On October 25, 2009, this Blog was moved to:  
http://learningchina.wordpress.com/

The law now applies to all fifty-six minorities in two areas. The first law is that an elementary education is mandatory for all children. There are no exceptions, and children under sixteen are not allowed to work.

The Tibetan minority has problems with this. Many of the old leaders in exile don’t want mandatory education for Tibetan children, because it goes against the way the Buddhist Lamas ruled a feudal Tibet prior to 1951. The National Geographic Magazine for October 1912 does an excellent job showing life in Tibet was before Mao's reoccupation. 

The second law is that all civil law must be obeyed. For example, you cannot destroy the forest or sell your children, which was once part of Chinese culture under the emperors.

China's government provides financial support to minorities under certain circumstances. Money goes toward developing the tourist potential in the minority areas and some minority people are paid a stipend to continue living in their traditional lifestyle as long as it does not violate Chinese civil laws. Tibet gets the biggest slice of this financial pie. 

If a minority person decides to leave an autonomous region, he receives monthly food coupons to help maintain a decent lifestyle. If a minority person wants to attend college, she is allowed entry over better-qualified Han Chinese students and receives financial support to succeed.

The mainstream western media seldom reports these facts about China. We mostly hear bad news and accusations without much evidence to support the claims. A recent series of pieces in American magazines reveals the real China.

I suggest you read the May/June 2008 issue of Good magazine; the May/June 2008 issue of Poets and Writers Magazine’s "Beijing Book Report", and the May 2008 issue of National Geographic Magazine.

A recent book by American photojournalist Tom Carter, China: Portrait of a People, captures the heart and soul China. He spent two years walking thousands of miles through much of China to discover the real China—not what most in the West have heard.  

It is always good to have the facts before jumping to conclusions.