Xi Jinping consolidates power through Sinicization policies

As global attention remains focused on conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, Chinese leader Xi Jinping is consolidating domestic power and expanding global ambitions through increasingly aggressive policies.

A central component of this strategy is the policy of ‘Sinicization,’ codified in a new law regarding ‘ethnic unity.’ The policy aims to strengthen national identity and integration by mandating the use of the Mandarin language. While Beijing asserts this will improve economic prospects for minority groups, critics and human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, view it as a form of forced assimilation into a conformist monoculture.

Approximately 125 million people from 55 ethnic and religious minorities—representing about 9% of China’s population—are affected. Communities such as Tibetans, Mongols, and Uyghurs have expressed strong opposition to these measures, which they characterize as an attempt to erase their distinct languages and traditions.