Dr. Kyle Haddad-Fonda (Fellow, Foreign Policy Association)

Throughout its existence, the People’s Republic of China has depended on Chinese Muslims to foster relationships in the Arab world. But Beijing’s strategies for engaging its Muslim population in foreign outreach have changed dramatically over time. This lecture will focus on the city of Yinchuan, the capital of China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, which was built up during the 2010s to be a locus for engagement with the Middle East. By tracing Yinchuan’s ups and downs over the past decade, this lecture will explain the evolution of China’s diplomacy toward the Middle East and examine the ways in which China continues to rely on Islam, even at a time when religiosity in China is more contentious than ever before.