China passes ethnic unity law to advance Xi’s assimilation push
The rule codifies the elevation of Mandarin Chinese in education, and bars outside interference in ethnic affairs
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[BEIJING] China adopted a law cementing Chinese President Xi Jinping’s push to assimilate the country’s ethnic minorities. This is another shift away from Beijing’s long-held policy of giving such groups at least symbolic autonomy.
More than 2,760 delegates to the National People’s Congress voted on Thursday (Mar 12) to pass the Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress law, with three opposing it and three more abstaining.
China has yet to publish the full text of the legislation, but a draft indicated it codifies the elevation of Mandarin Chinese in education, and warns against outside interference in ethnic affairs.
In a sign of its significance to top leaders, the Communist Party’s decision-making Politburo discussed the draft law in August.
The law will help “prevent and defuse major risks and hidden dangers”, Zhao Leji, China’s No 3 official, told the National People’s Congress on Mar 9.
Ethnic affairs are directly linked to national unity, the security of border regions and social stability, he said.
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For critics, the law adds to pressure on minorities across the Han Chinese-majority country.
The Foundation for Defense of Democracies said: “Along with affecting embattled ethnic minority communities across China, the law will likely further erode educational and religious freedoms within Tibet and the north-western province of Xinjiang.
“(At the same time, it provides) a veneer of legality to Beijing’s ongoing human rights abuses.”
Since taking power in 2012, Xi has tightened China’s control over ethnic minority regions, including Xinjiang, Tibet and Inner Mongolia.
The country has also subjected millions of Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang to expanded state surveillance and work programmes, which Western critics describe as forced labour.
China has denied any human rights abuse, once calling the allegations “the lie of the century”.
State media also claims that the law will be positive for minority rights, with the China Daily reporting on Thursday that the law will promote and protect ethnic languages, and ensure the use of their scripts.
But a draft submitted for final review codifies that schools and educational institutions should use Mandarin as the language of instruction, in line with the recently revised law on standard Chinese language.
The governmental moves to stop bilingual teaching and use solely Chinese in some parts of Inner Mongolia in 2020 sparked protests, with activists saying the move would erase their Mongolian identity.
Before that, the rules had already been enforced in Xinjiang and Tibet.
The provisions also stipulate that any overseas organisation or individual that endangers China’s ethnic unity and incites division will be held responsible. It does not elaborate.
The “will of the state”
Xi has prioritised the integration of restive frontier regions such as Tibet, which the People’s Republic of China annexed in 1950s, and Xinjiang, which in Mandarin means “new frontier”.
He personally led delegations to anniversary celebrations of the founding of Xinjiang and Tibet in 2025, breaking decades-old norms in which lower-level officials led such trips.
China is also investing heavily. It started the construction of a US$167 billion hydropower project in Tibet in 2025, a legacy-defining gamble for Xi as he seeks to use an economic playbook to reshape the region and project influence in South Asia.
His sweeping anti-corruption campaign has also taken down leaders from some ethnic autonomous regions, including former governors of Tibet, Inner Mongolia and Guangxi.
All three officials were from ethnic minority groups, and their purge appeared to show that Xi has stripped away the perceived immunity that top ethnic minority officials had enjoyed over past decades.
The new law is aimed at turning Xi’s idea of “forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation” into the “will of the state”, Zhao told lawmakers.
It also elevates the “successful practices” of handling ethnic affairs into legal provisions, he said.
Allen Carlson, an associate professor of government at Cornell University, said that the law makes it clear that in Xi’s China, non-Han people “must do more to integrate themselves with the Han majority, and above all else be loyal to Beijing”. BLOOMBERG
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