Chinese Students of Al-Azhar and their impact on Sino-Egyptian Relations Maurice Gajan Abstract China‟s Muslims, a diverse minority of approximately 23 million people, have played an influential role in Chinese foreign policy throughout the past century. Successive Chinese governments have employed the transnational ties of the Muslim minority, as a diplomatic tool to establish and strengthen its ties with Islamic countries As one aspect of this Islamic diplomacy, China has sponsored the scholarship of Chinese Muslims at Cairo‟s renowned Al- Azhar University This paper assesses the influence of Chinese Al-Azhar students on Sino- Egyptian relations since the 1930s, focusing on the students‟ individual agency. In the 1930s, the Guomindang first sponsored the education of Hui Muslim scholars at Al-Azhar. Chinese Azharites of that time became influential in shaping Sino-Egyptian relations, often engaging in informal „citizen diplomacy‟. After the Chinese revolution in 1949, the Communist government terminated the scholarship program to Al-Azhar. Yet, it continued to exploit Chinese Muslims‟ transnational ties to establish relations with Islamic countries. The economic and political opening of China since the late 1970s saw the re-establishment of state-sponsored scholarships to Al-Azhar. Since then, the number of Chinese Al-Azhar students has been on the rise; the vast majority of them, however, arrive without scholarships. China‟s increasing economic and political power, as well as the all-encompassing nation state, have rendered Islamic diplomacy continuously less important. Thus, the current generation of Chinese Azharites does not wield nearly the same influence, as the scholars of the 1930s. The once crucial transnational ties, seem to have lost their importance for Beijing‟s atheist and increasingly powerful government. 1 Table of Contents 2 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 3 Literature Review and Methodology .............................................................................................. 4 History of Chinese Muslims at Al-Azhar ....................................................................................... 5 Chinese Islam throughout the Centuries ..................................................................................... 7 Islamic Diplomacy during the Republic of China (1912-1949) .................................................. 9 Islam in Anti-Imperialist diplomacy under Mao Zedong.......................................................... 15 Towards Economic Cooperation ............................................................................................... 17 Chinese Students at Al-Azhar Today ............................................................................................ 19 Chinese Azharites: A Tool of Foreign Policy or Individual Agency? .......................................... 22 A Tool of Foreign Policy? ......................................................................................................... 22 Azharite Agency ........................................................................................................................ 24 Contemporary Developments ....................................................................................................... 26 Egyptian Revolution .................................................................................................................. 26 Potential Islamist backlash ........................................................................................................ 26 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 28 References ..................................................................................................................................... 30 3 Introduction The emergence of China as an increasingly assertive and vocal global player has led to the strengthening of Chinese relations with almost all states spanning around the globe. Particularly within the Egypt, the most populous country in the Middle East, Beijing has increased its economic and political activity over the last 30 years, but historical relations reach back far earlier. China itself is home to a Muslim minority of approximately 20 million people and has in the past, as well as the present, employed Islam as a link between the Near and the Far East. As early as the 1930s, the Republic of China began to sponsor the scholarship of Chinese Muslims at Cairo‟s prestigious Al-Azhar University – the oldest and most renowned institution of Islamic learning. As a consequence, the Chinese students of Al-Azhar became an influential driving force in shaping Chinese Islam, as well as the wider relations between China and the Muslim and Arab world. While intra-religious Islamic dialogue ceased to exist during the height of Chinese communism from the 1950s to the 1970s, ties have been re-established with Beijing‟s economic and political opening since the 1980s. Since then, the number of Chinese students at Al-Azhar and in Egypt in general has continuously risen. Once again, the atheist government in Beijing seems to employ Islam as a diplomatic tool to improve economic and political relations with the Middle East and the wider Islamic world. This research paper will look at the role of Chinese Muslim students at Al-Azhar in the relations between Chinese and the Egyptian state. After introducing Chinese Islam, this paper provides a profound historical background, which guides the reader through the changing situation, 4 influence and role of Chinese Azharites in the 20th century relations between China and Egypt. Prior to defining the contemporary influence of Al-Azhar students, an overview of their current situation will be given. Finally, the paper will determine, if Chinese Azharites have merely become a tool of Chinese foreign policy soft power or if they shape the relations between their home country and the Middle East actively themselves. Additionally, contemporary issues, such as the impact of the Egyptian revolution and the rise of global Islamism will be highlighted in relation to Chinese Azharites‟ influence on Sino-Egyptian ties. Literature Review and Methodology The subject of Chinese Muslims at Al-Azhar has appeared in the focus of Western scholarship only relatively recently. In particular, the historical dimension of Chinese Azharites has been extensively researched. It is important to mention Zvi Ben-Dor Benite‟s article “"Nine years in Egypt": Al-Azhar University and the Arabization of Chinese Islam” (2008), as well as John T. Chen‟s “Re-Orientation: The Chinese Azharites between Umma and Third World” (2014), which both provide a historical perspective of the first Chinese students in Cairo. In addition to these predominantly historical studies, several other publications concerning Chinese Muslims in Egypt have appeared during the past decade. However, most of these works are not of a political nature and do not emphasise the aspect of international relations. Nevertheless, these publications are of tremendous importance for this research paper. Particularly Dru Gladney‟s book Dislocating China (2004), which deals with Chinese-Islamic identity and power relations provides an insight into the re-emergence of Chinese students at Al- Azhar University. Additionally, Wang Jie‟s linguistic publication “Sojourner‟s Tongues – Language Practices among the Chinese of Cairo” (2015) offers an insight into Cairo‟s diverse Chinese community. 5 On the issue of Sino-Islamic relations, Frauke Drewes‟ article “Chinese Muslims Going Global?” (2013) provides a profound overview of the role of Islam in current Sino-Arab relations. The paper touches upon the issue of religious education in international relations, yet it does not detail the impact of Chinese Muslim students at Al-Azhar on Sino-Egyptian relations. Thus, it is to say that despite the fact that studies on similar issues do exist, this topic has never been analysed independently to this extent. Besides consulting the limited secondary literature on the issue, this research paper is predominantly based on a number of interviews conducted with Chinese Muslim students and Chinese living in Cairo, between September and December 2015. It is important to mention that all of the interviewed students were Hui,1 as I was able to communicate with them in Standard Chinese. Therefore, the reader should be aware of a certain bias towards Hui students at Al- Azhar, partially neglecting and leaving out the role of Uighurs and other Chinese Muslims. History of Chinese Muslims at Al-Azhar China is home to a sizable Muslim population of approximately 23 million people, which are distributed among ten officially recognised ethnic minorities.2 Thus, Chinese Muslims are not a 1 This research paper will use the term Hui Muslim or Hui Chinese to describe this ethno-religious minority in China. This information is of importance, as prior to the introduction of the People‟s Republic of China minority categorization in 1955, all Muslims inside, as well as outside of China were referred to as Hui, Huihui, Huimin or Huizi. While certain scholars thus prefer to use the term Sino-Muslims or Muslim Chinese in order to distinguish the Hui from other Muslim minorities in China during this period, this paper will refer to the group as Hui. In several publications, the Hui are