China will step up a campaign against religious extremism in the far western region of Xinjiang on Saturday. It will implement a range of measures, including prohibiting abnormal beards, wearing of veils in public places and the refusal to watch state television. New legislation, passed by Xinjiang lawmakers yesterday and published on the region's official news website, widens existing rules and will come into effect on April 1. <br/><br/>According to the rules, workers in public spaces like stations and airports will be required to dissuade those who fully cover their bodies, including veiling their faces, from entering, and to report them to the police. The legislation also bans not allowing children to attend regular school, not abiding by family planning policies, deliberately damaging legal documents and abnormal growing of beards and naming of children to exaggerate religious fervour. The new rules expand the list and apply them to the whole region.<br/><br/>Hundreds of people have died in recent years in Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uighur people, in unrest blamed by Beijing on Islamist militants and separatists. However, rights groups say the violence is more a reaction to repressive Chinese policies. Authorities have issued a series of measures in the past few years to tackle what it sees as a rise in religious extremism.