We recently returned to the United States after teaching a class in China on global challenges with students from the University of Nebraska and Xi'an Jiaotong University.
PATRICE C. McMAHON and YUE ZOU | Posted: Monday, July 13, 2009 12:00 am
We recently returned to the United States after teaching a class in China on global challenges with students from the University of Nebraska and Xi'an Jiaotong University.
We are also familiar with ethnic politics in China, as an American academic who has written on ethnic conflict and taught in China the past three years and as a Chinese national who is at the University of Nebraska, ironically to study ethnic politics in China.
Although saddened by this week's events, we are not surprised. In the past 50 years, once isolated areas on China's periphery have been inundated by Han Chinese. In 1949, Hans represented just 6 percent of the population of Xinjiang province; today they are 40 percent. Simply put, Muslim Uighurs feel left out of the region's economic development and angered by attempts to marginalize their religion and culture. Since 2004, the central government has even started bilingual education programs in kindergarten, with the goal of trying to transform ethnic identities. For good reason, Uighurs are concerned about the erosion of their identity.
The situation in Xinjiang today is unfortunate, but it is a story that has been repeated throughout history in most parts of the world, including America. Growing, ambitious ethnic groups with access to money and political resources displace poor minority populations.
From the United States, with historical distance from our own past, it is easy to presume the worst, to see the policies of the Chinese government in simplistic terms and to suggest that ethnic problems can be solved only through national self determination.
Clearly, violence and heavy-handed government action are not the answer to improving the situation for the Uighurs or the Han Chinese who call this region home. It is equally clear that this resource-rich region is strategically located and central to economic growth.
Unlike some, whose voices seem to be inordinately amplified in the United States and the West, we do not see this situation in black and white terms, as an example of a despotic government eager to oppress its population that the United States must oppose.
Still, the Chinese government must recognize what are deep-seated and understandable ethnic tensions. These events are not the result of outside interference. As in Tibet, there will be no improvement until there is recognition of the problem and dialogue.
So many countries have been in a similar position, and we believe that soon the Chinese government will come to this realization and adopt the same kind of attitude that it has to other challenges, such as economic development and environmental abuse.
Case in point: China's economy is now the second largest in the world, and it is rapidly becoming a leader in green technology.
Our perspective on this week's events in Xinjiang is nuanced, as is the situation on the ground.
For the students who travelled with us this summer as part of our university's Confucius Institute and partnership with Xi'an Jiaotong University, this kind of news about China is not pleasant. We remember how warmly the Chinese welcomed us, how eager Chinese students were to engage in discussion, and how much cooperation penetrates every aspect of Chinese society, from eating to walking on the street.
Our hope, however naïve, is that the Chinese government will adopt the same openness, desire for understanding and spirit for cooperation that it showed us toward the Uighurs in Xinjiang. We trust that a long-term solution can be reached that allows both groups to enjoy the benefits of a "harmonious society."
We hope that Americans - before rushing to judgment - will take advantage of the wealth of available information to find out more about this complex situation "in a far away land about which we know so little" and on which so much of our future depends.
Patrice C. McMahon is an associate professor of political science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Yue Zou is a doctoral student in political science at UNL. The theme for UNL's upcoming EN Thompson Forum on World Issues will be "Encountering China."