China's New Ethnic Unity Law Extends Beyond Its Borders, Sparks Concern Among Rights Groups

A new law aimed at forging a unified national identity across China's ethnic groups has come into force, drawing sharp criticism from Taiwan, the United Nations and rights organisations who warn it threatens minority freedoms and could be used to target dissidents abroad, The Guardian reported.

The Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress strengthens the status of Mandarin as the official language and, according to Beijing, seeks to build social cohesion and prevent separatism and terrorism. A senior judicial official said the legislation would address illegal acts that undermine ethnic unity, while Vice Minister of Justice Hu Weilie described its overseas enforcement clause as legitimate and necessary, the news paper said.

Critics, however, argue the law goes far further. Amnesty International's deputy regional director for China, Sarah Brooks, said it would require political and ideological alignment with the Chinese Communist Party and would deepen policies of forced assimilation, according to The Guardian.

She said Beijing had an obligation to protect minority communities and their cultures, adding that this legislation did the opposite. Amnesty has warned the law pushes ethnic groups, including Uyghurs and Tibetans, to adopt a single, state defined national identity rooted in Han Chinese culture. Beijing consistently denies persecuting any ethnic group, maintaining that all communities benefit from its policies on security and economic development.

Overseas reach alarms rights groups

A provision holding individuals liable for violating the law even when outside China has drawn particular concern. Taiwan's foreign ministry issued a strong condemnation on the day the law took effect, warning that people of any nationality whose words or actions Beijing found unacceptable could become targets. Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council said Taiwanese people travelling to China were already at considerable risk, and that Beijing now had yet another tool to fabricate charges, including against those seen as sympathetic to Taiwan.

Nine US senators, drawn from both parties and including the leading Republican and Democrat on the Senate foreign relations committee, said they were deeply troubled by the law's demands for ideological compliance and pledged to continue opposing Beijing's efforts to legitimise what they called transnational repression.

UN human rights chief Volker Turk has called for the law to be repealed, saying it risks deepening restrictions on language, education, religion and freedom of expression. Uyghur and Tibetan advocates have urged governments to press China to strike it down entirely.