Empathy, Linked Fate and the Han-Uyghur Relations: A Survey Experiment in China

• In Event: Public Opinion and Political Trust in Post-Communist Countries

Abstract

Ethnic cleavages tend to hinder meaningful political actions, but people facing the same crisis can potentially set aside their differences. Using the case of the COVID-19 lockdown in Urumqi, Xinjiang in the summer of 2020, we examine whether Chinese citizens react differently to different messages of political dissent based on the author's ethnicity (Han or Uyghur). We designed a survey experiment in which Chinese respondents (predominantly Han Chinese) read hypothetical online posts with randomized user names and profile images that can be easily linked to the author's ethnicity. We find that our respondents did not discriminate between complaints about the government based on the author's ethnicity; instead, they were similarly sympathetic to the author's feelings. Our findings shed light on the eruption of nationwide protests against the COVID-19 restrictions in November 2022, which were ignited by an apartment fire in Urumqi, Xinjiang with most victims being Uyghur.

Authors

• Chao-yo Cheng, Birkbeck, University of London

• Jiahua Yue