China National People's Congress approves Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress law mandating Mandarin education

Key facts

• The National People's Congress (NPC) of China approved the Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress law during its annual parliamentary session in Beijing.
• The legislation mandates that all children must be taught Mandarin from before kindergarten until the completion of high school.
• The law aims to promote integration among the 56 officially recognised ethnic groups, dominated by the Han Chinese who constitute over 90% of the 1.4 billion population.
• The new law provides a legal basis to prosecute parents or guardians who instil views described as detrimental to ethnic harmony in children.
• The policy is part of a broader sinicisation effort to create a unified national identity by assimilating minority groups into the dominant Han culture.
• The United Nations (UN) has previously accused the Chinese government of grave human rights violations in the Xinjiang region involving the detention of Uyghur Muslims.
• The law calls for mutually embedded community environments, which analysts suggest could lead to the restructuring of minority-heavy neighbourhoods.