dogu-turkistan-sempozyumu

FREEEAST TURKISTAN SYMPOSIUMIt is clear that Muslims in China are deeply divided over answering either ofthe two questions that were raised at the beginning of this paper. Nevertheless,the resolution that the Hui Muslims found between Huijiao/Huimin identities inthe last century, perhaps grounded in the earlier neo-Confucian synthesis of the14 th and 15 th centuries, continues to enable them to negotiate their identity ratherpeacefully, and often prosperously, in the secularist-modernist-socialist-capitalistChinese state. As the riots of July 5, 2009 horribly illustrate, it has not been soeasy for the Uyghur. This is not surprising given the relatively recent integrationof the region into China proper and the failure of Chinese policies in the regiontoday. Should Uyghurs in China and the Diaspora respond to these questions aseither jihadists or secularist nationalists, the results will most likely be the same:increasingly harsh, forced integration to Chinese rule, which may have disastrousimplications for the region and its neighbors. Finding a middle ground may notbe easy in the Middle Kingdom.496