A Hundred Years of Entanglement: The Chinese Party-State and Ethnic Minorities. (February 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chaudhuri, Debasish
• Other Names: Jacob Jabin T. guest-editor.; Subba Bhim B. guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: China report. Volume 58:Number 1(2022)
• Page Start: 75
• Page End: 89
• Publication Date: 2022-02
• Subjects: Chinese party-state -- ethno-regional institutions -- ethnic affairs -- minority policies -- interethnic relations; China -- History -- 1949- -- Periodicals; 951.005
• DOI: 10.1177/00094455221074254
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0009-4455

Abstract

The consciousness of non-Han nationalities in modern China evolved around a deep antipathy to the Qing, assimilationist ideas, and pretentious multi-ethnicism. The concepts of equality among nationalities and right to self-determination entered into the discourse of nation- and state-building in China under the influence of Lenin's revolutionary ideals and Stalin's views on 'the national question'. The Communist Party of China (CPC) has struggled to reconcile these concepts with its nationalist agenda since its inception in 1921. The CPC later innovated ethno-regional autonomy for minorities and developed corresponding institutions. This article argues that the Party's three main agendas of national unification and interethnic unity, developmental goals, and majoritarian nationalism have all complicated its ties with ethnic minorities, and evaluates how the present leadership of the 100-year-old Party has been managing the relationship.