I frankly have some criticisms about the Chinese policies toward non-Mandarin languages, but I do understand why they promote Mandarin as the national. I feel like some of these comments come from Americans who aren't exactly used to the fact that a huge portion of the world regularly uses more than one language.
They aren't phasing out Uyghur at all, just promoting bi-lingualism...I guess ESL classes that are mandatory for immigrants in public school are cultural genocide now.
This is more or less what I'm saying, it's just that they have overstepped a bit in the past imo. Nothing for anyone to be up in arms about, it'd be something for the Chinese people to fight for themselves (which they did in Guangdong). The whole conversation is really idealism anyway, so who gives ya know?
I agree, but that's the territory we're in right now. This is a problem that is solved internally and there's no reason for people who aren't there to even think about it. No one's threatening sanctions against the US for ESL programs and most of the people criticizing China for "cultural genocide" would defend ESL in the same breath (I've seen some even defend the Native American schools).
What's even better is that the language learning programs in China aren't madatory anymore, just highly promoted.
I frankly have some criticisms about the Chinese policies toward non-Mandarin languages, but I do understand why they promote Mandarin as the national. I feel like some of these comments come from Americans who aren't exactly used to the fact that a huge portion of the world regularly uses more than one language.
They aren't phasing out Uyghur at all, just promoting bi-lingualism...I guess ESL classes that are mandatory for immigrants in public school are cultural genocide now.
This is more or less what I'm saying, it's just that they have overstepped a bit in the past imo. Nothing for anyone to be up in arms about, it'd be something for the Chinese people to fight for themselves (which they did in Guangdong). The whole conversation is really idealism anyway, so who gives ya know?
Making them mandatory isn't genocide, but it's certainly assinilationism and something that the American left had been criticizing for a long time.
I agree, but that's the territory we're in right now. This is a problem that is solved internally and there's no reason for people who aren't there to even think about it. No one's threatening sanctions against the US for ESL programs and most of the people criticizing China for "cultural genocide" would defend ESL in the same breath (I've seen some even defend the Native American schools).
What's even better is that the language learning programs in China aren't madatory anymore, just highly promoted.