Regional ethnic autonomy is the most important and fundamental ethnic policy of China. It is a great invention made by the Communist Party of China (CPC) by combining ethnic autonomy with regional autonomy. It fully embodies the principle of ethnic equality and cooperation.
    History of the formation of China’s policy of regional ethnic autonomy
    In the early 1920s after the CPC had just been founded, the Party adopted a Declaration at its Second National Congress. For the first time, the CPC put its advocacy for ethnic “autonomy” and ethnic “democratic autonomous federation”on a par with its advocacy for ethnic “self-determination” and the establishment of a “federal republic.” These were made the CPC’s basic program for resolving domestic ethnic issues. Thereafter, thanks to several decades of exploration, the CPC formulated in 1938 relatively systematic ideas about regional ethnic autonomy. In May 1941, the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Area government worked out the Policy Program of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Area. According to the program, “In accordance with the principle of ethnic equality, the Mongolian, Han and Hui ethnic groups shall have equal political, economic and cultural rights and a Mongolia and Hui autonomous region shall be established.” In October 1945, the Central Committee Delegation of the CPC put forward in the Draft Program for Peaceful National Development, “In areas of ethnic minorities, the equal status of ethnic minorities and their autonomous right should be recognized.” On May 1, 1947, China’s first ethnic autonomous region (at provincial level ) of an ethnic minority - the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region was established. At the First Plenary Session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference held in September 1949 on the eve of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the Common Program of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference was adopted. The Program clearly stipulates: “Areas where ethnic minorities live in compact shall have regional ethnic autonomy. Different kinds of ethnic autonomous organs shall be established in accordance with the population of ethnic minority areas and their sizes.” This move symbolizes that the policy of regional ethnic autonomy was officially established by the CPC and the Chinese government as their basic policy for resolving domestic ethnic issues.
    The basic principle of the policy of regional ethnic autonomy and its main content
    At its 125th government administrative conference in February 1952, the Government Administrative Council of the People’s Republic of China adopted the Implementation Program of the People’s Republic of China Regarding Regional Ethnic Autonomy. In light of the characteristics of the ethnic minority work in the early period of the People’s Republic, the Program emphatically stressed the need to ensure that ethnic minorities should have political equal rights and the right to autonomy. The Program had comprehensive stipulations about the implementation of the policy of regional ethnic autonomy. For the first time, it systematically sorted out the policy of regional ethnic autonomy. Along with the development of the times, the economic, cultural and social content of the policy of regional ethnic autonomy was constantly enriched. In particular, the National People’s Congress promulgated the Law on Regional Ethnic Autonomy in 1984 and enacted the amendments to this law in 2001. All this improved the policy of regional ethnic autonomy.
    The policy of regional ethnic autonomy covers many areas as it involves all the aspects of politics, the economy, culture and social activities. In short, the policy is designed to combine national unity with regional ethnic autonomy, to safeguard and develop the equality, solidarity and common development of all ethnic groups, to respect and safeguard the right of ethnic minorities to independent management of the specific matters of their ethnic groups and their localities, and to accelerate the economic, cultural and social development of ethnic autonomic areas. The main content of the policy of regional ethnic autonomy includes: The people’s congresses of autonomous areas have the power to formulate autonomous regulations or separate regulations in accordance with their political, economic and cultural characteristics of their local ethnic groups. Should the resolutions, decisions, orders or directions of the government authorities at the higher levels are not suitable for local special conditions, the autonomous authorities may implement part of them or stop implementing them with the approval of the government authorities at the higher levels. The autonomous authorities enjoy the corresponding power of personnel administration. The posts for the chairman of the autonomous region, the governor of the autonomous prefecture and the head of the autonomous county shall be held by the citizens of the ethnic groups that enjoy regional autonomy. The standing committees of the people’s congresses of ethnic autonomous areas shall have citizens of the ethnic groups that enjoy regional autonomy as their chairmen or vice-chairmen. With the approval of the State Council, the autonomous authorities have the power to organize their local public security forces to safeguard public security. Under the macro-control of the state, the autonomous authorities of ethnic autonomous areas are fully independent in managing and expanding their local economic development. Ethnic autonomous areas not only enjoy more preferential conditions than non-autonomous areas at the same level but also have greater independence in terms of economic reforms, financial management, foreign trade activities, resources exploitation, ecological development, investment and project arrangement. In accordance with the state policy, ethnic autonomous areas shall proceed from their special local conditions in independently developing ethnic education, ethnic languages, ethnic culture, science and technology, health and sports.
    The institutionalization and legalization of the policy of regional ethnic autonomy
    The Chinese government has taken a series of measures to ensure the full implementation of the policy of regional ethnic autonomy. The most conspicuous measure is to institutionalize and legalizing the policy of regional ethnic autonomy.
    The system of regional ethnic autonomy is the institutional form of the policy of regional ethnic autonomy. According to the Common Program, the Chinese government shall make regional ethnic autonomy an important state system for resolving domestic ethnic issues and implement the system nationwide. In September 1997, the Fifteenth National Congress of the CPC made the system of people’s congresses, the system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC and the system of regional ethnic autonomy the three major forms of China’s socialist democratic system. This makes the system of regional ethnic autonomy more important in China’s state system and provides a powerful institutional guarantee for the full implementation of the policy of regional ethnic autonomy.
    The Law on Regional Ethnic Autonomy is the legal form of the policy of regional ethnic autonomy. Promulgated and amended in accordance with the Constitution, this law is a major achievement of China’s efforts to develop its ethnic legal system and symbolizes that the implementation of the policy has been brought on a legal track. As the ethnic legal system with the Law on Regional Ethnic Autonomy at the center is enriched and improves, there will be more legal basis for the implementation of the policy of regional ethnic autonomy.
About the author:
Song Quan
    Mongolian, with a master degree of ethnic policy and ethnic work management, now works as assistant researcher in the Policy Office of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission and Policy toward ethnic group, specializing in the study of policy and theory on ethnic group and ethnic group problems. He published more than 30 academic essays.