As an ideology, Han chauvinism has been formed for a long time and has become a stereotype in some people's minds for thousands of years. In view of this situation, the leaders of the party and the state have never relaxed their vigilance against Han chauvinism and have always stressed their opposition to Han chauvinism. Comrade Mao Zedong has always attached great importance to opposing Han chauvinism, and put forward this view in many of his works. As early as War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression's early days 1939, he pointed out in his article "China Revolution and the Chinese Production Party": "The Chinese people of all ethnic groups are opposed to the oppression of foreign nations and want to relieve this oppression by means of resistance. They are in favor of equal alliance, not mutual oppression. " [1] This passage reveals the development law of ethnic relations in China and lays a theoretical foundation for our party to formulate correct ethnic policies. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Comrade Mao Zedong proposed in the article "On Correctly Handling Contradictions among the People" that two kinds of nationalism should be overcome in ethnic exchanges. He said that the relationship between Han people and ethnic minorities must be improved. Pointed out: "The key to this problem is to overcome Han chauvinism. Among ethnic minorities with local nationalism, local nationalism, whether Han chauvinism or local nationalism, should be overcome at the same time, which is not conducive to the unity of people of all ethnic groups. This is a contradiction among the people that should be overcome. " [2] Defining the nature of the two nationalist tendencies as contradictions among the people rather than contradictions between ourselves and the enemy has laid a policy foundation for eliminating ethnic barriers and enhancing national unity.

On the basis of a profound and comprehensive analysis of the history and present situation of ethnic problems in China, Comrade Mao Zedong put forward a viewpoint focusing on opposing Han chauvinism. Local nationalism should also be opposed, but this is generally not the point. [3] In the article "Criticizing Han chauvinism", he clearly pointed out that the class attribute of Han chauvinism "is the reactionary thought shown by the landlord class and the bourgeoisie in ethnic relations", and pointed out the importance of Marxist ethnic theory and ethnic policy education on this issue. This has pointed out the specific work policy for people to understand and then eliminate the nationalist tendency. Under the guidance of Mao Zedong's ethnic theory, the CPC Central Committee and the Central People's Government conducted two major inspections on ethnic policies in 1952 and 1956, which made the majority of Han cadres and masses generally educated on ethnic policies and overcame the ideological tendency of Han chauvinism to some extent. Other leaders of our party have also published articles and speeches many times, reaffirming the views and positions of the party and the state against nationalism. 1Comrade Zhou Enlai's speech in Qingdao in August, 957 not only pointed out once again that Han chauvinism and local nationalism belong to the nature of contradictions among the people, but also pointed out that we should oppose them on the basis of building a socialist motherland, which further deepened our understanding of the dangers of nationalism.

Second, oppose local nationalism.

The form and content of local nationalism are much more complicated than Han chauvinism. Local nationalism not only arises from the relative tendency of Han chauvinism, but also manifests itself in the great nationalism and national separatism of the local major ethnic groups against the weak ethnic groups in some cases. Historically, ethnic separatism has manifested itself in Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and Tibet. Some of them are supported by foreign organizations that don't know China's national conditions, and the most harmful ones are some international hostile forces with ulterior motives. They often use the principle of national self-determination as a weapon to attack us, aiming at subverting the socialist system and trying to return these ethnic minority areas to the social situation of class oppression and national oppression. Due to our lack of publicity and education, some cadres and the masses do not understand the Marxist viewpoints and positions on the principle of national self-determination, which virtually creates opportunities for international hostile forces to attempt to split and divide China. Therefore, it is an important part of opposing local nationalism to draw a clear class boundary of the principle of national self-determination, that is, to distinguish the difference between the principle of bourgeois national self-determination and the principle of Marxist national self-determination.

