Repression of ethnic minorities intensifies in China under Xi's leadership

Beijing [China], August 16 (ANI): Amid Xi Jinping's quest to implement a one nation, one race in China, the country's ethnic minorities continue to suffer discrimination and have been facing severe human rights violations in the country.
Apparently, there are 56 distinct ethnic groups living throughout China amongst which Han majority represents 92 per cent of the total population while the remaining 8 per cent is composed of 55 ethnic minorities, including the Zhuang, Uyghur (Muslim) and Tibetan, Mongolian and Hui (Muslim) populations, as per the report by International forum for Right and Security (IIFRAS).
More than 200 people belonging to ethnic minorities are reported to have died and hundreds have been injured under the authoritarian regime of Xi Jinping.
Although the Chinese government have allowed the participation of ethnic minorities in local government departments, ethnic discrimination in official policies is still evident, the report stated, adding that interaction with a person belonging to an ethnic minority is oppressive, defensive, hostile and unpleasant in China.
According to the report by IIFRAS, Han chauvinism which is extensively prevalent in the Chinese mainland overrules disrespect the ethnic customs and traditions and aims to abolish them.
For instance, the Chinese-occupied Mongolian region witnessed a large-scale protest from locals against a new directive aimed at reducing the use of the Mongolian language in the region, the report added.
Similarly, China is resorting to similar measures in the Tibet Autonomous Region and Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region for destroying ethnic identity, IIFRAS stated.
According to human rights experts, family separations are part of the Chinese government's efforts to eradicate the culture and language of ethnic minorities in China along with systematic abuse, including arbitrary detentions on trumped-up offences, especially against members of the predominantly Muslim minority groups like Uyghurs.
The US and some Western countries have declared the abuse of Uyghurs as genocide and crimes against humanity, however, China has repeatedly rejected these claims.
Moreover, Tibetans are also experiencing mass repression in China as the country is forcibly trying to turn Tibet into a Chinese province and Tibetans into Chinese.
Tibet was an independent state in the Himalayas until Chinese troops annexed the region in 1950. China's communist government for decades has been engaged in a systematic campaign that seeks to forcibly assimilate Tibetans into Han Chinese culture and remove all vestiges of Tibetan religion and culture. (ANI)