CHINA’S POLICY TOWARD ETHNIC GROUPS AND THEIR COMMON PROSPERITY

(Part One)

Preface

　　The planet where we live is a world of ethnic groups. About 3,000 ethnic groups are found in over 200 countries and regions in today’s world. The overwhelming majority of these countries and regions are multiethnic.

　　China is a unified multiethnic country for the people of all its ethnic groups. In the long historical course these people have maintained close contacts, been interdependent, communicated and fused with each other, and shared good and bad times. They have formed a unified multiethnic Chinese nation, and worked together to develop their beloved motherland and promote its development and social progress.

　　Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, sticking to the theme of unity and prosperity for all ethnic groups, bearing in mind China’s actual conditions, and drawing on China’s historical experience and the useful practices of other countries, the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese government have carved out a right path with Chinese characteristics for resolving ethnic problems, exercised the ethnic policy featuring equality, unity, regional ethnic autonomy, and prosperity for all ethnic groups, thus forming a complete system of ethnic policies.

　　China’s correct ethnic policy is in line with its actual conditions and has fostered the unity and harmonious coexistence of all ethnic groups that are striving with one mind for economic development, political stability, cultural prosperity and social harmony. Ethnic minorities, ethnic minority areas, and relationships between ethnic groups have all experienced tremendous historic changes.

I. A Unified Multiethnic Country and a Nation with Diverse Cultures

　　Since the founding of the People’s Republic, some 56 ethnic groups have been identified and confirmed by the central government. They are the Han, Mongol, Hui, Tibetan, Uyghur, Miao, Yi, Zhuang, Buyei, Korean, Manchu, Dong, Yao, Bai, Tujia, Hani, Kazak, Dai, Li, Lisu, Va, She, Gaoshan, Lahu, Shui, Dongxiang, Naxi, Jingpo, Kirgiz, Tu, Daur, Mulao, Qiang, Blang, Salar, Maonan, Gelao, Xibe, Achang, Pumi, Tajik, Nu, Uzbek, Russian, Ewenki, De’ang, Bonan, Yugur, Gin, Tatar, Derung, Oroqen, Hezhen, Monpa, Lhoba and Jino ethnic groups. The Han people constitute the vast majority of the Chinese population, while the people of the other 55 ethnic groups have a smaller population, so they are referred to as ethnic minorities.

　　Over the past 60 years, the population of the ethnic minorities has been on a constant increase, accounting for more and more of China’s total population. The five national censuses in China show that the total population of ethnic minorities was 35.32 million in 1953, 6.06 percent of the country’s total population; 40.02 million in 1964, 5.76 percent of the total; 67.30 million in 1982, 6.68 percent of the total; 91.20 million in 1990, 8.04 percent of the total; and 106.43 million in 2000, 8.41 percent of the total. The populations of ethnic minorities vary greatly from each other. For example, the Zhuang has a population of 17 million, far more than that of the Hezhen, numbering only some 4,000.

　　Some of China’s ethnic groups inhabit vast areas, while others live in individual compact communities in small areas or live in mixture. In some cases, minority peoples can be found in compact communities in areas inhabited mainly by Han people, while in other cases the situation is the other way round. Part of many minority peoples live in one or more compact communities and the rest are scattered across the country. Northwest and southwest China are the two regions where minority peoples are most concentrated. The western region consists of nine provinces, three autonomous regions and one municipality directly under the central government and is home to 70 percent of China’s minority population. The nine border provinces and autonomous regions are home to 60 percent of China’s minority population. As China’s economy and society continue to develop, the scope of minority population distribution is growing. So far, the minority population scattered across the country has topped 30 million.

　　In places where ethnic minorities live in compact communities, the minority populations are usually small, whereas the areas they live in are often large and rich in resources. The areas of grassland and forest, and water and natural gas reserves in areas inhabited by minority peoples account for nearly or over half of the national totals. Of China’s over-22,000-km terrestrial boundary, 19,000 km traverse minority areas. In addition, the minority areas boast 85 percent of the country’s state-level natural reserves, making them an important guardian of China’s ecology.

