The sign outside Beijing’s famous attraction used to draw a lot of attention from tourists: it read “Racist Park.”
Just before the Olympics last year, the authorities realised that their English translation might be a bit problematic, so they changed it to “Chinese Ethnic Culture Park.” The theme park is supposed to showcase the cultural diversity of the People’s Republic, but some of the Uighurs, Tibetans and 54 other ethnic minorities in China might think the original wording revealed some truth about the attitude of the authorities.
The current violence in Urumqi, where first Uighurs attacked Han Chinese and today Han have attacked Uighurs, gives the lie to the government’s vision of a “harmonious society” where everyone lives together in peace.
China and the Chinese government are dominated by Han Chinese, who make up 90 per cent of the country’s 1.3 billion people. It would be wrong to suggest that all non-Han in China are discontent, yet many Muslim Uighurs and Buddhist Tibetans I have met do feel that the Chinese state discrimminates against them because of their ethnicity and religion.
Convinced, it seems, by its own propaganda, the Chinese government always seems surprised when these feelings come to the fore.
During the Olympics, the government was annoyed when foreign reporters pointed out that the 56 child dancers in their colourful costumes at the opening ceremony were not actually members of ethnic minorities, but Han children dressed up.
The authorities did not dare let real ethnic minorities participate for fear one would use the occasion to protest.
The riots in Urumqi are a much more serious manifestation of the problem. Most Chinese, irrespective of their ethnic group, have benefited from the huge economic progress China has made in the last 30 years. But the Uighurs and Tibetans want something else. Even those who do not demand a separate state, want more autonomy, and freedom to worship as they think fit not as the government instructs. They demand a recognition of their separate identity and history.
But the Chinese government refuses to acknowledge such demands, seeing any desire for ethnic identity on Uighur or Tibetan terms as a threat to the unity of the Chinese state. They repeat that economic progress is the answer. As far as they’re concerned, all that cultural stuff is just singing and dancing, the kind of activity you showcase in a theme park.