Skip to content
1981
image of Media and ethnic integration: Representations of Inner Mongolian minorities in Inner Mongolia Daily

Abstract

This article examines how (), a state-run Chinese newspaper, represents ethnic minority groups in the context of the bilingual education policy implemented in September 2020 in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous region of China. This policy, which emphasizes the promotion of Mandarin Chinese, reflects broader national efforts to strengthen a unified pan-Chinese identity. Anchored in media representation theory and a thematic analysis of 156 news articles, the study identifies three key themes: (1) promoting Mandarin for the ‘modernization’ of Inner Mongolians, (2) fostering ethnic integration for a unified pan-Chinese identity and (3) incorporating minority cultures into a broader Chinese narrative. The findings suggest that ’s coverage generally aligns with state narratives of ethnic integration, presenting ethnic minorities as integral members of the national community and avoiding their exoticization or marginalization. At the same time, it reveals subtle biases, including under-representation, stereotypes and the dominance of the majority group’s perspective. These findings contribute to understanding how state media construct ethnic identities and mediate cultural integration in multi-ethnic societies.

© 2025 Intellect Ltd
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/ajms_00185_1
2025-09-08
2026-04-20

Metrics

Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Ai, D. S., Baratta, A. and Stelma, J. (2024), ‘The multilingual lived experience of Mongol-Chinese in China’, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 45:9, pp. 1–16, https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2022.2116450.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Amitai, R. and Biran, M. (2014), Nomads as Agents of Cultural Change: The Mongols and Their Eurasian Predecessors, Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press, https://books.google.com.my/books?id=7VgEEAAAQBAJ. Accessed 15 October 2023.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Ayaz, B. K. Bahar (2022), ‘Analysis of the news concerning the roma minority in Bulgaria’, Journal of Selcuk Communication, 11:1, pp. 288–306, https://doi.org/10.18094/josc.336871.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Bachmann, P., Eisenegger, M. and Ingenhoff, D. (2022), ‘Defining and measuring news media quality: Comparing the content perspective and the audience perspective’, The International Journal of Press/Politics, 27:1, pp. 9–37, https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161221999666.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Baioud, G. (2023), ‘From diversity to homogeneity: Vacillating signifieds in propaganda texts in inner Mongolia’, Inner Asia, 25:1, pp. 39–48, https://doi.org/10.1163/22105018-02501004.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Baioud, G. and Khuanuud, C. (2023), ‘Yearning for a homogeneous Chinese nation: Digital propaganda campaigns after the 2020 protest in Inner Mongolia’, Central Asian Survey, 42:2, pp. 319–40, https://doi.org/10.1080/02634937.2022.2131736.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Barabantseva, E. (2012), ‘Who are “overseas chinese ethnic minorities”? China’s search for transnational ethnic unity’, Modern China, 38:1, pp. 78–109, https://doi.org/10.1177/0097700411424565.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Baranovitch, N. (2010), ‘Others no more: The changing representation of non-Han peoples in Chinese history textbooks, 1951–2003’, The Journal of Asian Studies, 69:1, pp. 85–122, https://doi.org/10.1017/s0021911809991598.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Baranovitch, N. (2022), ‘The “Bilingual Education” policy in Xinjiang revisited: New evidence of open resistance and active support among the Uyghur elite’, Modern China, 48:1, pp. 134–66, https://doi.org/10.1177/0097700420969135.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Boole, G. (1854), An Investigation of the Laws of Thought: On Which Are Founded the Mathematical Theories of Logic and Probabilities, London: Walton and Maberly, https://books.google.com.my/books?id=SWgLVT0otY8C. Accessed 10 July 2023.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Braun, V. and Clarke, V. (2006), ‘Using thematic analysis in psychology’, Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3:2, pp. 77–101, https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Braun, V. and Clarke, V. (2021), ‘Can I use TA? Should I use TA? Should I not use TA? Comparing reflexive thematic analysis and other pattern‐based qualitative analytic approaches’, Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 21:1, pp. 37–47, https://doi.org/10.1002/capr.12360.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Bulag, U. E. (2002), The Mongols at China’s Edge: History and the Politics of National Unity, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, https://books.google.com.my/books?id=g3C2B9oXVbQC. Accessed 15 October 2023.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Bulag, U. E. (2022), ‘Mandarin Chinese as the national language and its discontents’, in Southernizing Sociolinguistics, Lanham, MD: Routledge, pp. 186–205.