Why China is accused of 'forced assimilation' | Global News Podcast

Welcome to the Global News podcast. I'm. Ankur Desai. On this episode, I'm joined. by BBC Monitoring's China analyst, Kerry. Allen. Kerry, it is always good to have. you on. Um particularly about a story. like this, which is quite interesting. China has introduced something they're. calling a unity law, which some people. are saying it roads the rights of. minority. So, just get into this for us. and just explain what the law is and how. it affects certain certain minorities, I. guess. >> Yeah, of course. So, this law's full. name is the ethnic unity and progress. promotion law. And it was passed in.

March earlier this year during what's. known as China's two sessions, which are. meetings of China's top legislature and. its top advisory body. And they decided. that this law needed to happen because. they felt that it created a legal. foundation for national cohesion within. China amongst its different ethnic. groups, of which all together there are. 56. The majority in China are known as. the Han Chinese and they they account. for about 92% and then 8% of the. remainder that make up Tibetans,

Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Koreans, they make up. lots of different demographics. >> And and in terms of how this has been. reported, can you just give us a bit of. an understanding as to how the Chinese. government have talked about it and. promoted it and what some critics and. skeptics have said? >> Yeah, so so official media have been. saying that this. this actually, as they see it, is an. opportunity to promote ethnic culture. and language that they say that it. protects um different um different.

ethnic groups within China. So, they see it as a protective. mechanism. They've also been saying that it also. gives the opportunity to. to combat terrorism, separatism, religious extremism. So, they're saying that it's it's a way. to to protect the nation as a whole by. bringing them together. But critics from outside of China, uh, talking rights groups, but we're also. talking overseas, uh, people in Taiwan, for example. Um, they've seen it as uh,

as a way of China enforcing long-arms. jurisdiction. So, so what they see this. law is doing is basically deciding. what's what what is separatism, what is. um, what is extremism. And uh, and. they're saying that um, this law might. be used to um, target people overseas. I. mean, factoring in that China has a lot. of tensions with Taiwan at the moment, um, that it might target Taiwanese and. say they're separatists, they violate.

this uh, this law, um, so we can hold. them criminally accountable. >> Yeah, there have been some prominent. critics of this as well. Well, we've. talked about the fact that it can affect. Uyghurs, for example, Mongolians, um, and you mentioned um, Taiwan there. There has been criticism from there and. also further afield abroad. Um, we we. played on uh, the newsroom program. yesterday, um, a clip of Richard Gere, the actor, a famous Hollywood actor who. who was talking about it and how this. affects people abroad. So, that this is.

getting quite a bit of coverage, um, not. just in China, but away from China, too. >> It is, absolutely, yes. Um, there have. been government officials in in the West. who've said that um, that this could. create an environment where people um, where where people who've left China and. settled overseas, um, don't feel safe. Um, so they feel that they have to uh, self-censor themselves. Um, they uh, that if they're seen as dissidents, um, or separatists, that um, that they might.

um, they might be targeted by this law. And so, governments are starting to move. towards um, looking at enforcement that. they can put in that protects people, overseas Chinese, um, in the event that. this could happen. >> And you mentioned dissidents there as. well, overseas dissidents. What tactics. have China used then to intimidate. overseas dissidents in the past? >> Well, um a lot of people have actually. compared this law to uh a controversial. law that was introduced in 2020 in Hong. Kong, which was called the National.

Security Law. Um a lot of critics of. this law have said that uh what this. does is it criminalizes um very loose. ideas about what what is regarded as. separatism, and uh and therefore can. hold people criminally accountable. Um. so, one of the ways that people are. thinking this law might be used is to. make people feel that they can't speak. openly when they're overseas or or make. people who've left China feel that they. can't speak openly for fear of.

persecution. Um there there have been um. the tactics of people um being pressured. online, intimidated on the streets, groups of Chinese um targeting uh for. example, Hong Kong dissidents who left. after. the National Security Law was imposed. Um so, uh so there are. considerations at the moment about. whether similar tactics might come into. play, whether um people who are targeted. by this law if uh if if critics are. saying, you know, this is how it could.

be used, um that they could be held under arrest, false arrest, um or just simply. intimidated, told, you know, information. spread about them online, smeared. online, uh followed in the streets, basically made to feel unsafe as a. whole. >> Yeah, because uh people raise a question. about what sort of powers does this give. China, especially when you talk about. people who are who are who are abroad in. for foreign countries and in foreign. territories where where there are other. laws obviously of that own country um. put in place.

