China's New 'Ethnic Unity' Law Demands Integration, Sparks Fears of Overseas Targeting

China's new "Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress" came into effect on July 1, 2026, aiming to foster a shared national identity among its 56 officially recognized ethnic groups. Beijing states the law is designed to strengthen national cohesion, advance common prosperity, and counter separatism and terrorism. The legislation mandates the use of Mandarin Chinese as the primary language of instruction and includes provisions for strengthening social cohesion and development in minority regions.

However, human rights organizations and international critics view the law as a significant step towards forced assimilation, particularly for minority groups such as Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Mongolians. They express concern that the broadly defined terms within the law, such as prohibiting acts that "undermine ethnic unity," could be arbitrarily enforced to suppress minority cultures, languages, and religious freedoms.

A particularly contentious aspect of the new law is its extraterritorial clause, which allows Chinese authorities to pursue legal action against individuals and organizations outside China accused of undermining ethnic unity or creating ethnic division. This provision has raised alarms among various governments, including the U.S., Germany, and Australia, as well as the UN and the European Parliament, who fear it could be used for transnational repression and to silence critics of Beijing's policies abroad.