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Cai, Z. (2021), The Han Lens: Media Representation and Public Reception of Chinese Ethnic Minorities: A Case of Ayanga, Washington, DC: Georgetown University, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, Communication, Culture & Technology, https://books.google.com.my/books?id=q4WtzgEACAAJ. Accessed 15 October 2023.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Chen, J., Zheng, H., Bei, J.-X., Sun, L., Jia, W.-h., Li, T., Zhang, F., Seielstad, M., Zeng, Y.-X., Zhang, X and Liu, Jianjun (2009), ‘Genetic structure of the Han Chinese population revealed by genome-wide SNP variation’, The American Journal of Human Genetics, 85:6, pp. 775–85, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajhg.2009.10.016.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Cheng, Y. (2015), ‘Constructing a racialized identity in post-Mao China’, in G. Wu and H. Lansdowne (eds), China’s Transition from Communism-New Perspectives, London: Routledge, pp. 162–87.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Chu, Y. (2015), ‘The power of knowledge: A critical analysis of the depiction of ethnic minorities in China’s elementary textbooks’, Race Ethnicity and Education, 18:4, pp. 469–87, https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2015.1013460.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Dhoest, A., Paulussen, S. and Panis, K. (2019), ‘Managing super-diversity on television: The representation of ethnic minorities in Flemish non-fiction programmes’, Media and Communication, 7:1, pp. 13–21, https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v7i1.1614.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Dyer, R. (2013), The Matter of Images: Essays on Representations, London: Routledge.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Fan, K. (2016), ‘Representation of ethnic minorities in socialist China’, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 39, pp. 1–17, https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2016.1179774.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Far Eastern and Russian Institute of the University of Washington (ed.) (1956), A Regional Handbook on the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, New Haven, CT: Human Relations Area Files, https://books.google.com.my/books?id=KpUyAAAAIAAJ. Accessed 3 June 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Finley, J. N. S. (2013), The Art of Symbolic Resistance: Uyghur Identities and Uyghur–Han Relations in Contemporary Xinjiang, Leiden: Brill, https://books.google.com.my/books?id=LQBBAQAAQBAJ. Accessed 15 October 2023.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Fowler, B. (1980), Hearth and Home: Images of Women in the Mass Media, New York: Oxford University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Fulton, W. and Harris, J. (2013), Representation Theory: A First Course, vol. 129, New York: Springer Science & Business Media.
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Galy-Badenas, F. and Gray, F. (2020), ‘Media coverage of Rachida Dati and Najat Vallaud-Belkacem: An intersectional analysis of representations of minority women in the French political context’, Women’s Studies in Communication, 43:3, pp. 1–21, https://doi.org/10.1080/07491409.2020.1740900.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Ge, Y. and Wang, H. (2018), ‘The representation of ordinary people: A discursive study of identities constructed in China’s news reports of social conflicts’, Discourse, Context & Media, 26, pp. 52–63, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2018.01.002.
     [Google Scholar]
  28. Gerbner, G. and Gross, L. (2017), ‘Living with television: The violence profile’, in J. Ditton and S. Farrall (eds), The Fear of Crime, London: Routledge, pp. 169–95.
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Gladney, D. C. (1994), ‘Representing nationality in China: Refiguring majority/minority identities’, The Journal of Asian Studies, 53:1, pp. 92–123, https://doi.org/10.2307/2059528.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. Gladney, D. C. (2019), ‘Representing nationality in China: Refiguring majority/minority identities 1’, in K. Yoshino (ed.), Consuming Ethnicity and Nationalism, London: Routledge, pp. 48–88.
     [Google Scholar]
  31. Global Times (2020), ‘Chinese ambassador rejects former Mongolian president’s remarks on bilingual education’, 27 September, https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202009/1201230.shtml. Accessed 15 October 2023.
  32. Grose, T. (2020), ‘If you don’t know how, just learn: Chinese housing and the transformation of Uyghur domestic space’, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 44:11, pp. 1–22, https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2020.1789686.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Habes, M., Elareshi, M. and Ali, S. (2024), ‘Media representation of ethnic minorities in Pakistani newspapers’, Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism, 26, pp. 1–20, https://doi.org/10.1111/sena.12442.
     [Google Scholar]
  34. Hannum, E. and Xie, Y. (1998), ‘Ethnic stratification in Northwest China: Occupational differences between Han Chinese and national minorities in Xinjiang, 1982–1990’, Demography, 35:3, pp. 323–33, https://doi.org/10.2307/3004040.
     [Google Scholar]
  35. Haynes, A. (2007), ‘Mass media re-presentations of the social world: Ethnicity and “race”’, in E. Devereux (ed.), Media Studies: Key Issues and Debates, Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, pp. 162–90.
