Will China’s new ethnic unity law hasten the erosion of minority cultures?

The law gives legal basis to President Xi's agenda to assimilate minorities into a national identity. Read more at straitstimes.com.

BEIJING – China’s passage of a landmark national law on ethnic minority relations puts a legal stamp on President Xi Jinping’s agenda to assimilate minorities into a national identity that has accelerated in recent years.

It gives legal backing to existing practices, such as a requirement for pre-schoolers to learn Mandarin, and for students to be proficient in the language at the end of nine years of compulsory education, at age 15.

The law stresses “interaction, exchange and integration” between ethnic groups, such as through employment, tourism and study tours.

Since coming to power in 2012, Mr Xi has emphasised that ethnic identities must be subordinate to a national Chinese identity, and to the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

But the law is unlikely to lead to a faster pace of erosion of minority cultures, insofar as it means existing policies will continue.

The Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress was passed on March 12 at the annual meetings of the National People’s Congress, China’s national Parliament, in Beijing.