Promoting a central Chinese identity

The party's earlier promise that minority nationalities would be 'masters of their own house' is not formally repealed, but it is effectively hollowed out, replaced by a legal framework oriented towards forging a single zhonghua minzu (Chinese ethnicity) political community," said Prof Leibold.

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The law, consisting of 62 articles in seven chapters, states that textbooks should be developed to incorporate the idea of "the community of the Chinese nation".

Such phrasing follows Mr Xi's thinking laid out previously.

At a major speech at a top-level party conference on ethnic affairs in 2021, he stressed that in advancing the party's ethnic work, "forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation must be the central thread".

In a nod to dealing with ethnic unrest, the official explanation of the draft law also said the law "employs legal instruments to effectively prevent and resolve major risks and hidden dangers in the ethnic sphere".

Dr Tok Sow Keat, a lecturer at the University of Melbourne, said that based on his reading of the draft law, China has signalled its intention to implement a kind of national education focusing on promoting a national history, language and a central Chinese identity.