     [Google Scholar]
  36. Hodkinson, P. (2016), Media, Culture and Society: An Introduction, London: SAGE Publications, https://books.google.com.my/books?id=ZCeYDQAAQBAJ. Accessed 10 October 2023.
     [Google Scholar]
  37. Holman, J. and Dharmalingam, A. (2015), ‘Representing harmony and diversity: Media representations of multiculturalism and ethnicity in Singapore’, Asian Ethnicity, 16:4, pp. 1–18, https://doi.org/10.1080/14631369.2015.1062070.
     [Google Scholar]
  38. Inner Mongolia Daily (内蒙古日报) (n.d.), ‘Homepage’, http://szb.northnews.cn/. Accessed 15 October 2023.
  39. Inner Mongolia Daily (2021a), ‘Mastering the national common language is highly beneficial’, Inner Mongolia Daily, 17 August, https://szb.nmgnews.com.cn/nmgrb/html/2025-08/22/node_1.htm?v=1. Accessed 15 October 2023.
  40. Inner Mongolia Daily (2021b), ‘Let the spirit of the war of resistance inspire us to forge ahead courageously’, Inner Mongolia Daily, 12 August, https://szb.nmgnews.com.cn/nmgrb/html/2025-08/22/node_1.htm?v=1. Accessed 15 October 2023.
  41. Inner Mongolia Daily (2021c), ‘The truth behind the United States, the so-called “beacon of human rights”, is that it is actually a “nation of trafficking”’, Inner Mongolia Daily, 20 August, https://szb.nmgnews.com.cn/nmgrb/html/2025-08/22/node_1.htm?v=1. Accessed 15 October 2023.
  42. Inner Mongolia Daily (2021d), ‘Baoshan Liao Tomb Mural: Thousand-year art treasure, recalling past times’, Inner Mongolia Daily, 17 June, https://szb.nmgnews.com.cn/nmgrb/html/2025-08/22/node_1.htm?v=1. Accessed 15 October 2023.
  43. Inner Mongolia Daily (2021e), ‘Establishing and highlighting shared symbols of Chinese culture’, Inner Mongolia Daily, 13 January, https://szb.nmgnews.com.cn/nmgrb/html/2025-08/22/node_1.htm?v=1. Accessed 15 October 2023.
  44. Jingyi, Y. (2022), ‘Preferential policies in higher education for minorities in China’, 2022 6th International Seminar on Education, Management and Social Sciences (ISEMSS 2022), Beijing, China, 15–17 July.
     [Google Scholar]
  45. Kallio, J. (2019), The Sinification of China: How the Minorities are Being Merged Into One Nation, Helsinki: Finnish Institute of International Affairs, https://books.google.com.my/books?id=gX7sxQEACAAJ. Accessed 3 June 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  46. Kam, S. and Clarke, M. (2021), ‘Securitization, surveillance and “de-extremization” in Xinjiang’, International Affairs, 97:3, pp. 625–42, https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiab038.
     [Google Scholar]
  47. Katz, N. (2023), ‘“Tell me who you are and I’ll tell you what you are”: Postcolonial theory and representations and perceptions of ethnic minority groups – The case of Mizrahim and Israeli Arabs on Israeli television’, Journal of Communication Inquiry, 49:3, pp. 312–31, https://doi.org/10.1177/01968599231177783.
     [Google Scholar]
  48. King’ori, M. O., Nyanoti, J. and Mwangi, S. (2022), ‘Media and ethnic hegemony: (mis)representation of ethnic minorities in Kenyan newspapers’, ResearchGate, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359014723. Accessed 15 October 2023.
  49. LaMuCuo, Y. (2019), Becoming Bilingual in School and Home in Tibetan Areas of China: Stories of Struggle, Cham: Springer.
     [Google Scholar]
  50. Leibold, J. and Chen, Y. (2014), Minority Education in China: Balancing Unity and Diversity in an Era of Critical Pluralism, Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, https://books.google.co.kr/books?id=ybAaAgAAQBAJ. Accessed 3 June 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  51. Liddicoat, A. J. and Kirkpatrick, A. (2020), ‘Dimensions of language education policy in Asia’, Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, 30:1–2, pp. 7–33, https://doi.org/10.1075/japc.00043.kir.
     [Google Scholar]
  52. Lin, J. C. and Jackson, L. (2022), ‘Just singing and dancing: Official representations of ethnic minority cultures in China’, International Journal of Multicultural Education, 24:3, pp. 94–117, https://doi.org/10.18251/ijme.v24i3.3007.
