A Comparative Study On Eastern Turkistan Movement And Islamic Extremism In Central Asia

Since 1980s, Islamic extremism has swept many nations and regions in the world, including Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in China. Soon, in the guise of religion and being extremely exclusive in the name of Allah, the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) began using it to oppose belief in Allah to abidance by laws in China and produce a series of appalling terroristic events, attempting to split China. Its extremely exclusive actions are anti-government, anti-nation, and violent, which jeopardized social stability, disturbed people's normal lives, and destroyed the investment environment in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Therefore, we must take severe measures to defeat Islamic extremism.While seeing the enormous harms caused by Islamic extremism, we should also be aware of the driving force of Islamic extremism in Central Asia. Due to the geographical connection with Central Asian countries and similarities in natural environment, Xinjiang formed close connections with these countries in nationality, religion, and culture in history, which brought about the complicated relations between Islamic extremism in Central Asia and that of China. Since 1980s, Islamic extremism in Central Asia has developed into many organizations, among which are some influential organizations such as "Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan" and "Hizb-e Tahrir Organization". They have similar views and ways of action to the East Turkistan Islamic Movement in Xinjiang, as well as some differences.This paper, by using relevant theories in politics, sociology, and religion, theoretically expounds some concepts in Islamic extremism. Through the analysis of extremist organizations active in Xinjiang and Central Asia, it compares both the similarities and differences between them. At the end, it suggests to defeat Islamic extremism through international cooperation and cooperation with Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) together with the internal management.This paper is divided into three parts. In the first part, it introduces the development and acting features of Islamic extremism in Xinjiang and Central Asia through the method of history analysis. This part starts with the discrimination between Islamic extremism, terrorism, and separatism. It follows by summarizing the historical background and developing characteristics of the East Turkistan Islamic Movement and extremist forces in Central Asia. At last, after introducing the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Hizb-e Tahrir Organization, and the East Turkistan Islamic Movement, it discusses their formation, primary views, and acting features respectively.The second part compares the East Turkistan Islamic Movement and extremist forces in Central Asia through the method of comparative analysis. It first compares their common ground, then follows by the comparison of their differences. The third part puts forward relevant strategies of reinforcing international cooperation by expounding the function of Shanghai Cooperation Organization on combating Islamic extremism. It first summarizes the history of cooperation with Shanghai Cooperation Organization on combating Islamic extremism, then follows by challenges facing the organization. Finally, it puts forward solutions for dealing with the new development of the East Turkistan Islamic Movement and extremist forces in Central Asia.