China expands initiative to stamp out Western bias in ethnic studies

China has expanded an initiative to create a new academic discipline that aims to stamp out Western bias in ethnic studies as Beijing works to consolidate its narrative on a unified national identity.

The State Council, China’s cabinet, granted 15 more universities approval to set up study programmes in “community for the Chinese nation”, a field of study first launched at Beijing’s Minzu University of China last year, according to state news agency Xinhua on Monday.

The new discipline takes its name from a phrase coined by President Xi Jinping more than a decade ago.

The 15 universities approved to create the study programmes span the country. They include Renmin University of China in Beijing, Xinjiang University, Southwest Minzu University in Sichuan province, Yanbian University in the northeastern province of Jilin, and Inner Mongolia Normal University.

The interdisciplinary field breaks down the boundaries between Marxist theory, philosophy, history, ethnology, sociology, and other disciplines, according to Xinhua.

Pan Yue, China’s top ethnic policy official, said the field aimed to “transcend the limitations of Western ethnological theories, and use independent, original Chinese theories to interpret China’s history, its development path, and its civilisation”.

South China Morning Post