State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to the Republic of Mongolia comes amid China’s aggressive push for Chinese language instruction in Inner Mongolia. Mongolian officials have failed to speak out publicly on behalf of the Mongolian people in Inner Mongolia, causing strong discontent among the country’s ethnic Mongolians. Some Mongolians have warned that the Mongolian government’s capitulation to China for economic gain could affect the stability of the Mongolian regime.
In Inner Mongolia, massive protests were sparked late last month after schools were required to switch to the national curriculum and Chinese language in three subjects starting in the new school year. Some teachers have participated in demonstrations and strikes, while some parents have refused to take their children to school.
On the day Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Ulaanbaatar on Tuesday, about 100 people gathered in Sukhbaatar Square to protest Beijing’s policies in Inner Mongolia.
Many of the demonstrators were agitated.
Protester: “Our government should oppose Beijing’s policies and preserve our traditions through peaceful negotiations.”
According to World Bank figures, China is Mongolia’s largest exporter, accounting for more than 90 percent of total exports, mainly coal. Protesters feared that Mongolia would choose to remain silent on the issue of Chinese language instruction in Inner Mongolia for economic reasons.
They did not publicly mention the language of instruction controversy in Inner Mongolia, but merely reiterated and confirmed that China and Mongolia would respect each other’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity, would not interfere in each other’s internal affairs, and would jointly maintain the political foundation of their relations.
The government of Mongolia, which has been in the process of developing a new national security system for the past two decades, has also made efforts to improve its security.
He said, “This is an example of a big country bullying a small country. It is not a good idea for Mongolia to say that we (Mongolians) are the same people as the Inner Mongolians,” he said.
The U.S. Department of State has been working with the U.S. Department of Energy on a project to develop a new U.S.-Mongolian joint venture with the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a new U.S.-Mongolian joint venture with the U.S. Department of Energy.
The Chinese government said it would not be able to provide any assistance to the Chinese government. He also wants to get economic aid (from China) to improve his political status, but the Mongolian people are strongly against it. The political base of the current regime is not stable. The entire (Mongolian) people are supporting (the Mongolians) on the Inner Mongolia issue, but the (Mongolian) Foreign Minister is going against it and the government is in danger of being toppled, so he is sending a dangerous signal this time.”
China continues to use heavy-handed tactics to suppress Mongolians
The city of Xilinhot, Inner Mongolia, earlier announced that parents who send their children to school on time will be given preferential treatment in various programs and support policies, or else they will be held legally responsible and their children will have their school registration and financial aid cancelled.
The city’s Xilin Gol League also issued a statement saying that the parents would be put on a list of people who have lost their trust and that they would be “jointly punished,” including restrictions on engaging in certain industries, traveling by train and plane, staying in hotels and restaurants, and traveling with high spending money.
The city of Xilinhot said Thursday that until that morning, nearly 3,500 students from three elementary schools and one middle school, where classes are conducted in ethnic languages, had arrived at the schools, and that the schools had resumed normal teaching.
Chinese language push in case of Mongolian national consciousness in Inner Mongolia
The Chinese authorities are worried about the impact on the political identity of the Inner Mongolian people and are eager to implement the new policy, according to the Secretary General of the Central Asia Society of Taiwan, Mr. Shi Jianyu.
The Chinese government said it will not be able to use the new Chinese language for the first time in the next five years, but it will be able to use it for its own purposes. If the Mongols in Inner Mongolia are not as centripetal toward China as they once were, then these Outer Mongolian publications may sway them. After all, they can talk outwardly about the fact that they have another motherland next door.”
Inner Mongolia and Mongolia share the same language and cultural background, and the impact of language innovation on both countries will be invisible, said Shi Jianyu.
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