Questions over overseas reach of China's ethnic unity law

Midday Report · Jul 1, 2026 · 6m

China's new ethnic unity law comes into effect today and could be used to allow Beijing to target people living in New Zealand. China's Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion law is designed to create a "shared" national identity among the country's ethnic minority groups, including Tibetans and Uyghurs. But one clause of the law says that people and groups beyond China's borders could be held legally accountable for undermining ethnic unity. That has concerned Act MP Laura McClure, who is on a China watchdog group of New Zealand MPs, called the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China. McClure…