Editor’s note: On May 31, ifeng.com published an article entitled "A Dialogue between Zhuweiqun and Ngalek: Overemphasizing ethnic differences is adverse to the identity of the county." The publication of the article has since brought about widespread attention. When Zhu Weiqun, chairman of the Committee of Ethnic and Religious Affairs of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference had the interview with ifeng.com, he emphasized his own points on the following questions:

Standing against overemphasizing ethnic differences does not equate to denying ethnic diversity

The basic history and reality of Chinese ethnic phenomena is that ethnic differences alone cannot gain dominance. If only ethnic difference is emphasized, it will necessarily give rise to inter-ethnic antagonism, endless struggles and the breakup of the county.

It is when ethnic difference is considered alongside ethnic contact, interaction, exchanges and the co-existence of common characteristics of various ethnic groups that it can have positive meaning and can become some kind of preponderance.

The Central Ethnic Work Conference always connects the question of ethnic differenceswith the commonality and the community of the Chinesenation.

The meeting points out that respecting differences does not mean solidifying differences. With the development of the socialist market economy, and the deepened interactions and exchanges between different ethnicities, differences will gradually diminish.

"We need to create a social atmosphere in which ethnic culture, traditions and customes are respected."

Inter-ethnic contacts, interactions and exchanges are the inevitable trend of social development

Chinese ethnic contact has its own precepts, experience and wisdom. The several thousand years of Chinese history is characterized in part by learning, engaging in trade, and even inter-marrying from one and another — the very quintessence of contacts, interactions and exchanges— which gave rise to historical conflicts and grievance resolutions between ethnicities as well as the formation of collective benefit and mutual cultural identification. This also leads to some ancient ethnicities disappearing and gives rise to the emergence of new ones, leading to the awakening of the consciousness of the Chinese nation in modern times.

In the process of inter-ethnic interactions, it is hard to avoid some conflicts and even unfortunate mishaps, but these things are not the mainstream of Chinese history, nor can it be said that the accelerated assimilation has led to increased ethnic crashes and conflicts.

Chinese people have a capacity to turn antagonistic conflicts into an opportunity for interactions

The establishment of the New China, especially after the opening up and the formation of the socialist market economy structure made Chinese people enter into a dynamic era in which different ethnic groups flow into different areas, with the ethnic minority populations flooding into the cities on the coastal areas,and the populations of inland China flowing into the minority areas, creating unprecedented conditions for ethnic exchanges.