What unifying language does China speak? There is no language called chinese and a common language to china.....
Err,
putonghua?!? (literally translated: "common language" putong=common hua=language). You might know it as mandarin.
Not that I'm suggesting that China is unified either. Far from it. I am an equal opportunities skeptic - all nations and ethnic groups are dubious, nonsensical groupings - "granfalloons" if you will. "If you wish to study a granfalloon, just remove the skin of a toy balloon."
Here are the official PRC ethnic groups:
Manchu, Korean, Hezhe, Mongolian, Daur, Ewenki, Oroqen, Hui, Dongxiang, Tu, Salar, Bonan, Yugur, Uygyr, Kazak, Kirgiz, Tajik, Ozbek, Russian, Tartar, Tibetan, Moinba, Lhoba, Qiang, Yi, Bai, Hani, Dai, Lisu, Va, Lahu, Naxi, Jingpo, Blang, Achang, Pumi, Nu, De'ang, Drung, Jino, Miao, Bouyei, Dong, Shui, Gelo, Zhuang, Yao, Mulam, Maonan, Jing, Tujia, Li, She, Gaoshan, Han.
Strangely there's no mention of Chinese. Chinese can't be a nationality rather than an ethnicity, surely?