Islam in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives - Islamic Books ...

1 7 8Islam i n World Cult u r e sAt the same time, however, China’s trade with Central Asia is expanding at arapid rate, with the opening of direct rail, air, and six overland links since1991. Energy economist James P. Dorian has noted that Xinjiang’s trade withCentral Asia increased from $463 million in 1992 to $775 million in 1996. Theend of 1992 saw an increase of 130 percent in cross-border trade, with Kazakhstanbenefiting the most. China is now Kazakhstan’s fifth-largest trade partne r, with China-Kazakhstan trade alone totaling more than Tu r k e y ’s trade withall of Central Asia (Dorian, Wigdortz, and Gladney 1997).In addition, China is hoping to increase revenues from tourism to the region,marketing it as an important link on the ancient Silk Road. It has been atremendous draw to foreign Muslim tourists, as well as to Japanese, Ta i w a n e s e ,Southeast Asian, and domestic tourists. This rise in tourism has driven the establishmentof five-star hotels throughout the region, including a Holiday Innin Urumqi. These economic developments have brought dramatic changes tothe region, as witnessed by the building of eighty new skyscrapers over the lastten years in Urumqi alone. However, it is clear that Uyghur separatism or Muslimcomplaints regarding Chinese policy will have important consequences forC h i n a ’s economic development of the region. Tourists and foreign businessmenwill certainly avoid areas with ethnic strife and terrorist activities, andChina will continue to use its economic leverage with its Central Asian neighborsand Russia to prevent such disruptions.Since the 1990s, cross-border trade between Xinjiang and Central Asia hasgrown tremendously, especially due to the reopening in 1991 of the EurasianRailroad, which links Urumqi and Alma-Ata with markets in China and easternEurope. Overland travel between Xinjiang and Pakistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan,and Kazakhstan has also increased dramatically with the relaxation oftravel restrictions based on Deng Xiaoping’s prioritization of trade over securityinterests in the area. The government’s policy of seeking to buy support bystimulating the local economy seems to be working at the present. Income levelsin Xinjiang are often far higher than those across the border, yet increasedHan migration to participate in the region’s lucrative oil and mining industriescontinues to exacerbate local ethnic tensions. Muslim areas in northernand central China, however, continue to be left behind, since China’s rapideconomic growth is occurring unevenly, enriching the southern coastal areasfar more than the interior.China’s relations with its bordering nations and with internal regions suchas Xinjiang and Tibet have become increasingly important not only for theeconomic reasons discussed above but also for China’s desire to participate insuch international organizations as the World Trade Organization and theAsia-Pacific Economic Council. Though Tibet is no longer of any real strategicor substantial economic value to China, it is politically important toC h i n a ’s current leadership to indicate that they will not submit to foreign