A plan announced yesterday will fund the economic development of ethnic minorities, often among the nations poorest peoples. But there will also be a system of social control of minorities to prevent protests. Particular attention is paid to the Uyghurs of Xinjiang and Tibet.

Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The central government has issued a development programme for  to improve conditions for 55 minorities. They are among the nations poorest social groups, and often their discontent has exploded into violent street protest.  But analysts maintain that Beijing merely wants to install greater control mechanisms.  

 

This is the first time the government has issued 11th five-year development programme for its 55 minorities separately from the nation's overall five-year plan. The programme sets goals to improve infrastructure and the environment, support the development of specialised economies, relieve poverty, create better welfare conditions and make ethnic relations "more harmonious".

 

Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Danzhu Angben, a deputy director of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, said the 22 small minorities with populations below 100,000, would receive 112 million Yuan from the Ministry of Finance every year to relieve poverty for a total population of 630,000. He insisted that “in China the ethnic groups are equal in status and live in harmony.  There is no discrimination”.  

 

The rapid economic development of the country has not stopped poverty from spreading in rural areas where a lack of social services and grave pollution has worsened it’s effects.  Now Beijing is claiming that social unrest, which has increased over recent years transforming itself into violent street protests,  is due to the lack of economic development in some areas. But experts observe that the protests are generally in reaction to violations of human rights which happen in the same areas were the population is from the Han ethnic group.  Such as in Yunnan where protests by the ethnic minority were against the building of a dam.  

 

 

Moreover Beijing has long favoured the migration of the Han (which constitutes over 90% of the population) to areas of different traditional and cultural ethnic origins, for example Tibet and Xinjiang, often promoting the Han in business and to positions of authority and even banning the use of local languages.  To stave off  inevitable protests the government, while it promises economic relief for these areas, now says that by 2010 it will create a specific control system for these minorities, to “avoid separatist activities and maintain national stability”. Meanwhile for the first time Beijing it will “increase” the number of bilingual  teachers in the schools, who will speak both mandarin as well as the local language.  

 

China claims that Xinjiang represents a possible source of extremist violence as it is home to over 8 million Islamic Uyghurs who are linguistically and traditionally linked to central Asia rather than the rest of the country.  Beijing also claims that it fears secession attempts by Tibet, under the guidance of the exiled Dalai Lama, and punishes those who even carry his photo.  

 

• China
• Beijing
• ethnic
• minorities
• Dalai
• Lama
• Uyghurs
• Han
• oppression