[lg policy] Beijing needs to rethink its failed ethnic policies

Sun Aug 16 16:40:58 UTC 2009

Beijing needs to rethink its failed ethnic policies

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/editorial/world-issues/2009/08/13/220249/Beijing-needs.htm

A year ago, just before the opening of the Beijing Olympics, ethnic
riots broke out in Xinjiang, threatening to rain on China's
international coming out party. Last month, shortly before the country
was going to celebrate the first anniversary of the spectacular Games,
ethnic unrest in China's far-flung Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region
got worse as disgruntled Uighurs took to the streets to vent their
anger on "six decades of repression" in an outbreak of violence that
killed 197 people, mostly ethnic Han Chinese — the country's dominant
race.

The violence was as alarming as it was ironic. One World, One Dream,
the Olympics' high-sounding slogan, turned out to be elusive even for
one country. It was a rude awakening to a regime which has taken pains
to achieve ethnic harmony among the country's 56 races including nine
million Uighurs in Xinjiang and two million abroad. Since the July 5th
riots in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, Beijing has been pointing an
accusing finger at an elderly woman named Rebiya Kadeer, an exiled
Uighur dissident residing in the United States, as the mastermind of
the riots. But Ms. Kadeer, president of the Washington-based World
Uighur Congress, has vigorously denied the allegations. "I did not
tell them to come out on that day or that particular time to protest,"
Ms. Kadeer told the Wall Street Journal in an interview last Friday.
"It was the six decade-long repression that has driven them to
protest." Whatever Ms. Kadeer's role in the worst anti-Chinese protest
in Xinjiang in recent memory, it has become clear that Beijing's
policies toward Xinjiang and other autonomous regions, including
Tibet, have failed miserably and needed an overhaul. The policies have
pleased neither the indigenous Uighurs nor the Han immigrants. On the
contrary, the policies have yielded the opposite effects and have
contributed to racial tensions.

To begin with, Beijing has not mistreated Xinjiang's Uighurs, China's
historical neighbors known in ancient times known as Tujue (突厥) that
live in China's vast northwest along the old Silk Route to Europe.
Since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949, Mao Zedong had
tried to appease Uighurs by making Xinjiang province an autonomous
region and providing them preferential treatments and benefits
unavailable to Han immigrants who flocked to the region in droves
under Mao's "Go West" political call. The newcomers complained that
they were in fact discriminated against, reversely, by such policies
favoring Uighurs who showed no gratitude for such special favors as
tax benefits, leniency in criminal offenses, relaxed quotas in
government jobs and the one-child planned parenthood. But Ms. Kadeer
and many of her same-minded compatriots viewed these as "fake
autonomy" and complained loudly about "six decades of repression."
What's wrong? Are the Uighurs so ungrateful as to bite the hand
feeding them, or they do have a legitimate grievance? While there are
no simple answers to the complex question, one thing is certain.
Beijing's ethnic policies did not work the way they were intended
to.The problem with Beijing's current policies arises from the fact
they are neither based on multiculturalism nor uniculturalism. They
were aimed to have both, but failed to have either.

A multicultural ethnic policy strives to preserve the cultural
heritage of all ethnicities, a policy that produces something like a
salad bowl or crazy quilt, rich and colorful. An example can be found
in Canada's Quebec province, which is a "distinct society" within
Canada, and which exercises true autonomy. Quebec's legislature is
called "National Assembly" instead of provincial parliament. It has
the power to enact its own laws in a wide range of areas including
language, culture, economy and immigration. Quebecers speak French,
not English, though both are the official languages of Canada.

On the other hand, unicultural policy strives to preserve the nation's
mainstream culture, making other cultures secondary. The United States
is an example of this "melting pot" ethnic policy, under which various
cultures of the minorities are "melted" into one. Uber alles, you are
American, not Chinese or Mexican, or African, who are equal before the
law. Steven Chu or Sonia Sotomayor can be proud of his or her ethnic
heritage, but forget about making Chinese or Mexican an official
language of the United States. You are free to speak or teach your own
language, or to glorify your native culture, but there is only one
official language. Beijing's ethnic policies are neither of the two.
No wonder that Ms. Kadeer dismissed the autonomy for Uighurs as
"fake." One of the sparks setting off the Urumqi riots was the alleged
"deportation" of young Uighur men and women to eastern China to work
in factories to alleviate poverty. And the Shaoguan incident in June,
caused by a rumor that Uighur workers at a toy factory in Shaoguan in
Guangdong raped Chinese women, provok an angry mob to kill two Uighur
workers. That triggered the Urumqi protests. Another spark was the
language issue. Ms. Kadeer complained about "new pressure to use
Chinese rather than the Uighur language," according to the WSJ
interview. "Even during the Mao years, at least the Uighur people
spoke their own language. Today, the government is flooding the region
with Chinese immigrants, making the Uighurs a minority in their own
homeland." Some of the complaints are justified, if Beijing is indeed
pursuing a policy aimed at preserving the Uighurs' cultural identity
and meaningful self rule. The real significance of autonomy lies in
the substance, not name.

Or, if Beijing's policy is cultural assimilation, after the "melting
pot" pattern of the United States, then every ethnic group within
China's big family should be treated equally, without special favors
and privileges. The examples of Canada and the United States should
inspire Beijing to rethink its ethnic policies.

http://intellibriefs.blogspot.com/2009/08/beijing-needs-to-rethink-its-failed.html

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