"Arab revitalisation" and the Uyghur crisis: the problematic nature of Sino-Arabic cooperation in the "Silk Road Spirit" era

In June 2014, Xi Jinping's opening address at the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum concluded that Sino-Arab cooperation should promote "the Silk Road Spirit" and further the realisation of "Arab revitalisation". Presently, Sino-Arabic Silk Road Spirit is defined by Middle Eastern deference to China marked by complicity and/or deafening silence on the unfolding mass detention of the mostly Muslim Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. This paper examines the links between the Belt and Road Initiative, the mass detention of Uyghurs and how the dream of "Arab revitalisation" has seen Middle Eastern states support Beijing's policies towards the Uyghurs