Between Empires and Exile: Uyghur Migrants in Soviet Central Asia During the Sino-Soviet Split

This paper examines the experiences of Uyghur émigrés from Xinjiang who settled in the Soviet republics of Central Asia, with a focus on how they maintained emotional and practical connections to their homeland during the Sino-Soviet rift, particularly from the 1960s to the 1980s. While many Uyghurs fled political repression and collectivization in China during the 1950s and early 1960s, their memories of the subsequent decades are shaped by deep anxiety and fear related to China’s growing power and its increasingly hostile stance toward the Soviet Union. The research analyzes how Cold War geopolitics—especially the deterioration of Sino-Soviet relations—were experienced and interpreted by Uyghur communities living on the Soviet periphery. As a transnational minority with cultural, linguistic, and familial ties across the Chinese-Soviet border, Uyghurs were uniquely positioned to feel the direct impact of this geopolitical divide. The study places particular emphasis on the 1970s and 1980s, a period marked by intensified Sinophobia within the Soviet Union. Methodologically, the research combines oral history and in-depth interviews, drawing on hundreds of testimonies from witnesses of these events, gathered over years of ethnographic fieldwork in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. This study highlights the practical value of using memory-based narratives to understand how Uyghur communities experienced and adapted to Cold War tensions and displacement. It shows how global politics were internalized through everyday fears, prayers, and satirical cultural expressions. The findings offer insights for current policymakers, educators, and researchers working with displaced or cross-border ethnic groups by illustrating how geopolitical events shape identity, resilience, and political awareness on the ground.