United States President Donald Trump should directly raise Beijing's Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress with Chinese President Xi Jinping at their upcoming Washington meeting — and make unambiguously clear that any attempt to enforce it against people on American soil will not be tolerated, according to a prominent rights advocate.

The call comes from Omer Kanat, Executive Director of the Uyghur Human Rights Project, writing in The Diplomat on 24 September 2026. Kanat argues that the law's extraterritorial reach represents not merely a human rights concern, but a direct challenge to US sovereignty.

What China's Ethnic Unity Law Says

China's National People's Congress passed the Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress in March 2026, with the legislation entering into force on 1 July 2026. Beijing has described the law as a measure to promote harmony among China's ethnic communities, including Uyghurs, Tibetans, Southern Mongolians, and others.

Critics, however, argue the law does the opposite. Kanat contends it 'codifies and expands' forced assimilation campaigns that, according to rights groups, have targeted Uyghur identity, religion, and cultural life since 2017.

The Extraterritorial Provisions

At the heart of the concern are provisions that appear to extend the law's reach beyond China's borders. According to Kanat, the legislation holds that organisations and individuals outside China can be held legally accountable for actions deemed to 'undermine ethnic unity and progress or create ethnic division.'

China's vice justice minister reportedly defended this extraterritorial dimension as 'legitimate, lawful, necessary, and feasible.' Critics say such language signals Beijing's intent to police diaspora communities — including those residing in the United States — for speech or advocacy it deems contrary to state policy.

Why Kanat Wants It on the Summit Agenda

With the Xi-Trump summit agenda already dense — spanning trade, technology, fentanyl, Taiwan, and global security — Kanat argues the ethnic unity law cannot be left off the table. He frames a specific question for Trump to pose: 'Why are Uyghur Americans being forced to choose between exercising their freedoms here and protecting their relatives from retaliation in China?'

Kanat further warns that the law's threat extends beyond communities with family ties in China. 'Any person who expresses a view China deems as contrary to ethnic unity can be targeted under the new law,' he writes, positioning it as a concern for all Americans, not just diaspora groups.

Sovereignty and Diplomatic Stakes

Kanat's central argument is that no foreign government holds authority to dictate what people in the US or other democratic societies say, believe, teach their children, or advocate for. He calls on Washington to assert unequivocally that China's ethnic unity law carries no legal jurisdiction inside American borders.

This comes amid a broader pattern of US-China friction over Beijing's treatment of Uyghurs and its attempts to influence overseas Chinese communities — an issue that has drawn bipartisan attention in the US Congress in recent years. Whether the Trump administration chooses to elevate this issue at the summit will be closely watched by rights organisations and diaspora communities alike.