     [Google Scholar]
  53. Litzinger, R. (1994), Crafting the Modern Ethnic: Yao Representation and Identity in Post-Mao China, Seattle, WA: University of Washington.
     [Google Scholar]
  54. Mackerras, C. (2011), Ethnic Minorities in Modern China: Critical Concepts in Asian Studies, Abingdon: Routledge, https://books.google.com.my/books?id=5W39kQAACAAJ. Accessed 15 October 2023.
     [Google Scholar]
  55. Macphail, C., Ndimande-Khoza, M., Abler, L. and Ranganathan, M. (2015), ‘Process guidelines for establishing Intercoder Reliability in qualitative studies’, Qualitative Research, 16:2, https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794115577012.
     [Google Scholar]
  56. Moses, L. W. (1997), Introduction to Mongolian History and Culture, Abingdon: Taylor & Francis Group, https://books.google.com.my/books?id=YYz6M-qBU-EC. Accessed 3 June 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  57. O’Connor, C. and Joffe, H. (2020), ‘Intercoder reliability in qualitative research: Debates and practical guidelines’, International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 19, https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406919899220.
     [Google Scholar]
  58. Patrick, L. J. (2003), Constructing the Zhonghua Minzu: The Frontier and National Questions in Early 20th Century China, Los Angeles, CA: University of Southern California.
     [Google Scholar]
  59. Qi, N. and Cesetti, D. (2021), ‘Music of minorities: Reflections on China’, Opus, 27:1, p. 21, https://doi.org/10.20504/opus2021a2712.
     [Google Scholar]
  60. Salimjan, G. (2021), ‘Naturalized violence: Affective politics of China’s “ecological civilization” in Xinjiang’, Human Ecology, 49:1, pp. 59–68, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-020-00207-8.
     [Google Scholar]
  61. Sari, F. R, Dwi, A. and Moefad, A. (2021), ‘Media framing analysis and Islamic minority sect’, KOMUNIKA: Jurnal Dakwah dan Komunikasi, 15:2, pp. 253–65, https://doi.org/10.24090/komunika.v15i2.4790.
     [Google Scholar]
  62. Sato, T. (2022), ‘Linguistic assimilation in China: Past, present, and future’, Asian Affairs, 53:3, pp. 711–26, https://doi.org/10.1080/03068374.2022.2074727.
     [Google Scholar]
  63. Schneider, J. C. (2023), ‘How to (not) change a multi-ethnic empire into a homogenous nation-state’, in L. Zhouxiang (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Nationalism in East and Southeast Asia, vol. 108, New York: Routledge, pp. 108–21.
     [Google Scholar]
  64. Shadid, W. (2005), ‘Berichtgeving over moslims en de islam in de westerse media: Beeldvorming, oorzaken en alternatieve strategieën/Muslims and Islam in western media’, Tijdschrift voor communicatiewetenschap, 33:4, pp. 330–45, https://doi.org/10.5117/2005.033.004.330.
     [Google Scholar]
  65. Sneath, D. (2000), Changing Inner Mongolia: Pastoral Mongolian Society and the Chinese State, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  66. Sørensen, C. T. (2015), ‘The significance of Xi Jinping’s “Chinese Dream” for Chinese foreign policy: From “Tao Guang Yang Hui” to “Fen Fa You Wei”’, Journal of China and International Relations, 3:1, pp. 53–73, https://doi.org/10.5278/ojs.jcir.v3i1.1146.
     [Google Scholar]
  67. Stuart, H. (2006), ‘What is this “black” in black popular culture?’, in G. Dent (ed.), Stuart Hall, New York: Routledge, pp. 479–89.
     [Google Scholar]
  68. Topgyal, T. (2019), ‘Tsering Topgyal 1: The securitisation of Tibetan Buddhism in Communist China’, Politics and Religion, 6:2, pp. 217–49, https://doi.org/10.54561/prj0602217t.
     [Google Scholar]
  69. Tse, T. K. c. (2014), ‘Constructing Chinese identity in post‐colonial Hong Kong: A discursive analysis of the official nation‐building project’, Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism, 14:1, pp. 188–206, https://doi.org/10.1111/sena.12073.
     [Google Scholar]
  70. Uradyn, B. (2022), ‘10 Mandarin Chinese as the national language and its discontents’, in B. E. Antia and S. Makoni (eds), Southernizing Sociolinguistics: Colonialism, Racism, and Patriarchy in Language in the Global South, Abingdon: Taylor & Francis, pp. 152–63.
