Non-Han minorities may comprise only 9 percent of China's population, but as the violence in Tibet and simmering resentment in Xinjiang indicate, the problem is one that Beijing is unable to resolve.

At least 12 people died in China's Guizhou Province when a bus hit a guard rail and plunged more than 30 feet down the side of a steep road. Eight people were hospitalized after Sunday's crash, reported Xinhua, China's official news agency.

The chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Jia Qinglin, has called on Chinese regions with large populations of different ethnic minority groups to unite all ethnic groups for faster economic and social development.