The editor justifies the publication of this handbook on Xinjiang both in terms of the region's size and special geopolitical position spanning Central Asia and China and its sizeable Turkic-speaking Muslim population. The urgency of publishing a general handbook on the region is underlined by the resistance of the Uyghurs to Chinese rule, an aspect that underpins most of the contributions. The publication is particularly timely, given the simultaneous international attention to Islamic terrorism and human rights issues. The interplay between the two is not without contradictions and tensions: Repeated Western criticism of human rights violations in China, which in the Xinjiang context is translated into repressive ethnic and religious policies, stands against Western support for the Chinese government in its war against terrorism. Because the latter can easily be used as legitimation for the former, these contradictions muddy the waters further rather than help create a clear picture of...

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