by Ellen Peters - Regional Leader (Middle Asia)

Published in our quarterly magazine "Xpress" in September 2006

I tried to distract my friend’s child as the enraged driver snatched up a crowbar and jumped off our minibus. A mob was already pouring into the remaining spaces around the unfolding scene to see who would win this contest between a Chinese driver and a minority man whose bicycle had been bumped by our bus. Some of the bystanders seemed edgy; others, eager for a good fight—ready to jump in at the slightest provocation.

Angry flare-ups aren’t that surprising in minority areas of China. Many minority people hate the Chinese, resentful that they aren’t given more privileges and freedoms; and Chinese sometimes look down on them as backward and uncultured. The anger often simmers just below the surface, until some incident turns up the heat, causing it to boil over into a violent eruption.