A senior Chinese diplomat in Pakistan who adopted the name 'Muhammad' on his Twitter profile has appeared to drop the name days after authorities in China issued an order banning several Islamic names.

Zhao Lijian, the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad, was widely known on social media for adopting the name "Muhammad" on his Twitter profile, which until recently showed his name as 'Muhammad Lijian Zhao'. On Friday, his profile merely read 'Lijian Zhao'.

Zhao's account was this week verified by Twitter, which may have prompted the diplomat to use his legal name to acquire verification.

Yet the timing of the move caught the attention of Pakistani social media users, who noticed the changed name just as Beijing outlined a new policy in its western Xinjiang region, banning 29 Islamic names that officials said was aimed at stopping the spread of extremism.

It is a common practice for Chinese in foreign countries to adopt a local name as a sign of both localising and expressing solidarity. But in Zhao's case, his choice of name given its religious meaning particularly resonated among many Pakistanis, and the diplomat enjoys wide following on social media.

He has more than 2 lakh Twitter followers and uses his account to often address concerns on Chinese investments in Pakistan, especially through the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) plan.

Picture: Twitter

Earlier this month, authorities in China's western Xinjiang province were reported as banning 29 Islamic names, including 'Muhammad'.

Other banned names were 'Islam', 'Jihad', 'Hajj', 'Azhar', 'Saddam' and 'Wahhab'.

Local officials were quoted as saying names with a 'religious background' were banned. While many of these names have not historically common among Uighurs, an ethnic Turkic Muslim group native to Xinjiang, Chinese officials say they have seen an increasing influence of the practice of Sunni Islam as practised in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in Xinjiang.

Uighurs have followed their own Turkish-influenced names. For example, Mehmet, a version of Muhammad, is widely popular, and will not likely be banned, reported the Associated Press.

To curb what Chinese officials say is spreading 'extremist' thought, authorities have recently also carried out campaigns to ban veils in parts of southern Xinjiang.

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