China, Ethnic Autonomous Regions

China is almost unique in the way diversity in education is both permitted and circumscribed in specific regions of the country. The central government's historical narrative is that ethnic autonomous regions have always been an inalienable part of China because the majority Han Chinese have always lived in these lands. It is a narrative that undercuts any claim of denial of indigenous rights. This entry discusses ethnic autonomous regions in the context of the debate in China about ethnic diversity in education.

China's special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao, populated by the Han majority, have a degree of autonomy in education that far exceeds anywhere else in the country, with the possible exception of Taiwan. For example, Chinese students there can, if they choose, ...