　　The origins and evolution of ethnic groups in China are diverse, and have been shaped by local conditions. Some 4,000-5,000 years ago, five major ethnic groups – the Huaxia, Dongyi, Nanman, Xirong and Beidi – developed on what is now the Chinese territory. Through continuous migration, living together, intermarriage and communication, the five ethnic groups became assimilated to each other in the course of their development, and gradually became one, from which new ethnic groups continually sprang up. Some of the latter remain distinct to this day, while others, including the once-renowned Xiongnu, Yuezhi, Xianbei, Rouran, Tuyuhun, Tujue, Dangxiang, Khitan and Saka peoples, have disappeared in the course of history due to wars, deterioration of the ecosystem or loss of identity.

　　Although the origins and evolution of ethnic groups in China are different from each other, the overall trend of their development was to form a unified, stable and multiethnic country. The boundaries and territory of today’s China were developed by all ethnic groups in the big family of the Chinese nation during the long course of historical development. The ancestors of the Han people were the first to develop the Yellow River Valley and the Central Plains; those of the Tibetan and Qiang peoples, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau; those of the Yi and Bai peoples, southwest China; those of the Manchu, Xibe, Ewenki and Oroqen peoples, northeast China; those of the Xiongnu, Tujue and Mongolian peoples, the Mongolian grasslands; those of the Li people, Hainan Island; and those of the ethnic minority peoples of Taiwan, Taiwan Island.

　　As early as in the pre-Qin Dynasty period before 221 BC the Chinese people had developed the concepts of “country” and “unification”. In 221 BC the Qin Dynasty unified China for the first time, set up an administrative system of prefectures and counties, and put the regions, including today’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Yunnan Province, where ethnic minority people were concentrated, under its jurisdiction. The subsequent Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) further consolidated the country’s unification. It set up the Protectorate of the Western Regions in today’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and added 17 prefectures to govern the people of all ethnic groups there. In this way, a state with a vast territory, including today’s Xinjiang where people of different ethnic groups lived, emerged. The Qin and Han dynasties created the fundamental framework of China as a unified multiethnic country.

　　After the Han Dynasty, the central governments of all dynasties developed and consolidated the unified multiethnic country. The Tang Dynasty (618-907) established the Anxi Protector-general’s Office and Beiting Protector-general’s Office to manage administrative affairs in the Western Regions, including today’s Xinjiang, and set up Dao, Fu and Zhou (equivalent to today’s province, prefecture and county) to administer the ethnic minority peoples in central-southern and southwestern China. The Yuan Dynasty (1206-1368), which was established by the Mongols, appointed aboriginal officials or tuguan (hereditary posts of local administrators filled by chiefs of ethnic minorities) in Fu and Zhou of the southern regions where ethnic minority peoples lived in compact communities. The central government set up the Commission for Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs and three pacification commissioner’s commanderies in Tibet, whereby Tibet was thenceforth brought under the effective administration of the central government. The Yuan Dynasty also founded the Penghu Military Inspectorate for the administration of the Penghu Islands and Taiwan. The Yuan Dynasty had most of the ethnic groups China has today. The Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), which was founded by the Manchus, set up the Ili Generalship and Xinjiang Province in the Western Regions, appointed Grand Minister Resident in Tibet and established the system of conferring honorific titles on two Living Buddhas – the Dalai and Panchen – by the central government. In addition, the Qing court carried out a series of political reforms in southwestern China, including the policy of gaituguiliu, i.e. appropriating the governing power of local hereditary aboriginal chieftains and setting up the system of appointment of local administrators by the central government in the ethnic minority areas. The Qing Dynasty basically had the same territory China has today.

　　Although China suffered short-term separation and local division in history, unification has always been the mainstream and trend in its development. The central governments of different dynasties, whether they were founded by the Han people or ethnic minorities, considered themselves as “orthodox reigns” of China, and regarded the establishment of a unified multiethnic state their highest political goal. The vast territory of China, time-honored and splendid Chinese culture and the unified multiethnic country are all parts of the legacy built by all ethnic groups in China.

