Chinese President Xi Jinping has voiced his desire to see a wider use of Mandarin, China’s official language, across the nation’s border regions. This move has reignited fears about the potential threats to the survival of languages spoken by China’s ethnic minorities, many of which are already under threat.
The borderlands of China, which encompass five provinces and four autonomous regions, including Tibet, Xinjiang Uygur, and Inner Mongolia, are marked by a rich cultural and linguistic diversity. There has been resistance to Beijing’s efforts to merge the ethnic minorities with the dominant Han culture.
The push to promote Mandarin has been met with controversy, with critics arguing that it could undermine ethnic languages and cultural identities. “We must continue to strengthen our commitment to ethnic unity and progress, and actively foster a cohesive social structure and community environment, promoting the unity of all ethnic groups, much like the seeds of a pomegranate held tightly together,” Xi stated during a Politburo study session on Monday.
Xi further expressed that Mandarin, informally referred to as Putonghua, and its writing system should be universally adopted in the border regions. He also advocated for the full implementation of national textbooks, developed under central guidance. This information was reported in the state-run People’s Daily newspaper.
Xi stressed the importance of guiding all ethnic groups in these border regions to continually foster their appreciation of Chinese culture, the Chinese nation, and the Communist Party. He emphasized that ensuring security and stability is a fundamental necessity for border governance.
These remarks were made in the context of a broader push by the authorities to promote Mandarin education in an attempt to assimilate ethnic minorities into the predominant Han culture. This drive has seen fierce resistance in areas such as Inner Mongolia, where the introduction of Mandarin as the primary language of instruction in 2020 sparked large-scale protests, school boycotts, and demonstrations by ethnic Mongolians.
In Tibet and Xinjiang, similar policies and aggressive enforcement of Mandarin education have been met with international criticism and concern over the systematic suppression of local languages and traditions. By 2025, China’s government aims for Mandarin to be spoken and understood by 85% of the country’s total population and 80% of its rural inhabitants.
