Ethnic Unrest in China

Edited by Tony Lambert, OMF Chinese Ministries

In this issue we report on continuing ethnic tensions within China and the desperate need for the gospel by China’s more than 100 million minority people.

ETHNIC UNREST FLARES IN THE HEART OF CHINA
In early November last year the Chinese government declared martial law in a part of the central province of Henan after four days of serious fighting between Muslim Hui and Han Chinese villagers. Order was only finally restored after 10,000 People’s Armed Police were drafted in and 148 people had died according to an internal document seen by journalists. “In all my life and that of my ancestors we’ve never experienced anything like this,” said a Muslim named Hai who discovered a decapitated Hui corpse. “Our villages will never be the same,” said a Han farmer surnamed Geng who said two of his fellow villagers were thrown alive into a fiery brick kiln by Hui marauders. “The terrorists from the Middle East are the same race as the Hui [though in fact they are not]. Their character is cruel and aggressive. Now we will always live in fear.”

The ethnic clashes began after a traffic dispute involving Muslim truck drivers and Han villagers in Weitang, a village near Kaifeng, the former Song dynasty capital and in China’s ancient heartland. The next day a bus from Kaifeng was ambushed and set on fire. When the passengers fled they were pursued by 1,000 Han, who the next day marched on the village of Nanren with a banner proclaiming “Exterminate the Hui.” The fighting spread to nearby villages where witnesses described mobs armed with spears and Molotov cocktails, looting, burning down homes and beating people. The fighting was exacerbated by the arrival of hundreds of Muslims from other parts of the country who rushed to support their brethren. The police threw up roadblocks to stop them. Publicly the New China News Agency admitted only seven dead and 42 injured. (Report based on articles in the Washington Post, 2 Nov 04, Daily Telegraph, 3 Nov 04, and Time Asia, 4 Nov 04)

There are nearly 1 million Hui Muslims living in Henan and for many years they have lived peacefully alongside their majority Han Chinese neighbors. “There is no history to this hatred,” said one teacher. “On the contrary, the villages have always been quite friendly.” The Chinese government has cracked down on separatism and terrorism in Xinjiang inhabited by the Muslim Uyghurs, but now it seems some of the Hui are becoming more radical. One Hui imam said that relations between the Hui and the Han had reached the lowest point in his lifetime: “Even though we have no connection with terrorists, the Han now have prejudices against us that come from negative international ideas about Muslims.”

This sudden explosion of violence may have serious implications for the evangelism of the 20 million Muslims in China (including some 10 million Hui) and for the Chinese churches’ embryonic Back to Jerusalem Movement which plans to send Chinese missionaries back along the Silk Road to the Middle East with the gospel. Clearly, ethnic tensions between Chinese Muslims (whether Hui or Uyghur) and the majority Han are at boiling point in some areas. Naive ideas that Han Chinese evangelists will be welcomed with open arms by Muslims must be set aside. Chinese Christians will have to engage in serious cross-cultural and linguistic training to draw sympathetically alongside their Muslim neighbors. One Western church leader recently estimated the number of house-church people in China seriously learning Arabic as around only a dozen. Only the love of Christ and the powerful work of the Holy Spirit can be the true motive force for effective evangelization by the Chinese churches of Muslim people, breaking down barriers of mutual hatred and suspicion.

TENSIONS IN INNER MONGOLIA
Chinese plans to redevelop and privatize Genghis Khan’s mausoleum have aroused furious opposition from the Mongolian warrior tribe who protect it and prompted new fears over China’s relations with its ethnic minorities.

The Darhads are scattered throughout both Inner Mongolia (part of China) and the independent (Outer) Mongolia to the north. Some are still employed to guard the relics which include Genghis’s saddle and black wooden bow. In the 13th century, the Mongol conqueror founded the largest land empire the world has ever seen. Genghis’s mausoleum is contained within a three-domed building in Inner Mongolia’s Ordos plateau. Although the building is recent, tradition has it he chose the spot himself as he passed through on his way to war in 1227. The Darhads keep Genghis’s ceremonial butter lamp lit and every year perform the ritual of filling his wooden bucket with mare’s milk. The bucket, it is said, leaks in the direction that will bring the Mongols prosperity.

Towering over this scene to the south are two enormous concrete plinths topped by rearing white horses—a “Second Mausoleum” only half built by a Chinese construction company which has been contracted to boost tourism. Many Mongols are angry that this new mausoleum developed by the Chinese to boost tourist revenue will rob them of their heritage. A Darhad woman said: “We are all strongly opposed. We are angry about the Han Chinese building a mausoleum for the Mongolians. We are also angry about them using the Mongolian name and Mongolian traditions to make money.”

The Chinese government has moved quickly to quash possible protests. A concert by a popular rock group from Ulan Bator in Mongolia was banned from performing at a university in Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia, on October 29 at the last moment. Protest ringleaders were reportedly detained. Many Mongols remember the Cultural Revolution when they suffered particular persecution. According to reports, between 10,000 and 17,000 Mongols died in the terror, 87,000 were crippled and 346,000 persecuted. Today after waves of Han Chinese immigration, the 4 million Mongols in Inner Mongolia are vastly outnumbered by 19 million Han Chinese. Only half of the Mongols in Inner Mongolia still speak Mongolian and only a quarter can still write it. (Daily Telegraph, 12 Nov 04) The Mongols remain largely unevangelized in China. They now number about 6 million in total. The majority inhabit Inner Mongolia but there are also large numbers in Xinjiang and some other northern provinces. However, the most reliable estimates are that there may only be between 5,000 and 12,000 Protestant Christians among them. Pray for effective evangelization by the Chinese church to their Mongol neighbors in both Inner and Outer Mongolia.

FACTORY EVANGELISM
“In south-central China, a Christian sister is evangelizing her factory. She started a fellowship meeting with three other Christian girls. After work they held meetings for their workmates. The boss is also a Christian and often told his workers: ‘God is first, your family second and your work third.’ At first many of the workers did not understand this. But later many became Christians—even those who originally were opposed. Even some visitors came to Christ.” Report from Christian Communications Ltd., Hong Kong, November 2004.

A ZHUANG COMES TO CHRIST
“I once practiced sorcery. Contact with the spirits led to my various illnesses and even paralysis. One evening 20 years ago I had a dream in which a white-robed person said: ‘I am the beloved Son of God, the Way, the Truth and the Life.’ After waking up, I began asking around who this Son of God was. Some people said they had heard it on the radio. Since then I have been listening to FEBC’s Voice of Friendship programs. Thanks be to the Lord who led me out of sorcery to the true God and has filled my life with joy and peace. My health has also been restored. I have to testify for Christ and spread the gospel!” (CCL Nov 04)

There are over 17 million Zhuang people living in southwest China—mainly in Guangxi. Their language, which has many different dialects, is related to northern Thai. It is still widely spoken in the villages, although Mandarin has become the main language for commerce and in the towns. Some reports state that only about 30,000 Zhuang are Christians—0.17 percent. Many are still sunk in superstitious animism, worshipping spirits and fearing demons. Pray for their salvation!

WITNESS IN TIBET
Christian businessmen from the city of Wenzhou have gone to Lhasa and set up a house church, according to a report we believe to be reliable. There are over 80 believers, nearly all Han Chinese, but there are two Tibetan Christians who attend. They report that outreach to the Tibetans is not easy, but plan to continue evangelism.

Copyright 2005 OMF International