ABSTRACT
There is a distinct ambivalence with regard to how China manages cultural difference. This in part reflects the long-standing subjugation of the majority Han ethnic group by both internal and external foes. At the same time, China is attracted to the technological prowess of foreigners, especially those in the West, creating an ongoing conundrum for China. It places a high premium on having a homogeneous and harmonious Chinese cultural space, a stance that is antithetical to the boundary testing and disruptions that are a necessary outcome of the innovation it seeks to develop by being attentive to Western technological culture. Within China, the dominant Han group is pursuing a policy of ronghe, with the aim of assimilating all ethnic groups into Han culture. Foreigners, including Africana workers, are admitted temporarily to exploit their innovative skills but, for the most part, are denied permanent residency or citizenship. These policies mean that China struggles with not only its own ethnic diversity, but also with Blackness. Africana persons for the most part appear to accept this tradeoff where there is access to self-making in terms of acquiring and deploying technical prowess, but there is a rejection of the ethnic and other forms of social difference that they represent.
