Beijing, March 4 -- A newly proposed law in China would create a sweeping legal framework to justify existing repression and intensify the forced assimilation of minority populations across the country and beyond its borders, according to a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW).

The 62-article draft Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress was submitted to the National People's Congress on September 8, 2025. An official explanatory document states that the law "implements General Secretary Xi Jinping's important thinking" on ethnic affairs and promotes "the common prosperity and development of all ethnic groups, along the path of rule of law."

HRW warned that once passed, the law could be used to formalise and expand ideological controls...