China's New Ethnic Unity Law Sparks Debate in Tibet

In Lhasa, Tibet, a 73-year-old retired nurse named Kalsang Lhamo is learning to write Tibetan calligraphy at the Chengguan District Day Care Center for the Elderly, a practice she took up despite speaking the language her whole life. Her efforts come as China's new "ethnic unity" law, implemented July 1, mandates Mandarin as the primary language for schools and government agencies and prohibits acts deemed to incite division among the country's 56 ethnic groups. Critics say the law further erodes minority rights and gives Beijing authority to target separatist activities, even abroad, while the Chinese government dismisses such criticism as "ideological bias.

In Tibet, a region Beijing tightly controls, the stakes are high as China marks the 75th anniversary of what it calls the "peaceful liberation of Xizang, an event many Tibetans in exile view as an invasion. Activists see the law as forced cultural assimilation, citing similar policies in Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia.