Describe and analyse the different minority groups in PRC and how they interact with the main 'Han" government

Résumé du document

In 1927 Sun Yatsen said that "The greatest force is common blood. The Chinese belong to the yellow race because they come from the blood stock of the yellow race. The blood of ancestors is transmitted by heredity down through the race, making blood kinship a powerful force". Today the question of national identity in China is an important problem, especially since the world is getting increasingly global. Although 92% of the Chinese population is 'Han', there are 8% that belong to one of the 55 officially recognized ethnic minorities. The government follows Staline's description of 1913 that defines an ethnic group as follows: it is "a historically constituted, stable community of people, formed on the basis of a common language, territory, economic life, and psychological make-up, manifested in a common culture". The ethnic group to which one belongs is written on his identity card in addition to his Chinese nationality ('minzu'). Some of them have historically always belonged to China while others have been integrated more recently.

Extraits

[...] Describe and analyse the different minority groups in PRC and how they interact with the main Han government Describe and analyse the different minority groups in PRC and how they interact with the main government. greatest force is common blood. The Chinese belong to the yellow race because they come from the blood stock of the yellow race. The blood of ancestors is transmitted by heredity down through the race, making blood kinship a powerful force”, said Sun Yatsen in 1927. [...]

[...] While doing my research I found various divergent reports, especially for Tibet, as lots of media coverage had been given to the issue. The origin of the articles was therefore very important. Some of the minorities in China play an important role in the international relations of China, especially Tibet. The reason for which Tibet is important for China's international relations is that the Dalai Lama is exiled in India since 1959 and is making the Tibetan cause known all around the world. This makes India's position towards China quite bad, and the situation has improved very little since then. [...]

[...] In Tibet, temples and monasteries have been destroyed, monks and nuns have been imprisoned for “shouting slogans, putting up posters, or distributing literature” Freedom of speech and religion is not permitted, and basic human rights are not respected. In Xinjiang, Amnesty International reported in 2001 that political prisoners had been executed. Moreover, the presence of Han people is increasing in minority areas, thus disabling the minorities of being proportionately represented. The preservation of culture and language of the minorities needs the efforts of the people in order to survive and not be drowned by the main Han language (mandarin). [...]

[...] In Tibet (predominantly in Lhasa), the number of tourists in 1999 was of 100,800; in 2000 there were 500,000 tourists. In Xinjian too, tourism has become an increasing business: the number of tourists has been multiplied by 6 in ten years, the “cash inflow from international tourists” has risen from US$ 12,120,000 in 1990 to US$ 85,820,000. In addition, the question of urbanisation is a significant issue. According to Mackerras there has been great improvement in the building of roads and railways since the 1990s, especially in Yunnan where “many ethnic areas previously very difficult indeed of access now have airports”. [...]

[...] Finally, the background of one of China's largest ethnic minority ought to be mentioned: the Manchu, originally nomads in Manchuria, ruled China from 1644 to 1912 (the Qing, last dynasty of emperors that ruled China) . Today they are more or less integrated and part of the main 'Han' population. Gladney writes that when the Qing dynasty stopped, the Manchu identity melted into the Han population: Manchu lost their identity with their legal privileges”. Ethnic minorities in China are mainly in rural areas. [...]