Muslim Xinjiang has emerged as a laboratory for Chinese security and development policy. Join us as we explore the primary factors driving this dynamic – concerns related to the Uyghur and other Muslim minorities, alongside a belief that technology and development produce social stability. In this context, Xinjiang represents a gateway to greater Eurasian opportunities and a potential source of vulnerability for China’s security.  

This ambivalence surrounding Xinjiang is manifested in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). On the one hand, the BRI is portrayed as a mechanism to enhance economic development for Muslim minorities in Xinjiang and to provide access to Eurasian markets with shared historical, linguistic, and cultural ties. On the other hand, the BRI relies on domestic policies that restrict the movement and socio-economic activities of Muslim minorities and foreign policies that marginalize historical cross-border practices and isolate these groups. We will discuss these dynamics and more.

SPEAKER:

Zenel Garcia, Associate Professor, U.S. Army War College

COMMENTARY BY:

Thomas Breslin, Professor, Professor of Politics and International Relations, Florida International University

Presented in collaboration with:

FIU Department of Religious Studies
FIU Department of Politics and International Relations
FIU Asian Studies Program
FIU Honors College