"God Is a Drug": Han-Hui relations and regime legitimation in the Xi Jinping Era

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) stresses the regime’s role in presiding over the unity of China’s minzu and their shared stake in China’s prosperity. However, an examination of the quality of interactions between Han and ethnic minorities illustrates the regime’s vulnerability to counterclaims based on these lived experiences. This paper conducts a case study of Han-Hui relations to argue that physical separation between Han and Hui prevents the two groups from interacting in ways that transmit substantive knowledge about the differences between the groups. Instead, interactions perpetuate stereotyes and distrust. By continuing to push narratives centered around unity of all groups and shared family relations, the state highlights