Counterpoint: Han in Xinjiang victims of favorable minority policies

China's ethnic policies were created based on national realities, the country's history and modern practical experiences in ethnic minority governance, as well as Marxist ideology on this matter. The policies are of significant importance in fostering equal, united, mutually beneficial and harmonious ethnic relationships in a socialist society.

The policies address a range of issues. One in particular is to provide ethnic minorities with affirmative action, a set of preferential treatments in areas such as education, putting every citizen, whatever their ethnicity, on the same starting line.

Studies have found that affirmative action has not only greatly aided ethnic minorities in their competition with the Han, but also helped speed up the development of their communities.

However, in recent years, a strange theory began to emerge in some regions occupied mostly by ethnic minority groups. It argues that affirmative action has disadvantaged Han and is a form of "reverse discrimination." This theory has gained some support among both ordinary people and scholars.

But while this argument seems appealing, it is completely baseless. China's ethnic minorities have not only been disadvantaged geographically, and socially and economically as a consequence of that, but were also treated poorly for many centuries. The founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 turned the situation around by, for the first time in Chinese history, giving ethnic minorities equal legal status. Moreover, in order to help them catch up with the relatively advanced Han community, the central government then decided on a policy of affirmative action.

Yet why, more than 60 years after the policies were implemented, are they facing such challenges? I think this may be attributed to several issues.

The market economy has changed things. Since many Han cannot get an education or find a job now, those living in ethnic regions have started to blame affirmative action for taking away their chances.

Some Han also complain that the government has offered too much to ethnic groups, and got too little in response. They also believe that everybody should be equal before law, so that affirmative action should be restricted.

But affirmative action is there to right the historical wrongs that estranged minority groups from the Han group. It is a temporary compensation policy with no intention to permanently distort fairness. In fact, the range of favorable policies once enjoyed by ethnic minorities has gradually shrunk over the past six decades. What's left for many minority groups now is only the right to have more babies and receive bonus points in the university entrance exam.

The US imposed affirmative action in 1965 to help minority groups, chiefly African-Americans and women, in competition against their white male peers. Although it came over one decade later than our ethnic minority policies, US affirmative action carried the same mission.

Today, our ethnic minorities have made tremendous progress thanks to the ethnic policies. However, the gap between them and the Han still stands due to various historically inherited issues.

For instance, some of the minority groups live mostly in the mountains, whereas the Han group lives in the richer plains. Language barriers have also been obstructing ethnic groups like the Uyghurs from competing with Han, as they need to learn Putonghua, in addition to English, and need to sit exams in Putonghua. Ignoring the difficulties and hardships ethnic minorities have to endure to survive in mainstream Han society while whining about so-called "reverse discrimination" is ridiculous.

One important characteristic of a democratic society is offering tolerance and shelter to minority groups. In a country where ethnic minorities only account for 8.5 percent of the total population, imposing and sticking to preferential policies for them is no doubt a profound achievement. Abolishing it in favor of "the law of the jungle" will not bring fairness and justice. Instead, it will only effectively destroy them.

The author is an associate researcher of the Sociology Institute at the Academy of Social Sciences of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn