Scholar hails ethnic unity as part of campus life

Drawing on his field trips across many Chinese cities and towns, including multiple visits to the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Levine said harmonious ethnic relations are not limited to university campuses. During his tours, he visited relocated households lifted out of poverty, local schools and handicraft workshops. He saw multi-ethnic children studying side-by-side, households receiving new government-subsidized housing and local residents developing characteristic industries to increase household incomes.

Levine stressed that ethnic diversity serves as a valuable asset rather than a source of division. From his perspective, unlike some societies where ethnic differences are exploited to stir confrontation, China adopts a development-oriented approach. Regions with stronger economic capacity deliver joint assistance to less-developed minority-inhabited areas, pushing for shared prosperity across all communities.

Levine also cited education, driver's licenses and policing as everyday reflections of China's unity. He said students from different provincial regions and ethnic groups all grew up learning the same Chinese poems, so a single reference can be understood by everyone. "It's kind of like a shorthand. It helps you communicate," he said.

For Levine, shared systems help explain why Chinese people from various ethnic groups are used to thinking of themselves as one. Levine urged more foreigners to come to China and see the country for themselves. "Put aside any preconceived ideas … and allow China to speak for itself," he said. He added that people-to-people exchanges, especially among students who stay together over long periods, are the most effective way to build understanding.