Government Policy Toward Minorities Depends on Sending Han Cadre to Minority Areas

May 23, 2005

Among the Communist Party and central Chinese government's most important tools for promoting its minority policy is a program called "Assist Tibet, Xinjiang, and Border Areas", (see below for an English translation), according to the State Ethnic Affairs Commission Web site. This program sends Han cadres and technical experts to the border minority areas for contracts ranging from three to eight years. The first goal of the program is to foil "domestic and foreign forces'...vain attempts to stir up ethnic separatism and to threaten our country's social stability, ethnic harmony, and national unity." The Han cadre also "help liberate the thinking" of minorities to foster economic and socialist construction, and heighten cadres' awareness of minority issues. The Web site says that the central authorities have trained "tens of thousands" of cadres for the border areas since 1982.

Academics, NGOs, and advocacy groups have long claimed that the Chinese government uses cadre programs in minority areas to promote Communist Party ideology and control, and not merely to improve social, educational, economic, and technical services.

 


 

The Important Meaning of the Assist Tibet, Xinjiang, and Border Areas Program

For more than fifty years, the cadres sent to support Tibet, Xinjiang, and the border areas have established close relationships and deep feelings for people from each of the local minorities. Not only have they been immensely useful in assisting the minorities in democratic reform and socialist construction and in defending the unity of the motherland, but they have made a brilliant contribution to training minority cadres and technical personnel.

First, the selected cadre and experts sent to assist Tibet, Xinjiang, and the border areas have increased minority unity and safeguarded social stability and national unity. Since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, domestic and foreign hostile forces have never loosened efforts to infiltrate the country to carry out destructive and subversive activities. Moreover, they often see an opening among the border minorities and use all sorts of trickery in vain attempts to stir up ethnic separatism and to threaten our country's social stability, ethnic harmony, and national unity. Setting out to defend national unity and unity among the minorities, over the last fifty years the party and state has sent a large group of selected cadres with high quality political training and professional expertise to Tibet, Xinjiang, and the border areas to work. This group of cadres sent to support Tibet, Xinjiang, and the border areas has worked together with the local cadres and masses of each of the minorities in unified cooperation and common struggle to assure that minorities are able ceaselessly to make their rightful contribution to strengthening and developing the preservation of social stability, national unity, and socialism.

Secondly, the select cadres and technical experts sent to Tibet, Xinjiang, and the border areas to work are accelerating reform and development in the minority areas. The selected cadres and technical experts sent to those areas are an important component in implementing the Central Communist Party and the National State Council's policy to promote economic and socialist development in minority territories. Practice has proven this policy is helpful in linking [these areas] to the Central Organizations and more developed areas; is helpful in leading the local cadres and masses in liberating their thinking and developing new ideas, and in drawing lessons from the good experiences and methods of more progressive areas; is helpful in attracting investment, technical expertise, and development programs for opening and developing their natural resources; and helpful in accelerating all reforms and development in minority areas.

Third, sending cadres to Tibet, Xinjiang, and the border areas helps deepen reform of the cadre system by improving the quality of cadres. According to statistics, since 1982 the party and state have trained tens of thousands of cadres for Tibet, Xinjiang, and border areas. Thousands of enginners and technicians, experts and scholars have been sent for just short terms in Tibet and Xinjiang alone or to give lectures. According to their personal testimonials: first both sides have liberated their thinking and developed new ideas on the overall situation, second the cadres' thinking has been transformed and they have increased their awareness of serving the border minorities, third the program has increased the economic integration of regions and promoted economic construction and development, and fourth [the program] has made a clear contribution to increasing links between the areas with the central government and more progressive areas, opening up the areas to attract investment, technical expertise, and specific programs for natural resource development.

50年来,这些援藏、援疆和支边干部与当地各族人民建立了亲密的联系和深厚的感情,不仅在帮助当地少数民族进行民主改革和社会主义建设,维护祖国统一和巩固边防起到了巨大作用,而且为当地各民族干部和各类专业技术人才的培养和帮带上,都做出了卓越的贡献。
首先,选派干部、专业人才到西藏、新疆和边远民族地区工作,加强了民族团结,维护了社会稳定和国家统一。自中华人民共和国成立以来,国内外敌对势力一直没 有放松对我国进行渗透、破坏和颠覆活动,并常常把边疆民族地区作为破坏活动的突破口之一,采取种种手段妄图煽动民族分裂,危害我国的社会稳定、民族团结和 国家统一。党和国家从维护国家统一和民族团结的大局出发,50年来,选派了大批政治素质好、业务能力强的干部到西藏、新疆和边远民族地区工作。这一批批援 藏、援疆和支边干部,与当地各族干部、群众一起,团结协作、共同奋斗,为加强民族团结、维护社会稳定和国家统一,不断巩固和发展社会主义民族关系做出了应 有的贡献。
其次,选派干部、专业人才到西藏、新疆和边远民族地区工作,促进了民族地区的改革与发展。党中央、国务院为加快民族地区经济和社会发展,选派干部、专业技 术人才到那里去参加建设,是重要的政策措施之一。实践证明,这样做有助于加强同中央国家机关和经济相对发达地区的联系;有助于带动当地干部群众进一步解放 思想,更新观念,吸收和借鉴先进地区的好经验、好作法;有助于为民族地区引进资金、技术、项目和拓宽开发利用资源渠道;有助于促进西藏、新疆和边远民族地 区的各项改革与发展。
第三,选派干部、专业人才到西藏、新疆和边远民族地区工作,深化了干部制度改革,提高了干部队伍素质。据统计,自从 1982年以来,党和国家为西藏、新疆和边远民族地区培训各级干部和各类专业技术人才数万人次。仅派往西藏、新疆短期工作或讲学的工程技术人员、专家、学 者就达数千人次。用他们的切身体会说:一是促进了双方思想解放和观念更新,增强了全局意识;二是传授了先进管理知识,增强了内地干部为边远民族地区服务的 自觉性;三是加快了地区间的经济融合,推动了民族地区开放型经济的建立和发展;四是加强了中央国家机关、经济相对发达地区和民族地区的联系,拓宽了民族地 区引进资金、技术、项目和开发利用资源的渠道,加快了社会经济发展的步伐,取得了比较明显的工作成效。