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In the People's Republic of China, religion has long been a contentious issue. Because the present Chinese image of religion is founded on a strongly secularist framework, religion has historically occupied a small portion of society, particularly in the educational arena. Although religion was permitted to some extent during the Republic's early years due to many other pressing concerns, all religious traditions were mercilessly destroyed in the late 1950s, particularly during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). Following the Cultural Revolution, particularly during the 1980s, the government began to treat all religious perspectives and religions with more tolerance and acceptance due to newly-launched reform and opening-up programs (simplified Chinese). As a result, a diverse spectrum of traditional traditions, beliefs, and faiths was allowed to resurge and flourish to some extent. Authorities began to see a link between religious convictions and state security in the late 1990s, particularly in Falun Gong and Islam. The government's vocabulary has become progressively comparable to that of the west, where "war on terror" movements have targeted Muslims and their faith (Hilal, 2017).