Allies of Convenience

Abstract This study examines a group of non-Han politicians who advocated for ethnicity-based representation in the Republic of China's (1912–49) topmost legislative and executive bodies. Published sources and archival material indicate that politicians of different non-Han ethnic groups collaborated and competed with each other to pressure the Chinese Nationalist government (1925–49) to adopt the image of a multiethnic China. This article focuses on activists of several non-Han groups in Southwest China who engaged in political campaigns against more prominent non-Han ethnicities and each other for political representation. As they alternated between competition for seats in the National Assembly and collaboration to advance favorable policies, these politicians demonstrated significant agency and dexterity in determining their own ethnic and cultural identities as well as the prospects of the Chinese state and nation. The authors also trace the transformations of the term Frontier Ethnicities (Bianjiang minzu) from a tool to further the Han assimilationist agenda to an important ethnic and electoral unit. As non-Han politicians interrogated this term in their campaigns for representation, they developed elaborate narratives on their own and others’ ethnic identities. This term also fostered a shared identity among many non-Han politicians, facilitating coordinated actions on the national level.