I refer to the letter Be fair when speaking out against racism.

To start off, I think I am qualified to speak out against the criticism of Chinese policies because I had started coming to China since 1996 on business trips and have now been living and working in China for the past five years. I hope that the writer has done the same too.

Now, to state that the Chinese government suppresses education in the minorities’ language is totally false. Go to Xinjiang, Tibet etc and you will find vernacular schools in their languages just like in Malaysia only that they are all fully-financed by the government unlike Malaysia.

There are institutes dedicated to the preservation of minorities languages and cultures. Universities give preference for them in terms of places or scholarships but they must pass the national examinations a little like Malaysia’s STPM. There is even a national institute to preserve, study and propagate the minorities’ culture.

If you look into Chinese history, the Han culture is not a ‘pure’ culture because China had been ruled by Mongolians and Manchurians. And just for your interest, there are more Han Muslims (not Uighurs) in the whole of China then there are Muslims in the whole Arabian peninsula, and definitely more than all of the Malays in Malaysia.

If you go to Xing Jian or Inner Mongolia or Tibet, you can see that even road signs are in both the Putonghua (Han) language and the local minority language. Contrast this with Umno who were already up in arms when Penang wanted to add Chinese to a few road signs in the tourist areas.

However, a nation must have a common language for its citizens to communicate and it is usually the language of the majority. There are five major races in China and 56 minorities (those that can be counted). It will be a disaster if there is no common language.

There is English in Great Britain (Irish, Scottish are distinct languages), English in the US, Russian in Russia (many minorities) etc. Therefore, what we call the mainstream is the culture of the majority population and it usually contains elements of the minorities' cultures.

All Chinese universities’ subjects are taught in Putonghua. If you learn Putonghua, you are just like any other Chinese. No favours or discrimination. No one bothers about your religion. It is a private matter. Those who complain about China having no religious freedom are those who try to impose their religion on the masses.

In my company, I have met Chinese minorities of non-describable tribes/races/religions and nobody bothers. They are just like any other Chinese so hire them if they are capable and fire them if they don’t perform. They are judged by their characters and abilities.

That is the reason why the economy of China is growing so fast and the foreign direct investment keeps coming in.

I will like to see the day that when a Chinese or Indian Malaysian is conversant or fluent in Bahasa Melayu and be treated equally like a bumiputera.

I advise the writer to come and visit and live in China for a couple of years.