Foreign news

How Will China, A Unified Multi-Ethnic Country, Address Ethnic Affairs In New Era?

Published

3 years ago

August 31, 2021

An unequivocal message concerning China’s ethnic affairs has been conveyed at a two-day meeting that concluded Saturday, as China, a unified multi-ethnic country, embarked on a new journey to fully build itself into a modern socialist country.

Forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation must be the focus of the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) work on ethnic affairs in the new era, said President Xi Jinping while addressing the central conference on ethnic affairs.

The central conference on ethnic affairs, held in Beijing on Friday and Saturday, was the fifth conference of its kind since China’s reform and opening-up, following those in 1992, 1999, 2005 and 2014.

Consolidating sense of community for the Chinese nation in new era

Summarizing past experience, Xi said the CPC’s work on ethnic affairs should serve the goal of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and efforts should be made to enhance ethnic unity and promote common prosperity among all ethnic groups. He also underscored the importance of safeguarding China’s sovereignty, security and development interests, calling for efforts to strengthen patriotism among all ethnic groups.

Consolidating the sense of community for the Chinese nation is necessary for protecting the fundamental interests of all ethnic groups, realizing national rejuvenation, and developing socialist ethnic relations characterized by equality, unity, mutual assistance and harmony, he said at Saturday’s meeting.

The sense of community for the Chinese nation is not a new notion. It was put forward by Xi at the second central work conference on Xinjiang in May 2014. He once again highlighted the importance of laying a solid foundation for the sense of community for the Chinese nation at the central conference on ethnic affairs held in September 2014. The idea was enshrined in the Party’s Constitution at the 19th CPC National Congress in October 2017.

Xi called for innovation and development in CPC’s work on ethnic affairs so as to better protect the legitimate rights and interests of all ethnic groups. An important principle is to enhance commonalities while respecting and tolerating differences, he said on Saturday.

All ethnic groups should prioritize the interests of the Chinese nation, and the sense of each ethnic group should be subordinated to and serve the sense of community for the Chinese nation, he stressed. In the meanwhile, the specific interests of each ethnic group should be well addressed in the process of realizing the interests of the Chinese nation as a whole, he added.

Xi called for efforts to accelerate socialist modernization among all ethnic groups. Differentiated policies should be made to support the reform and opening-up in ethnic minority regions, he said. The sense of gain, happiness and security should be enhanced for people of all ethnic groups, he stressed.

Exchanges and integration among ethnic groups should be encouraged, he said. Measures should be taken to create an environment where people of different ethnic groups can embed themselves spatially, economically, socially and psychologically, he said.

Xi stressed the importance of preventing major risks related to ethnic affairs. Ideological issues that involve ethnic elements should be handled actively and properly, he said, adding that continuous efforts are needed to eradicate separatist and extremist ideas. He also called for strengthening international cooperation in fighting terrorism.

Share on Facebook

Foreign news

French Envoy Seeks Collaboration With NAN To Boost Seamless Relationship

Published

1 hour ago

February 5, 2025

The Gleamer

The new French envoy to Nigeria, Marc Fonbaustier, on Wednesday called for collaboration with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) toward strengthening the mutually beneficial relationship between the two countries.

Fonbaustier, who is the French ambassador to Nigeria and the ECOWAS, made the call when he paid a courtesy visit to Malam Ali Muhammad Ali, NAN’s Managing Director, in Abuja.
The ambassador said that his purpose of visiting was to pay tribute to the MD, and to seek collaboration in three areas with a view to promoting stronger, seamless and fruitful partnership between both countries.

He added that Nigeria and its people were hospitable, especially to the foreigners and ambassadors alike.

He added that Nigeria was a country with so much energy, strength, stamina and so many talents.

In Nigeria, with the population of this size, it is inevitable that the elites of the country are very outstanding, “and there may be a Franco/Nigeria moments now”, he jokes.

According to him, France and Nigeria can collaborate more and learn from each other.
“I could feel it particularly during the state visit of President Bola Tinubu which took place in November 2024.

“I was there and I could see the intensity, the strength and the scope of the partnership, and I am here to scale up that partnership in all sectors.

“I am coming here for three reasons, first, to pay a tribute to the NAN MD and his team for the quality of this agency. We can testify that the contents that you publish are very factual, and also very well set up and structured.

“You do fact checking and you really do try to provide the community with quality information. I think, as a French ambassador, I can recognise that as part of a living democracy,” he said.

The French ambassador said the second reason for the visit was to intimate the NAN MD of France’s eagerness to go on partnership with NAN saying he hoped for assurance of a seamless, fluid and easy relationship.

He said that his third reason stemmed from his observation that NAN recently signed some partnership framework agreements with Egypt and China, saying “it may be time to think of balancing this partnership with others”.

“Especially with French, and to talk with Agence France-Presse (AFP) to see if there’s ground for a closer relationship between NAN and AFP.

“Which is also a recognised agency like yours, and I bet you the sky will be the limit to the collaboration, ’’he said.

Responding, the NAN MD informed the envoy that the agency was African’s biggest news content provider on account of its size.

Ali gave the envoy a little details of the agency’s operation and its outreach, saying “as our continent’s biggest news content provider, we have offices nationwide and in selected African countries.

“We have offices in countries such as South Africa, Cote d’ivoire, Addis Ababa, and then we have offices also beyond the shores of Africa. We have in New York and we are the only resident wire service in the United Nations.

“At a time in the past, the agency had 11 foreign offices, including Moscow, and presently, we are trying to re-open some of our shut offices, especially in London.
“We value partnership and understanding that we have with similar news organisation such as Reuters and, incidentally, we have a long standing relationship with AFP which you just raised.
“I know for years we have exchange of news between NAN and AFP but it’s a cooperation that we will like to strengthen and with your greater involvement,’’ he said.

The MD commended the ambassador for reaching out and engaging with some Nigerians communities to douse the tension of the allegation made by the Nigeriens.

He also lauded the envoy’s leadership and visibility to Nigeria and the ECOWAS, “which has helped to douse the perception and misconceptions about France, especially in the Sahel”.
“I think you have helped to reverse some of this perceptions. I thank you for the kind words that you said about the agency and about our management.

“We also see partnership as an important tool in checking the spread of fake news.
“We’ve seen instances where fake news has done great deal of damage, and with the coming of social media it has done even greater damage.

“Our country is facing a lot of challenges, one of which is the increasing insecurity, and the social media has been used by those who do not want to see our country to prosper,” Ali said.
He further said that NAN was a credible news agency that always fact check to correct the wrong narratives by those who are in the business of causing troubles.

He also told the envoy that the agency has its content in the Nigerian indigenous languages, starting with Hausa and it would proceed to Yoruba and Igbo languages later, “then later in future to French.

Share on Facebook