Minority Rights in China

This chapter is divided into four sections. The first section seeks to provide a brief overview of the history of legal reforms in China, and underscore the changing attitude of the government to human rights. The second section identifies the groups considered minorities or ‘minority nationalities’ in China. The third section seeks to extrapolate principles of minority rights in Chinese law, drawing on the Chinese Constitution, the Law of the People's Republic of China on Regional National Autonomy, and from authoritative commentaries on the same. This is followed by various sub-sections focusing on policy and legislation over specific issues pertaining to minorities in China, such as education, religion, political participation, and economic development. The final section analyzes the remedies available and the challenges in making these effective.

Conclusion

The concluding chapter reiterates some of the main arguments presented and comments on how minority rights regimes are evolving in the specific settings selected. It sets out nuances of principles that have emerged and continue to emerge, and seeks to briefly comment on the conceptual and structural difficulties that affect the practice of the protection of the mostly impoverished minorities in Asia. It offers a series of concrete recommendations and suggestions with a view to enhancing international cooperation on the subject of minority protection in Asia.

Minority Rights in India

This chapter begins by presenting a historical background on the rights of minorities and vulnerable groups in India. It seeks to outline the role played by the British, in terms of setting out the blueprint for later reforms as well as, in the eyes of some commentators, sowing the seeds of discontent among India's population. The second section identifies the minorities in India, drawing on the constitutional enunciation of these: namely, those based on religion and language, and supplementing these with an overview of the plight of the SC/ST. The third section focuses on the substantive content of Indian minority rights law. The analysis is based on constitutional provisions (including the challenges where appropriate) and specific statutes, notably in the context of Muslim personal law. The final section highlights the remedies that exist, along with their uncertain results in accommodating and seeking to build a modern young democracy with a strong national identity, while accommodating diversity.

Minority Rights in Malaysia

This chapter examines minority rights in Malaysia. It begins with a brief narration of Malaysian history. The second section identifies the minorities, drawing on historical and sociological accounts. The third section offers an analysis of the existing laws and their effect on minority communities in the country. The final section analyzes the remedies available for challenges to minority rights violations.

Introduction

This introductory chapter discusses the primary objectives of this book, which is to contribute to the understanding of minority rights in Asia. It aims to study the domestic legal systems of four states, with a view to extrapolating the legal regimes and institutions that exist for the protection of minority rights within their jurisdictions. The four states are India, China, Malaysia, and Singapore.

Minority Rights in Singapore

This chapter examines minority rights in Singapore. It begins with an outline of the history of Singapore followed by details of the groups identified as minorities within the state. The third section studies three issues particularly germane to the discourse of minority rights in Singapore: education, religion, and political participation. The final section evaluates the remedies attempted by the government in seeking to accommodate minority rights.

Asian States, International Human Rights Law, and Minority Rights

This chapter focuses on the extent to which Asian states participate in the general UN human rights machinery. It begins by outlining the positions of Asian states with regards to human rights then discusses the notion of the so-called ‘Asian Values’ debate. This is followed by an examination of Asian states' participation in the human rights treaty and charter-based regime. The final section seeks to undertake a brief survey of the Asian states that have reported on minority rights issues, drawing on the state reports submitted to the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC) and Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD).