First Xinjiang, now Tibet passes rules to promote ‘ethnic unity’

Autonomous region’s legislature endorses ‘dos and don’ts’ for governments, companies and institutions to take effect from May 1

The rules appear similar to those used in a crackdown on cited similar regulations as justification for crackdowns on the region’s ethnic Uygur community

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Tibet’s legislature has passed a series of rules to promote “ethnic unity”. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:30am, 13 Jan 2020Updated: 5:00pm, 17 Feb 2020

Regulations to “strengthen ethnic unity” will take effect in Tibet in May, four years after similar rules were introduced in Xinjiang, according to Chinese state media.

Officials in Xinjiang have occasionally cited similar regulations as justification for crackdowns on the region’s ethnic Uygur community.

Tibet’s people’s congress, the autonomous region’s legislature, endorsed the rules on Saturday to take effect from May 1, the official Tibet Daily reported on Sunday.

The report did not release the full text of the regulations, saying only that they contained “dos and don’ts” for the local governments and society to promote ethnic unity.

Other neighbouring provinces, including Yunnan and Qinghai, approved similar regulations last year.

According to Tibet Daily, the regulation requires all levels of government, companies, community organisations, villages, schools, military groups and religious activity centres be responsible for work on ethnic unity.

A facility in the Kunshan Industrial Park in Artux in western China's Xinjiang region. People in touch with state employees in China say the government in the far west region of Xinjiang is destroying documents and taking other steps to tighten control on information. Photo: AP