Beijing pledges financial aid to ethnic minorities
Beijing (AsiaNews/SCMP) In a white paper released yesterday, China's central government said it will provide greater financial aid to the country's ethnic minorities. I also pledged to maintain their existing self-governing institutions.
In addition to the majority Han group, China has in fact 55 ethnic minorities who represent 8.4 per cent of its total population.
These groups are divided in 155 ethnic autonomous areas, covering 64 percent of the country's entire territory141 of them living in areas classified as impoverished regions.
Wu Shimin, deputy director of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, said poverty in these regions is caused by unfavourable location and historical circumstances which have penalised them.
They have also been bypassed by foreign investors.
Mr Wu said interethnic relations between Han Chinese and minorities have always been good despite some minor incidents. Economic deprivation explains remonstrations by minorities who demand greater government involvement in improving their economic situation.
According to him, secessionist ideas were imported during the 19th century Opium War. "Separatism is closely related to imperialism and is backed by foreign powers," Mr Wu said.
In the case of Tibet, "the government has pursed a policy that is clear and consistent. When the Dalai Lama stops to promote Tibet's independence and accepts that Tibet and Taiwan are Chinese, the doors to negotiations will be open," he stated.
The deputy director of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission refused to say whether the Taiwan anti-secession law, that the People's National Congress is likely to adopt in the near future, will have any impact on ethnic minorities.
He also did not speak about the status of the 30 to 40,000 Macanese (people of mixed Chinese and Portuguese ancestry from the former Portuguese colony of Macau), who demand recognition as a distinct minority, except to say that "all nationalities are equal before the law."
Since 2000, Beijing has been investing heavily in the poor, westernmost peripheral regions of the country in order to accelerate their development.
In fact, it is here that the poorest 22 ethnic groups are found. Together, they represent 630,000 people.
Over the past five years, 60 important projects in farming, education, culture and the environment have been launched in western China, with a total projected investment of 850 billion yuan. However, only 263 million have been spent so far.
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