(TibetanReview.net, Feb03’24) – Sounding the urgency to realise President Xi Jinping’s vision of “forging a sense of community of the Chinese nation,” a top policy office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has pledged to tighten control of ethnic minority-related discussions on the internet and in print. The aim is to stamp out what the office calls ideological risks related to the minorities especially in Xinjiang and Tibet, reported the scmp.com Feb 2, citing the Communist Party’s theoretical journal Qiushi on Feb 1.
The article, written under the byline of the Communist Party leadership group at the National Ethnic Affairs Commission, the office responsible for drafting and implementing laws regarding China’s policies towards its ethnic minority groups, has called for greater oversight of public opinion and discussion around ethnic minority groups and related issues online.
The article is stated to refer to “risks” arising from ethnic minority communities and to call for what is called “the responsibility mechanism of ideology work” to be implemented.
“[We must] resolutely fend off the infiltration of the ‘three forces’,” referring to terrorism, separatism and religious extremism. “[We must] further regulate publication related to ethnic minority groups,” the article is quoted as saying.
The commission has called for greater supervision, for officials to “promptly and appropriately” address grievances involving issues related to ethnic minority groups, and to “absolutely uphold the bottom line of preventing regional and systemic risks in the ethnic regions”.
In addition to a call for greater control, the article is stated to endorse more resources being put into art – such as in publications, on stage and visual arts – which could help ethnic minority groups identify more deeply with Chinese culture.
“[We] should aim to make the internet the biggest contributor to strengthening the awareness of the community of the Chinese nation,” it is quoted as saying.
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The remarks are seen to have come as Beijing stresses the need to realise President Xi’s vision of “forging a sense of community of the Chinese nation”, which advocates for greater integration of ethnic minority groups and putting the interests of the Chinese nation first.
The report notes that grievances relating to ethnic minority groups have long been a major source of tension in Chinese society, particularly in Xinjiang and Tibet.
While Beijing has largely tamped down the intensity of those tensions in recent years by tightening its grip on the regions’ security and culture policies, its measures have attracted massive criticisms for human rights abuses, the report said.
It bear noting that major issues highlighted in these criticisms have included re-education camps and forced labour incarceration of around a million mostly Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang and the forced enrolment of around a million Tibetan children in forced colonial schools designed to Sinicize them.
Given these foreign criticisms, the article in Qiushi has said China’s external communication around its ethnic minority groups was not effective, claiming Beijing “has a valid point but not able to effectively communicate it”.
Without naming any countries, it has said this was because of some countries’ “hegemonic dominance”.
The article has noted that in recent times Beijing had stepped up efforts in the hope that its global communication would better align with its narrative.
The report says that one example of this is Beijing’s dramatically increased use since last year of “Xizang” rather than “Tibet” in its English articles in Chinese state media. It sees the term “Tibet” as being linked in international discussion to the region’s spiritual leader-in-exile, the Dalai Lama.