Responding to China’s new Ethnic Unity Law coming into force on July 1, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director Sarah Brooks said:
“Chinese authorities have human rights obligations requiring them to protect minority communities and their cultures, but this law does the opposite. 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. Rather than protecting diversity and equality, the law requires conformity.
“Chinese authorities’ stated intention to apply elements of this law beyond China’s borders is also deeply concerning. This law risks providing a stronger legal basis for existing practices of transnational repression — peaceful advocacy for minority rights in China by anyone, anywhere could be characterized as undermining ‘ethnic unity’.
“Meanwhile, activities which already carry great risk within China – such as promoting minority languages, documenting human rights abuses, or campaigning for the release of those detained because of their expression of culture, opinion or belief – could be further criminalized.
“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.”
Background
China’s Ethnic Unity Law will come into force on July 1, 2026. The law frames “ethnic unity” as a pre-condition for ambitious projects of the Chinese Communist Party leadership, including the advancement of Xi Jinping Thought, and the “rejuvenation” of a shared national political identity.
The law, for example, prohibits acts that “undermine ethnic unity or create ethnic division,” but these terms are broad and undefined, raising concerns about arbitrary enforcement.
During a June 24 State Council press conference, senior officials confirmed that authorities consider aspects of the law applicable beyond China’s borders.
Amnesty International has previously documented China’s use of transnational repression, including surveillance of diaspora communities, harassment of critics overseas, intimidation of family members in China, and efforts to pressure foreign governments to return individuals.
Cases such as those of Uyghur academic Ilham Tohti, Uyghur ethnographer Rahile Dawut, and Tibetan religious leader Choktrul Dorje Ten Rinpoche, illustrate how peaceful academic, cultural, and religious work has been criminalized under existing policies — trends this law risks further entrenching.
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