dogu-turkistan-sempozyumu

FREEEAST TURKISTAN SYMPOSIUMIn terms of religious freedom, as with many other policies, the Chineseconstitution is laudable when honored, but in a country where rule of law oftengives way to local and national politics, it is often only honored in the breech. Aslong as religion is perceived by Chinese officials as a threat to Chinese sovereignty,mosques and religious practice will be under surveillance and in some casesrestricted. In light of international Islamic interest, however, Chinese officials haveto be careful regarding any oppressive treatment of religious practice; in generalthey cast it as “splittest” or seditious, as in the February 1997 incident in Ili.In the past 10 years, the opening of China to the outside world has meant muchfor the Uighur who, if they can obtain a passport, might be able to travel beyondChina’s borders through Pakistan, along the Karakhoram highway, through theIli valley into Kazakstan, or by several CAAC flights to Istanbul from Urumqi.The number of Uighur pilgrims travelling on the Hajj to Mecca has increasedby 300 per cent in the 1990s, but has since dropped off precipitously (thoughother Muslims from China travel much more freely). International contactshave allowed the Uighur to see themselves as participants in the broader IslamicUmma, while at the same time being Muslim citizens of the Chinese nationstate.As they return from Hajj, many Uighurs, who generally travel together asa group, have told me that they gained a greater sense of affinity with their ownas one people than with the other multi-ethnic members of the internationalIslamic community. State promoted tourism of foreign Muslims and touriststo Muslim areas in China in hopes of stimulating economic investment is alsoan important trend related to this opening of Xinjiang and its borders. Urumqi,a largely Han city constructed in the last fifty years, is undergoing an Islamicfacelift with the official endorsement of Central Asian and Islamic architecture,in an effort to impress many visiting foreign Muslim dignitaries. Most foreignerscome to see the colourful minorities and the traditional dances and costumes bywhich their ethnicity is portrayed in Chinese and foreign travel brochures. OneJapanese tourist with whom I spoke in Kashgar, having just arrived by bicyclefrom Pakistan across the Karakhorum highway, said that a tourist brochure toldhim that the real Uighurs could only be found in Kashgar, whereas most Uighurbelieve that Turfan is the centre of their cultural universe. Yet many of theseKashgaris will in the same breath argue that much of traditional Uighur culture494