Index on Censorship
Volume 37 Number 2 - 2008
Kerry Brown

This August, during the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Beijing, there will almost certainly be a section of the vast parade devoted to celebrating the ‘55 ethnic minorities’ and their separate cultures in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Colourfully dressed groups from the four corners of China will dance in their distinctive ways, presenting a unified pageant symbolising the idea that China, while still under the rule of one party, is a country that celebrates diversity. Leading cultural and political figures from each of the groups will take their place on the podium next to the main leadership. But at that point, something will become clear. The nine most powerful people in China, the members of the standing committee of the Politburo, are all Han Chinese. And for those that look more closely, the leaders of each of China’s main ethnic minority areas, the Party Secretaries of Xinjiang, Tibet and Inner Mongolia, are also all Han.

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