This chapter describes the position and development of the minorities in China. "In its dealings with religion and ethnicity, the PRC state did not start with a blank slate; ideologically and tactically, it drew on the legacies of the imperial state, its KMT predecessor, and their experiences as a rural insurgency. For example, for centuries, Chinese states had sought to co- opt leaders of ethnic minorities by granting them official titles and power over territory … Like the PRC, leaders of the Republic of China were at odds with groups whose otherworldly views they considered obstacles to China’s enlightenment and progress. With the exception of Christianity, these were pejoratively called “superstition,” a broad but unclearly defined category that included “nonscientific” understandings of the body and healing practices as well as beliefs in local deities, fortune tellers, and others who claimed otherworldly insight and knowledge. … The CCP also seems to have inherited many of the Republic’s legal and bureaucratic approaches to ethnic and religious matters. The first provisional constitution of the Republic of China (proclaimed in March 1912) provided for freedom of religious belief (xinjiao ziyou) but not protection against destruction of temples to deities." At the CCP’s Second Congress in 1922, the party declared in its manifesto that the ultimate goal of the CCP was the unification of China under a federal system, with Mongolia, Tibet, and Xinjiang forming autonomous states federated with China proper. "In the interests of the workers and poor peasants, the goals of struggle for the CCP in this united front are: 1) Eradicate internal chaos, overthrow the warlords, and build domestic peace. 2) Overthrow oppression by the international imperialists and win the complete independence of the Chinese nation. 3) Unify China proper (including the three provinces in the northeast) and establish a real democratic republic. 4) Establish autonomous rule in Mongolia, Tibet, and Muslim Xinjiang to turn them into democratic autonomous republics. 5) Use the free federal system to unify China proper, Mongolia, Tibet, and Muslim Xinjiang in order to establish a Chinese Federal Republic."
The CCP didn't hold on to this opinion, see the next articles.
