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Sponsor: Taiwan’s National Science Council  (Taiwan NSC100-2410-H-001-114)

This research explores the crucial roles of the Uyghur diaspora and transnational actors in fashioning and sustaining a collective Uyghur aspiration to advance their brethren’s rights in China and to further forge an East Turkestan state. Not all international non-state actors claiming to represent the Uyghurs entertain the same visions towards the Uyghurs’ future with China. Some advocate the Uyghurs’ obtainment of real sub-state autonomy, while others fight for political independence. Schisms exist among diaspora groups, in terms of what the collectively conceived Uyghur interests should be and in terms of strategies and approaches towards their desired political aims.

In this research, I adopt a niche theory, which I developed during my previous research on European ethnopolitical groups, to examine this Uyghur case. The kernel of my theoretical argument is that factions within the Uyghur networks are informal, loose, and even not consciously structured. There are both competition and cooperation among agent organisations seeking to represent the Uyghur interests.

Different organisations have a variety of strategies to create their niches. In terms of methodology, I combine both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The most important one is the employment of social network analysis (SNA). Recent development in the techniques and software of SNA has enabled the visual and mathematical measurement of relationships between organizations. Using SNA, I map out the Uyghur networks and illustrate which actors are most central to the networks and which operate on the periphery. The ultimate objective of this project is to complete an academic book, “The Uyghur Lobby”, which I have been working since 2009.