Abstract
Due to the great gap between the official “nation” (minzu 民族) discourse-policy goals of the Chinese government and the social realities of ethnic relations in China, it is necessary for the leadership, academics, and the public in China to review the historical process involved in creating the “nationality” discourse dynamics of the past century. Chinese need to understand the nature of “nation” as it appears in international discourse, while still retaining a connection to the inherited Chinese cultural traditions which have assisted in managing group relations for thousand years. Based on international experience and historical lessons, China should eventually reconstruct its own “nation” (minzu) discourse system, thereby developing a new system and policies to manage ethnic relations based on a new theoretical framework. One emphasis in this transition should be citizenship with equal rights for every citizen regardless ethnic background. Another emphasis should be the rule of the law in dealing with the “nation/ethnicity” issues in China. In order to transfer to a civic society, the “political colors” that favor ‘nation’ (minzu) in relation to status, prestige, advantages in the judiciary system or distribution of welfare benefits should be weakened. Based on the suggested “de-politicization” of the 56 “nationalities” (minzu) of China, the author suggests the employment of national laws to deal equitably with the events and differences between the various “nationality” (minzu) groups instead of the preferential policies currently employed in favor of certain minority groups.
Highlights
Due to the great gap between the official “nation” discourse-policy goals of the Chinese government and the social realities of ethnic relations in China, it is necessary for the leadership, academics, and the public in China to review the historical process involved in creating the “nationality” discourse dynamics of the past century
I feel that the term “ethnic groups” as used in the US is a better term to call Mongols, Tibetans, Manchu and other minority groups in China
In the face of the serious situation of maintaining social stability in western China, we should recall what the CCP and the the PRC government accomplished with ethnic minority people in the 1950s, and what was the basic position and attitude of cadres and the soldiers toward common Tibetans, Uyghurs, Mongolians, and other minority groups in the southwest
Summary
Due to the great gap between the official “nation” (minzu 民族) discourse-policy goals of the Chinese government and the social realities of ethnic relations in China, it is necessary for the leadership, academics, and the public in China to review the historical process involved in creating the “nationality” discourse dynamics of the past century. In the subsequent process of system reform and development of market economy, the people in minority areas began to interpret all kinds of social problems, economic competitions and cultural conflicts from the perspective of “the conflicts of nationality/minzu interest.” This fundamental transformation of the basic system of the identity ideology in China changed the political tone and the emotional aspect of the daily contacts and communications between members of different ethnic/minzu groups.
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