>> Yeah, this is why Western media have uh. have said that this law might give. uh opportunity to what it calls. long-arms jurisdiction, China. um extending its reach. And there's a. certain irony in this, because at the. moment China is trying to send a big. message to Western countries about how. it can be a unifier, how it can unite. other countries. working more closely. as a friend of nations very much. targeting the US and saying that the US. has become an enemy of many nations. around the world because of tariffs,

because of wars in areas like the Middle. East. And so China wants to be seen as. this this friend and and a lot of the. state media messaging saying that this. law is is to harmonize ethnic minority. groups to bring them together. At the same time critics are saying that. it might be used to do what China very. much accuses the US of to extend its. reach to persecute and and to harass.

ethnic groups and to make them feel. unsafe, to make them feel that they. could go anywhere in the world and they. could be followed, they could be held. under false arrest, they could be. made to feel that they can't go about. their lives. So so yeah, this is why this law is. getting a lot of discussion both within. China and also outside of China. It's. it's the question of how is it going to. be enforced? How are people going to be treated. particularly in Taiwan where separatism. makes up so much of the modern day.

narrative. There's there's constant. criticisms that Taiwan's government are. separatists. Are they going to feel that. if they go overseas and they do. foreign conferences or foreign speeches. that they're not going to feel safe. because they might be held accountable. under this law which. at the moment the. the the kind of the parameters of it are. very vague. >> Yeah, it's interesting. You you talk. about this in terms of how it's trying. to I guess China polish its image. abroad. They've hosted a lot of world.

leaders. That the plan is I think for Xi. Jinping to go over to the United States. as well and. go over and meet Donald Trump after he'd. hosted him and not too long ago. I'm. just reading here the members of the. European Parliament have already written. warning uh member states to consider. suspending extradition treaties with. China if it tried to target European. citizens. That's quite interesting and. and that that's quite a. a strong strong step from the European. Parliament to to announce that. >> It's not just in Europe where um. governments have been talking about. this. Um there was also a bipartisan.

group of 14 US lawmakers that um in the. last 24 hours have been urging US. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to. publicly condemn this law. And they're. saying that it it codifies the forced. assimilation of ethnic minority groups. >> What do we make of China um trying to. expand its reach abroad as well? Because. um. here in London in the UK, there there is. this talk, isn't there, of the the. Chinese super embassy. Um is this China. trying to to to show that it's going to.

have. such a wide reach that if they were to. try to enforce a law like this or to. hold people to account, they will be. able to because their presence will very. much be in the west as well as uh in the. east. >> Well, China is definitely wanting to. capitalize on a lot of nations' fraught. ties with the US at the moment and to be. seen as this country that um that. leaders turn to in when when there are. problems in the world. Um so one of the. state media messages that's been coming. out quite a lot over the last year is.

how many foreign leaders have actually. traveled to Beijing that Xi Jinping has. hosted. Uh so so China definitely wants. to while while countries are critical of. uh of Trump's tariffs, but also critical. of the wars going on in the Middle East. and also in Ukraine, um China has wanted. to say that it it it can be this this. friend to the world. But in terms of why. China wants this presence through. initiatives like the Belt and Road, for. example, um why China wants to.

be become more apparent um in other. nations. Um the reason for this is. because China has a shrinking population. and uh and it does fear that its labor. market is going to shrink over time, that there aren't going to be the people. to actually look after. a very large growing elderly. demographic. So, it's more important. than ever now that China. makes inroads into other countries, forms friendships with other nations, um. becomes really close so that there's.

much more free flow between China and. other countries. But, in order to do. that, it also wants to maintain its grip. in terms of Communist Party leadership. and its own messaging. So, China really. wants to make sure that that penetrates. out to the rest of the world and that. the rest of the world agrees with this. But, from its own perspective, the. reason for this is because it's reliant. on being able to keep its labor market. going and being able to keep functioning. as a strong superpower that it's become. seen as.

>> And just finally, Carrie, in your role. in monitoring, you're able to sort of. see reaction to stories like this. And I. can imagine it would be difficult for. for people from Mongolian backgrounds, Uyghurs as well, to to talk about this. and react to this. But, have we seen. much from their communities in terms of. how they feel about this? And I guess. how they can move forward with their. lives and still hold their identity. without it being eroded? >> It's very hard to see such messaging. because they make up ethnic minorities.

make up such a small sector of the. population. So, only about 8%. Um so, uh. and what you do have on Chinese social. media platforms like Sina Weibo, for. example, which is the equivalent of a. platform like Facebook, um you do get. quite commonly a lot of click farms that. pump out government messaging. So, anything that's critical of the. government would be filtered out, wouldn't be seen. And you also do get. sensors that um if they see something as. negative um targeting the Communist.

Party, they will just remove it from. social media platforms. So, in my. monitoring it's very difficult to see. anything other than positive messaging, positive comments on social media saying. that they think this is law is great for. ethnic minorities, that it's that it's. fantastic, that it makes them feel more. unified with China. Um at the same time. though, I've also been looking at Hong. Kong media today, for example, and Hong. Kong has a. has a very independent media. environment. So, you get very different. messaging. You get a much more broad.

spectrum of messaging than you would. from China, which is predominantly state. media focused. Um and uh Hong Kong media. have acknowledged that um Tibetan and. Uyghur minorities have warned the United. Nations that this law could legalize. cultural erasure. So, there are. obviously ethnic minorities that are. going out and they're saying, "We don't. agree with this law." But, if you're in. mainland China and you're looking on. social media platforms to see how people. feel, the impression that you would get.

is that there's just universal. positivity. >> Kerry, as always, thank you so much for. your time. We really appreciate it. Uh. Kerry Allen there, our BBC Monitoring. China analyst. Uh if you want more. content like this, uh check out our. Global News podcast. You can subscribe. and click on the link below. For now, thank you so much for joining us and. we'll see you on the next episode.