Losing the Myth of Chinese Homogeneity

By Fae MacArthur Clark

Six people were sentenced to death this week for their roles in the riots in the Xinjiang province of China in July of this year. The six were convicted of murder as well as lesser crimes of "arson, leading mobs and causing 'economic loss'."

The riots had the effect of shattering widely held myths in both China and the West about Chinese social harmony and ethnic homogeneity respectively. The argument that China has grown so quickly because of the ethnic and cultural homogeneity of its population is not an uncommon one. However, it is highly inaccurate.

While the Chinese population is officially over 90% Han, the term Han itself encompasses a variety of differing ethnicities and cultural traditions. Furthermore, China has a history of ethnically and culturally motivated unrest particularly in Tibet and Xinjiang (the site of this year's riots). It is also worth noting that a large part of the 9% of the population considered non-Han are concentrated in areas of significant natural resources.

Even without the question of control of resources, any consideration of China's approach to Tibet and Taiwan (a non ethnically motivated example) shows a distinct aversion to seperatist movements which likely derives from fears that such demonstrations of unrest make China appear less powerful to its own citizens. For a government which gains legitimacy from its ability to grow the Chinese economy and raise China to a position of power in the world, any such unrest is highly troubling.

That said, ethnic unrest is certainly unlikely to cause the toppling of China any time in the near future. However, it does have two clear effects. Firstly, it forces us to reconsider the argument that China's success stems from some fictitious cultural unity and consider other ways of understanding its rise. Second, it undermines China's own ability to project an image of social harmony both at home and abroad which is essential to its ability to wield that power effectively.