China’s new ethnic unity law extends its legal reach overseas

China's new “Law on the Promotion of Ethnic Unity and Progress,” passed in March by the National People's Congress, officially came into effect on Wednesday. While Beijing says the law promotes ethnic harmony, activists argue it could justify forced assimilation in regions like Tibet and Xinjiang.

Article 63 of the legislation has drawn international attention for expanding China's extraterritorial reach. It states that organizations and individuals outside mainland China who commit crimes aimed at undermining ethnic unity or creating ethnic division can be held legally responsible under Chinese law.

The law has faced criticism from UN special rapporteurs on minority and cultural rights, who say it may be used to justify forced assimilation. Amnesty International warned that Article 63 could enable transnational repression of overseas activists, citing an alleged network of unofficial Chinese “police stations” monitoring citizens abroad.

Taiwan's President William Lai Ching-te urged citizens to be cautious while traveling or living in China and said Taipei would monitor the situation. Taiwan, a self-ruled democracy claimed by Beijing, has already heightened travel warnings after China ruled that “die-hard” Taiwan independence activists could be tried in absentia and face the death penalty.

Chinese officials defended Article 63 as a “legitimate, lawful, necessary, and workable legal provision” and accused Western media of wrongly portraying it as an example of “long-arm jurisdiction.”