China has passed a sweeping new law aimed at promoting “ethnic unity,” but critics warn it could further erode the rights and cultures of minority groups.
The legislation claims to foster integration among the country’s 56 officially recognised ethnic groups, dominated by the Han Chinese, through education and housing policies. In practice, however, opponents say it sidelines minority languages and traditions.
Under the new law, all children must be taught Mandarin from before kindergarten through the end of high school. Previously, students could study much of the curriculum in their native languages, such as Tibetan, Uyghur, or Mongolian.
The law was approved on Thursday as China’s annual parliamentary session—the National People’s Congress—wrapped up. This body has never rejected an item on its agenda.
“The law aligns with a broader, recent push to suppress the ethnic diversity formally recognised since 1949,” said Magnus Fiskesjö, an associate professor of anthropology at Cornell University. “The children of the next generation are now isolated and forced to forget their own language and culture.”
Beijing, however, defends the legislation, arguing that teaching Mandarin will improve employment opportunities for minority students and strengthen national cohesion. Official statements describe the law, formally titled the Law for Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress, as essential for “modernisation through greater unity.”
The law also grants authorities the power to prosecute parents or guardians who instill what it deems “detrimental” views in children that could threaten ethnic harmony. It calls for “mutually embedded community environments,” a provision analysts warn could lead to the breakup of minority-heavy neighbourhoods.
China’s push for what it calls the “sinicisation” of minority groups dates back to the late 2000s, with the goal of assimilating ethnic communities into Han culture. Han Chinese make up over 90% of China’s 1.4 billion population.
Authorities have long faced accusations of restricting minority rights, particularly in Tibet, Xinjiang, and Inner Mongolia. Critics say assimilation policies are often enforced through coercion, a trend that has intensified under President Xi Jinping, who has adopted a tougher stance on dissent and protests in minority regions.
In Tibet, for example, authorities have arrested monks and taken control of monasteries to prevent worship of the Dalai Lama. When the BBC visited a monastery that had been central to Tibetan resistance in July last year, monks spoke of fear and intimidation.
“We Tibetans are denied basic human rights. The Chinese government continues to oppress and persecute us. It is not a government that serves the people,” one monk said.
In Xinjiang, human rights organisations have reported the detention of around a million Uyghur Muslims in facilities Beijing describes as “re-education” camps, prompting the UN to accuse China of serious human rights violations.
BBC reporting in 2021 and 2022 documented evidence of these detention camps, including allegations of sexual abuse and forced sterilisation—claims that the Chinese government denies.
Meanwhile, in 2020, ethnic Mongolians in northern China staged rare protests against government policies reducing Mongolian-language instruction in favour of Mandarin. Some parents even held back their children from school to protest the move, which they saw as a threat to their cultural identity. Authorities responded swiftly to quell the demonstrations.
China’s constitution states that “each ethnicity has the right to use and develop their own language” and “have the right to self-rule,” and the Communist Party officially claims to support ethnic diversity. But critics argue the new law reinforces President Xi Jinping’s push toward assimilation.
“The law makes it clearer than ever that in Xi Jinping’s China, non-Han peoples must integrate with the Han majority and, above all, show loyalty to Beijing,” said Allen Carlson, an associate professor of government at Cornell University.
Professor Ian Chong of the National University of Singapore told the BBC that the law’s emphasis on development and prosperity “signals that minority languages and cultures are being framed as backward and obstacles to progress.”
He added that Xi’s approach positions minorities as peripheral to a “great and strong Chinese nation with a northern Han core,” raising concerns about tighter control, further erosion, and potential crackdowns on minority cultures and languages.