A new book from Emily Feng asks what it means to be Chinese in Xi Jinping's China

Chinese identity under President Xi Jinping has narrowed into a rigid construct requiring Mandarin fluency, heterosexuality, and absolute loyalty to the Communist Party. Journalist Emily Feng, author of *Let Only Red Flowers Bloom*, observes that this "ideal" citizen is modeled on the Han majority, leaving little room for ethnic or religious diversity. The experiences of the Hui Muslims illustrate this tension; despite being physically indistinguishable from the Han, their religious identity renders them perpetual outsiders in a state that increasingly equates "Chineseness" with political conformity. Feng, an American-born reporter labeled a "race traitor" and "banana" by Chinese state media, argues that the government utilizes identity as a tool for national security and domestic control. Ultimately, the Chinese diaspora proves that cultural identity exists independently of the People's Republic of China's borders, flourishing through language and heritage even when excluded from the mainland.