　　As China has long remained as a unified multiethnic state, this has greatly enhanced the economic, political and cultural exchanges between ethnic groups, reinforced their allegiance to the central government and their identification with Chinese culture, and strengthened the cohesiveness, vitality and creativity of the Chinese nation, giving rise to the unification and diversity of Chinese civilization. Traditionally, the Han people, accounting for the majority of China’s total population, mainly lived in the Central Plains on the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow and Yangtze rivers, whose mild climate and flat, fertile land were suitable for farming. The ethnic minority peoples mostly lived in peripheral areas whose abundant grasslands, deserts, forests, plateaus, mountains, hills and lakes were favorable for stock raising, hunting and fishery. The “tea-horse” and “silk-horse” trade between the Han people in the Central Plains and the surrounding ethnic minority peoples satisfied the demand of the Han people for horses for use in agriculture, transportation and military affairs while catering to the needs of minority peoples for daily necessities, thereby making their economies more complementary to each other and promoting common development. The states of Liao (916-1125), Jin (1115-1234), Western Xia (1038-1227), and Dali (937-1253), which were established by ethnic minorities in China, quite clearly drew on the experience of Han rulers in different dynasties in government systems and territorial control, and absorbed many elements of Central Plains culture. The melodies and musical instruments of the Western Regions and regions beyond the Great Wall were continuously introduced to the Central Plains, and enriched and influenced the music there. As exchanges and fusion between ethnic groups deepened, the distribution pattern of living together and complementing each other increasingly solidified the relationship of interdependence and common development.

　　For more than 100 years since the Opium War in 1840, China suffered repeated invasion and bullying by Western powers. On the verge of national subjugation, the destiny of all ethnic groups in China was linked more closely than ever before. At the critical moment when China faced the danger of being carved up, and when the nation was on the verge of being subjugated, the Chinese people of all ethnic groups united as one, and put up the most arduous and bitter struggles against foreign invaders in order to save the country. In the 19th century, Qing troops, supported by the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang, wiped out the invading Yakoob Beg’s forces of Central Asia’s Kokand Khanate and defeated the British and Russian invaders’ plot to split China. Tibetan people and troops dealt a heavy blow to British invaders at the Battle of Mount Lungthur in 1888 and the Battle of Gyangtse in 1904. In the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression after Japan invaded China on September 18, 1931, the Chinese people of all ethnic groups shared bitter hatred of the enemy, and fought dauntlessly and unflinchingly. Many anti-Japanese forces, such as the Hui People’s Detachment and the Inner Mongolia’s Daqingshan Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Contingent, had ethnic minority people as their mainstay, made great contributions to China’s victory in that war. While resisting foreign invasion, the people of all ethnic groups fought unswervingly and succeeded in safeguarding national unity and territorial integrity against acts aimed at splitting the country, including plots for Tibet independence, setting up of East Turkestan in Xinjiang and the creation of a puppet state of Manchukuo in northeast China, hatched or engineered by ethnic separatists with the support of outside forces.

　　The anti-invasion and anti-separatist struggles in modern Chinese history further consolidated the inseparable relationship that had been formed in history between all ethnic groups in China. All ethnic groups were bound closer together by a common destiny of sharing good and bad times, and felt a stronger sense of responsibility as creators of Chinese history. The common cultural and psychological characteristics of all ethnic groups became increasingly mature and outstanding. Today, the Chinese nation has become a name with which all ethnic groups in China identify themselves and to which they give their allegiance.

II. Equality for All Ethnic Groups

　　Equality for ethnic groups is a cornerstone of China’s ethnic policy.

　　Equality for ethnic groups is a constitutional principle of China. The Constitution of the People’s Republic of China stipulates, “All ethnic groups in the People’s Republic of China are equal.” Based on this principle, the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Regional Ethnic Autonomy and other laws and regulations have clear and detailed stipulations about equality for ethnic groups.

　　In China, the definition of full equality for ethnic groups includes three aspects. First, regardless of their population size, length of history, area of residence, level of economic and social development, differences in spoken and written languages, religious beliefs, folkways and customs, every ethnic group enjoy equal political status. Second, all ethnic groups in China have not only political and legal equality, but also economic, cultural and social equality. Third, citizens of all ethnic groups are equal before the law, enjoying the same rights and performing the same duties.

