Xi Dada's doctrine of forced homogenization of all subjects of the CCP is of direct relevance to Hong Kong as well.
Planting the Seed: Ethnic Policy in Xi Jinping’s New Era of Cultural Nationalism
Publication: China Brief Volume: 19 Issue: 22
By: James Leibold
December 31, 2019
Previous acts of resistance in Tibet and Xinjiang have hardened Xi’s resolve to transform ethnic cultures and identities, and the ongoing rebellion in Hong Kong reinforces this imperative.
In fact, the perceived successes of the Party’s mass internment strategy in Xinjiang—with Party officials regularly asserting the absence of “terror attacksâ€â€”is encouraging the expansion of cultural nationalist tactics throughout Chinese society.
Instead he called for a re-doubling of effort and a more proactive and energetic role for the Party in guiding this process of fusion forward.
The directive calls for the updating of methods and “vehicles†for instilling patriotism across Chinese society—including the promotion of “red tourism,†flag raising ceremonies, commemorative activities, and the celebration of traditional Zhonghua festivals and culture. Here ethnic minorities must conform to Han norms, with Uyghurs forced to eat pork dumplings when celebrating Chinese New Year and Tibetans asked to don “Han clothingâ€
Education is now the forefront of ethnic work. The Directive insists the Party actively “guide the people in establishing and persisting with the correct view of the fatherland, nation, culture and history, and constantly enhance the sense of belonging, identity, dignity and honor of the Zhonghua nationâ€. Local study sessions are being held in Xinjiang, Tibet and other minority areas, where patriotic and ethnic unity education is now dubbed “an engineering project of the soulâ€
It is unclear how far Xi Jinping is willing to push in this direction—the Xinjiang leaks suggest significant internal dissent—but the perceived successes of the Party’s approach in manufacturing stability in Xinjiang and Tibet are driving the Party deeper into the lives of its citizens, Han and minority alike. The Party’s heavy-handed approach to nation-building might ultimately prove counter-productive: rather than planting the seed of patriotism and unity, it is sowing mistrust and resentment among significant segments of the population who find the Party’s message unpalatable.