To what extent have China's attempt to create a national identity been at the

expense of minority interest?

Even though they are relatively small in population, ethnic minorities are
politically significant to China's national unity and security. While it is true
that CCP's attempt to create a national identity has been focused largely on
the Han majority, there are certain methods CCP adopts that are hurting
minority rights. The essay seeks to examine the effects of CCP's ethnic
policies, whether they have been damaging minority interest or not. No doubt
in its bid to create a national identity, the inflow of Han culture into the
minority regions have resulted in resentments among certain minority
groups, these ethnic policies have dramatically raise the economic status of
ethnic minorities and have built pathways for the minorities to transit into the
globalized world. Therefore, I strongly take the stand that CCP's attempt to
create a national identity has not been at the expense of minority interest.
The CCP government believes that pluralism rather than the policy of
assimilation would enhance minority loyalty to a common identity. Minority
interests are therefore unaffected. Under the law, all national minorities are
given the freedom to develop their own dialects and languages, to preserve or
reform their traditions, customs and religious beliefs. The state has also
devoted considerable amount of resources to document and rescue heritages of
ethnic minorities. From 1956 to 1964, the state dispatched 16 survey teams of
about 1OOOmembers to undertake the survey of minority culture, society and
history in China. Again in 1980s, the government kickstarted a massive
program that is still going on strong today to document and collect folk
literature including stories, folk songs, folk music, musical instruments, folk
dance, and idioms of ethnic minorities. These efforts cover cultural and
historical sites, relics, books, medicine and sports.
Minority interests are not compromised because Beijing's attempts to pursue
national unity have been based on strong affirmative actions for the Han races.
To create national identity, CCP has been trying to instill a common set of
values and culture for the Han majority. The revival of Confucianism has
reinforced the importance of values like filial piety and respect for social
hierarchy among the Han people. Official recognition of major festivals like
the Chinese New Year and Mooncake Festival has also forged a common
culture for the large Han people. Understanding that there are dissimilarities in
culture between different ethnicities, the Beijing government has not forced
the minorities groups to acknowledge these festivals or values and celebrate
them like the Hans do. Therefore, it cannot be said that CCP's attempt to
create a national identity has been at the expense of minority interests.
Beijing is also shrewd to recognize that it is only through narrowing regional
disparity that national unity can be achieved. Hence, minority socio-economic
interests are promoted. Since the 1980s, the state has adopted a set of
economic policies such as tax exemption and reduction to aid the reform and
economic development of autonomous regions and areas. Taxes on
agriculture, manufacturing, and commerce including cross border trade in
ethnic areas are much lower than those in the regions dominated by the Han.
In their first three years of operation, ethnic enterprises in these areas are
exempted

from tax. The central government has also set up linkages between
autonomous areas and developed provinces so that the latter can help the
former to build up and they can trade. For example, Inner Mongolia is tied to
Beijing, Gansu to Tianjin, Yunnan to Shanghai, Guangxi to Guangdong,
Shaanxi to Jiangsu, Sichuan to Zhejiang, Xinjiang to Shandong, and Tibet to the
rest of the country.
In fact, most minorities understand that their interests can only be secured if
they are integral to the Chinese nation. Minority communities that live the in
urban areas of China lead the same lifestyles as the Han Chinese. Most
minorities group, if not all, have already picked up Putonghua as a common
language to converse with the Han. Even within the inland provinces, most
minority parents have sent their children to Mandarin schools are better future
prospects. These people prosper with the Hans and possess the same drive to
attain material successes. Poorer communities like the Zhuangs are grateful for
the educational opportunities and cultural protection offered by the government.
It is only a few ethnic minority groups like the Tibetans and the Uyghurs that
are still intransigent and staunchly attached to their traditions.
Nevertheless, harsh security measures adopted by CCP to deter regional
separatism so as to promote national unity have affected the interest of some
minorities. Whenever there is a protest against the CCP government in Tibet
or Xinjiang, they would send in great number of people armed people to
clamp down on the region. In their attempt to eradicate the problem, CCP has
even sent Dalai Lama, the religious leader of Tibetans, into exile, hoping that
without a leader, tensions with the region would pacify. From 1957-1976,
CCP even revoked the autonomous status of all minority regions, reverting
them back to be ruled by Beijing. Without autonomous status, minority
groups could not set up their own language schools. Receiving no aid or
subsidies from the coastal regions, the minorities' attempt to preserve their
culture was crippled by CCP.
The promotion of Han dominated culture to effect greater national unity
has compromised minority interests. Many minorities have complained that the
promotion of "putonghua" which has pervaded their regions has eroded their
traditional culture. As many minorities pick up Mandarin so that they can
converse and trade with or work for the Hans, many have forgotten how to
speak their minority mother tongue and dialects, thereby disintegrating their
cultural root. The establishment of railroads and factories has also altered the
geographical look of the regions, making them less traditional-looking.
Moreover, sometimes these construction activities are carried out at the
expense of the natural habitat of the natives. When their homes are being
replaced by modem architecture, they are forced to move to other parts of the
region.
Beijing's encouragement of Han migration to improve political stability and
social integration in the minority province has hurt the interests of the latter.
Under China's Go West policy, when millions of Hans go over into the
minority areas, the proportion of minority becomes even smaller. This raises
suspicion and fears that they might be dominated by the Hans even within
their own land. Moreover, when the Hans move over to set up businesses and
factories, it causes economic disparity within the minority regions to worsen
as the less-abled and not-so-well-educated minorities are not able get jobs.
This has also constructed an image that minorities are being discriminated
even in their own land, therefore creating munch unhappiness. Furthermore,
due to the ubiquitous display of Han wealthier status, many minorities have
considered the Hans to be condescending "foreign" occupants of their lands.

To conclude, while Beijing has been careful to promote national unity in a

way that would respect the cultural distinctiveness and elevate the economic
status of its minority nationalities, CCP's more security oriented policies have
inevitably undermined the interests of some minority groups, offending their
cultural sensitivities as many abhor the thought of being overwhelmed by a
Han dominated Chinese identity and economy. Be that as it may, such
unhappiness is primarily created by the long-standing conflict between CCP's
need to protect the sovereignty of the country, and the minorities' desire to
gain independence, not by attempts to create a national identity. For a national
identity to be created, there are vested interests for the government to look
after the needs of every group of people in the country so that they will feel
like home. Therefore, I do not think that China's attempt to create a national
identity have been at the expense of minority groups.