’.

A campaign in China called Three Illegals and One Item has been taking part in the region and affects publicity, religious teaching, and items associated with Islam.

The Uyghur Human Rights Project recently said that it is alarmed at the intrusiveness of the regulations into private religious life and rejects the implication made in the new measures that people of faith should be treated as state suspects.

Director Omer Kanat said: ‘The new religious regulations demonstrate how Xi Jinping’s administration is founded on division.

‘In Xi’s China loyalty is demanded and not earned. Ethnic minorities, dissidents and people of faith present a challenge to Beijing’s vision of unquestioned allegiance to the state.

‘If these groups do not fall into line, their vilification creates a convenient scapegoat for a morally compromised government.’