China on the 1st (local time) put into effect the Promotion of Ethnic Unity and Progress Law (Ethnic Law), changing its governing principle for ethnic minorities for the first time in 42 years from "ethnic autonomy" to "state-led assimilation." Replacing the 1984 system of the Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law, which at least partially recognized that 55 ethnic minorities including Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Mongols could preserve their own languages, religions, and historical identities, the country has shifted to a system that compels minorities' languages, education, and faith to conform to a single "Chinese nation" identity.
Under the new law, minority schools must use standard Chinese as the basic language of instruction, and parents are obligated to teach their children to love the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese nation. Tibetan Buddhist temples and Islamic mosques must promote the "Sinicization of religion," and internet platforms must delete posts deemed harmful to ethnic unity and report them to authorities. As the law includes provisions to hold individuals and groups operating outside China legally accountable, Taiwan, Europe, and Japan pushed back in unison.
The Chinese government currently specifies that there are a total of 56 ethnic groups in the country, combining the Han majority and 55 ethnic minorities. The Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law enacted in 1984 established autonomous regions, autonomous prefectures, and autonomous counties in areas with concentrated minority populations, and allowed minority schools to teach using textbooks in their own languages. The Xinjiang Uyghur, Tibet (Xizang), and Inner Mongolia autonomous regions all operated within this framework.
But the new Ethnic Law, passed by the National People's Congress of China in Mar. and applied from the 1st, reversed this order. It defined the "Chinese national community consciousness" as the overarching principle for all ethnic policies, above differences among individual ethnicities. Although Article 8 of the law leaves language about maintaining and improving the regional ethnic autonomy system and states that the right to learn and use minority languages is respected, the structure prioritizes standard Chinese and state-defined history and culture in education, administration, and public signage, the BBC in the U.K. assessed.
The law designates standard Chinese as the basic language of instruction in schools and requires all curricula to reflect national unified textbooks and Chinese national community education. The scope is not limited to schools. Parents and guardians are obligated to educate children so they do not hold "concepts unfavorable to ethnic unity," and legal grounds were established to punish parents who violate this. Religious groups, temples, and religious schools must promote the "Sinicization of religion," which places Party leadership and the socialist system as the highest principles of religious operations. Internet platforms must immediately delete information that undermines ethnic unity, keep records, and report it to authorities; failure to do so is punishable.
In 2020 in Inner Mongolia, protests broke out against measures to reduce Mongolian-language classes and expand standard Chinese education, but authorities quickly suppressed them. The U.S. free-expression group PEN America said in a report early this year that "content written in Mongolian is being systematically deleted on Chinese online platforms."
The Chinese government argues that the law is not oppression of minorities but an integrated law that binds development and security together. State-run Xinhua News Agency reported that the gross domestic product (GDP) of the five autonomous regions—Inner Mongolia, Guangxi, Xizang, Ningxia, and Xinjiang—rose an average of 5.6% annually from 2020 to 2024, outpacing the national average, and that all 420 impoverished counties in minority autonomous areas escaped poverty during the poverty eradication campaign. The new Ethnic Law also includes provisions banning employment and service discrimination based on ethnicity and supporting development of underdeveloped regions. Chen Ruifeng, director of the National Ethnic Affairs Commission of China, said, "We are formulating a five-year plan to promote ethnic unity and progress together with relevant ministries."
However, experts predicted continued friction over actual enforcement, as controversial provisions remain, including Article 63, which newly applies extraterritorial punishment. Article 63 of the Ethnic Law states that "organizations and individuals outside China that undermine ethnic unity or foster ethnic division will be held accountable in accordance with the law." Under this law, Chinese public security cannot make arrests directly on foreign soil, but can detain upon entry into China, sanction visas, asset, and businesses, and pressure family members remaining in China. There are concerns that, if abused, this approach could lawfully silence overseas activists, journalists, and scholars. The BBC reported, "There is precedent that a 23-year-old Chinese national, Zhang Yadi, who was studying at a university in the U.K., is believed to have been detained upon visiting China after posting a social media message congratulating the Dalai Lama on his 90th birthday." Vice Minister of Justice Hu Weilei rebutted foreign media's characterization of this provision as "long-arm jurisdiction," saying, "Safeguarding national unity, territorial integrity, and social stability belongs to every country's sovereignty and is a fundamental principle established by international law."
The new law also includes a provision that compels Taiwanese people to heighten their sense of belonging to and identity with the Chinese nation. Taiwan's national security authorities warned on the 1st, the day the law took effect, that "eight groups, including Uyghur, Tibetan, and Mongol figures living overseas and dissidents, could be targeted by this law." Despite the Chinese government's explanation that it is an integrated law for development and security, the international response has not been friendly. The European Parliament on Apr. 30 adopted a resolution calling for the repeal of the new Ethnic Law by a vote of 439 in favor, 52 against, and 71 abstentions, and urged member states to consider suspending extradition treaties with China. Volker Türk, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, also called for its repeal, saying the law risks deepening restrictions on freedom of language, education, religion, expression, and assembly. In Japan, Sanae Takaichi, a close aide to the prime minister, criticized it as "a measure that a democratic country cannot tolerate," Nikkei Asia reported.
Sara Brooks, deputy regional director at Amnesty International, said, "The 'unity' this law speaks of is not harmony among different communities but political and ideological conformity to the Chinese Communist Party," adding, "Instead of protecting diversity and equality, it demands uniform conformity."