The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on Wednesday implemented a multi-chapter law aimed at regulating the cultural, religious, and linguistic traditions of ethnic minorities under the guise of enforcing Chinese “national unity.”
The “Law of the People’s Republic of China on Promoting National Unity and Progress,” which was passed in March, outlines a legal framework under which all Chinese citizens and institutions are required to “safeguard national unity and the solidarity of all ethnic groups in the country.”
Members of China’s 55 government-recognized ethnic minorities, which include the Uyghur and Tibetan peoples, make up just under 9% of the population. The rest of the population, approximately 91%, is ethnically Han Chinese according to Chinese census data collected in 2020.
Ethnic minorities required to teach children to ‘love’ CCP
In addition to mandating individuals to uphold ideologies such as Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought, the statute additionally stated that parents belonging to ethnic minorities must “educate and guide minors to love the Communist Party of China,” prohibiting and criminalizing them from sharing with children any ideas deemed by the CCP as “detrimental to national unity and progress.”
To prevent the spread of what the law stated were “detrimental” ideas among ethnic minorities, it outlined that the CCP will “guide” ethnic minorities to hold state-established “correct views” on religion, culture, history, and the party itself.
While the law purports that it will protect minority religious and cultural practices, such as the freedom of marriage, the statute asserts that the government will promote “the transformation of customs and habits” in pursuit of instilling CCP-determined “good customs” in the daily lives, social interactions, weddings, and funerals of members of ethnic minority groups.
In line with the government-guided customs outlined in the text of the statute, the document detailed that all minority religious institutes are required to “guide religion to adapt to socialist society” and “adhere to the of Sinicization of religion in China.”
Followers of minority religions, the law stated, must be guided to advance the tradition of Chinese patriotism and social harmony.
The law also cemented the dominance of Mandarin Chinese over minority languages, requiring all educational institutions to teach the “national common language” as the default.
While the statute allows for minority languages to be included alongside Mandarin in official documents when absolutely necessary, the CCP emphasized that text provided in Mandarin Chinese must be prioritized in terms of position and order.
Violators of law may be persecuted, face penalties
If any organization or individual within Chinese territory is found to have violated any provisions of the law, the CCP asserted that they may be held criminally liable and persecuted or face public security administration penalties.
The Chinese government stated in the text of the law that it resolutely opposes any efforts to undermine national unity “under the pretext of ethnicity, religion, or human rights” and any potential acts of what it described as the sabotage of “harmonious socialist ethnic relations.”
The legal liability outlined in the newly implemented statute has raised concerns regarding wider freedom to criticize the CCP due to a clause asserting that the law also applies to organizations or individuals outside of Chinese territory accused of engaging in acts judged by the CCP to undermine national unity or create division.