     [Google Scholar]
  71. Van Dijk, T. A. (2000), ‘New(s) racism: A discourse analytical approach’, in S. Cottle (ed.), Ethnic Minorities and the Media, Maidenhead: Open University Press, pp. 211–26.
     [Google Scholar]
  72. Virginia, T. G. H. N. C. V. B. (2017), ‘Thematic analysis’, in C. Willig and W. S. Rogers (eds), The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research in Psychology, vol. 2, London: SAGE Publications, pp. 17–37.
     [Google Scholar]
  73. Wu, J. (2022), ‘Representing language, culture and citizenship to minoritised ethnic groups: the teaching of Mandarin Chinese to Mongolian learners as a second language in China since 1912’, Ph.D. thesis, Nottingham: University of Nottingham.
  74. Yan, F. (2018), Re-constructing the Nation: Struggles in Portraying Minority Ethnic Groups in Chinese Mainstream History Textbooks, Cham: Springer International Publishing.
     [Google Scholar]
  75. Yan, F. and Vickers, E. (2019), ‘Portraying “minorities” in Chinese history textbooks of the 1990s and 2000s: The advance and retreat of ethnocultural inclusivity’, Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 39:2, pp. 190–208, https://doi.org/10.1080/02188791.2019.1621800.
     [Google Scholar]
  76. Yan, F. and Vickers, E. (2023), ‘Balancing unity and diversity? Shifting state policies and the curricular portrayal of China’s minority nationalities’, Comparative Education, 60:1, pp. 39–58, https://doi.org/10.1080/03050068.2023.2213139.
     [Google Scholar]
  77. Yang, S.-y. (2019), The Way of the Barbarians: Redrawing Ethnic Boundaries in Tang and Song China, Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  78. Yin, Zhiguang (2023), ‘Understanding nation with Minzu: People, race, and the transformation of Tianxia in nineteenth and twentieth centuries China’, in Z. Wang (ed.), The Long East Asia: The Premodern State and Its Contemporary Impacts, vol. 143, Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore, pp. 143–74.
     [Google Scholar]
  79. Yinbu, S. and Chuke, W. (2020), ‘Research on the emergence, evolution and identification of the concept of “Zhonghua Minzu” (Chinese nation)’, Journal of Asia Social Science, 1:3, pp. 59–72, https://doi.org/10.51600/jass.2020.1.3.59.
     [Google Scholar]
  80. Yongchun, Z. and Anran, C. (2022), ‘The earliest “China”: The concept of Zhongguo during the Xia, Shang, and western Zhou dynasties’, Journal of Chinese Humanities, 8:3, pp. 303–21, https://doi.org/10.1163/23521341-12340138.
     [Google Scholar]
  81. Yu, L. S. L. (2016), ‘Representations of Chinese minorities’, in X. Zang (ed.), Handbook on Ethnic Minorities in China, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 263–90.
     [Google Scholar]
  82. Yuezhi, Z. (1998), Media, Market, and Democracy in China: Between the Party Line and the Bottom Line, Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, https://books.google.com.my/books?id=hHkza3TX-LIC. Accessed 3 June 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  83. Zeng, L. (2023), ‘The voice within: Chinese Muslims, ethnic identity, and self-representation in Hui microfilms’, JCMS: Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, 63:5, pp. 284–308, https://doi.org/10.1353/cj.2023.a933158.
     [Google Scholar]
  84. Zenz, A. and Leibold, J. (2019), ‘Securitizing Xinjiang: Police recruitment, informal policing and ethnic minority co-optation’, The China Quarterly, 242, pp. 324–48, https://doi.org/10.1017/s0305741019000778.
     [Google Scholar]
  85. Zhang, L., Qu, J., Jie, J. and Liang, N. (2022), China’s Publishing Industry in the Era of Big Data, Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore, https://books.google.com.my/books?id=mV1qEAAAQBAJ. Accessed 15 October 2023.
     [Google Scholar]
  86. Zhao, Z. and Postiglione, G. (2010), ‘Representations of ethnic minorities in China’s university media’, Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 31:3, pp. 319–34, https://doi.org/10.1080/01596301003786928.
     [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1386/ajms_00185_1
Loading
Media and ethnic integration: Representations of Inner Mongolian minorities in Inner Mongolia Daily
Intellect ; https://doi.org/10.1386/ajms_00185_1
/content/journals/10.1386/ajms_00185_1
/content/journals/10.1386/ajms_00185_1
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Article
Keywords: Inner Mongolia Daily ; media representation ; Mandarin policy ; ethnic minority ; pan-Chinese identity ; ethnic integration

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error
Please enter a valid_number test