Refugee Review Tribunal AUSTRALIA
RRT RESEARCH RESPONSE
Research Response Number: CHN31326 Country: China Date: 7 February 2007
Keywords: China – Naxi minority – Arrest Warrants
This response was prepared by the Country Research Section of the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the RRT within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
Questions
1. Question deleted.
2. Could you provide information on the Naxi ethnic group in China and whether this group has been persecuted because of its ethnicity?
RESPONSE
1. Question deleted.
2. Could you provide information on the Naxi ethnic group in China and whether this group has been persecuted because of its ethnicity.
Profile Naxi ethnic group (also Nakhi, Nasi, Nahsi, Nachi)
The Naxi or Nakhi are an ethnic group inhabiting the foothills of the Himalayas in the northwestern part of Yunnan Province, as well as the southwestern part of Sichuan Province in China. They are one of the fifty-six ethnic groups officially recognized by the People’s Republic of China. According to the Wikipedia article (‘Nakhi’ 2007 Wikipedia, updated 23 January http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naxi – Accessed 7 February 2007 – Attachment 6):
• there are 300,000 Naxi;
• Related ethnic groups are Tibetans, Qiang, Mosuo;
• Their religions are Dongba, Tibetan Buddhism and Taoism.
• The official Chinese government classification classes the Mosuo as part of the Nakhi people. However, despite similar origins and very striking resemblances from a linguistic point of view, the two groups are now culturally distinct, the Naxi more influenced by Han Chinese culture, the Mosuo more influenced by Tibetan culture.
A profile of the Naxi is attached (Hattaway, P. 2003, Operation China: Introducing All the People of China, p.395: ‘Naxi’, Asia Harvest website http://www.asiaharvest.org/pages/profiles/china/chinaPeoples/N/Naxi.pdf – Accessed 7 February 2007 – Attachment 7). This notes:
• More than 270,000 Naxi live in northern Yunnan province, especially in Lijiang Country … Small numbers of Naxi also live in Sichuan province and possibly in Myanmar.
• The Naxi migrated from Tibet over 1,000 years ago
The Naxi community are centred on Lijiang Autonomous Naxi County (Lijiang Naxizu Zizhixian – 丽江纳西族自治县) in Yunnan (See map at Attachment 13). For a profile of Lijiang and more on the Naxi see ‘Lijiang Ancient City’ 2006, China Study Travel website http://www.studytravelchina.com/travels/lijiang.htm – Accessed 7 February 2007 – Attachment 8. Lijiang is over 300 km northwest of the capital of Yunnan province, Kunming where the Applicant lived, and about 250 km from the current border of Tibet.
Reports of treatment of members of Naxi community by the authorities
No reports were found in the sources consulted of any mistreatment or arrests of Naxi people, nor of any political action taken by members of the Naxi community.
Davis briefly notes that the Naxi are one of a number of minority groups in Yunnan who “behave well”, by never engaging in open critique of state policy and never demanding genuine autonomy or independence, and are rewarded for their loyalty by the authorities. Davis continues“These rewards may include economic prosperity, flattering depictions and praise in official media, and a little extra political and social space on the ground” (Davis, S. 2005, ‘Minorities: China’s Contested Ethnic Borders’, Far Eastern Economic Review, 18 November – Attachment 9).
Links between the Naxi and the Dalai Lama
Sources indicate that some, but not all, Naxi may follow Tibetan Buddhism and the Dalai Lama. The profiles of the Naxi above (‘Nakhi’ 2007 Wikipedia, updated 23 January http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naxi – Accessed 7 February 2007 – Attachment 6; Hattaway, P. 2003, Operation China: Introducing All the People of China, p.395: ‘Naxi’, Asia Harvest website http://www.asiaharvest.org/pages/profiles/china/chinaPeoples/N/Naxi.pdf – Accessed 7 February 2007 – Attachment 7) note the historical connection of the Naxi to Tibetan culture and religion, although both note the importance of the indigious Dongba religion and Taoism. No study was found to indicate the number of Naxi who today follow Tibetan Buddhism and the Dalai Lama.
