New Ethnic Unity Law Enacted Amid Global Criticism
A new ethnic unity law has come into effect in China despite warnings from Taiwan, the United Nations, and human rights organizations that it could threaten freedoms, particularly for minority groups.
The legislation aims to establish a “shared” national identity among ethnic groups, including measures such as strengthening the status of Mandarin as the official language. However, international campaigners argue that the law will further undermine the rights of ethnic minorities, including Uyghurs and Tibetans, whom Beijing has been accused of persecuting.
Critics have also highlighted a provision stating that individuals can be held liable for violating the law even when outside China, which they say provides the Chinese government with broader authority to pursue dissidents abroad.
Human Rights Concerns and International Reactions
Amnesty International’s deputy regional director, Sarah Brooks, stated that the law would require “political and ideological alignment with the Chinese Communist party” and would “further institutionalise ... policies of forced assimilation.”
“Chinese authorities have human rights obligations requiring them to protect minority communities and their cultures, but this law does the opposite,” Brooks said.
Amnesty International warned that the legislation pressures ethnic groups to “adopt a single, state-defined national identity dominated by Han Chinese culture,” referring to the nation’s ethnic majority.
China consistently denies allegations of rights abuses against any ethnic group and maintains that all benefit from its policies promoting internal security and economic development.
On the day the law took effect, Taiwan issued a statement expressing “strong condemnation,” describing the law as expanding “threats and intimidation against the people of our country and other nations.”
“In the future, individuals from any country whose words or actions are not acceptable to China may become targets of the law or be pursued under it,” Taiwan’s foreign ministry said.
China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to annex the self-ruled, democratic island.
In the United States, nine lawmakers, including the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, voiced strong opposition to the law. They pledged to continue opposing Beijing’s efforts to “legitimise its transnational repression.”
“We are deeply concerned by language in the law that demands ideological compliance with the CCP [Chinese Communist Party], mandating that even people outside China deemed to be undermining ‘ethnic unity and progress’ by the Chinese government can be held legally responsible in China,” the senators said in a statement.
Key Provisions and Official Defenses
The law formalizes longstanding policies promoting Mandarin as the language of education, official business, and public spaces. It also includes provisions aimed at fostering social cohesion and preventing terrorism and separatism.
Several ethnic groups in China, particularly in border regions, have their own languages and have historically been allowed to use them alongside Mandarin in schools.
Beijing has justified extensive campaigns in areas with large minority populations as legitimate efforts to prevent terrorism and extremism.
A senior Chinese judicial official defended the law last week, stating it targets “illegal acts” that “undermine ethnic unity and progress or incite ethnic separatism.”
Vice-Minister of Justice Hu Weilie described the clause allowing enforcement outside China as “legitimate, lawful [and] necessary.”
Calls for Repeal and Minority Advocates’ Responses
United Nations rights chief Volker Turk has called for the law’s repeal, warning that it risks “deepening restrictions on freedoms of language, education, practice of religion, culture, expression and assembly.”
Advocates for Uyghur and Tibetan communities have urged the international community to pressure China to rescind the law, arguing it aims to erase minority identities.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) highlighted the risks Taiwanese people already face when traveling to China and cautioned that Beijing now has “yet another law to fabricate charges.”
Beijing would use the law “as a legal basis to further suppress and persecute human rights in Xinjiang and Tibet, or to expand its threats against voices internationally that support or are friendly towards Taiwan,” the MAC said in a statement, citing deputy minister Liang Wen-chieh.
