Hong Kong is a global city-state under the
sovereignty of the People’s Republic of China, and is
home to around 250,000 Muslims practicing Islam. However
existing studies of the Muslim-majority communities in
Asia and the Northwest China largely ignore the Muslim
community in Hong Kong. Islam and China’s Hong
Kong skillfully fills this gap, and investigates how
ethnic and Chinese-speaking Muslims negotiate their
identities and the increasing public attention to Islam
in Hong Kong. Examining a range of issues and
challenges facing Muslims in Hong Kong, this book
focuses on the three different diasporic Muslim
communities and reveals the city-state’s triple Islamic
heritage and distinctive Islamic culture. It begins with
the transition from the colonial to the post-colonial
era, and explores how this has impacted on the
experiences of the Muslim diaspora, and the ways this
shift has compelled the community to adapt to Chinese
nationalism whilst forging greater links with the Gulf.
Then with reference to the rise of new media and
technology, the book examines the heightened presence of
Islam in the Chinese public sphere, alongside the
emergence of Chinese Islamic websites which have sought
to balance transnational Muslim solidarity and
sensitivity towards Chinese government’s concern of
external extremism. Finally, it concludes
by investigating Hong Kong’s growing awareness of
the Muslim minorities’ demands for Islamic religious
education, and how this links with the city-state’s
aspiration to become the new gateway for Islamic
finance. Indeed, Wai Yip Ho posits that Hong Kong is now
shifting from its role as the broker that bridged East
and West during the Cold War, to that of a new meditator
between China and the Middle East. Drawing on
extensive ethnographic research, this book thoughtfully
charts a new area of inquiry, and as such will be
welcomed by students and scholars of Chinese studies,
Islamic studies, Asian studies and ethnicity
studies.
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