Ethnicity with Chinese Characteristics? The Chinese State and Tibetan, Uyghur, and Mongol Identities

The East Asia Program of the National Endowment for Democracy presents a panel discussion on ethnic tensions in China.

Featuring
Alim Seytoff, Director, Uyghur Human Rights Project
Rinchen Tashi, Deputy Director for Chinese Outreach, International Campaign for Tibet
Enhebatu Togochog, President, Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center
David (Dahai) Yu, Publisher, Beijing Spring

Moderated by
Dr. June Teufel Dreyer, Professor of Political Science, University of Miami

The 2008 Olympic Games brought a burst of international media attention to rising ethnic tensions in China, focusing on the wave of Tibetan protests and subsequent crackdown, and Chinese security forces' violent clashes with alleged Uyghur terrorists. The dialogues between Beijing authorities and the representatives of the Dalai Lama seem to have reached a dead end. In this context, how should we understand the basic, long-term strategy behind China’s overall minority policies and their impact in practice? Economic marginalization, coercive cultural assimilation, and political repression add up to a discouraging environment for Tibetans, Uyghurs and Mongols in China. Concentrating on the question of identity from a generational perspective, our panelists will help us understand what it may mean to be Tibetan, Mongol or Uyghur in the future, if current policies continue, by addressing relevant questions such as: How do the restrictions, regulations, and policies on ethnic minorities enacted in the previous year relate to policies of the past? What is the impact of these policies and practices on minorities’ well-being? On their distinct identities? What options do ethnic minorities have in striving to create a political, social and cultural environment free of coercive restrictions?

About the speakers:

Alim Seytoff is General Secretary of the Uyghur American Association (UAA) and Director of its Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP).  Mr. Seytoff has been campaigning for the human rights and religious freedom of the Uyghur people since he came to the United States in 1996.  He has written many articles on the political situation in East Turkestan (also known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region), has testified numerous times before the U.S. Congress and briefed State Department officials.  Mr. Seytoff holds a B.A. in Chinese Studies from Xinjiang University, and another B.A. in Broadcast Journalism from Southern Adventist University.  He holds an M.A. in Political Science from the Robertson School of Government at Regent University and a J.D. from Regent University School of Law.
 
Rinchen Tashi joined the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) in 2001 and currently serves as the Deputy Director for Chinese Outreach.  Born and educated in Tibet, Mr. Tashi continued his studies in China and in the United States.  He is the editor of Liaowang Xizang, a leading journal in Chinese focusing on the Tibet issue, and also helps to staff ICT's website, including creating and managing the Chinese-language section. 
 
Enhebatu Togochog is the founder and president of Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC), a New York-based human rights organization dedicated to protecting and promoting the rights of Mongolian people in China.  He was born and educated in Southern Mongolia (also known as Inner Mongolia) and holds a B.A. in Mongolian Linguistics & Literature from Inner Mongolia University.  He arrived in the United States in 1998 and was granted political asylum in 1999.  He also received a B.S. and M.A. in computer science from the City University of New York.

David (Dahai) Yu grew up in Tianjin and graduated from Beijing University.  As a college student, he took part in the competitive local elections of 1980.  He co-founded the Chinese Economists Society (USA) and served as its first president (1985-86). He earned a Ph.D. in Economics from Princeton University and taught at several U.S. colleges. He has been affiliated with Beijing Spring and its predecessor China Spring since 1989.  He visited the Tibetan community in Dharamsala, India, in 1999.

June Teufel Dreyer is a professor of political science at the University of Miami and a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.  She received a Master’s in East Asian Studies, and a joint Ph.D. in Government and East Asian studies, from Harvard University.  Professor Dreyer has done field research in China, Taiwan, and Japan, and has served as Chief Far East Specialist for the Library of Congress and as Asia Advisor to the Chief of Naval Operations. She has published numerous books and articles on topics such as ethnic minorities in China, the Chinese military, and Asia-Pacific security.  She is the author of China’s Political System: Modernization and Tradition, now in its sixth edition; China’s Forty Millions: Minority Nationalities and National Integration in the People’s Republic of China and the co-editor of Contemporary Tibet: Politics, Development, and Society in a Disputed Region. She is now preparing a book on Sino-Japanese relations.

Please RSVP with name, affiliation, and e-mail address to amandaw@ned.org or call (202) 378-9685 by Wednesday, December 3.