On the morning of May 13^th, 2021, the 2^nd session of Liangxiang Forum organized by Institute for International and Area Studies, Tsinghua University (IIAS-THU) in Spring 2021 was held at Conference Room 205 of the Central Main Building, with the theme of “Islam and Middle East Politics”. The lecture was presented by Prof. Wu Yungui, Honorary Member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), Research Professor at the Institute of World Religions and Doctoral Supervisor, participated by Prof. Wang Yujie, Associate Dean of the School of Philosophy and Professor of Religious Studies at Renmin University of China, and hosted by Wang Tingyi, Assistant Research Professor at IIAS. Dozens of participants, including doctorate candidates and research professors at IIAS as well as external participants, attended the event.

Prof. Wu reviewed Islam and Middle East politics in three aspects in details.

He started with the overview of Islam and Middle East politics and the essence of the lecture. He pointed out that Islam, Moslem, Muslem and Halal had all existed and been extensively used until 1956, when the State Council issued a document formalizing “Islam” as the common name. “Middle East” refers to West Asia and North Africa, which is a geographical concept of Eurocentrism. A prominent feature of Middle East politics is that external forces led by the United States constantly interfere in the internal affairs of Middle East countries and regions.

Prof. Wu stressed that the relationship between church and state is one of the important research topics of Middle East politics. He then elaborated four kinds of relationship between church and state, namely, the separation of church and state, the de facto separation of church and state, the monarchy of church and state, and the Islamic Republic of church and state, and analyzed how to look at the political situation and international relations in the Middle East from the perspective of the relationship between church and state.

In the third part of the lecture, Prof. Wu mentioned that the Middle East is a region plagued by war after World War II, which have experienced wars that broke out due to various contradictions, including the war of oppressed nations against European colonial rule and for national independence and liberation, four wars that broke out between Arab-Israeli and Palestinian-Israeli for territory, the wars caused by the Middle East powers competing for regional hegemony, the Afghanistan war launched by the two superpowers of the United States and the former Soviet Union through agents, and the anti-terrorism war launched by the United States in some areas in the name of “anti-terrorism”. He explored the conflicts between Eastern and Western ideologies and values through three issues, namely, how to view the “Islamic” threat theory, the “human rights supremacy theory” and “democratic transformation of the Greater Middle East” advocated by the United States, and religious extremism and international “anti-terrorism”. In addition, Prof. Wu also discussed the standpoint and methodology of religious studies.

After that, Prof. Wang made wonderful comments and interactions on Prof. Wu’s presentation. Meanwhile, she pointed out that it is important to avoid empty research and pay more attention to details in today’s area studies in China. The depth and breadth of her insights benefited the audience greatly.

After the lecture, Prof. Wu interacted with the audience and responded to a series of questions raised by the audience, including the root causes of extremism and the development of religious studies in China.

Prof. Wu Yungui is Honorary Member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Research Professor at the Institute of World Religions and Doctoral Supervisor. In 1964, he graduated from the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature of Liaoning University. From 1981 to 1983, he studied at public expense in the School of Oriental and African Studies of London University as a visiting scholar. In the later 1989, he studied at public expense in the World Religion Research Center of Harvard University as a visiting scholar. From 1994 to 2005, Prof. Wu was also Member of the Editorial Board of UNESCO’s History of Civilizations of Central Asia Project. He once served as Director and Secretary of the CPC Committee of the Institute of World Religions. His previous part-time positions include Deputy to the 10th National People’s Congress, Members of the Philosophy Discipline Evaluation Group of the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council, Members of the Academic Advisory Committee of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and Executive Vice President of the Chinese Association of Religious Studies. His publications include Outline of Islamic Law, Contemporary Islamic Law, History of Islam, Modern Islamic Thoughts and Movements, Islam and International Hot Spots, Contemporary Religion and Extremism, and General Theory of World Civilization: Contemporary Civilization (II).

Prof. Wang Yujie is Associate Dean of the School of Philosophy and Professor of Religious Studies at Renmin University of China. She is also Special Expert in the Religious Work Expert Database of the United Front Work Department of the CPC’s Central Committee, Executive Director of the Chinese Association of Middle East Studies and Director of the Chinese Association of Religious Studies. Her research interest focuses on Islamic studies, specializing in the studies of Islamic sects and contemporary Islamic issues. She is the author of Religion and State: Contemporary Islamic Shiite Studies and Religion and Contemporary Chinese Society.

Text by: Wang Zijing
Typesetting by: Wang Zijing
Reviewed by: Zhang Yuan