Ellen Liu
China Tibet Online
October 16, 2014
Hu Yan, professor of Research Institute of Ethnic and Religious Theories of the Party School and senior researcher on the Tibetan history expressed his views on China’s ethnic work in a recent interview by the China Tibet Online after the the Sixth Conference on China’s Ethnic Work of the CPC Central Committee held on Sept.28.
Hu said, contact, interaction and integration between different ethnic groups does not only refer to the material and personnel exchanges and intermarriage, but also the exchanges of ideas and harmonious relations beteween different ethnic groups as well as the recognition toward the cultural identity of other ethnic groups.
In a statement issed after the ethnic conference, the Chinese leader pointed out “a favorable social environment should be created for the contact, interaction and integration between China’s ethnic groups. Differences between ethnic groups should be respected and variety should be retained. All ethnic groups in the family of the Chinese nation should help each other as brothers and sisters, love their motherland and share the concept of the Chinese history and ethnic affairs. This is the fourth time that the concept of “contact, integration and integration” was put forward following the Fifth Conference on the Work of Tibet held in 2010 and the First and Second Conference on the Work of Xinjiang held in 2010 and 2014 respectively.
“China is a multi-ethnic country since ancient times. Boasting a history of 5,000 years, people of different ethnic groups have migrated，interacted and influenced each other，and developed together,” Hu Yan said. “Contacts and interaction is the law of the advancement of history, by which different countries and nations can understand each other better and develop faster, and the society will progress more rapidly.”
Yu Zhengsheng, chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference said at the conference in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of China’s policy of aiding Tibet in August this year said that the “pairing system” is aimed to promote contacts, integration and integration between China’s ethnic Han and minorities.
As a member of the second batch of the aid-Tibet cadres, Hu Yan said, “The 20 years of efforts in aiding Tibet has brought about dramatic changes to Tibet with the rich resources and advanced technology offered from other parts of China. And the more important change is that the project has enabled the ethnic Han and Tibetans to understand each other better, respect each other’s culture and enhance affinity between each other. The cadres of various ethnic groups in Tibet have felt the warmth of the Chinese family while the aid-Tibet cadres have not only contributed to the ethnic unity but also increased their sense of community of the Chinese nation.
In terms of the recognition of the cultural identity metioned in the statement of the conference on China’s ethnic work, Hu Yan said that integration is not merely economic exchanges, nor intermarriage between different ethnic groups, but the harmonious relationship between them as well as the recognition and sense of pride toward the culture of the whole Chinese nation. And it is the ideological foundation of ethnic unity and harmony as well as the spirit for the realization of the Chinese nation’s great rejuvenation.
Hu also stressed that cultural integration does not mean to destruct an ethnic group, nor to force it to succumb to another culture. Instead, it encourages each ethnic group to respect anther ones, appreciate their strong points, accommodate their weak points, learn from and help others in order to enhance the affinity between different ethnic groups and the sense of the Chinese nation. “This is true ethnic unity.”
