[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1400 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1400
Condemning the People's Republic of China's Law on the Promotion of
Ethnic Unity and Progress and the Chinese Communist Party's campaign of
forced assimilation against ethnic and religious minorities.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 30, 2026
Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself and Mr. McGovern) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign
Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a
period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Condemning the People's Republic of China's Law on the Promotion of
Ethnic Unity and Progress and the Chinese Communist Party's campaign of
forced assimilation against ethnic and religious minorities.
Whereas, on March 12, 2026, the National People's Congress adopted the Law on
the Promotion of Ethnic Unity and Progress (Ethnic Unity Law), scheduled
to take effect on July 1, 2026;
Whereas the People's Republic of China officially recognizes 55 ethnic minority
groups, including Tibetans, Uyghurs, Mongolians, Hui Muslims, Manchus,
and other communities with distinct languages, religions, histories, and
cultural traditions;
Whereas the law elevates Chinese Communist Party ideology, prioritizes Mandarin
Chinese in education and public life, and advances a Party-defined
national identity over minority language, religion, culture, and
history;
Whereas the law's vague prohibitions on acts deemed to harm ethnic unity risk
criminalizing peaceful expression, religious practice, cultural
preservation, minority-rights advocacy, scholarship, journalism, and
dissent;
Whereas the law includes extraterritorial provisions that could be used to
punish or intimidate persons in the United States for speech, advocacy,
religious activity, scholarship, journalism, or cultural expression
disfavored by the Chinese Communist Party;
Whereas the Constitution of the People's Republic of China and the Regional
Ethnic Autonomy Law purport to protect minority languages, customs,
religious belief, and regional autonomy;
Whereas officials in Taiwan have warned that the law could be used to target
expressions of Taiwanese identity, history, democratic self-government,
or opposition to the Chinese Communist Party's official historical
narratives;
Whereas the Department of State determined in January 2021 that authorities of
the People's Republic of China, under the direction and control of the
Chinese Communist Party, committed genocide and crimes against humanity
against predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious
minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, also known as
the Uyghur Region;
Whereas abuses in the Uyghur Region include mass arbitrary detention, forced
labor, torture, coercive population-control measures, severe
restrictions on religious practice, pervasive surveillance, and forced
separation of children from families;
Whereas United Nations experts have warned that approximately one million
Tibetan children have been affected by residential-school policies aimed
at assimilating Tibetans culturally, religiously, and linguistically;
Whereas forced assimilation policies in Tibet, the Uyghur Region, the Inner
Mongolia Autonomous Region, and other areas undermine the ability of
families and communities to transmit language, faith, history, and
cultural identity to future generations;
Whereas the Chinese Communist Party has interfered in Tibetan Buddhist religious
life, including by asserting authority over the recognition, education,
and succession of Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leaders;
Whereas the recognition and succession of the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan
Buddhist leaders are religious matters that must be decided exclusively
according to Tibetan Buddhist tradition and the wishes of the Tibetan
Buddhist community;
Whereas the People's Republic of China is a party to international treaties that
impose obligations implicated by policies of forced assimilation, family
separation, religious repression, torture, discrimination, and cultural
erasure;
Whereas, on April 30, 2026, the European Parliament adopted a resolution
condemning the Ethnic Unity Law, criticizing its extraterritorial
provisions, urging sanctions, rejecting Chinese Communist Party
interference in the succession of the Dalai Lama, calling for the
release of political prisoners, and urging renewed United Nations
scrutiny;
Whereas the Chinese Communist Party's use of overseas coercion, intimidation,
surveillance, and pressure against diaspora communities threatens the
safety and freedoms of persons in the United States and undermines the
rule of law; and
Whereas cultural erasure is not unity, atrocities are not progress, and coercion
is not legitimate governance: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) condemns the People's Republic of China's Ethnic Unity
Law and the Chinese Communist Party's broader campaign of
forced assimilation against Tibetans, Uyghurs, Mongolians, Hui
Muslims, Manchus, and other ethnic and religious minorities;
(2) condemns policies and institutions used to separate
children from families, communities, languages, religions, and
cultures, including coercive boarding-school and residential-
school systems, orphanage placements, and other mechanisms of
forced assimilation;
(3) affirms that the recognition and succession of the
Dalai Lama and other Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leaders are
religious matters to be decided by Tibetan Buddhists, free from
interference by the Government of the People's Republic of
China or the Chinese Communist Party;
(4) urges the Government of the People's Republic of China
to engage, without preconditions, in substantive dialogue with
representatives of the Dalai Lama or his representatives to
address longstanding grievances of the Tibetan people;
(5) supports continued advocacy for the release of
political prisoners detained for peaceful advocacy, religious
practice, scholarship, cultural preservation, or the exercise
of fundamental rights, including Ilham Tohti, Gedhun Choekyi
Nyima, Hada, Rahile Dawut, Go Sherab Gyatso, and other Uyghur,
Tibetan, Mongolian, Hui Muslim, Manchu, and Chinese prisoners
of conscience;
(6) urges the President, the Secretary of State, and the
Secretary of the Treasury, as appropriate, to impose sanctions
and visa restrictions, including under the Global Magnitsky
Human Rights Accountability Act, Executive Order 13818, any
successor authority, and section 7031(c) of the Department of
State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations
Act, on officials and entities responsible for conceiving,
implementing, financing, profiting from, or enforcing the Law
on the Promotion of Ethnic Unity and Progress and related
forced-assimilation policies;
(7) urges the Secretary of State to coordinate with
democratic allies and partners, including the European Union,
Canada, Japan, Australia, and the United Kingdom, to monitor
implementation of the Law on the Promotion of Ethnic Unity and
Progress, document its effects on targeted communities, and
respond to related transnational repression;
(8) urges the Secretary of State to expand and prioritize
programs that support endangered languages, religious
traditions, oral histories, independent media, diaspora-led
cultural education, documentation of cultural repression,
preservation of cultural heritage, and local-language
international broadcasting and public diplomacy messaging, for
communities targeted by forced assimilation;
(9) urges the Secretary of Homeland Security, in
coordination with the Attorney General and other relevant
Federal officials, to strengthen efforts to protect diaspora
communities in the United States from harassment, threats,
surveillance, coercion of relatives abroad, and attempts to
silence lawful advocacy linked to the Law on the Promotion of
Ethnic Unity and Progress;
(10) urges the Secretary of State to use the voice, vote,
and influence of the United States at the United Nations,
including in the Security Council, to highlight the People's
Republic of China's violations of international obligations,
genocide in the Uyghur Region, and other severe violations of
internationally-recognized human rights;
(11) urges the Secretary of State to assess whether the
treatment of Tibetans by the Government of the People's
Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party, including
coercive boarding-school policies, forced labor, separation of
children from families and communities, severe restrictions on
religious practice, and interference in Tibetan Buddhism,
warrants a public atrocity-crimes determination; and
(12) urges the Secretary of State to include detailed
reporting on the Ethnic Unity Law and related forced-
assimilation policies in the Department of State's annual
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, International
Religious Freedom Report, and Trafficking in Persons Report, as
appropriate.
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