The new law places strong emphasis on promoting standard Chinese language while stating that minority languages remain protected. The conflict lies in priority

Six days before the Dalai Lama celebrated his 91st birthday on July 6, China marked another anniversary that carries enormous symbolic weight for the Communist Party, July 1, the founding anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party and the date Hong Kong was handed back to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. In another era, July 1 in Hong Kong was synonymous with hundreds of thousands of people marching through the streets demanding democracy, judicial independence and political freedoms. This year too, the streets that once displayed one of Asia’s most visible democratic movements remained largely silent. Since 2020, as several key political leaders in Hong Kong have told this writer, Beijing’s National Security Law has effectively dismantled the city’s mass pro-democracy movement, making large-scale dissent increasingly hazardous. In today’s China, and increasingly among Chinese communities abroad, the cost of openly challenging Beijing’s political narrative has risen dramatically. 

On that same day, Beijing’s new Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law came into force, a legislation that may become one of the defining documents of Xi Jinping’s era. While Chinese authorities describe it as a measure to protect harmony among China’s 56 ethnic groups, critics argue that it represents something far more consequential. It is the legal transformation of ethnic integration from a political objective into a state obligation. The law arrives at a moment when China’s confidence on the world stage appears to be expanding rapidly. The International Monetary Fund has revised China’s 2026 economic growth forecast upwards to 4.6 percent while lowering the global growth outlook. China’s financial institutions have continued their extraordinary rise, with seven Chinese banks reportedly occupying positions among the world’s ten largest banks by tier-one capital, including the four largest positions held by state-owned lenders. At sea, China and Russia have conducted live-fire maritime exercises near Qingdao, while Beijing continues to expand its nuclear capabilities, including efforts........

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