A Comparative Case Study On Autonomous Regions And Separatism

In today’s globalized world different nations and cultures are closer than ever. Theglobalization process, propelled by the interlinked free market global economy, is notonly bringing us closer together and making us interdependent, but, as some may argue,is creating an increasingly homogenous society.The Marxist doctrine believes that the existence of different ethnicities is aby-product of unequal economic development. Thus, economic development andmodernization will undeniably solve the problem of ethnic stratification within thenation through the formation of a homogenous society. Since the “Opening and ReformPolicy,” the People’s Republic of China, basing itself on Marxism and further developedtheories of Leninism, Stalinism and Maoism, focused on economic development inorder to solve ethnic problems.Subsequently, China has experienced fast paced economic growth, which liftedmillions of people out of poverty and ameliorated the livelihood of the Chinesepopulation. The economic situation in China’s western provinces of Tibet and Xinjianghas also improved significantly. China’s massive investments in regional infrastructureprojects, such as railways, roads, schools and hospitals, brought a visible improvementin people’s lives and have increasingly integrated Tibet and Xinjiang into the rest ofChina. But, despite the positive economic performances in those regions, China is stillcoping with increasing ethnic tensions.So the question is why does China still have active separatist movements thatthreaten the nation’s social stability and harmony while some other autonomies aroundthe world, like the region of South Tyrol in Italy, have solved this problem? Whileethnic and cultural diversity may be used to explain ethnic tensions, the author of thispaper argues that the rise of separatist movements is directly connected with the existingautonomy model, which forms the relationship between the center and the periphery.By analyzing four aspects of ethnic policies conducted by the central government,which are linguistic policies, economic policies, the separation of power between thecenter and the region and last but not least the religious policies, this work’s mainargument for the formation of separatist movements lies in the perception of therelationship between the two entities seen through the eyes of the periphery. Based on a cost-benefit analysis, the periphery will pursue the most rational goal, meaning that ifthe policies conducted by the central government are bringing benefits to the autonomythan the region is most likely to preserve the nation’s unity and to renounce thepossibility of founding an independent state, but if the policies of the centralgovernment are seen as not bringing any benefits, and even threatening the region’sidentity, then the region is most likely to establish a separatist movement.Using the example of South Tyrol, this work outlines the importance of acooperative relationship between the center and the region as well as the need of adecentralization process in undermining separatist movements.The aim of this work is not only to analyze the cause of separatist movements, butalso to introduce the positive example of South Tyrol to the Chinese academia and tocreate a constructive base to further improve the current autonomy model of Tibet andXinjiang.