Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Sunday warned that recent legislation in China may lead to escalated repression of ethnic minorities and extend “ideological control” beyond the country’s borders.
The new legislation prioritizes Mandarin Chinese dominance across all regions of the People’s Republic. Article 15(3) of the law requires that minority language documents be accompanied by Mandarin versions, with clear indication that “the national common language” is given “prominence.”
Furthermore, the law introduces mandatory requirements in education, for families and home life as well as schools. Article 12 instructs authorities to “organize education” to ensure “correct views of the state, of history, of the nation, of culture and of religion.” Article 20(2) creates legal obligations for parents to educate minors to “love the Chinese Communist Party.”
Maya Wang, associate Asia director at HRW, noted concerns regarding the new law:
The Chinese government’s draft law on promoting ethnic unity seeks to mobilize the bureaucracy and society to unite people under Chinese Communist Party leadership at the expense of human rights… Tibetans, Uyghurs, and others who speak out for minority populations can expect even greater government repression.
The proposed legislation, entitled the Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress, was submitted to the National People’s Congress on September 8. The law would fundamentally alter China’s legal framework surrounding minority rights. China currently observes a 1984 statute called the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Regional National Autonomy, which guarantees minorities the right to “use and develop their own spoken and written languages and their freedom to preserve or reform their own folkways and customs.” The new law would effectively overturn the 1984 statute.
Particularly concerning is the new law’s extraterritorial reach. Article 61 establishes legal penalties for “organizations and individuals outside the territory of the People’s Republic of China” that “undermine national unity.” HRW warned that the provision formalizes China’s “transnational repression” practices under domestic law. The vague terminology used in the provision may enable arbitrary enforcement against peaceful expressions of cultural identity even for those outside China’s borders.
HRW called for international pressure to prevent the law’s passage, arguing it would codify systematic oppression of ethnic minorities while expanding China’s authority to suppress dissent globally.
Sunday’s report marks the latest condemnation of China’s treatment of minority groups. Last month, Amnesty International criticized the lack of accountability for the Chinese government’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims in the western Xinjiang region, noting that nearly three years have passed since a groundbreaking UN report detailed gross violations of international law against the ethnic group. Last year, the European Union expressed concerns regarding the “vulnerable situation” of religious, ethnic and linguistic minorities in China, while citing reports concerning cases of unlawful detention, enforced disappearance, torture and ill-treatment. In 2023, the US enacted visa restrictions on Chinese officials linked to the alleged systematic assimilation of over a million Tibetan children in state-operated boarding schools.
