Horsemen Inner Mongolia

In recent days, however, Mongols in China, most of whom reside in the vast Inner Mongolia autonomous region south of Mongolia proper, have vigorously protested an attempt by the government to curtail the teaching of Mongolian in schools, including shifting to using national Chinese-language textbooks instead of locally developed Mongolian versions.

In short, Chinese will replace Mongolian as the main medium of teaching for classes such as math and science, while Mongolian lessons will continue. Authorities are cracking down, including posting photos online of people who attended the protests and offering cash rewards for tips. The policy fits a broader pattern of Beijing’s quest to assert greater ideological control across all swathes of society, and increasingly oppressive policies against minorities.

The starkest example of that is the human rights abuses taking place against Uyghurs and other Muslim groups in Xinjiang, where some argue a full-blown genocide is underway. Days ago, China signaled an escalation of its repressive policies in Tibet, announcing plans to strengthen education to fight “splittism.” In contrast, Inner Mongolia, where almost twice as many ethnic Mongols reside than in Mongolia, is seen as a much less restive place. The Economist reported in 2017 that Mongols in China have to some extent been mollified by the economic opportunities accorded to them, in an area rich in natural resources.

They’re also much more integrated with the Han Chinese population than Tibetans or Uyghurs. Intermarriage is common, for example, while a majority of Mongols opt to send their children to Chinese-language schools over Mongolian ones in recognition of the economic opportunities that would reap, explained Christopher Atwood, a Mongolia expert at the University of Pennsylvania. Atwood estimates that about 60% of Mongols in Inner Mongolia now speak Mongolian as their main language.