To Counter Beijing, Try a ‘Many Chinas' Policy

Wall Street Journal

3 days ago

Most American foreign-policy experts fundamentally misunderstand China. They think of it as a singular, homogeneous country, when in reality it is a patchwork of linguistic, cultural, religious, and political identities, often defined by centuries of uneasy tension. These fissures extend beyond ethnic minorities such as Tibetans and Uyghurs. Significant divisions exist within the Han majority, which includes groups whose local dialects are mutually unintelligible. The central government is affected by rivalries among these competing factions.
The Cantonese, centered between Hong Kong and Guangzhou, are an economic juggernaut. Yet they are the most underrepresented of all major Han subgroups in the senior ranks of the Communist Party and the People's Liberation Army. Northern Chinese, including the current party and military leadership, have long distrusted the Cantonese as rebellious and disloyal.