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Photo source: Hector Berganza, via Pexels, May 26th, 2025.
19-03-2026 | Pauliina Majasaari | Asia Team Researcher, Global Human Rights Defence.
China has passed a new legislation, the Law on Ethnic Unity and Progress, on March 12th, 2026, affecting ethnic minorities. The law aims at forging national unity and reviving China to strongly align with the Chinese Communist Party’s core ideologies, making ethnic unity a responsibility for everyone in society. Criticism has been raised on the lack of human rights protections for ethnic minorities and the ability to preserve their ethnic and cultural identities. China has, however, trumped these claims by expressing the basis of the legislation to stand on the protection of cultural traditions and lifestyles of every ethnic group.
Since the late 2000s, China has been aiming for a unified national identity, where minority ethnic groups have been assimilated into the majority Han culture. This has been conducted through various means, such as arresting monks and taking control over monasteries in Tibet, the reduction of teaching in Mongolian and prioritising Mandarin, and the detainment of millions of Uyghurs within “re-education” camps. Within President Xi Jinping’s tenure, the assimilation policies have accelerated. While the practicesincluded in the Ethnic Unity and Progress law have already been present in societies, as custom, the introduction of the bill raises the practice to a legal tool to erode the ethnic minorities’ identities and culture. Under the leadership of Xi Jinping, China is to be built as a strong and great nation, where the core lies in Han culture. Hence, ethnic minority languages and cultures are seen as a threat to the unity and advancement of the nation.
Integration is promoted within the new legislation by means of adjusting community life, culture, development policy, education, housing, migration, and tourism. The following examples shed light on the changes gravely affecting the ethnic minorities human rights:
- Schools are required to use Mandarin as the default, and official communications should be displayed in Mandarin as well. This results in prioritising Mandarin over minority ethnic languages, and thus reducing the use of languages such as Tibetan, Uyghur,and Mongolian. Language is a pivotal cornerstone in preserving one’s culture and ethnic identity. The UN Declaration on Minority Rights requires states to create conditions where the identity of ethnic and cultural minorities can be promoted and the right to use one’s own language in public.
- Parents must educate and guide children to love the Chinese Communist Party. Human Rights Watch has warned that such clauses can expand ideological controls and international law grants everyone the right to choose their own ideologies and beliefs.
- Intermarriages between Han individuals and minority ethnicities are encouraged, where restrictions stemming from custom, ethnic, or religious requirements on marriages are prohibited. The new ban on interference within marriages can slowly erode cultural heritage, as for many minority groups, the basis to control intermarriages lies in preserving cultural heritage and identities.
As can be seen, the results of the new Ethnic Unity and Progress Law in China are creating an environment where legal protections for the minorities barely exists and the hopes for living and pursuing one’s own identity are slowly fading away in the name of strong nationalism.
