China’s ethnic unity law legalizes cultural ‘erasure’

GENEVA, Switzerland — Tibetan and Uyghur representatives urged countries at a United Nations meeting last week to pressure China to repeal a new law they say is aimed at erasing minority communities. The Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law, which comes into effect on July 1, aims to forge a “shared” national identity among ethnic groups and “strengthen cohesion.” Rights advocates charge it has been shaped to provide Beijing with legal cover for pursuing long-existing policies of forced assimilation across the vast country with the Han majority. Among other things, the law criminalizes engaging in “violent terrorist activities, ethnic separatist…