SPEAKING
FREELY Risky business in China's
west By David Nguyen
Speaking Freely is an Asia Times
Online feature that allows guest writers to have
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The "Go West"
campaign is one of many policies China has
initiated to develop the infrastructure and vast
resources of its far western regions, Xinjiang and
Xizang, also known as the Tibetan Autonomous
Prefecture, while strengthening political and
economic ties with bordering states. As money
continues to be
invested in these regions and
the cross border trade increases, so does the
contact between its large Muslim minority and the
broader Islamic world.
Xinjiang and the
neighboring provinces of Qinghai and Gansu are
home to most of China's Muslim minorities, which
include the Hui, Kazakhs, Salars and Uighurs.
These minorities, with the exception of the Hui,
have cultural and religious affinity with their
Central Asian neighbors, who share similar
languages and histories. The collapse of the
Soviet Union and the opening of borders led to an
increase in contact between Xinjiang and the new
Central Asian states.
The late 1990s saw
an increase of terrorist activities in Central
Asia, particularly in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan,
where Islamic groups such as the Hizb ut-Tahrir
and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan gained
popularity and became involved in a number of
bombings and kidnappings. The Shanghai Cooperation
Organization was formed as the Shanghai Five
(there are now six members) in 1996 to address
common security issues, which include
anti-terrorism and countering the rise of militant
Islam. Is this organization enough to stem the
tide of militant Islam, especially when
globalization and information transcend national
borders?
Islamic revival in
China Parallels can be drawn between the
current situation the Chinese Muslims are facing
with those that occurred centuries ago, during the
Qing Dynasty and Republican period. According to
Dru Gladney, a professor of Asian studies and
anthropology at the University of Hawaii, the 18th
century saw a widespread revival of Islam in which
Sufism, a form of Islamic mysticism, became
popular. Because of increased east-west travel,
major Sufi reforms spread throughout northwestern
China from the mid-17th to the 18th century.
The introduction of Sufism led to major
reforms in Islamic traditions and concepts among
the Hui and Uighur communities. The continuing
existence of four major Sufi orders testifies to
the widespread influence of Sufism. One of the
Sufi orders, the Naqshbandiyya, placed an emphasis
on political activism that led to multiple
conflicts between Muslims and the Qing government.
The early 20th century experienced another
increase in east-west travel. Pilgrimages to Mecca
became a reality for many Chinese Muslims, and new
foreign ideas from Europe and the Middle East were
introduced. During this time, Wahhabism expanded
its influence over the Arabian Peninsula. This
movement sought to rid the Islamic world of
corrupt, innovative interpretations of Sunni
Islam, and advocated a puritanical lifestyle based
upon the teachings of a 13th-century Muslim
scholar, Ibn Taymiyya.
The Ikwan Muslim
Brotherhood, created by a Chinese Muslim who was
inspired by Wahhabism during his pilgrimage to
Mecca to perform the hajj, appeared in
China at the end of the 19th century. While less
militant than their Middle-Eastern counterparts,
the Ikwan Muslim brotherhood sought to achieve
Islamic purity by reducing Chinese and other
influences in Islamic traditions, customs, and
even architecture.
The latter half of the
20th century saw the unification of China, the
Sino-Soviet split, and isolationist foreign
policies that reduced contact between China's
western regions and Soviet Central Asia. Contact
between the Islamic world and China's Muslim
minority was limited.
Xinjiang's regions
bordering the Soviet Union were highly sensitive
as the latter often used ethnic diasporas in
conducting cross-border propaganda that included
radio broadcasts. In addition, the Great Leap
Forward and Cultural Revolution initiated reforms
to address class struggle and tradition, resulting
in religious persecution and changes in Chinese
Muslim society.
The rise of Deng Xiaoping
and the opening of China led to the restoration of
links with the international community. A dramatic
reduction in religious restrictions and
ethnic/cultural repression ensued, allowing Muslim
minorities to practice their faith more openly
after two decades of attempted reforms.
During the mid-1980s, China sought to
strengthen ties with the Islamic world in hopes of
attracting economic investment, resulting in
numerous cultural exchanges. These exchanges
included ethno-tourism, whereby foreign Muslims
visited Chinese Islamic attractions, and
state-sponsored pilgrimages to the hajj for
its own Muslim minorities.
The spread
of militant Islam The 1990s saw the
aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, and
the resurgence in ethnic and identity among
China's minorities. Indeed, many feared that the
emergence of new Central Asian states would
inspire China's large Uighur minority to seek
independence. While an independent Xinjiang has
yet to occur, contacts between its Uighur
population and the former Soviet Uighur diasporas
resumed. The decade also saw increasing numbers in
hajj pilgrimages among all Chinese Muslim
minorities.
As trade among China, Central
Asia and the Middle East increases, so does the
possibility of the militant interpretations of
Islam becoming popular among Muslim minorities.
Since the 1990s, there has been a resurgence in
Islamic identity and the acceptance of Wahhabism
and other militant forms of Islam around the
world. Separatist movements, led by rebel groups
that were influenced by Wahhabism in the Russian
Caucasus and southern Philippines, intensified
during this period.
Separatist groups in
the Central Asian states have stated their goals
to create a new Islamic state in the Ferghana
Valley, while in South Asia, Pakistan continues
having difficulties in containing Islamic
militants. Meanwhile, the United States and
Western Europe face a broader conflict with a
multinational, stateless, organized group of
militants known as al-Qaeda, which is believed to
have ties with all of the previously mentioned
separatist movements.
From 2000, the
Central Asian states began seeing a decrease in
anti-government activities, while China saw no new
terrorist bombing. The United States established a
presence in Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan, as well as
increasing its presence in Pakistan. However,
militant Islamic groups continue to be active,
especially in Pakistan, where porous borders and
mountainous terrain make surveillance difficult.
Groups such as the Hizb ut-Tahrir, which
advocates pan-Islamism and overthrowing repressive
governments, have a strong presence in Pakistan,
where they are not outlawed. These groups have
often found funding from businessmen from the
Persian Gulf states, where Wahhabism has strong
influence.
With increasing contact between
China's Muslim minorities and the outside Islamic
world due to the opening of borders and the advent
of the information age, Chinese Muslims find
themselves at another junction in their religious
identity. Past contacts between Chinese Muslims
and the outside Islamic world have led to major
reforms in the interpretation of their religion,
including political activity that often resulted
in conflicts with the government.
Similarly, many of the current Islamic
movements in the world, such as Wahhabism, have
promoted pan-Islamism, a purist interpretation of
the Koran, and the overthrow of governments
repressing their Muslim populations. China will
continue to face a difficult task should it
continue to open its borders and strengthen ties
with neighboring states where militant Islamic
groups continue to exist, while preventing new
instances of separatist movements.
David Nguyen is a graduate from
the University of Hawaii with a bachelor's in
political science and Asian studies.
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Speaking Freely is an Asia Times
Online feature that allows guest writers to have
their say. Please click hereif you are interested in
contributing.
