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resolution motion, 27 April 2026

On new Chinese law on ‘ethnic unity and progress’ and the intensified suppression of ethnic identities

Motion B-10-2026-0234 · (2026/2703(RSP))

on behalf of the ECR Group · Rapporteur: Arkadiusz Mularczyk, Mariusz Kamiński, Reinis Pozņaks, Małgorzata Gosiewska, Alberico Gambino, Marlena Maląg, Joachim Stanisław Brudziński, Waldemar Tomaszewski, Ivaylo Valchev, Michał Dworczyk, Carlo Fidanza, Alexandr Vondra, Bogdan Rzońca, Sebastian Tynkkynen, Ondřej Krutílek, Veronika Vrecionová

On Parliament’s site PDF Word

AI:In short

This resolution condemns China's new Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress as forced assimilation, violating minority rights, and calls for its reversal and international scrutiny. It urges the Council to use sanctions against responsible officials and requests a UN report on the law's impact.

Key points

  1. Condemns the law as a draconian forced-assimilation measure providing a statutory basis for policies violating cultural, religious and linguistic rights.
  2. Expresses grave concern that Article 15 may criminalise efforts to preserve minority languages and identities, undermining fundamental rights and international obligations.
  3. Deplores the extraterritorial provisions of the law as a form of transnational repression.
  4. Denounces increasing restriction of religious practices through 'Sinicisation', including interference in recognition of Tibetan Buddhist leaders, and calls for resumption of Sino-Tibetan dialogue.
  5. Urges the PRC government to reverse forced assimilation policies and ensure compliance with constitutional guarantees and international human rights obligations.
  6. Urges the Council to use the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime against officials responsible for implementing these policies.
  7. Requests the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to report on the law's impact on minority communities.

Who is affected

  • Minority communities in China, including Tibetans, Uyghurs, Mongols, and others, whose languages, cultures, and religious practices are targeted.
  • Chinese officials responsible for implementing the law, who may face EU sanctions.

Figures and deadlines

  • 1 July 2026: the law takes effect.

Written by AI from the full text · every figure comes from the text · ¶ opens the paragraph · 4 Sept 2026 · Report a problem

Full text

Text 18 paragraphs

B100234/2026

European Parliament resolution on new Chinese law on ‘ethnic unity and progress’ and the intensified suppression of ethnic identities

(2026/2703(RSP))

The European Parliament,

having regard to its previous resolutions on the People’s Republic of China (PRC),

having regard to the UN General Assembly resolution 47/135 on Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities,

having regard to Rules 150(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

whereas on 12 March 2026 the PRC’s National People’s Congress adopted the new Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress, to take effect on 1 July 2026, thereby codifying President Xi Jinping’s agenda of forging a singular Chinese identity displacing the earlier autonomy and cutting against China’s constitutional protections and its international obligations under the ICESCR and CRC;

whereas the new law mandates Mandarin the “basic language” of education and public affairs, reversing China’s bilingual education policies for Tibetans, Uyghurs, Mongols and others, with Article 15 in practice criminalising grassroot efforts to preserve and teach minority languages;

whereas Article 63 of the law explicitly extends Chinese jurisdiction extraterritorially, creating a “long-arm jurisdiction” that risks banning lawful identity expression, including outside of China, and Articles 20 and 54 introduce Cultural Revolution-style surveillance within families, imposing obligation to instil loyalty to communism, encouraging children to report on their parents;

whereas the law calls the “Sinicisation” of religion and culture, requiring religious venues and schools to carry out Marxist “community of the Chinese people” education and aims to dilute the social fabric of minority groups, effectively erasing cultural diversity in favour of forced homogeneity;

Condemns the PRC’s Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress as a draconian forced-assimilation measure providing a statutory basis for policies violating cultural, religious and linguistic rights; considers these to constitute a systematic attempt to impose forced homogeneity;

Read the rest (6 paragraphs)

Expresses grave concern that Article 15 of the law may criminalise legitimate efforts to preserve and promote minorities’ languages and identities, thereby undermining their fundamental rights and PRC’s international obligations; deplores the extraterritorial provisions of the law representing a form of transnational repression;

Denounces the increasing restriction of religious practices through policies of “Sinicisation”, which subject religious expression to political control, thereby dismantling freedom of religion, and theinterference in the recognition of Tibetan Buddhist leaders, including the Dalai Lama; calls for the resumption of Sino-Tibetan dialogue stalled since 2010;

Urges the Government of the PRC to reverse the policies of forced assimilation and to ensure full compliance with its constitutional guarantees and international human rights obligations and fundamental freedoms, including rights of minorities to preserve and develop their language, culture and identity;

Urges the Council to make use of the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime against officials responsible for implementing these policies;

Requests that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights report on the impact of the law on minority communities;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the VP/HR, the governments of all Member States, the Government of the PRC, and to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.