Report Highlights China's Campaign Eroding Mongolian Language And Cultural Identity

(MENAFN- IANS) Abuja, March 4 (IANS) The crackdown on Mongolian culture in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region by the Chinese authorities through language control, digital erasure, identity reshaping, and restrictions on cultural practices serves as a warning about the consequences of undermining autonomy, a report has revealed.

According to Uganda-based media outlet 'PML Daily', the Mongols of Inner Mongolia are increasingly losing both their rights and their ability to speak out. If the current trajectory persists, it said, Inner Mongolia could join Tibet and Xinjiang as regions where political control has eroded cultural diversity.

"The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region was once a symbol of China's promise of ethnic autonomy. Today, it has become a case study in how that promise is being systematically dismantled. Multiple reports confirm that China is actively suppressing Mongolian culture, language, and identity in north-eastern China. What is unfolding is not just a policy shift but a cultural crisis one that risks erasing centuries of heritage and reshaping an entire people's future," the report detailed.

The report stressed that since 2020, Chinese authorities have replaced Mongolian-language instruction in schools with Mandarin Chinese, threatening cultural identity.

"This move sparked widespread protests among ethnic Mongols, who saw it as an attempt to erase their mother tongue. Parents, teachers, and students rallied against the policy, but the state's determination was unwavering. By curbing Mongolian in classrooms, Beijing is not simply changing curricula; it is severing the transmission of culture from one generation to the next," it noted.

Citing a January 2026 report by PEN America and the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Centre, the report mentioned that the suppression extends beyond classrooms into the digital sphere, with China systematically removing Mongolian language content from online platforms.

“Social media groups have been shut down, activists silenced, and digital communities dismantled. This is more than censorship; it is cultural erasure in the digital age. By stripping Mongolian voices from the internet, authorities are ensuring that even virtual spaces cannot serve as sanctuaries for cultural preservation," it added.

The report emphasised that the Chinese campaign further reframed Mongolian traditions as "frontier culture" amid official narratives describing "Mongolian heritage not as a distinct identity but as a peripheral extension of Han culture".

"This rebranding is deliberate: it dilutes Mongolian uniqueness and assimilates it into a broader national identity. The strategy mirrors tactics used in Tibet and Xinjiang, where cultural and religious suppression has been deployed to enforce political control. Inner Mongolia is now on the same trajectory, with its identity steadily redefined by state propaganda," it noted.

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