this post was submitted on 13 Mar 2026
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China has approved a sweeping new law which claims to help promote "ethnic unity" - but critics say it will further erode the rights of minority groups.

On paper, it aims to promote integration among the 56 officially recognised ethnic groups, dominated by the Han Chinese, through education and housing. But critics say it cuts people off from their language and culture.

It mandates that all children should be taught Mandarin before kindergarten and up until the end of high school. Previously students could study most of the curriculum in their native language such as Tibetan, Uyghur or Mongolian.

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[–] fushuan@lemmy.blahaj.zone 114 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (7 children)

I'm Basque, we are "forced" to learn Spanish too since it's a co-official language in out autonomous region of Spain.

This post might sound alarming to monolingual people, but for any multilingual that had to learn both official languages AND english, watching people complain about schools requiring extra languages is embarrassing.

Unless I'm misunderstanding the post, it doesn't imply that most lectures need to be in Mandarin, only that the kids need to be taught the language, right?

Edit: I read the post. The language thing doesn't matter, what's alarming is actually this:

The law also provides a legal basis to prosecute parents or guardians who may instil what it described as "detrimental" views in children which would affect ethnic harmony and it calls for "mutually embedded community environments".

If it were actually about language and communication, that bit wouldn't be there.

[–] ieGod@lemmy.zip 41 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

There are restrictions on teaching the Tibetan language. This seems like an authoritarian move, not an educational one.

https://thetibetpost.com/news/tibet/china-imprisons-tibetan-monk-for-six-years-for-teaching-tibetan-language

[–] Riverside@reddthat.com -5 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Imagine quoting "the Tibet post" seriously, an Indian tabloid whose official stance is the defense of the "Tibet government in exile". This would be like using a Russian-based "Marie Antoinette post" defending monarchy in France as the legitimate system.

[–] ieGod@lemmy.zip 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/22/activist-sentenced-to-five-years-in-prison-for-promoting-tibetan-language

How do you feel about the guardian? I concede I didn't vet the original link, but if you need to use "imagine" as an argument you aren't capable of the very critical thinking you're criticizing.

[–] Riverside@reddthat.com 1 points 2 days ago

Two circular links in The Guardian without primary sources. I wonder why Zionist media would lie to me about China!

[–] M137@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Firstly, they didn't quote anything. Secondly, it's very clear what they said is true no matter what they linked as proof of that. As per the other reply and if you'd have taken a few minutes to look up what other articles have said, it's not wrong. I agree that it wasn't a good choice but you're apparently dumb enough to think that absolutely anything reported/said by something or someone bad must be untrue. Everything, no matter who and where it comes from should be looked at through facts and not "bad person/thing said something so it's automatically untrue".

[–] Riverside@reddthat.com 1 points 2 days ago

Secondly, it's very clear what they said is true

Source: Zionist media that would totally not lie to me

As per the other reply and if you'd have taken a few minutes to look up

Go ahead, tell me what's the trend of Uyghur speakers in China versus Occitan speakers in France. Give me the fucking hard data if it's so obvious

you're apparently dumb

No need for ableism

absolutely anything reported/said by something or someone bad must be untrue

"Noooo how could the Zionist war machinery be lying to me :(((("

Everything, no matter who and where it comes from should be looked at through facts

Facts: pre-communist Tibet was a literal feudal kingdom in which Tibetans were serfs legally bound to the lands of their lord, with outrageously low life expectancy, close to zero literacy, amd massive poverty. Now it's a thriving province in a multiethnical country and even has a higher degree of autonomy under the Chinese system due to belonging to the Tibet Autonomous Region. You're quoting the fucking spiritual heir or Buddhism, not any fucking serious source

[–] Undvik@fedia.io 12 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Catalan here, always funny to see monolinguals be shocked when China does it but turn around and see nothing wrong with Spain imposing Spanish to all its regions in the same way

[–] mrbutterscotch@feddit.org 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Does Spain prosecute Parents that teach about catalan?

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

If Spain doesn't get in line on the Iran War, I'm confident we're going to start getting stories about how we need to liberate Catalonia soon enough

[–] PapaStevesy@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Except they literally won't allow non-Mandarin families to teach their own cultures' languages or histories. That's not something I read second hand either, that's from talking one-on-one with a Uyghur linguist that was given special recognition by an international linguistics organization for his efforts to save the language.

[–] fushuan@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 2 days ago

Yeah, I covered that in the edit. That's horrible and alarming.

[–] whotookkarl@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 3 days ago

It's rarely about the actual letter of the law and more about the vague wording and standards that allow it to be enforced in a bigoted way.

[–] Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 8 points 4 days ago

I think it varies in parts of Xinjiang, but in at least part of it, along with most of the rest of China, most school instruction is in Mandarin.

Everyone still speaks their native languages, but they speak mando to chinese from other places. The kids know a few english phrases too for some reason.

[–] Riverside@reddthat.com -1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I'm Basque, we are "forced" to learn Spanish too since it's a co-official language in out autonomous region of Spain

All co-official languages of the Spanish state are co-official in all of the state, this is state policy and not just in specific autonomous regions.

Your critique comes from a good place as a people whose culture and language have a history of repression under fascism, but you need to understand that the history of China is the polar opposite of that: the communists won the civil war against the fascist Kuomintang. They've had and still enjoy a level of cultural diversity unseen anywhere in Europe for the past century, especially Spain as I say because of our fascist history.

Trying to extrapolate the centralist repressive policy of Spain to a country as different, huge and diverse and China is simply bad analysis based on unfortunately wrong starting points. As a silly example, ethnic minorities in China were exempt from single-child policy.

If you want an Uyghur person's perspective on this, I suggest you watch this short video. Please listen to actual minority voices within China instead of listening we western-manufactured hate campaigns.

[–] fushuan@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

You didn't read past my first paragraph man. You completely misunderstood the point I was making in the first half of the comment. I'm clearly making a similarity to then expand by saying that I don't feel like it's a problem for the official language to ALSO be learnt, and that for any multilingual person such a thing being complained about sounds silly.

[–] Riverside@reddthat.com 1 points 2 days ago

Your "alarming edit" is the thing I'm mainly responding to. What do you have to say to that Uyghur national?

[–] ammonium@lemmy.world 0 points 3 days ago

Unless I’m misunderstanding the post, it doesn’t imply that most lectures need to be in Mandarin, only that the kids need to be taught the language, right?

You are misunderstand it (and the BBC article is also very unclear about it). Learning Mandarin was already mandatory, it's now about making Mandarin the default.