China has enacted a sweeping new law requiring schools, families and government agencies to promote a unified national identity while giving authorities the ability to pursue organizations and individuals overseas accused of threatening Beijing’s vision of social cohesion. The Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law, which took effect July 1, prohibits acts that “undermine ethnic unity or create ethnic division” among China’s 56 officially recognized ethnic groups, including the Han Chinese majority, which makes up more than 90% of the country’s 1.4 billion people.
Among its provisions, schools and government agencies must use Mandarin Chinese as their primary language. School curricula must “forge a strong sense of the community of the Chinese people,” while parents are required to guide children to “love the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese people.”
The mandate further formalizes a shift away from instruction in minority languages such as Tibetan, Uyghur and Mongolian, requiring Mandarin education from before kindergarten through high school. Beijing claims Mandarin fluency gives ethnic minorities broader educational and economic opportunities, while rights groups say the policy threatens cultural identity and language preservation.
The measure also directs the government to support museums, libraries and other cultural institutions in promoting Chinese history and national prosperity. Local authorities must incorporate ethnic integration into housing policies, a provision some observers say could pave the way for relocations. Specifically, it calls for “mutually embedded community environments,” wording analysts have interpreted as a potential basis for reshaping minority-heavy neighborhoods and pushing different groups into more mixed residential settings.
Its reach extends beyond mainland China. Article 63 states that organizations and individuals outside the country that “undermine” unity or “create ethnic division” can also be held liable, a broad provision critics say could affect activists, journalists, researchers and diaspora communities around the world.
Legal experts say Beijing may struggle to enforce that provision directly overseas, but its ambiguity could still discourage criticism, complicate travel to China and increase pressure on activists whose relatives remain in the country.
The case of Zhang Yadi, a 23-year-old Chinese student known as Tara, has drawn renewed attention as the statute takes effect. Zhang had studied in Europe, supported Tibetan rights online and reportedly wished the Dalai Lama a happy birthday on X before being detained during a visit to China last year. She is believed to be facing accusations of “inciting others to split the country and undermine national unity.”
Amnesty International pointed to other cases it said show how China has already criminalized peaceful academic, cultural and religious work, including Uyghur academic Ilham Tohti, Uyghur ethnographer Rahile Dawut and Tibetan religious leader Choktrul Dorje Ten Rinpoche.
The legislation codifies a policy Chinese leader Xi Jinping has advanced for years, urging ethnic minorities such as Tibetans and Uyghurs to embrace an identity centered on Chinese nationality and loyalty to the ruling Communist Party.
Analysts like James Leibold, a professor at La Trobe University in Melbourne who studies China’s ethnic policies, say the legislation transforms what had largely been a political campaign into a legal obligation reaching across nearly every aspect of public life.
“Beijing is no longer treating ‘ethnic unity’ as a general political slogan or a matter of local propaganda work. It is making the production of a single Chinese national identity a binding responsibility across schools, families, media, museums, cadres, budgets, technology platforms and security organs. The message is clear: minority identity is acceptable only when it is subordinated to a party-defined Chinese identity.”
Leibold believes the overseas provisions could have a “chilling effect” on scholars, journalists, activists, diaspora communities and others who study or criticize China’s nationality and borderland policies, warning they could encourage “self-censorship, discourage travel, and narrow scholarly debate.”
Amnesty said the measure frames ethnic unity as tied to major Communist Party goals, including the advancement of Xi Jinping Thought and the “rejuvenation” of a shared national political identity.
Xi has frequently described different groups as “hugging tightly like pomegranate seeds,” a phrase closely associated with his effort to bind minority identities more tightly to a party-defined Chinese nation. The law also reflects his broader emphasis on national security since taking power in 2012, following widespread protests in Tibet in 2008 and deadly unrest in Xinjiang, the western region home to many Uyghurs.
Xi highlighted the measure Wednesday during a speech marking the 105th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party, calling on members to “continuously consolidate and strengthen the great unity of all ethnic groups.”
