The Next Phase of China’s Minority Crackdown: Forced Assimilation Is Now the Law

Foreign Affairs | James Leibold and Tenzin Dorjee

China’s Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress, enacted on July 1, 2026, codifies a state-mandated campaign of forced cultural assimilation targeting minority populations. This landmark legislation marks a decisive shift away from the constitutional promise of regional autonomy for non-Han groups, legally enforcing a singular national identity.

This legislative consolidation builds on over a decade of systematic efforts by Chinese leader Xi Jinping to dismantle territorial protections in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Inner Mongolia following ethnic unrest in 2008 and 2009. By mandating Mandarin-language instruction, standardising cultural symbols, and monitoring family education, the state seeks to eliminate distinct political identities. Consequently, this hollowing out of autonomy closes off avenues for peaceful coexistence, forcing communities into public conformity while driving cultural preservation underground. Ultimately, the destruction of the political middle ground risks backfiring, potentially hardening long-term exile resistance and locking Beijing into a cycle of permanent domestic coercion.

Comment

Beijing's legislative shift mirrors the ideological trajectory of the 1977 Soviet Constitution, which formally declared the consolidation of a singular "Soviet people" to supersede regional ethnic identities. That Soviet attempt to codify cultural homogeneity ultimately accelerated the growth of underground dissident networks in the Baltic republics. By legally eliminating the middle ground of territorial autonomy, the Chinese Communist Party risks replicating this exact structural vulnerability. Consequently, hollowing out autonomous frameworks in Xinjiang and Tibet removes the institutional safety valves that previously insulated the central government from direct ethnic friction.

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