Amnesty International on Aug. 5 urged Chinese authorities to immediately release a human rights activist who was detained for showing a photograph of the Dalai Lama at a monastery in Tibet, emphasizing that his detention violates fundamental rights to freedom of expression and religion.

Zhang Yi, a prominent pro-democracy activist, was arrested on July 28 for "inciting separatism" under China's new Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress, which came into effect on the first of the month. The law states its aim as promoting "a strong sense of community" among Chinese people. Article 2 of the law dictates that this must be achieved by "upholding" the Chinese Communist Party's leadership. Other articles aim to establish homogeneity in respect of culture, religion, language and written script, and history. Critics arguing that the legislation serves as a sweeping legal tool to impose forced assimilation and eliminate the distinct cultural identities of minority populations.

Notably, Article 63 establishes that the law extends beyond China’s borders; it states that those outside of the mainland territory that create “ethnic division” are to be pursued in accordance with the law. Rights groups have criticized the government for using vaguely worded legislation to exercise extraterritorial jurisdiction over diaspora communities, causing them to live in fear of retaliation from the Chinese government.

Zhang Yi was initially detained July 1 during a visit to a monastery in Tibet. He had showed a Tibetan worshiper a photograph of the Dalai Lama on his phone, in an attempt to non-verbally communicate that he needed a prayer mat, before being arrested by the police.

Prior to the law's enactment, multiple rights groups warned of its far-reaching implications, stating that it puts activists at risk of persecution. Rights organization also criticized the "broad and undefined" nature of prohibitions on acts that "undermine ethnic unity or create ethnic division," warning of the potential for arbitrary detentions.

According to rights group Tibet Watch, there have been at several detentions, including the enforced disappearance of two Tibetan monks, related to expression of cultural or religious identity in Tibet over the past months. The groups warned of a "pattern of oppression" against Tibetans.

Tibet has been under Chinese rule since 1951, with the ratification of the Seventeen Point Agreement between Lhasa and Beijing. However, many legal scholars and rights groups argue that the agreement was signed by the Lhasa government under duress, and that Tibet remains “an independent state” under Chinese occupation.

China’s continuous repression of the Tibetan community extends far beyond systematically erasing Tibetan culture from history textbooks and forcing young Tibetan children into state-run, colonial residential schools. The government has also seized political control over the community by detaining and hiding the 11th Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, since 1995—apparently to set a precedent for control the selection of the next Dalai Lama.

The Panchen Lama is the second-highest authority in Tibetan Buddhism. By replacing the indigenously chosen Panchen Lama with a state-vetted proxy, Beijing has sought to monopolized control over the community and permanently subordinate the religion to Communist Party rule.

From JURIST, Aug. 6. Used with permission. Internal links added.

See our last reports on the "Ethnic Unity Law."