China's top legislature is to review the enforcement of the Law
on Regional Autonomy for China's Minority Nationalities in 20
provinces and regions.
Four inspection teams, headed by vice chairmen of the Standing
Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), will travel to
11 provinces and regions from July to September.
The national teams have instructed the standing committees of
provincial people's congresses in nine provinces and regions which
are not covered by the national inspection scheme to carry out
their own reviews.
The review aims to help ethnic minorities solve "practical"
problems in the economic and social development of autonomous
regions and promote national unity.
It will assess assistance from the government to minority groups
and study the promulgation of local regulations in line with the
law, said NPC Standing Committee Vice-Chairman Ismail Amat.
The teams should listen carefully to the opinions and
suggestions of grassroots cadres and the people, he said.
The ethnic minorities played a crucial role in building
socialism with Chinese characteristics and the overall
implementation of the law had been satisfactory in the past 22
years, said NPC Standing Committee Vice-Chairman Wang Zhaoguo.
It was the first enforcement review since the law was passed in
1984.
China has 55 ethnic groups and its five autonomous regions are
Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in the north,
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in the
northwest, Tibet Autonomous Region in the southwest and
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the
south.
(Xinhua News Agency June 24, 2006)