China codifies repression of overseas activists under new law

BEIJING, China (MNTV) – China has introduced a sweeping new law ostensibly aimed at promoting “ethnic unity,” but experts warn it will also deepen the state’s reach in monitoring and deterring critics living outside its borders.

The law, approved earlier this month by China’s legislature, primarily targets domestic affairs — mandating the use of Mandarin as the primary medium of education in schools and calling for intermarriage and geographic integration between the Han majority and China’s 55 other recognized ethnicities. 

But it also explicitly addresses overseas communities. “Organizations and individuals outside the territory of the PRC that commit acts aimed at the PRC that undermine ethnic unity and progress or create ethnic division are to be pursued for legal responsibility in accordance with law,” the legislation states.

Analysts say the law codifies and extends the Chinese Communist Party’s long-standing practice of transnational repression. Emile Dirks, a research associate at the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto who studies transnational repression, described it as “a sword of Damocles hanging over people’s heads.” Even if formal extradition against overseas activists remains rare, the explicit codification creates a chilling effect on those engaged in causes the Chinese government deems threatening.

The law’s Article 21 strikes a more positive tone, pledging state support for diaspora members who carry forward Chinese culture — reflecting what Dirks describes as Beijing’s two-pronged approach: rewarding sympathetic diaspora voices while silencing critical ones. 

Silencing tactics include visa denials and using family members remaining in China as leverage, according to Bhuchung Tsering, vice president of the International Campaign for Tibet. “People outside Tibet, in exile, who talk about China’s abuses of Tibetans, who talk about China’s imposition of Mandarin on Tibetans, can in theory be prosecuted under this law,” he said.

For Chinese citizens planning to return home, activism abroad carries even greater risk. Last summer, Zhang Yadi, a Chinese student who began writing for a pro-Tibet newsletter while studying abroad, disappeared after returning to China and is believed to be held at a detention center in Changsha on charges of “inciting separatism.” 

Prominent human rights lawyer Teng Biao said the new law is ultimately about efficiency. “It’s true that without written laws, the party can also achieve their goals. But that’s more inconvenient. That’s more expensive,” he said.