One month on, China’s ‘ethnic unity’ law is already hitting Uyghurs
Videos on social media show Uyghur-language street signs being removed and replaced with Chinese, with residents unable to object
MNTV (MNTV) — One month after China’s Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress took effect, rights advocates say it is already being used against Uyghurs and other minorities — the opposite of the cohesion Beijing says it will foster, according to an analysis in The Diplomat.
The law embeds what advocates describe as a campaign of forced assimilation into national legislation, moving away from even the promise of regional autonomy.
It makes schools, religious institutions, government bodies, and families responsible for enforcing the ruling Communist Party’s definition of “ethnic unity”: it requires parents to raise children to love the party, replaces bilingual education with Mandarin from preschool, and directs religious institutions to continue the “Sinicization” of faith.
The United States and several national parliaments have formally described China’s treatment of Uyghurs as genocide and crimes against humanity.
The effects are already visible, the analysis says.
Videos on Chinese social media show Uyghur-language street signs being removed and replaced with Chinese, with residents unable to object as party officials watch.
Days after the law took effect, two Uyghur sisters and their mother were reportedly detained for sending goods to a sister in Türkiye, accused of “supporting terrorism” for helping her business.
The law also reaches beyond China’s borders. Article 63 asserts that people and organizations abroad can be pursued for activities Beijing deems to undermine ethnic unity — a provision advocates call a basis for transnational repression against Uyghurs, Tibetans, and others.
Uyghurs in Kazakhstan report increased pressure, and activist Dolkun Isa, a German citizen and former World Uyghur Congress president, was recently detained and deported from Morocco.
The international response has so far been limited to statements.
UN rights chief Volker Turk called for the law’s repeal, UN special rapporteurs and the European Parliament raised concerns, and a US State Department spokesperson called it “problematic” — but advocates argue that condemnation without concrete action leaves diaspora communities exposed.
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