A report from the International Campaign for Tibet claims:
Historically, too, several communities in China have found spiritual solace in Tibetan Buddhism. Communities like the Muosuo tribe, the Mongols or the Naxi people even today follow a form of Tibetan Buddhism and identify closely with the Tibetan people. (International Campaign for Tibet 2003, ‘Chinese Journal Analyzes Spread of Tibetan Buddhism in Chinese Community’, 30 September http://www.savetibet.org/news/newsitem.php?id=515 – Accessed 7 February 2007 – Attachment 10).
In 2003, a Tibetan delegation representing the Dalai Lama visited China and met Naxi representatives:
The Dalai Lama had sent Gyari and Kelsang Gyaltsen as special envoys, along with two senior assistants, to Beijing. Gyari said the second visit by the Tibetan-government-in-exile representatives to China was aimed at broader understanding of the situation in the country through meetings with Chinese officials. Observers of Tibetan politics said that one of the objectives of the delegation’s tour was to pave the way for a possible visit by the Dalai Lama. They had had the opportunity to meet Chinese Buddhist leaders and visit Buddhist holy sites. The delegation met Tibetan officials in Yunnan, where they also spoke to representatives of ethnic minorities from the Yi, Naxi (Jang), and Bai nationalities who have close links with the Tibetan people. Gyari said the visit gave them an opportunity to tour the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Yunnan. “We have been greatly impressed by the economic and social changes in the areas that we visited,” he added. (‘Dalai Lama wants to visit China if relations improve’ 2003, Agence France Presse, 13 June – Attachment 11).
Reports of this visit are also available on websites run by Tibetan independence groups, such as the Tibetan Government in Exile (at http://www.tibet.com/NewsRoom/delegation2.htm) and the International Campaign for Tibet (at http://www.savetibet.org/news/newsitem.php?id=437).
Apart from reports of this visit and the brief mention of the Naxi in Attachment 10 above, no other mention of the Naxi were found on the websites run by Tibetan independence groups, listed in the sources below.
No reports were found of Naxi people who supported the Dalai Lama or the Tibetan independence movement.
In 2006, we attempted to find information on the attitude of the PRC Government to persons who support freedom in Tibet, but found no information (Question 3 of RRT Country Research 2006, Research Response CHN30199, 29 May - Attachment 12).
List of Sources Consulted
Internet Sources: International News & Politics BBC News website http://news.bbc.co.uk/ Region Specific Links The Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama http://www.dalailama.com/ Tibetan Government in Exile’s Official Web Site http://www.tibet.com/ Free Tibet Campaign http://www.freetibet.org/ Tibet Online / Tibet Support Group http://www.tibet.org/ International Campaign for Tibet http://www.savetibet.org/ Search Engines Google search engine http://www.google.com.au/
Databases: FACTIVA (news database) BACIS (DIMA Country Information database) REFINFO (IRBDC (Canada) Country Information database) ISYS (RRT Country Research database, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, US Department of State Reports) RRT Library Catalogue
List of Attachments
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6. ‘Nakhi’ 2007 Wikipedia, updated 23 January http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naxi – Accessed 7 February 2007
7. Hattaway, P. 2003, Operation China: Introducing All the People of China, p.395: ‘Naxi’, Asia Harvest website http://www.asiaharvest.org/pages/profiles/china/chinaPeoples/N/Naxi.pdf – Accessed 7 February 2007
8. ‘Lijiang Ancient City’ 2006, China Study Travel website http://www.studytravelchina.com/travels/lijiang.htm – Accessed 7 February 2007
9. Davis, S. 2005, ‘Minorities: China’s Contested Ethnic Borders’, Far Eastern Economic Review, 18 November (Factiva).
10. International Campaign for Tibet 2003, ‘Chinese Journal Analyzes Spread of Tibetan Buddhism in Chinese Community’, 30 September http://www.savetibet.org/news/newsitem.php?id=515 – Accessed 7 February 2007
11. ‘Dalai Lama wants to visit China if relations improve’ 2003, Agence France Presse, 13 June (Factiva)
12. RRT Country Research 2006, Research Response CHN30199, 29 May
13. ‘Lijiang’ map from Microsoft Encarta CD-ROM.