ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the potential impact on China's minority nationalities of the current drive to modernize . In particular, it suggests that the benefits of modernization may be very different for the Han and the non-Han peoples of China. It concentrates on the Seventh FYP's Western Region because one notable feature of that region is its relatively high proportion of non-Han Chinese population. However, the various national minorities are not found exclusively in the West, and some of the provinces of the Western Region, such as Shaanxi and Sichuan, are traditionally Han territory .
