Xinjiang in China's Public Diplomacy in Central Asia: Case Study of Almaty

Abstract

This chapter presents a case study of China’s public diplomacy in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The research draws on textual sources and media reports, as well as on field research conducted in Almaty in January and February 2016 and September 2019. The discussion focuses on how China’s public diplomacy and image-building efforts make use of its Xinjiang region and its transnational Turkic Muslim nationalities, mainly Uyghurs and Kazakhs. It is demonstrated that the Chinese authorities perceive Xinjiang and its Muslims as potential mediators of Sino-Central Asian relations and incorporate them, to a certain degree, into China’s localized information activities and public diplomacy. The chapter goes on to show that China’s public diplomacy in the region seeks to construct a national image of ethno-cultural diversity, religious freedom, historically grounded inter-cultural contact, opportunities for dynamic development, openness, reliability, peacefulness, and other positive values. China’s efforts in Kazakhstan also benefit from the fact that some Kazakhstani intelligentsia view Xinjiang, its transnational Muslim nationalities, and related issues in ways similar to those of PRC actors. Overall, the PRC’s public diplomacy is inhibited by the fact that the party-state has simultaneously regarded its Xinjiang Muslim communities as a security threat and subjected them to repressive domestic policies, particularly since 2017. This research thus reveals a major shortcoming in China’s public diplomacy, in that China’s resolve to use Xinjiang and its transnational Muslim ethnic groups as actors of its public diplomacy in Central Asia contradicts its simultaneous domestic representation and treatment of these very communities as a security threat. It follows that the message of China’s public diplomacy in Central Asia is inconsistent with its domestic policies and thus lacks credibility.