576 Where the “Chinese” Are Herding Yaks Jarmila Ptáčková “The Chinese there are herding yaks…” This way of describing the pastoralists on the Tibetan Plateau rangelands from the documentary entitled China’s Wild West, a 2017 production of German Bilderfest, 1 could cause many viewers to ask, “so where did the Tibetans go?” The description does not, however, refect a large mi- gratory event; it stands for a growing infuence of the Han Chinese on the High Plateau that used to be the domain of the Tibetans. And although its use in this documentary might have occurred unintended, 2 such phrases correspond to a change in Chinese ethno-political strategy, which has shifted from promotion of a multi-ethnic China to promotion of a “unifed nation of China’s peoples” (Ch. Zhonghua minzu 中华民族). 3 The herders are thus still the same Tibetans, but they should now emphasize their afliation as Chinese citi- zens instead of their ethnic identity. 4 The concept of Zhonghua minzu is not new. It was frst developed during the Qing dynasty and referred only to the Han people. The various ruling regimes of the 20th century then expanded this theoretical concept to include all ethnic groups within the administered area. 5 The current leadership of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), however, seems to aim at accomplishing the realization of the Zhonghua minzu ideology in practice across the whole geographical territory, forcing the en- tire population of the PRC to recognize a common afliation to the Chinese state, and embrace a new interpretation of a common Chinese history as well as a shared future embodied in the ideals of the Chinese Dream (Ch. Zhongguo meng 中国梦) envisioned by the PRC’s president Xi Jinping. 6 China’s dream of the rejuvenation of the great Chinese nation should now suc- ceed the so-called “century of humiliation”. 7 China is back as one of the leaders on the global stage and its sovereign position, acknowledged by the world, should also be consolidated at home, through the unity of all its citizens standing entirely 1 In this document, I am referring to the Czech version of the documentary, screened on 9 April 2019 under the title Divoký západ Číny on Prima Zoom. 2 Email correspondence with Jan Kerckhof, director of the document China’s Wild West, October 2020. 3 The common translation of the term Zhonghua minzu is “Chinese nation”. 4 This research was kindly funded by a Lumina Quaeruntur fellowship of the Czech Academy of Sci- ences. 5 See, for example, Zeng 2015. 6 See also Leibold 2013. 7 Wang 2014.