In the mountains of southwestern China, a minority wrestles with its future
A Nuosu woman climbs the ladder up to Atulie’er, the clifftop village that has become a symbol of poverty alleviation in Liangshan. Many villagers are still struggling with poverty despite vast changes in the Chinese region.
(Bowen Liu / For The Times)
May 20, 2021 3 AM PT
MEIGU, China
Aku Wuwu spoke in an ancient tongue, his eyes closed and head lowered, one arm outstretched as he summoned the soul of a mythic hero.
“
OH … LA!!” he cried in Nuosu, the language his people had spoken for centuries deep in the mountains of southwestern China. “COME BACK!”
Photo: RFA
China declared in late November that it had officially met the target of eliminating extreme poverty by 2020, one of Communist Party chief Xi Jinping’s signature initiatives to reach the CCP s goal to build a moderately prosperous society before the party’s 100th anniversary in 2021. In a three-party series, Rita Cheng of RFA s Mandarin Service examines the impact of poverty alleviation policies on ethnic minorities.
The Yi ethnic group of southwestern China s Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, who made global headlines in 2016 when photos of children scaling an 800-meter cliff-face to get to primary school went viral, have been lifted out of their poverty-stricken status, according to the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).