National self-determination is the first slogan put forward by bourgeois revolutionaries against feudal autocracy during the rise of capitalism. The bourgeoisie used the awakening of the people's national democratic consciousness to publicize the "talent" of national independence and equal status. Encouraged by the slogan of national self-determination, the bourgeoisie successfully overthrew the feudal autocratic regime and established a nation-state with a unified national market suitable for the development of capitalism. When they established their dominant position, they used the "sacred cloak" of national self-determination to divide and split other ethnic groups, thus achieving the purpose of aggression and division of other ethnic groups. So how to treat and exercise the right of national self-determination correctly? Marx, Engels and Lenin all pointed out the necessity of analyzing the principle of national self-determination under the premise of ensuring the interests of the proletarian struggle. Lenin once defined the right of national self-determination: "The so-called right of national self-determination means that the nation is separated from the dissident collective, that is, an independent nation-state is organized." [4] Marxists have always been in favor of this principle of national self-determination. Lenin further pointed out: "In the political sense, the right of national self-determination is only an independent right, that is, the right to be politically separated from the oppressed nation. Specifically, this kind of political democracy needs complete freedom to encourage secession and encourage separatist countries to solve the secession problem through referendum. Therefore, this requirement does not mean the requirement of separation, decentralization and the establishment of small countries. It is only a thorough expression of opposition to all ethnic oppression. " [5] On this basis, Marxism not only adheres to the principle that the proletariat should establish a centralized and unified big country, but also recognizes that the principle of national self-determination is a necessary "exception" in the general principle of national centralism. The prerequisite for the proletariat to recognize the right of national self-determination is fundamentally different from that of the bourgeoisie. The prerequisite for the proletariat to recognize the right of national self-determination is that it will not harm the interests of other nations or the interests of proletarian struggle, which is the fundamental difference. Therefore, it is necessary to make a concrete analysis of every case that requires national self-determination. Lenin pointed out: "It is absolutely not allowed to confuse the right of a nation to separate freely with the question of whether it is appropriate for a nation to separate at a certain time." [6] The bourgeoisie is accustomed to "putting forward all its political demands in an abstract and general way, from the viewpoint of the interests of the whole people, and even from the viewpoint of eternal and absolute moral principles." [7] The view that recognizing the right of national self-determination is equal to recognizing the freedom of national separation at any time is on the position of the bourgeoisie. This erroneous view is firmly opposed by the proletariat and its political parties.

In order to deal with the relationship between centralization and decentralization, national unity and national autonomy in a unified nation-state, Marxism put forward the principle of regional national autonomy. It is under the guidance of this principle that China successfully solved the problems of national autonomy and equality. After decades of practice, this principle is in line with China's national conditions. In the long history of more than 2,000 years in China, national unity is basically the mainstream, and all ethnic groups have formed political and social integration. Ignoring China's history and reality, blindly pursuing the form of national self-determination and allowing all ethnic groups to develop independently from a unified country is unrealistic and will only bring the border ethnic areas the danger of being colonized by hegemonic countries again. Therefore, Zhou Enlai clearly pointed out in his Qingdao speech in 1957: "The ethnic groups in China should not be divided."

Since the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), the Party and the state have formulated the principles and policies for ethnic work in line with Marxism and China's national conditions, and remarkable achievements have been made in ethnic work. The party and the state are gradually and effectively eliminating ethnic obstacles left over from history and continuing to improve the system of regional ethnic autonomy. China has initially formed a socialist ethnic relationship of equality, unity and mutual assistance. However, there have been setbacks and mistakes in the process of progress. At the end of 1950s, because the "Left" ideological line once occupied the guiding position of the Party and the state, some places confused two kinds of contradictions on the issue of opposing local nationalism, made serious mistakes, and caused huge losses, which is a painful lesson that will always be remembered.

The Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Party re-established all the ideological lines of proceeding from reality and seeking truth from facts and the correct guiding principles for ethnic work. The whole Party and the people of all ethnic groups in China have vigorously developed the economy along the direction of Comrade Deng Xiaoping's construction of Socialism with Chinese characteristics, further developed the exchanges between ethnic groups, increased the opportunities for mutual learning and understanding among ethnic groups, and further eliminated ethnic prejudice and ethnic barriers. However, in some places, separatist thoughts of ethnic minorities sometimes rise, and even there are activities of ethnic separatist forces. Therefore, in the new historical period of reform and opening-up, we must unswervingly and persistently carry out Marxist ethnic theory education, and at the same time improve the law on regional ethnic autonomy and other relevant laws and regulations, so that ethnic cadres and the broad masses can continuously raise their awareness of the dangers of bourgeois nationalism, thus reducing its harm to a minimum, without affecting and interfering with national unity and great unity of all ethnic groups, and without affecting the modernization of all ethnic groups. This is a long-term and important task of our national work.