Mick Hartley

Here's more on the threat to Mongolians in China – the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia – as the Chinese threaten the same range of Han-supremacist moves to destroy the culture that they've already introduced in the other "autonomous regions" of Xinjiang and Tibet. From Australia's SBS News:

It started as thousands of parents, grandparents, and teachers peacefully signing petitions with their fingerprints, stamped in red, voicing their opposition to a new language policy when it was first flagged in late August. 

But it soon turned into rare large gatherings outside schools, with people chanting protest slogans and singing when the semester recommenced at the start of this month.

In Inner Mongolia, an autonomous region in China, it has been mandated that three subjects – morality and law (politics), history, and literature – be taught in Mandarin, China's official language, over a staggered three-year period using state compiled textbooks.

The outcry over the policy sparked a swift clampdown by the region's authorities, who have moved to delete social media posts of those criticising it and arrest those involved in the protests.  

The Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Centre in New York has accused the Chinese government of trying to destroy Mongolian culture and estimated 4,000 to 5,000 people had been put into some kind of police custody during three weeks of protests. It also claimed nine people had suicided in protest over the language changes….

Many people from the Mongolian diaspora living in Australia who SBS News approached expressed concerns about what was happening to the region but declined to be interviewed citing security concerns for their family still living in Inner Mongolia. 

But Melbourne-based Jiranhuar Jiranhuar, who migrated to Australia from Inner Mongolia in 2010, shared the sadness she was feeling. 

The Mongolian language is "part of our identity", she said, adding that because of its minority status, she feels an additional desire to hold onto it. 

I feel extremely sad [to hear what is happening in Inner Mongolia], it affects my everyday life, I can't sleep or eat well because I know how important it is for us.

"If we naturally lose our language, that's fine, we take it, but this is the start of man-made genocide of our culture, it's very sad." 

She also fears the new directive will accelerate the assimilation of Mongolians into Chinese culture, she said. 

Previously.