Ethnic regional autonomy

“ Over the past 50 years, under the firm leadership of the CPC and the central government, great changes have taken place in Tibet through implementing regional ethnic autonomy, achieving a historical leapfrog from a backward, impoverished, and isolated society into one which is now progressing, prospering, and open. ”

“ In this sense, a government that pursues the cultural assimilation of minorities is a “cultural nation”; cultural unity is seen as the foundation for a strong nation-state ( [90] , p. 561) . The differences between the cultural and ethnic nation model is that “cultural nations” encourage assimilation whereas “ethnic nations” do not, because the latter concept demarcates culture by ancestry and “race”, which cannot be gained or learned by human effort. ”

“ However, some scholars have attacked the narrow logic that ethnic nations are simply “ethnic” in the sense of being emotionally-charged and exclusive entities based only on dominant ethno-cultural groups. ”

“ The ethnic diversity of the Nation is not yet recognized and valued as one of the greatest riches and the indigenous peoples continue to be subject to strong racial, ethnic and cultural discrimination which deprives them of the enjoyment of their basic human rights. ”

“ Measures for immediate adoption should include the incorporation of more members of the indigenous population into the public service and Government. This would not only benefit the government but would give other institutions and sectors of society an example of the State’s political will to adapt to the nation’s multi-ethnic, multicultural and multilingual characteristics. ”

“ National unity is far more apt than race unity to be a fact to reckon with; until indeed we come to race differences as fundamental as those which divide from one another the half-dozen great ethnic divisions of mankind, when they become so important that differences of nationality, speech, and creed sink into littleness.
An ethnological map of Europe in which the peoples were divided according to their physical and racial characteristics, such as stature, coloration, and shape of head, would bear no resemblance whatever to a map giving the political divisions, the nationalities, of Europe ”

“ They form endless tribal, or at least social, groups, who keep somewhat aloof from their proto-Aryan conquerors, so that, in the east especially, the [Pg 543] ethnic fusion is far from complete, the various sections of the community being still rather juxtaposed than fused in a single nationality. ”

“ Considering that a pluralist and genuinely democratic society should not only respect the ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious identity of each person belonging to a national minority, but also create appropriate conditions enabling them to express, preserve and develop this identity ”

“ Thus we shall witness, the four primitive divisions of mankind, the Aryan, rehabilitated; the Jew or Semitic, with renewed wisdom; the Ethiopian, or Hamitic, still a distinct race, and the Turanian, or Chinese, working together to accomplish a unity of nations, one in thought and high purpose. Everything is apparently working in that direction, and there is no single nation, or union of nations of diverse civilization that will be able to stay the movement. ”

“ Under this institutional framework, communication and exchanges between ethnic groups, and socialist ethnic relations characterized by equality, unity, mutual assistance and harmony, have expanded. Ethnic unity has been reinforced, and a strong sense of national identity has been forged. ”

“ The strengthening of a nation and, indeed, that of amalgamating the various sub-groups in African nations contribute to make that nation viable and strong. When a nation is strong, the interests of the ethnic groups within it are protected. This is a lesson that we must learn in Africa, for there are those forces of evil which wish greater dissension in the African ranks. But we know our interest lie in consolidating the national interest of each African country and in consolidating the interests of African countries on a continental basis. ”

“ With the migration of tribes, their wars, their colonies, their conquests and alliances, which, if we may judge from their effects, must have been much more violent in the ethnic, than even in the political, period of history, it is impossible to imagine that race and language should continue to run parallel. ”

“ But geo-politics must not be confused with ethnic politics; and if considerable independent white groups should arise in Asia or Africa it is probable that they would be among the foremost in resenting European domination. Nor is it likely that the yellow and black races will ever find common ground of union among themselves and against the whites, just as it is unlikely that the white peoples will always remain disunited in the face of a real peril. ”

“ As we pass northwards along the African continent, over a welter of tribal peoples, we need merely note the cry for national recognition which ascends to us from the lower valley of the Nile. The descendants of the ancient Egyptians, mixed with a conglomeration of racial stocks drawn from Africa, Asia, and Europe, are agitating for 'national' independence and isolation. It would take us too far afield to consider the national and racial problems of the 300 millions of diverse peoples of India who are linked together by only one bond—the government extended to them by the British Empire. ”