The measure has drawn criticism from rights groups and international experts. In an April letter, United Nations human rights experts said it “could have serious implications for the linguistic, cultural, and religious autonomy of ethnic communities, including Tibetans, Uyghurs, and Mongols.” They also warned it could enable “transnational repression” because of its potential application outside China’s borders.
“Chinese authorities have human rights obligations requiring them to protect minority communities and their cultures, but this law does the opposite,” said Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director. “Rather than celebrating difference, it is about pushing ethnic groups such as Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Mongolians to adopt a single, state-defined national identity dominated by Han Chinese culture.”
“‘Unity’ in this context is not harmony between different communities — it is political and ideological alignment with the Chinese Communist Party.”
She warned that activities already carrying significant risk inside China could face even greater legal peril, including promoting minority languages, “documenting human rights abuses, or campaigning for the release of those detained because of their expression of culture, opinion or belief.”
Brooks also said the overseas provisions could provide stronger domestic legal grounding for pressure campaigns abroad, warning that “peaceful advocacy for minority rights in China by anyone, anywhere could be characterized as undermining ‘ethnic unity.'”
“This law puts a national legal framework behind policies that have already devastated the rights of Uyghurs, Tibetans and other non-Han ethnic groups. We expect it to further institutionalize China’s policies of forced assimilation.”
Members of the European Parliament have urged European Union governments to consider suspending extradition treaties with China, warning that any attempt to use the law against European citizens could have serious consequences for EU-China relations.
The measure comes after years of tighter government control over ethnic and religious life. In Tibet, authorities have tightened control over monasteries and religious institutions, including restrictions aimed at preventing devotion to the Dalai Lama, whom Beijing views as a separatist.
Beijing has also faced accusations of serious human rights violations in Xinjiang, including the large-scale arbitrary detention of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. Chinese officials deny those allegations.
In Inner Mongolia, ethnic Mongolians staged rare protests in 2020 after authorities moved to reduce Mongolian-language instruction in favor of Mandarin, a policy many parents and activists viewed as a threat to cultural identity. Authorities quickly moved to suppress the demonstrations.
A report released earlier this year by PEN America and the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center accused Chinese authorities of systematically removing Mongolian-language content from online platforms, including by shutting down social media groups, deleting accounts and dismantling informal digital communities.
China has separately been accused of carrying out transnational repression. A 2022 report by the human rights organization Safeguard Defenders said it found evidence of more than 100 so-called overseas police stations operating around the world to monitor, harass and, in some cases, repatriate Chinese citizens living abroad.
Beijing has denied claims that it pressures Uyghur activists overseas, tracks government critics in exile or offers bounties for Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigners. Rights groups say the new statute could provide clearer domestic legal cover for similar campaigns.
Amnesty has said those efforts have included surveillance of diaspora communities, harassment of overseas critics, intimidation of relatives inside China and attempts to push foreign governments to return targeted individuals.
Asked Monday about concerns that the law could create “long-arm jurisdiction,” Vice Minister of Justice Hu Weilie said it is consistent with international legal norms for countries to protect their sovereignty.
“Ethnic unity is a crucial cornerstone of national prosperity and development,” he said. “Illegal activities that deliberately incite ethnic tensions, undermine ethnic unity, and endanger national security will erode the foundation of ethnic unity and harm the public interest and the legitimate rights and interests of the people.”
Hu accused foreign media of “smearing” the measure and called the provision “legitimate, lawful, necessary and a workable legal provision.”
The legislation is taking effect as Beijing works to polish its international image, easing visa restrictions and encouraging foreign tourists, influencers and world leaders to visit China, including tightly controlled regions such as Tibet and Xinjiang.
For critics, the contrast is stark. While Beijing promotes a curated image of ethnic diversity, the new law narrows the space for people challenging that narrative.
Moumita Basuroychowdhury is a Contributing Reporter at The National Digest. After earning an economics degree at Cornell University, she moved to NYC to pursue her MFA in creative writing. She enjoys reporting on science, business and culture news. You can reach her at moumita.b@thenationaldigest.com.
