China’s uniformity push could weaken global leadership

A new Chinese law on ethnic unity, language and religious controls reflect Beijing’s drive for uniformity, raising questions about its soft power.

Beijing is building global influence with factories and infrastructure, but its drive for political control and cultural uniformity may be the very factor that limits China’s ability to lead for the long haul.

China’s rise has been powered by economic reach: its manufacturing footprint is central to global supply chains. and its infrastructure ambitions extend across regions including Asia. Africa. Europe. and beyond.. Still, enduring influence depends on more than output and investment.. Soft power often rests on how a country treats political freedoms. pluralism. and cultural diversity—and on whether it can credibly cultivate multiple identities rather than flatten them.

A central illustration is China’s new “Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress,” set to take effect in July.. The law reinforces Mandarin’s role as the language of instruction in schools in regions designated as “minority” areas.. It also continues a policy shift associated with President Xi Jinping. moving away from earlier approaches aimed at preserving minority languages.. While the measure is presented as a way to strengthen national cohesion. it is also described here as marginalizing minority communities and deepening efforts to require assimilation.

That pressure for assimilation is not limited to language.. The piece points to a broader policy of “Sinicization of religion. ” under which religious institutions are expected to align with Chinese Communist Party ideology and state-defined cultural norms.. Specific examples include orders directed at churches to remove crosses from buildings and requirements that mosques change outward religious features—such as domes or minarets—to look more “Chinese.” Observance of Christmas and Ramadan is also described as being discouraged. with CCP slogans. Xi’s ideological messages. and state-approved values taking visible priority inside many religious spaces.

Nowhere. the argument goes. is the cost of forced uniformity felt more sharply than in Tibet. where the historical record of repression has been portrayed as especially severe.. The new laws are presented as part of a wider effort to consolidate political control in the Tibetan region and to reshape identity from the ground up.

Even how the region is named becomes a tool of control.. The piece notes that since 2023. official rhetoric has discouraged using the word “Tibet” in English. insisting instead on “Xizang. ” a Mandarin name for the area.. Changing a historically recognized name for a state-designated one is framed as an attempt to deny Tibetans a national identity.

Education policy is described as the lever that turns linguistic and cultural objectives into everyday practice.. China has expanded a network of state-run boarding schools in Tibetan areas. where an estimated 1 million Tibetan children are said to study away from their families—even when they come from nearby villages.. By separating children from family life and immersing them in tightly controlled institutions. the approach is said to promote cultural conformity and CCP ideology at an early age. discouraging local traditions while weakening the influence of the Tibetan language and family networks.

The piece argues that Xi sees this strategy as a decisive step toward national unity. with the decline of minority languages framed as a long-term blow to Tibetan. Uyghur. and Mongolian identities.. But it adds that historical experience complicates that assumption.. In the 1950s and 1960s. authorities attempted to eradicate Tibetan civilization by destroying nearly all monasteries and nunneries. forcibly defrocking monks and nuns. and looting or destroying a large share of Tibetan cultural artifacts.. Yet Tibetan communities rebuilt religious institutions. revived traditions. and preserved their language—suggesting that administrative policy cannot easily erase a cultural identity rooted in centuries.

The underlying question raised throughout is not only what China is doing. but why it may be underestimating the limits of its methods.. The piece suggests that China’s leadership ranks include many senior officials with engineering or technical backgrounds. which can foster a mindset that treats social problems as if they were technical issues requiring technical fixes.. In that view. approaches focused on control and uniformity can miss what the writer presents as the crucial drivers of legitimacy and influence: soft power. credibility. and genuine room for diversity.

That “technical solution” framing is also applied to China’s global development strategy.. Under the Belt and Road Initiative. some projects have delivered meaningful results. the piece notes. but others have struggled or stalled due to deficits in transparency. local participation. and governance.. The argument is that infrastructure—roads. ports. and railways—can be built. but durable partnerships depend on trust. accountability. and respect for local societies.

As China increasingly positions itself as an alternative to the West-led international order. the piece contrasts that claim with values associated with liberal democracies: freedom. pluralism. and respect for diversity.. In such systems, citizens can criticize leaders, organize protests, challenge policies, and seek court review.. The ability to criticize those in power is portrayed as a defining element of open societies.

In China. by contrast. criticism of Xi is described as carrying severe risks. including detention or imprisonment. and the piece asserts that Chinese courts do not decide against the president.. It also describes the possibility that even senior officials and generals can vanish into the CCP’s detention system. with limited information for months.

The crackdown in Hong Kong after the national security law of 2020 is cited as an example of how dissent is treated as a threat and political uniformity as a norm.. The piece references the imprisonment of prominent figures such as media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai to illustrate how opposition and independent voices can be constrained.

Together. these elements are presented as a tension at the heart of China’s global ambitions: hard power can be purchased or relied upon—countries buy goods. participate in infrastructure projects. and depend on supply chains—but that economic alignment does not automatically translate into political attraction.. For China to be more compelling internationally. the piece argues. it would need to strengthen soft power through respect for cultural diversity. accommodate different identities. and demonstrate confidence rather than control.

Basic freedoms for citizens—freedom of expression, belief, and association—are described as especially important for projecting stability and self-assurance. It also emphasizes the role of an autonomous and impartial judiciary as a foundation for the rule of law and legitimacy at home and abroad.

At its core, the piece makes a broader case that societies cannot be engineered like machines.. People, it argues, care deeply about language, religion, culture, and identity.. A political model that suppresses diversity and discourages freedom. it warns. will struggle to earn the trust needed to shape a lasting global order.

If Beijing continues to treat cultural and political uniformity as the route to cohesion, the same policies that are intended to solidify unity may also chip away at the soft power China needs for global leadership—turning a quest for influence into a self-inflicted constraint.

United States politics China policy ethnic unity law Tibet education boarding schools religious Sinicization Belt and Road soft power