China’s Ethnic Unity Law Has Some Positive Features But is Also Blatantly Racist and Is Another Unacceptable Product of Communist Authoritarianism

      In so-called Western countries, we typically reserve the right to oppose and criticize the views and actions of our governments. This gives us traditions of political debate. China does not allow such rigorous debate and dissent. The PRC and the Chinese Communist Party have a poor human rights record. The country always leads in the number of executions, and many are politically motivated. It also has a poor record on political imprisonments and the treatment of ethnic minorities. I have met a few Tibetans who spent many years in prison labor camps without adequate food. More recently, the Uyghur re-education camps have been a matter of global concern. Forced labor is a feature of the camps and has a long history in China. I was pleased when a bipartisan majority in the U.S. Congress voted to respond to the presence of the camps by not purchasing products made in them, although that does not really do that much to deter them. I have never been to China, but my son spent three months there as a student, mostly in Beijing.  

     The law includes requirements to be patriotic in accordance with Han-dominated customs and the Chinese Communist Party, as the explanation of Chapter II, from Wikipedia, points out.

“Chapter II, titled Building a Shared Spiritual Home. lays out the ideological characteristics of the law, requiring fostering identification with "the great motherland, the Chinese nation, Chinese culture, the Communist Party of China, and socialism with Chinese characteristics" through patriotic education, education in official historical narratives, publicity of "the fine Zhonghua traditional culture," and promotion of "Chinese cultural symbols and image of the Chinese nation". It also codifies the predominance of Standard Chinese (Putonghua) in public life, codifying the goal of having preschoolers become proficient in Putonghua and requires that Chinese characters be displayed more prominently than minority scripts if both must be used in public. It tasks the Ministry of Education and the National Ethnic Affairs Commission in developing textbooks regarding "the community of the Chinese nation" and requires all schools to integrate that concept into their curricula. It vows to support the standardization, digitization, and preservation of minority texts. It broadly requires media, internet service providers, families, among others, to promote the CCP's ethnic policy. Parents are required to guide their children to "love the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese people."

     One may ask why China is promoting a new law to weaken ethnic minorities and their cultures. The stated reason is to discourage separatism and promote a unified culture with shared patriotic beliefs. In such proclamations there is little room for dissent. The law provides a context for punishing and arresting more people for disagreeing with the government, including Chinese people who do not live in China. We have all heard about the well-funded and well-established “Chinese police stations” that have existed in several countries, including the U.S. That is the CCP in action.

     The law does promote some things that people can agree on, such as an acceptance of marriages between Han Chinese and ethnic minorities. The question is whether they are promoting such marriages as a way to assimilate ethnic minorities into Han Chinese culture.

     Another thing that is agreeable is the call to stop "information containing ethnic hatred, ethnic discrimination, or other content that undermines ethnic unity and progress.” Of course, that is all well and good, but ethnic assimilation can be considered to be a form of ethnic discrimination, though it is less direct and more subtle. Continuing the Wikipedia summary:

“Chapter III, titled Facilitating Interactions, Interchanges, and Intermingling, promotes further ethnic integration. It obligates the government to support "inter-embedded community environments" so that ethnic groups can "live, study, build, share, work, and enjoy together". For that goal, it requires local governments to "forge a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation" and promote integration in all aspects of urban planning and governance. It specifically directs them to implement policies to facilitate cross-regional population movement, employment, student enrollment, and teacher and youth exchanges. It also mandates authorities to support and shape volunteer services, cultural institutions (libraries, museums, etc.), the tourism industry, and modern technologies and online media. It mandates internet service providers to promptly stop the transmission of "information containing ethnic hatred, ethnic discrimination, or other content that undermines ethnic unity and progress.”

     Wikipedia also gives some responses and criticisms of the law, none of which are positive:

“Commentary outside of China has centered on the law's promotion of a singular Han-centric Chinese identity at the expense of minorities' identities. Anthropologist Magnus Fiskesjö of Cornell University stated that the "law is consistent with a dramatic recent policy shift, to suppress the ethnic diversity formally recognised since 1949." According to Neil Thomas of Asia Society, the law expands "the legal basis for restricting religious, cultural and political activities among minority groups." According to historian Benno Weiner of Carnegie Mellon University, the law if enforced would mean that non-Han people could not express "any type of discontent without being accused of being essentially separatists or terrorists". James Leibold of La Trobe University stated that "[b]y folding ethnic affairs into national security, the law expands the scope for surveillance and intervention in domains previously treated as social or cultural.”

“Some have raised concerns that the law provides a basis to target supporters of Taiwanese independence regardless of jurisdiction. Others have stated that the law raises additional risks for foreign companies investing in China if they investigate forced labor or review supply chains. The legislation has been criticized for not specifying what activities would constitute violations.”

     We should remember that in China, there is one government, no elections, and no room for dissent. Thus, it is by definition a totalitarian form of government. In its case, it is a communist totalitarian government, with an accompanying dismal human rights record and lack of personal freedoms for its citizens. It is the cold-bloodedness of collectivism, in contrast to Zohran Mamdani’s declaration of the “warmth of collectivism.”

