Andrew Wilkie (Clark, Independent) | Hansard source

I recently met with members of Australia's Tibetan community who generously shared their stories and raised the alarm about the Chinese government's escalating cultural genocide against Tibetans. A particular concern is China's new law on promoting ethnic unity and progress which came into force yesterday. It's Orwellian title hints at its true intent—to accelerate the assimilation of Tibetans and others into a single Chinese national identity. In essence, the law codifies and expands practices that have long undermined Tibetans rights and freedoms, providing a new legal framework for policies that marginalise the Tibetan language, destroy Tibetan Buddhism, distort or eliminate Tibetan history and erode the foundations of Tibetan family and community life. This includes, most heartbreakingly, taking Tibetan children away from local schools and forcing them to attend Chinese language state boarding schools in a clear attempt to sever connection to family, language and culture.

What's more, this law also seeks to hold groups and individuals outside of China legally accountable for undermining ethnic unity and progress or inciting ethnic separatism. This attempted cultural genocide and extraterritorial and transnational repression is appalling and must be resisted in the strongest terms. I call on the Australian government to act and ensure they do not put the relationship with the Chinese government ahead of the fundamental human rights and cultural survival of Tibetans.

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