The language of instruction is the medium through which knowledge is transmitted during the educational process. Because of this, the issue of what language the teachers use when giving lectures and what language is used to compile the text materials they adopt becomes a core issue in educational development for any multiethnic, multilingual country like China. In this article, the author discusses Chinese language as the "interethnic common language" of the people of China, changes in language utilization in China, issues regarding bilingual instruction in China's minority education, and the wishes of the masses concerning the choice of language of instruction among minority people. (Contains 4 notes and 1 figure.)