They are part of a noble pogonophobic tradition dating back to early Christian times, when clean-shaven Romans guarded Western civilisation against shaggy savages.

It will be seen that what the defenders of Dali are claiming is a kind of benefit of clergy. That artist is to be exempt from the moral laws that are binding on ordinary people.

An officer at the Saghan township police station told RFA that at least one other policeman from the township, who had been promoted and served for the last five years as an assistant officer patrolling China’s border, was fired after his relatives were arrested for “extremism.”

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