An exhibition to show progress in research of the country's
ethnic minority languages opened Saturday in the Central University
of Nationalities, a major institution for the study of ethnic
languages and cultures.
"China is a unified multiethnic nation and ethnic minority
languages are valued cultural resources for the entire Chinese
nation," according to the exhibition introduction.
It said "remarkable accomplishment" has been achieved in the
use, study and development of minority languages, and a
comprehensive, trans-regional network in regulating and researching
minority languages has been formed.
The exhibition, jointly hosted by the State Ethnic Affairs
Commission (SEAC) and the Ministry of Education, runs through next
Wednesday. The event displays recent achievements in fields such as
publishing, film, broadcasting, literary translation, language
standardization, ancient book collections and calligraphy of ethnic
minorities.
Ismail Amat, a member of the Uygur ethic group and vice-chairman
of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC),
and Oyunqemag, a member of the Mongolian ethnic group and
vice-chairwoman of the NPC Standing Committee, attended the opening
ceremony.
China has 55 ethnic minorities that account for only 8.4 percent
of the population. Most of the ethnic groups live in impoverished
western regions and border areas in 10 provinces and autonomous
regions such as southwestern Yunnan, Guizhou, northwestern Xinjiang
and northern Inner Mongolia.
The SEAC said the government was recording the threatened
languages of small minority groups and offering bilingual education
to protect and rescue these groups' cultural heritage.
About 20,000 ethnic minority students each year attend
preparatory courses in Mandarin in more than 100 Chinese
universities, the SEAC statistics show.
"Culture is the soul, the root and the essence of a people,"
said Dainzhub Ongboin, vice director of the SEAC, at a press
conference in March.
?
(Xinhua News Agency November 25, 2007)