Is China doubling down on assimilation of its ethnic minorities?
- Fewer cadres with ethnic minority backgrounds made it on to the Communist Party’s new Central Committee, marking a 10-year low
- New head of influential party department stressed importance of learning Mandarin when in charge of Inner Mongolia
China’s ethnic minority cadres are finding less space at the party’s top
“Under Xi’s leadership, the party isn’t trying to eliminate ethnic minorities and reward Han people,” said Aaron Glasserman, a researcher with Princeton University’s Centre on Contemporary China.
“It’s trying to eliminate distinctions between them and foster what it believes will be a politically useful and unified national identity.
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“It is essentially encouraging [ethnic minorities] to speak Mandarin, embrace a shared Chinese national identity, and above all, support Xi and his regime.”
Glasserman said China’s ethnic policies had previously been known for respecting ethnic customs, languages and identities, but the “rapid rewriting of the rules may alienate people who have long supported the regime”.
China has 55 non-Han ethnic minorities whose 125 million members make up nearly 9 per cent of the country’s population – and 7 million of them are party members.
The number of ethnic minority cadres among the 205 full members of the new Central Committee, whose line-up was revealed at the congress, fell to nine – or 4.39 per cent – compared to 17 out of 204 – or 8.33 per cent – on the previous committee.
Susan McCarthy, a professor of political science at Providence College in the United States, said this demonstrated Xi’s preference for breaking intraparty norms.
“Maintaining a certain proportion of minorities is one more unwritten norm that Xi does not feel compelled to observe,” she said.
Bater, 67, a Mongolian cadre and vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Beijing’s top political advisory body, was appointed to the party’s Central Committee for a third term. Many members of the Mongolian ethnic minority use only one name.
Shen Yiqin, 63, the former party chief of Guizhou province and member of the Bai ethnic minority, and Kazakh cadre Nurlan Abilmazhinuly, 59, chairman of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region’s political consultative conference, were appointed for second terms.
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Two newcomers were 58-year-old Ren Zhenhe, a Tujia ethnic minority cadre who is governor of Gansu province, and Zhang Yupu, 60, a Hui cadre who governs the Ningxia Hui autonomous region. They were promoted without previously being alternate members of the Central Committee.
The other four – promoted from alternate membership – were Wang Lixia, 58, a member of the Mongolian ethnic minority and chairwoman of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region; Lan Tianli, 60, a Zhuang official who oversees the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region; Tibetan official Yan Jinhai, also 60, who governs the Tibet autonomous region; and 61-year-old Uygur Erkin Tuniyaz, the regional chief of Xinjiang.
Shan Wei, a senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s East Asian Institute, said the political significance of the UFWD had been elevated to an “unprecedentedly high” position since the party congress.
Before being appointed head of the department, Shi was president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and widely seen as an official on the way out due to his age.
“Shi’s appointment, from a half-retired position, shows the political significance of the UFWD reaching an unprecedented high,” Shan said. “This is the first time in decades [for the country] to see a Politburo member and a secretary of the central secretariat head the UFWD.
“This indicates Xi will introduce tougher adjustments to eliminate ethnic distinctions in the coming years as well as a reduction of preferential policies.”
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He did not back down but criticised local officials’ handling of the policy while reiterating the importance of Mandarin in forging a “strong sense of community for the Chinese nation” in Inner Mongolia.
Beijing is funding new research centres and school curricula to “forge a common sense of Chinese national identity”, according to the National Ethnic Affairs Commission.
“We may see continued erosion of preferential policies, especially those that encourage ethnocultural identities and differences,” McCarthy said. “[Certain] preferential policies may persist if they are believed to foster cultural assimilation.”
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Xi wants to strengthen national unity and foster a sense of the Chinese nation, according to Hongyi Lai, an associate professor at Nottingham University’s School of Politics and International Relations.
“The current policy will encourage minorities to regard themselves less of an ethnic group but more of a member of the new Chinese nation and a Chinese citizen,” he said.
“This seems to reflect Xi and his advisers’ reading of the creation of ‘an American citizen’ in the United States, where a sense of American identity is instilled among various ethnic and racial backgrounds.”
