China approved a new set of ethnicity laws that critics say risks further eroding the rights of minorities.
Previous laws allowed minority groups to follow their religious practices and teach their languages, albeit under careful state control. But recent outbursts of dissent in some regions including Tibet and Xinjiang prompted Beijing to crack down.
Officials have framed the new laws as necessary to promote the unification of the country’s 1.4 billion people, but opponents say the moves would in practice wipe out the language and culture of China’s more than 56 recognized groups.
While Beijing embraces the “decorative” value of minorities, the latest move suggests it intends to squash all but the majority Han ethnicity, The Economist argued.
