Letters and Blogs

Invest in southern, western Xinjiang

It would be beneficial for the promotion of understanding and communication between ethnic groups and learning Mandarin is one way. In Xinjiang, widespread Mandarin fluency will help support peace in the region. However, in attempts to break down the language barrier, mistakes that might work against ethnic harmony can be sometimes made.

There is a thinking, which goes that when minority people from southern and western Xinjiang enter eastern Xinjiang - where the Han people are the majority - they will become richer while learning Mandarin more rapidly at the same time. However, even though minorities will gain fluency quickly in languages, this method will cause some annoyance in Xinjiang. There are cultural differences between some ethnic minorities and the ethnic majority. This difference is not caused by government bias or discrimination, but because the more successful groups come from cultures emphasizing education, planning, hard work and entrepreneurship.