A newly proposed law inChinawould provide a broad legal framework to justify existing repression and force assimilation of minority populations throughout the country and abroad, Human Rights Watch said today. Once passed, the law could be used to facilitate intensifying ideological controls, target ethnic and religious minorities including by erasing minority language rights, and foster control beyond China’s borders. The draft law prescribes a rigid and uniform ideological framework for China.
In its preamble, it asserts an unbroken historical continuity of the modern People’s Republic of China, established in 1949, as “a civilization with a history of over 5,000 years” that has forged “a unified multi-ethnic nation” under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Xi Jinping has increasingly emphasized this narrative and these specific phrases while adoptingethnic policiescharacterized by forced assimilation. The draft law formalizes the ideological framework of “a common consciousness of the Chinese nation” in such areas as education, religion, history, culture, tourism, mass media, and the internet.
For example, article 14 directs that authorities “establish and highlight … Chinese cultural symbols” in public facilities, architecture, and tourist sites, including when naming places. Under article 20(2), parents and guardians would be required to “educate and guide minors to love the Chinese Communist Party,” and “establish the concept that all ethnic groups of the Chinese nation are one family and shall not teach minors concepts detrimental to ethnic unity and progress.” The draft law prohibit acts that “damage ethnic unity,” an overly broad label the government has long abused to punish minority community members deemed noncompliant with party policies. In Tibet, criticism of the government or party, such as championinglanguage rightsor raising concerns aboutmass relocations, is often construed as damaging “ethnic unity” and punished by imprisonment under existing laws.
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In Xinjiang, the Chinese government has justified its cultural persecution and other crimes against humanity toward Uyghurs in terms similar to those contained in the draft law. Its abusiveStrike-Hard Campaigntargets anyone who “challenges … ethnic unity,” categorizing some peaceful expressions and behavior by Uyghurs, such as studying the Quran without state permission, as “ideological viruses.” The draft law seeks to erase previously guaranteed rights of minorities to “use and develop their own language” as stipulated in the 1984 Law on Regional National Autonomy, emphasizing instead the dominance of Mandarin Chinese.
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