China: Ethnic Unity Law is an attack on communities, including in the diaspora

Civic Space 6 min read
China: Ethnic Unity Law is an attack on communities, including in the diaspora - Civic Space

Free Tibet protest against China’s Ethnic Unity law and in honour of activist Pawo Lobga Rangzen, Chinese Consulate General, Camperdown, Australia, 8 July 2026. Credit: Alexandra Buxbaum/Sipa USA

We, the undersigned Hong Kong diaspora and civil society organisations, together with allied groups around the world, jointly condemn the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress (‘the EUPL’), which took effect on 1 July 2026.

The EUPL seeks to construct a singular, state-defined national identity across the PRC’s officially recognised ethnic groups. It requires schools across the PRC, including Hong Kong, to instil the history, values, and ideology of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in students. Article 20 of the law goes further, imposing an obligation on parents to raise children to love the CCP, the state, and the nation as defined by Beijing; and more concerningly, to refrain from teaching their children anything which may undermine ‘ethnic unity’.

Most alarmingly, Article 63 extends the law’s reach beyond PRC borders, criminalising vaguely-defined ‘acts that undermine ethnic unity and create ethnic division’ committed by organisations and individuals outside PRC territory. This extraterritorial reach mirrors the same expansive jurisdictional claims found in the 2020 Hong Kong National Security Law and the 2024 Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, laws already used to pursue, intimidate, and silence Hong Kongers living in exile.

The EUPL has drawn immediate and widespread rebuke. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, members of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council have all raised concerns. Tragically, on 2 July, Tibetan exile Pawo Lobga Rangzen died after self-immolating outside the United Nations headquarters in New York in protest against the law — the first such act on US soil, and a stark measure of the desperation this legislation has provoked among affected communities. 

We view the EUPL as a further escalation of Beijing’s ethno-nationalist policymaking toward its border regions, its ethnic and linguistic minorities, and its neighbours. This is a coordinated assault on the right to a distinct cultural or religious identity separate from that ordained by the state, whether exercised in Tibet, Ürümqi, Hong Kong, Taiwan, or in exile.

 

We urge:

  1. Governments to formally condemn the EUPL and its extraterritorial application, and to make clear that Beijing’s domestic law has no jurisdiction over their residents, citizens, or civil society.
  2. Legislatures to introduce or strengthen legal protections against transnational repression, safeguarding Hong Kongers, Tibetans, Uyghurs, and other diaspora communities, exiled activists, and human rights defenders from surveillance, harassment, and intimidation carried out on behalf of foreign governments.
  3. Law enforcement and security agencies to investigate related incidents and ensure affected communities have safe, accessible channels to report threats. 
  4. International bodies, including the United Nations, to monitor and report on the implementation of the EUPL and its impact on minority rights and diaspora safety.
  5. Civil society, media, and the public to stand in solidarity with those affected by this law, and to honour the memory of Pawo Logba Rangzen by continuing to speak out against the erasure of cultural and linguistic identity and the silencing of dissent.

We will continue to advocate for the rights, safety, and dignity of Hong Kongers, ethnic and linguistic minorities, and all those targeted by the EUPL in China and beyond.

 

Signatories:

  1. Action Free Hong Kong Montreal 滿地可撐香港行動組
  2. Alliance for Citizens Rights
  3. ARTICLE 19 
  4. Aus-Hong Kong Connex 港人滙坊
  5. Australia Hong Kong Link Association Inc.
  6. Australia Tibet Council 
  7. Campaign For Uyghurs
  8. Canada-Hong Kong Link
  9. Canada Tibet Committee
  10. Canadian Friends of Hong Kong
  11. Canadian Value Watchman Association
  12. Center for Uyghur Studies
  13. Chicago Solidarity with Hong Kong 芝援香港 
  14. China Democratic Party 中国民主党
  15. CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
  16. Dialogue China
  17. Formosan Association for Public Affairs
  18. Formosan Association of Human Rights (US) 全美台灣人權協會 (美國)
  19. Fortify Rights
  20. Freedom House
  21. Freiheit für Hongkong e.V.
  22. Hong Kong Committee in Norway
  23. HongKonger Community Center Foundation
  24. Hongkonger in Deutschland e.V. 香港人在德國協會
  25. Hongkongers in Leeds
  26. Hong Kongers in San Diego 
  27. Hong Kong Forum, Los Angeles
  28. Hong Kong Liberty Silver Hair
  29. Hongkong Museum 香港繆詩菴
  30. Hong Kong Watch
  31. International Tibet Network
  32. Lady Liberty Hong Kong (LLHK)
  33. Manchester Hongkonger Community Centre
  34. Network for Uyghur Rights (NUR)
  35. NGO DEI
  36. Northern California Hong Kong Club 
  37. Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights
  38. Stand with Hong Kong EU 
  39. Starshiner 擦星星事务所 
  40. Texans Supporting Hong Kong (TX4HK)
  41. The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation
  42. The Federation for a Democratic China
  43. Toronto Association for Democracy in China
  44. Torontonian HongKongers Action Group 
  45. Uniting Hongkongers
  46. US Hongkongers Club 美國香港人會館
  47. Uyghur Association of Victoria (UAV)
  48. Uyghur Center for Democracy and Human Rights
  49. Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project
  50. Victoria Hongkongers Association (Australia) 澳洲維港
  51. Washingtonians Supporting Hong Kong (DC4HK)
  52. Western Australian Association For Pan-Asian Democracy
  53. Winnipeg Hong Kong Concern
  54. World Uyghur Congress