ABSTRACT
Ethnic conflict and unrest are among the myriad social problems confronting China in the era of reform and opening. In recent years, the Chinese state has been more relaxed in south-western areas which are home to numerous minority groups, but Chinese leaders have warned of ethno-nationalist insurgencies in Tibet, Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia on China’s northern and western borders. While implementing ambitious affirmative action programmes, the Chinese state has not hesitated to deploy military and security forces to suppress minority resistance and unrest. The high international profile of the exiled Dalai Lama and the tension and military crackdown on Uyghurs in Xinjiang have propelled ethnic issues, including questions of national self-determination, on to the world stage. The worldwide Tibetan protests during the Beijing Olympic Games Torch relay in April-May 2008 illustrate the sensitivity of the issues. Whereas questions of ethno-nationalism and human rights now occupy a central place in China’s relations with neighboring countries, as well as Europe and America, fluctuating Western discourse on ethnicity and nationalism, and particularly on terror, does not augur well for minorities in China and other regions of ethnic conflict.
