HRW Warns China’s New Ethnic Unity Bill Could Entrench Minority Repression

HRW Warns China’s New Ethnic Unity Bill Could Entrench Minority Repression
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Human Rights Watch (HRW) has raised concerns that a proposed law in China, titled the Promotion of Ethnic Unity and Progress Bill, could provide the authorities with a legal framework to justify repression and forced assimilation of ethnic and religious minorities.
The draft legislation, consisting of 62 articles, was submitted to the National People’s Congress on September 8 as part of what official documents described as the implementation of President Xi Jinping’s vision on ethnic affairs.

Beijing has argued that the bill aims to ensure the “prosperity and development of all ethnic groups under the rule of law.” However, HRW warned that the law risks intensifying ideological control, restricting minority rights, and undermining cultural and linguistic diversity.

Maya Wang, HRW’s Asia Director, said the measure would mobilize bureaucracies and society to “unite people under Communist Party leadership, at the expense of human rights.” She added that Tibetans, Uyghur Muslims, and other groups could face deeper repression if they attempt to assert their rights.

The bill reflects the Communist Party’s concept of building a “shared consciousness of the Chinese nation.” Its scope extends across education, religion, culture, media, the internet, and even urban and rural planning, as well as food and border security. It obliges public and private institutions, including religious organizations, to promote party ideology, while imposing penalties for acts deemed harmful to ethnic unity.

HRW noted that the proposed legislation weakens protections enshrined in the 1984 Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law, which recognized the rights of minorities to preserve their languages. Instead, the new bill explicitly requires children from minority-language communities to learn Mandarin from an early age, raising fears of further marginalization of ethnic languages.

The watchdog added that these policies are already in force in regions such as Tibet, Xinjiang, and Inner Mongolia, where authorities have reduced mother-tongue education and cracked down on protests led by students, teachers, and parents.

Significantly, the draft bill also includes extraterritorial provisions, allowing punishment of individuals or institutions outside China accused of threatening national unity or inciting ethnic division. HRW said this reflects Beijing’s growing efforts to extend its repressive reach abroad, citing previous cases where Chinese students, activists, and exiles faced pressure or detention over their advocacy on Tibet or Uyghur issues.