Ruslan Yusupov: A sociocultural anthropologist interested in understanding how Muslim communities find a place for themselves and their Islam in Chinese modernity. Ruslan is currently completing his first book manuscript project which is tentatively title “Rectifying Multiculturalism: Islam, Development and Securitization in Contemporary China” and which explores how the securitizing measures today other and racialize the past development, progress and modernization of Sinophone Muslims.  Ruslan obtained his PhD from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and he is currently based at the Weatherhead Center at Harvard.

Yuting Wang: Professor of Sociology at the American University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. Her research focuses on Islam and Muslims in China, the Chinese diaspora in the Arab Gulf, and China’s soft power in the MENA region. She has published extensively, including two monographs: Between Islam and the American Dream: An Immigrant Muslim Community in Post-9/11 America (Routledge, 2014) and Chinese in Dubai: Money, Pride, and Soul-Searching (Brill, 2020).

Susan McCarthy: Professor of political science at Providence College in Rhode Island. Her research examines the politics of ethnicity and religion in China. Among the questions animating her work is how minority ethnic and religious groups seize opportunities created by CCP policies to pursue cultural and religious objectives, often in ways that support regime goals. She is the author of Communist Multiculturalism: Ethnic Revival in Southwest China (2009), along with articles and book chapters on these topics. 

University of Hawai'i at Manoa Center for Chinese Studies

Ming-Bao Yue, Director

Ni Zhang, Associate Director

Adriana Choi, Academic Support Specialist

Jian Shan, Casual Hire

This webinar explores the evolving landscape of Islam in China, examining how Chinese Muslims navigate state policies, economic transformations, and transnational connections. Three scholars will present their research on distinct yet interconnected aspects of this dynamic religious sphere. Yuting Wang delves into the role of Chinese Muslim cryptocurrency entrepreneurs, highlighting how digital finance and global mobility shape religious practice and community formation. Susan McCarthy examines the rise and fall of World Muslim City, a development initiative that sought to integrate Hui Muslim identity with economic diplomacy, only to face increasing state restrictions. Ruslan Yusupov addresses the Sinicization of mosques, analyzing how the removal of domes and minarets serves as a political tool to redefine the relationship between Islam and Chinese identity. Together, these presentations shed light on the intersection of religion, governance, and adaptation in contemporary China, offering critical insights into the challenges and strategies of Muslim communities in an era of tightening state control.