Politics · Tibet · ArchiveChina’s New Law Relegates Tibetan — But Protects “Decorative Folklore”Aired August 5, 2026 at 7:14 PM UTCWritten September 7, 2026 at 9:22 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00China's new ethnic unity law came into0:02force on July 1st, 2026. [music] And0:04with it, Tibetan was formally relegated0:06to a secondary language behind Mandarin.0:08The law also prohibits cultural0:10expressions deemed [music] to promote0:11separatism. A Tibetan resident told0:13France 24 that at home she speaks0:16Tibetan [music] because her parents and0:17older relatives don't understand0:19Mandarin. At school, she switches to0:21Mandarin because her classmates come0:22from different regions and speak0:24different dialects.0:31A historian of Tibet warns the law risks0:33reducing Tibetan and other non-Han0:35Chinese cultures to what he calls0:37decorative folklore. He says the parts0:39of culture authorities are willing to0:40protect [music] are harmless clothing,0:43certain non-religious celebrations,0:45dancing performances, and some artwork.0:47Language, [music] the vessel that0:48carries everything else, is not on that0:50list. Beijing tells a different story.0:52The law, it says, will give Tibetans0:55more access to education and job0:56opportunities, and ethnic minorities are0:59protected. But on the streets of Lhasa,1:00[music] France 24 reports, there is no1:03local flag flying alongside the Chinese1:05one, [music] and constant reminders of1:07Communist Party rule. The contradiction1:08is visible. Critics see the same pattern1:10that earlier measures applied to1:12regional variants of Chinese, weakened,1:14then absorbed, [music]1:15now being aimed at languages that are1:16not variants of Mandarin at all. What1:18remains unresolved more than a month1:20after the law took effect [music] is1:22whether Tibetan culture will be1:23preserved only as performance while the1:25language that carries its meaning is1:26quietly starved of the institutional1:28oxygen it needs to survive another1:30generation.Explore with HeyDexThe shortThe short ↗