　　Thanks to 60 years of unremitting efforts, China has basically established a legal system with Chinese characteristics to guarantee the equality for all its ethnic groups. The right to equality for all ethnic groups is ensured by law.

　　– Freedom and rights of the person are inviolable. The Constitution and laws of China stipulate that the state respects and safeguards human rights. Violation of the freedom of the person of citizens of any ethnic group is proscribed. Unlawful detention or deprivation or restriction of citizens’ freedom of the person by other means is prohibited. The personal dignity of citizens of all ethnic groups is inviolable, and their rights of reputation, personal name and portrait are protected by law. Insult, libel, false charge or frame-up directed against citizens by any means is prohibited. Before the founding of the People’s Republic of China, about a million people lived under the slave system in the Yi-populated areas of Sichuan and other places, and about four million people lived under the serf system in Tibet and Xishuangbanna in Yunnan. Most of the ethnic minority people in these areas were vassals of feudal lords, nobles, temples or slave-owners. They had no personal freedom and could be bought and sold, or given as gifts by their owners at will. In Tibet, for example, the Thirteen-Point Law and Sixteen-Point Law, which were formulated in the 17th century and remained in force for more than 300 years, divided the people strictly into three classes and nine grades. According to these laws, the value of the life of a top-grade person of the upper class was measured by the weight of his body in gold, while the value of the life of the lowest-grade person of the lower class, accounting for more than 95 percent of the total population of Tibet, was as cheap as a straw rope. In order to protect the human rights of the people in these areas, the new Chinese government introduced democratic reforms there in the 1950s to eradicate the slave and serf systems. Serfs and slaves under the old system won their personal freedom and became masters of new society.

　　– All people are equal before the law. Every Chinese citizen equally enjoys the rights and equally performs the duties prescribed in the Constitution and laws. The legitimate rights and interests of every citizen are under equal protection, and any act by any person that violates the law must be investigated in accordance with the law, with equal application of laws. No one may have the privilege of being above the law. In order to guarantee the right of ethnic minorities to use their native spoken and written languages in legal proceedings, Article 11 of the Civil Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China prescribes, “Citizens of all ethnic groups shall have the right to use their native spoken and written languages in civil proceedings. Where people of an ethnic minority live in a concentrated community or where a number of ethnic groups live together in one area, the people’s courts shall conduct hearings and issue legal documents in the spoken and written languages commonly used by the local ethnic groups. The people’s courts shall provide translations for any participant in the court proceedings who is not familiar with the spoken or written languages commonly used by the local ethnic groups.” The Criminal Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Administrative Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China and the Organic Law of the People’s Courts of the People’s Republic of China have similar stipulations.

　　– All ethnic groups participate in the administration of state affairs on an equal footing. In China, the ethnic-minority and Han peoples participate as equals in the administration of affairs of the state and local governments at all levels. Article 34 of the Constitution states, “All citizens of the People’s Republic of China who have reached the age of 18 have the right to vote and stand for election, regardless of ethnicity, race, sex, occupation, family background, religious belief, education, property status, or length of residence.” In addition, the laws provide other special guarantees for the rights of ethnic minorities to take part in the administration of state affairs. The National People’s Congress (NPC) and local people’s congresses are the organs through which the Chinese people of all ethnic groups exercise state power. In accordance with the Electoral Law of the NPC and Local People’s Congresses of the People’s Republic of China, where the total population of an ethnic minority in an area is less than 15 percent of the total local population, the number of people represented by each deputy of that ethnic minority may be appropriately smaller than the number of people represented by each of other deputies to the local people’s congress, but ethnic minorities with exceptionally small populations shall each have at least one deputy. In all NPCs, the proportions of deputies of ethnic minorities among the total number of deputies have been higher than the proportions of their populations in the nation’s total population in the corresponding periods. Of the 161 members of the Standing Committee of the current 11th NPC, 25 were from ethnic minorities, accounting for15.53 percent of the total.

