Study On The Protective System To Safeguard The Interests Of Ethnic Minorities In Western Sichuan Minorities Nationality Region During The Process Of Hydroelectric Power Development

The Western Sichuan Minority Nationality Region encompasses Ganzi Prefecture, A'ba Prefecture, Liangshan Prefecture, Ya'an City and Panzhihua City with the major nationalities of Han, Tibitan and Yi. It is a region with abundant resources of hydroelectric power which is densely distributed and ready to be developed.However, due to the economic backwardness and the lack of capital and technology, the common practice of resource exploitation is partnership based on capital introduction.Thus, the development of local hydroelectric power is faced with the problem that the influx of capital clashes with the interests of local residents in that fields are engulfed by floods and local residents need to relocate during the process of development. To put it in another way, the allocation of benefits in this region is a tough problem that does exist. Because during the process of hydroelectric power development, the proction of the interests of ethnic minorities in this region is found wanting; their legitimate rights and interests are not well safeguarded; their financial losses are not sufficiently compensated and they do not receive the due benefits of hydroelectric power development.Only by balancing the benefit allocation between different parties and safeguarding the legitimate rights of ethnic minorites during the process of hydroelectric power development can the people of ethnic minorities best enjoy the fruit of the development.This paper conducts an investigation of the missing of protective systems to safeguard the interests of ethnic minorities in Western Sichuan Minority Nationality Region during the process of hydroelectirc power development by analyzing the compensatory system and benefit allocation system so as to put forward the view that the protective system should be established to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of ethnic minorites during the process of hydroelectric power development and to ensure that local hydroelectric power can boost the development of this region.