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Minorities Policy in the People's Republic of China: Its Implications in Southeast Asia

Minorities Policy in the People's Republic of China: Its Implications in Southeast Asia 78 Minorities Policy in the People's Republic of China: Its Implications in Southeast Asia Siu-Mi Tam Department of Anthropology, University of Hawaii and David Y.H. Wu Institute of Culture and Communication, East-West Center, USA The Chinese Communist government's treatment of ethnic minorities is in many respects revolutionary, though a continuity from dynastic rule through the Nationalist regime can be seen in two aspects. Firstly, government position on minority affairs shifts along a continuum between two poles: assimilation and self-determination. Despite the ideologies put forth and the constitutional rights promised, what has underlain the choice along the continuum at any point in time is political opportunism. Secondly, the dialectic between rhetoric/ideology and praxis happens only in the realm of high level government policy-making, and does not involve indigenous participation, nor takes into consideration the minorities' perception of the policies vis-a-vis their own needs and aspirations. Important differences do exist between minority policies of the Communist government and its precedents. The Nationalist government inherited from its dynastic ancestor a consistent belief in assimilation based on a concept of Han cultural superiority, and its policies reflected efforts to bring the minority nationalities closer to a Chinese norm in all aspects of http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Asian Journal of Social Science Brill

Minorities Policy in the People's Republic of China: Its Implications in Southeast Asia

Tam, Siu-Mi; Wu, David Y.H.
Asian Journal of Social Science , Volume 16 (1): 78 – Jan 1, 1988
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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© 1988 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
1568-4849
eISSN
1568-5314
DOI
10.1163/080382488X00153
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

78 Minorities Policy in the People's Republic of China: Its Implications in Southeast Asia Siu-Mi Tam Department of Anthropology, University of Hawaii and David Y.H. Wu Institute of Culture and Communication, East-West Center, USA The Chinese Communist government's treatment of ethnic minorities is in many respects revolutionary, though a continuity from dynastic rule through the Nationalist regime can be seen in two aspects. Firstly, government position on minority affairs shifts along a continuum between two poles: assimilation and self-determination. Despite the ideologies put forth and the constitutional rights promised, what has underlain the choice along the continuum at any point in time is political opportunism. Secondly, the dialectic between rhetoric/ideology and praxis happens only in the realm of high level government policy-making, and does not involve indigenous participation, nor takes into consideration the minorities' perception of the policies vis-a-vis their own needs and aspirations. Important differences do exist between minority policies of the Communist government and its precedents. The Nationalist government inherited from its dynastic ancestor a consistent belief in assimilation based on a concept of Han cultural superiority, and its policies reflected efforts to bring the minority nationalities closer to a Chinese norm in all aspects of

Journal

Asian Journal of Social Science – Brill

Published: Jan 1, 1988

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