From Economic Development to Securitization: A Comparison Between Two PRC-Era Language Policies

This paper investigates the shift in the People's Republic of China's (PRC) language planning from a model of linguistic pluralism to one of securitization. While the early PRC adopted a Soviet framework that protected minority languages, the 21st century has seen a pivot toward the "National Common Language" (Putonghua) as a prerequisite for national security and social stability. While linguistic unification has been observed across the world, it is the unique trajectory of Chinese language law that has drawn me to this particular case. Performing a comparative analysis of the 2000 "Law on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language" and its 2025 amendment, this study argues that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has moved from viewing language as a tool for economic development and modernization to treating it as an instrument of existential survival. Through comparing the different versions of the article and the contexts in which they were implemented, the paper illustrates how the codification of legal liability in national-level language policy suppresses ethnic autonomy and enforces a singular national identity.