As Beijing threatens to widen its net beyond its borders to pursue anyone who “undermines ethnic unity,” Chinese-born majority Muslim Turkic minorities in neighboring Kazakhstan are feeling the pressure.Under scrutiny is China's newly enacted “Ethnic Unity Law,” which came into force on July 1 and has been condemned by the UN and the EU. The legislation puts pressure on ethnic minorities to adopt Han Chinese national culture and prioritize the Mandarin language in public.Earlier this month, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun claimed, without elaborating, that the new legislation will “strengthen the rule of law” and "better protect” the rights of all 56 official ethnic groups in the country.However, opponents of the law argue that a provision asserting Beijing’s right to pursue people outside the country will give it an excuse to use its political and economic influence to pressure other states to silence dissent, mainly from people originally from China but who now reside elsewhere.One Chinese-born human rights defender in Kazakhstan, who wished to remain anonymous, told RFE/RL he was concerned that with the new law, Beijing “will have [a greater incentive] to justify and intensify pressure" on ethnic minorities abroad.China has long subjected Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other mainly Muslim Turkic minorities in Xinjiang, China's westernmost province, to a policy of mass detention and repression, rights groups say.