ABSTRACT
Uighurs are the largest group of Turkic people indigenous to the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China (Eastern Turkestan).1 They also have communities in almost all of the newly independent Central Asian republics, the largest being in Kazakhstan. A distinguishing feature of the Central Asian Uighur diaspora is that it serves as a bellwether of Sino-Soviet and now Sino-Central Asian relations. In the post-Soviet period, Uighurs face new challenges raised by both the transformation process and the growth of Chinese influence in Central Asian countries.
