China called to support the emergence of “progressive Islam”
The Eurasia Review site published, on July 10, 2026, an analysis entitled China’s Policy Engagement With the Emergence of Progressive Islam. Founded in 2009, this independent international platform offers information, analyzes and forums devoted in particular to geopolitics, the economy, security issues and international relations. It gives the floor to researchers, academics, former diplomats, journalists and regional specialists.
The article is by Zhou Chao, a researcher in the geopolitical strategy program at ANBOUND, an independent think tank based in Beijing and specializing in public policy, strategic foresight and risk analysis. The author mainly works on geopolitical transformations and their consequences for China and its international environment.
The limits of an exclusively security approach
In his analysis, Zhou Chao starts from an observation: for more than twenty years, the international fight against Islamist extremism has essentially been based on military interventions, border control, anti-terrorism legislation and surveillance of religious activities. These measures made it possible to materially weaken certain organizations, but they did not prevent the appearance of new structures or the diffusion of their ideologies. The author cites in particular the evolution of Al-Qaeda, the organization known as “Islamic State”, its branch in the province of Khorasan, as well as the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. Despite the military operations carried out in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and the Sahel, extremist movements have been able to transform, decentralize and find new means of recruitment.
According to him, extremism must therefore no longer be considered solely as a military or security threat. It also constitutes an ideological battle over identity, values and the way of interpreting religion. The Internet, social networks and short video platforms have profoundly changed the transmission of religious discourse. Mosques, religious schools and local authorities are no longer the only places where young people discover Islam or confront radical interpretations.
A strategic question for Beijing
For Zhou Chao, this problem directly concerns China. It affects the security of its borders, the situation in Xinjiang and the stability of the countries crossed by the New Silk Roads. Several neighboring states or important partners of Beijing, in Central Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, in fact have a majority Muslim population. The stability of these regions is essential for Chinese investment, trade, energy supplies and the development of the Belt and Road Initiative. The author thus considers that anti-terrorist cooperation remains necessary, but that it cannot be sufficient to eliminate the ideological and social causes of extremism.
He suggests that Beijing be more interested in Muslim currents favorable to moderation, pluralism and integration in contemporary societies. This orientation would, according to him, make it possible to reduce the influence of extremist movements without presenting Islam as a whole as a threat to security.
Supporting “progressive Islam”
The analysis takes up a proposal formulated in 2026 by Kung Chan, founder of ANBOUND: China should support and encourage what he calls “progressive Islam”, before encouraging the emergence of a specifically Chinese expression of this orientation. According to this approach, it would not be a question of replacing Muslim doctrines with an ideology imposed from the outside, nor of systematically interpreting Islam through Confucianism. This method would risk causing a break with the main intellectual and religious currents in the Muslim world.
Kung Chan instead proposes to work within the frameworks of Islamic tradition, developing the study of religious texts and training a new generation of Chinese Muslim thinkers. These could propose interpretations favoring moderation, national integration and the reduction of political or identity clashes.
Indonesia presented as a model
Indonesia occupies a central place in Zhou Chao’s argument. The country, which has the largest Muslim population in the world, is presented as one of the main laboratories of an Islam reconciling religious identity, local traditions, democracy and pluralism. Indonesian organizations, including Nahdlatul Ulama, notably defend the notions of “humanitarian Islam” and “indigenization of Islam”. Their objective is to show that the Muslim religion can contribute to social cohesion, national development and interreligious coexistence, without becoming an instrument of political confrontation.
The author contrasts this conception with what he describes as the “Arabization” of certain Indonesian Muslim practices. He recalls that Saudi Arabia has financed mosques and religious education establishments in the country since the 1980s. Certain more conservative interpretations of Islam have thus gained influence, sometimes to the detriment of older local traditions. Faced with this development, Indonesian religious leaders say that Islam does not need to uniformly adopt the cultural practices of the Arab world. On the contrary, they defend an Islam rooted in the culture of the archipelago, compatible with Pancasilademocracy, religious diversity and the national motto “Unity in diversity”.
Malaysia and the Gulf countries
Malaysia is another example studied in the article. The concept of Malaysia MADANI seeks to combine Muslim religious values with modern principles of governance such as fairness, integrity, innovation and social responsibility. This approach aims to demonstrate that the modernization of a country does not necessarily imply the erasure of religion. Zhou Chao is also interested in the transformations observed in the Gulf monarchies. In Saudi Arabia, authorities are promoting a discourse on “moderate Islam”, alongside reducing the powers of religious police, increasing women’s participation in social life and opening up the culture and entertainment sectors.
The United Arab Emirates, for its part, seeks to promote religious tolerance and interreligious dialogue. The author recognizes, however, that these developments are mainly a matter of social reforms carried out by states, rather than a real theological reform. They nevertheless participate, according to him, in a redefinition of the relationships between Islam, political power and contemporary society.
Modernization already present in the Muslim world
The article also highlights the existence, in Europe and North America, of Muslim currents giving an important place to equality between women and men, social justice, environmental protection and pluralism. Even if their influence remains limited, these movements would show that the modernization of Muslim thought is not solely the result of Western pressures or government policies. It also has its own internal dynamics, supported by intellectuals, religious leaders and Muslim organizations.
Zhou Chao therefore believes that the Muslim world should not be presented as divided solely between conservatism and radicalism. It would be crossed by multiple debates and by a slow intellectual reorganization around the place of religion in modern societies.
A possible new direction for Chinese policy
In conclusion, the author invites China to no longer consider Islam primarily through the prism of security and the fight against terrorism. Beijing could establish more relationships with Muslim institutions and trends favorable to dialogue, diversity and modernization. This policy could take the form of academic exchanges, cooperation between religious institutions, research programs or training intended for new Chinese Muslim thinkers. It would allow China to complete its security system with a long-term cultural and intellectual strategy.
For Zhou Chao, supporting moderate developments within Islam would also contribute to the stability of China’s partner countries, particularly along the New Silk Roads. This approach would correspond to the Chinese discourse on dialogue and mutual learning between civilizations.
The article thus defends the idea that the fight against extremism cannot be limited to the repression of its violent manifestations. It also involves proposing religious and social stories likely to compete with radical discourses. China would therefore have an interest, according to the author, in supporting Muslim currents who seek to reconcile loyalty to their religion, national cultural particularities and the demands of contemporary societies.