     Chapter IV notes that the law”

“…requires promoting "civic and moral development", mandating "transforming outdated customs and traditions" and "promoting a new culture of civility and progress".”

     This simply means re-education, or more accurately, brainwashing through CCP propaganda. Chapters V and VI below set things up so that minders can aid the law through surveillance and reporting conduct that does not follow the law. The wording seems vague enough that the law will mainly serve to give legal context for such enforcement actions that may otherwise be controversial.    

“Chapter V and VI concern the enforcement mechanisms of the law. It permits citizens to report conduct that "undermines ethnic unity and progress" and to lodge complaints against government agencies and employees who fail to discharge their obligations under the Law. Procuratorates may initiate public interest litigation when any such conduct also "undermines national interests or the public interest". It generally leaves penalties to be imposed under other applicable laws. It also asserts jurisdiction over foreign organizations and individuals that "commit acts targeting the PRC that undermine ethnic unity and progress or create ethnic division". The law empowers the state to pursue those outside of China perceived as undermining notions of ethnic unity.”

     Tibetan and Uyghur representatives have slammed the law as ethnic erasure and a legal context for long-existing policies of ethnic assimilation into the Han-majority culture. They, along with many human rights experts at the UN, some EU politicians, and some mostly on the right U.S. politicians, have called for the law to be repealed or amended. One Tibetan representative suggested the policy could support “cultural genocide.”

     Mandarin language assimilation is one feature of the law. According to the Hong Kong Free Press:

“China officially recognises 55 official ethnic minorities within its borders that speak hundreds of languages and dialects.”

“Government policies have already directed that Mandarin Chinese be used as the language of instruction in some areas with large minority populations, such as Tibet and Inner Mongolia.”

“Yalkun Uluyol, a China researcher at Human Rights Watch, described the new legislation as a “significant departure” from a Deng Xiaoping-era policy that guaranteed the right of minorities to use their own languages.”

     Those who speak and write Tibetan, Mongolian, and Uyghur are very concerned about the Mandarin language provision.

     Bhuchung Tsering, head of the research and monitoring unit at the International Campaign for Tibet, said that the law seeks to detach the young to sever ties to their culture, citing two clauses:

“…one ordering parents to “teach their children about this new identity”, and the other urging citizens to report on non-compliance with the law.”

“If you read these two together, it’s virtually forcing children to report on their parents,” he said.

     According to The Straits Times, Thinlay Chukki, representative of the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) in central and eastern Europe, noted:

“Chukki said the law was legalising a system already in place of forcibly sending Tibetan children to residential boarding schools, where they were “subjected forcibly to the Mandarin language, as well as the Han Chinese culture”.

“Activists say a similar boarding school system also exists in the Xinjiang region, where the UN has warned of possible crimes against humanity targeting the mostly Muslim Uighur minority – something China vehemently denies.”

“Beijing wants “to disrupt our entire identity, to disconnect generations”, Zumretay Arkin, vice-president of the World Uighur Congress, told AFP.”   

     Hopefully, the law won’t hurt these ethnic people and won’t result in cases where people are punished for pride in their ethnicities and for wanting to continue learning within their own traditions. It makes me think it’s an apt situation for the Pink Floyd song, Another Brick in the Wall:

“We don’t need no education. We don’t need no thought control”

     A summary of criticism and human rights concerns from Microsoft CoPilot is below:

 

References:

 

German Parliamentary State Secretary Michael Brand Urges Repeal of China’s “Ethnic Unity Law,” Warns of Threat to Tibetan Ancient Cultures. Central Tibetan Administration. July 2, 2026. German Parliamentary State Secretary Michael Brand Urges Repeal of China’s “Ethnic Unity Law,” Warns of Threat to Tibetan Ancient Cultures – Central Tibetan Administration

China’s new ethnic unity law legalising cultural ‘erasure’, minorities warn at UN. The Straits Times. June 29, 2026. China’s new ethnic unity law legalising cultural ‘erasure’, minorities warn at UN | The Straits Times

China’s new ethnic unity law legalising cultural ‘erasure,’ Tibetan and Uyghur minorities warn at UN. Hing Kong Free Press. July 1, 2026. China's new ethnic unity law legalising cultural 'erasure,' minorities warn at UN

China approves ‘ethnic unity’ law denounced by rights groups. Hong Kong Free Press. March 12, 2026. China approves 'ethnic unity' law denounced by rights groups

China defends new ethnic unity law, set to take effect July 1, as in line with 'international practices': New law targets organizations, individuals outside China engaging in acts that 'undermine ethnic solidarity and progress, or incite ethnic separatism': Saadet Gokce. AA. 24 June 2026. China defends new ethnic unity law, set to take effect July 1, as in line with 'international practices'

Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress. Wikipedia. Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress - Wikipedia

China tells its ethnic minorities to integrate or face consequences with sweeping new unity law. Simone McCarthy. July 1, 2026. Ethnic Unity Law: China tells minorities to assimilate with sweeping new legislation | CNN

NPC 2026: China Enshrines Xi-Era Ethnic Policy in New Law. NPC Observer. March 12, 2026. NPC 2026: China Enshrines Xi-Era Ethnic Policy in New Law