Voices of the people: Lawmakers showcase China’s ethnic diversity
Print Edition
For Xian Shunnu, the secret to being an excellent dancer is observation. To imitate a willow for her performance, she would spend days sitting in a park observing trees.
Her secret also applies to her performing duties as a national lawmaker.
Xian, of the Korean ethnic group, has been a deputy to the National People’s Congress, China’s national legislature, for 13 years. All her suggestions in that capacity are based on long-term observation at the grassroots in the prefecture of Yanbian in northeast China’s Jilin Province.
At the ongoing fourth session of the 13th NPC, nearly 3,000 deputies, who are from all walks of life and work part-time, brought their suggestions in addition to reviewing the government work report and the latest five-year plan. More than 400 are from ethnic minorities.
China has 56 ethnic groups. According to the country’s election law, there should be at least one NPC deputy from each group. China has been pursuing common prosperity with no ethnic groups left behind.
Ethnic minority deputies, representing and speaking for their ethnic groups, are pooling wisdom for and contributing to the country’s economic and social development.
Several years ago, after Xian found many young people, including her dancing colleagues, left their hometown of Yanbian, the only Korean autonomous prefecture in China, for big citiy, she called for government measures to attract young talent to work in ethnic-minority-populated areas. “We have to give them a reason to stay,” said Xian, now 57.
Her suggestions were later accepted by the local government, which offered allowances, housing, and training programs, with many youths later returning home.
“This year, I proposed wider coverage for people’s medical bills, as well as tougher supervision at the grassroots level in terms of health insurance,” she said.
As the country has eradicated absolute poverty, a new chapter has started in promoting comprehensive rural vitalization.
Qiaojin Shuangmei, a deputy of the Yi ethnic group, advised the government to provide more policy support for the industrial development of Yi embroidery, a national intangible cultural heritage.
Qiaojin is from the prefecture of Liangshan of southwest China’s Sichuan Province, one of the least developed areas in China. Famed for her outstanding needlework, she was elected an NPC deputy for her poverty alleviation efforts by establishing a Yi embroidery cooperative. The cooperative has more than 300 housewives employed at home and some 4,000 women trained.
Home to China’s largest Yi community, Liangshan saw the last seven counties removed from the national poverty list in 2020. “Educational departments should allow students to have access to intangible cultural heritage, such as the Yi embroidery, and departments of tourism and women’s federations should invest more in skill training, product promotion and flexible employment among women,” she said.
Tashi Dorje, a 57-year-old Tibetan musician, proposed setting up a troupe in Yushu prefecture in northwest China’s Qinghai Province, to showcase local culture and develop the tourism industry.
After being hit by a deadly earthquake in 2010, which killed more than 2,600 people, the Tibetan autonomous prefecture of Yushu has been rebuilt with a brand-new infrastructure. All cities and counties there have emerged from poverty.
“The Yushu people are embracing a new homeland while safeguarding their traditions,” he said. “Today’s Yushu has ushered in the best era of cultural development.”
Deputy Musajan Nurdun is a Uygur village cadre in the border area of northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. His suggestions are about strengthening support for the renovation of rural courtyards and helping farmers gain access to e-commerce.
Under his leadership, his village in the Kazak Autonomous Prefecture of Ili has developed an animal husbandry industry, built schools and asphalt roads. In 2019 alone, the annual per-capita income in Musajan’s village increased by 730 yuan (US$112) to 17,000 yuan.
“I’m a deputy from the rural area. I will do my best to help promote the all-round development of rural border areas,” said Musajan.
Official data showed that the per-capita disposable income of urban residents in Xinjiang increased by 5.8 percent annually on average in the past five years. Rural residents’ income climbed by 8.3 percent there.
Musajan also tabled the suggestion of Laqini Bayika, a deputy of the Tajik ethnic group who died while saving a boy from drowning in a frozen lake two months ago.
“He is a role model for me in many ways. The ‘eagle’ on the Pamir Plateau will forever fly high in the sky of our homeland,” said Musajan.
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