　　– All ethnic groups enjoy freedom of religious belief on an equal footing. Freedom of religious belief in China means that every citizen has the freedom to believe in, or not to believe in, any religion. Article 36 of the Constitution stipulates, “Citizens of the People’s Republic of China enjoy freedom of religious belief. No state organ, public organization or individual may compel citizens to believe in, or not to believe in, any religion; nor may they discriminate against citizens who believe in, or do not believe in, any religion.” The State Council promulgated the Regulations on Religious Affairs to put this constitutional principle into practice. In China, all normal religious activities, including those of ethnic minorities, are protected by law. Venues for religious activities are found all over China and can basically satisfy the needs of religious believers. For example, Xinjiang has over 24,300 mosques and 28,000 Moslem clergymen. Tibet has over 1,700 venues for Tibetan-Buddhist activities and 46,000 monks and nuns living in temples. Traditional Buddhist activities are carried out there normally – from sutra studies and debates to tonsure and abhisheka (consecration) and other Buddhist practices, as well as the system of academic degrees and ordination through examination. Prayer flags, Mani piles and Tibetan-Buddhist believers are seen everywhere in Tibet. Besides, the Chinese government also helps religious groups build seminaries to train clergymen of ethnic minorities, subsidizes the repairs of religious venues in ethnic minority areas, and gives allowances to poor religious believers of ethnic minorities.

　　– All ethnic groups in China have the right to use and develop their own spoken and written languages. According to the Constitution, “All ethnic groups have the freedom to use and develop their own spoken and written languages.” In the political activities of the state, such as important meetings held by the NPC and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, documents in Mongolian, Tibetan, Uyghur, Kazak, Korean, Yi, Zhuang and other ethnic minority languages are available, and language interpretation between Han Chinese and these languages is provided. Besides Han Chinese, there are also inscriptions in Mongolian, Tibetan, Uyghur and Zhuang on China’s RMB notes. The organs of self-government in ethnic autonomous areas all use one or more languages of their areas in their official activities. Ethnic minority languages are widely used and developed in education, the press and publishing, radio and TV, film, the Internet, telecommunications and many other fields of social activities.

　　– All ethnic groups enjoy the freedom to preserve or change their own folkways and customs. It is clearly stipulated in the Constitution that all ethnic groups “have the right to preserve and reform their own folkways and customs.” The state accords full respect to and effectively guarantees the practice of folkways and customs of ethnic minorities in clothing, decorations, food, drink, lifestyle, weddings, festivals, ceremonies and funerals. For example, in order to ensure that Muslims have access to their special diet, regulations on the supply and management of halal foodstuffs have been drawn up in 16 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government, including Beijing, Jiangsu and Xinjiang, as well as some major cities such as Guangzhou, Kunming and Chengdu. Other areas have also made relevant specifications in their comprehensive regulations. The rights of ethnic minorities to celebrate their own festivals are also ensured. The laws and regulations of China prescribe that people’s governments in autonomous areas can enact their own holiday policies in accordance with the customs of relevant ethnic minorities and that ethnic minority workers can enjoy paid holidays when participating in their own major festivals and celebrations in the light of the relevant policies of the state. To prevent violations of the folkways and customs of ethnic minorities, China’s laws and regulations make clear requirements for organizations and employees in the fields of the press and publishing, literature and art, and academic research. The Criminal Law of China has the provision of “crime of infringement upon the folkways and customs of ethnic minorities,” and acts that infringe upon the folkways and customs of ethnic minorities will be investigated in accordance with the law.

　　In view of the gap in social and economic development between ethnic minorities and the Han ethnic group, citizens of ethnic minorities enjoy not only all the civil rights prescribed by the Constitution and laws, but also some special rights and interests in accordance with the law.

　　The state firmly opposes ethnic discrimination and oppression in any form. Any words or acts inciting hostility or discrimination against any ethnic group and sabotaging ethnic equality and unity are illegal. Any ethnic minority subjected to discrimination, oppression or insult has the right to complain to the judicial authority. China has joined the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and it works along with the international community in conscientiously performing the duties prescribed in the convention and making unremitting efforts to build a world without racial and ethnic discrimination.(To be continued)