Iran鈥檚 President, a law last month that adds Chinese to the list of foreign languages that can be taught in Iranian middle and high schools.
This move comes at a time when there is great sensitivity about teaching Western languages in Iran. English is especially stigmatized as a conduit for the West鈥檚 鈥�.鈥� After Supreme Leader criticized the teaching of English in 2016, Iran imposed a at primary schools. The endorsement of the Chinese language as an alternative builds upon that.
Yet the expansion of Mandarin Chinese and its inclusion in school curricula is not limited to Iran. It is occurring all over the Middle East, not as a purely cultural or even economically driven measure. Rather, it is part of a new China-led civilizational, cultural and geopolitical genesis.
Sinification is nothing new. It is a process by which non-Chinese societies or groups are acculturated or assimilated into the language, culture, and social norms of the Han Chinese, the largest ethnic group in China. Yet large-scale Sinicization as an expansionist policy is the modern invention of President Xi Jinping.
Under Xi鈥檚 rule, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has stepped up measures to spread standard Mandarin at home and abroad as an instrument of soft power and political influence. Driven by Chinese nationalism, the Xi regime is seeking to assimilate and Sinicize ethnic minorities within China by actively seeking to eradicate the language and culture of Turkic Uyghurs in East Turkestan, Mongol residents of Inner Mongolia, and Tibetans. This is part of a broader plan to consolidate power that includes the complete subjugation of Hong Kong, the conquest of Taiwan, and the conversion of the South China Sea .
But the PRC鈥檚 language imperialism is not limited to China鈥檚 current boundaries. Beijing is also Sinifying the Middle East and other parts of the world at an unprecedented pace. Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey have taken significant steps to incorporate the Chinese language into their educational systems.
In addition to banning and adding , Tehran has also kept in place its longstanding ban on languages of non-Persian ethnic groups in the country. It has , a language spoken by more than one-third of its population, even . Yet the Iranian regime is not concerned about spreading Mandarin and funding Chinese language courses.
Investment in the Chinese language in Iran has little to do with linguistic or cultural exchange and everything to do with geopolitics. Some high-ranking Iranian clerics go as far as to absurdly that relations between China and Iran are based on God鈥檚 commandments in the Quran.
The Islamic Republic even supports the Chinese communists鈥� genocide against Muslims in Xinjiang, arguing that China is serving Islam by Uyghur Muslim radicals. And the Iranian news outlet affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps even that a Uyghur genocide is happening at all 鈥� it鈥檚 all just American propaganda, intended to weaken China鈥檚 territorial integrity, incite ethnic division and slow Chinese economic growth.
Following President Joe Biden鈥檚 promise to make Saudi Arabia a , and three years after Mohammed bin Salman鈥檚 2019 Asia tour, the Saudi government has developed a strategic and economic partnership with China. It has elevated the status of Chinese as the country鈥檚 after Arabic and English.
King Saud University has an agreement with the Confucius Institute to establish a Chinese language department. The University of Jeddah has made it irrespective of their major. In December 2021, the number of high schools that teach the Chinese language skyrocketed to over 700 in total. Saudi Arabia鈥檚 state-owned media refer to Chinese as the 鈥�.鈥�
Undoubtedly, the Saudi government鈥檚 substantial investment in , driven by a desire to fulfill its comprehensive Saudi Vision 2030 program. This program is a strategic framework to reduce Saudi dependence on oil and diversify the kingdom鈥檚 economic and security partners.
Meanwhile, Turkey鈥檚 growing ties with China have generated a keener interest among Turks in learning the Chinese language and culture. As in other parts of the Middle East, Chinese is in popularity in Turkey as a second language.
Confucius Institutes are positive perceptions of China in the Muslim world, within Turkey at Yeditepe University, one of Istanbul鈥檚 leading private universities.
China has even managed to cultivate a pro-Chinese Communist Party base in Turkey. Maoist Patriotic Party leader Do臒u Perin莽ek has earned the title of 鈥� for his outright for the PRC鈥檚 expansionist policies on the South China Sea and his denial of CCP鈥檚 Turkic Uighur genocide, which he calls a hoax put on by the CIA.
This is a trend the the U.S. cannot afford to overlook.