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GOVERNING CHINA'S MULTIETHNIC FRONTIERS by Morris Rossabi (ed.) (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2004)
The focus of this collection of eight articles is the historical development of the Chinese government's administration of its ethnic minority regions. The ethnic minority groups and regions reviewed include: the Hui in various parts of China, the ethnic minorities of Yunnan, the Mongols of Inner Mongolia, the Uygurs of Xinjiang, and the Tibetans of Tibet. The book appears aimed at both researchers and students, and they and general readers will find that this collection useful on the political interaction between the Chinese communist state and ethnic minorities and on the issue of ethnic minorities and political independence.
In the introductory essay, Morris Rossabi provides a brief review of the historical incorporation of various ethnic minorities into China and the post-1949 communist administration of the minority regions. He then suggests that post-1990 developments outside China such as the formation of the five independent Turkic states in Central Asia and international support for the Dalai Lama have greatly enhanced the communist state's attention to its relationships with ethnic minorities and governance in minority areas such as Xinjiang and Tibet.
In Chapter 1, Jonathan Lipman emphasizes that the Hui are very much assimilated into Han society. He finds it hard to distinguish the Hui from the Han in lifestyles, language, etc. He also suggests that the Hui in various parts of China have developed different customs so that there is considerable diversity in this group. Lipman believes that the Hui consider themselves as Chinese despite...